The Resurgence of Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' as a Best-Seller

About ninety years after Adolf Hitler wrote 'Mein Kampf', the book has resurfaced in a way that the Italian newspaper 'Il Giornale' announced it will offer the book for free alongside its newspaper this weekend. The Washington Post reported on Friday, June 11, that it is hard to believe that 'Mein Kampf' remains among the best-selling books in the 21st century. 'Il Giornale' is known in Italy for its right-wing views. According to the Washington Post, 'Il Giornale' distributes 'Mein Kampf' without any additional explanations, just as Hitler wrote it. In explaining this action, 'Il Giornale' stated, 'Hitler was a remarkable figure at the center of many controversies; the fact that he is not taught in Holocaust lessons or in the context of Nazi Germany's war with the Soviet Union is a flaw; he should not be hidden.' According to the Washington Post, Renzo Gattunga, the head of the Jewish Community of Italy, condemned the Italian newspaper's action, stating that the free distribution of Hitler's book is 'a low point that is light-years away from the lessons of the Holocaust and the factors that threw humanity into an endless abyss of hatred, death, and violence.' A similar action by far-right organizations in Germany in recent days to distribute copies of 'Mein Kampf' has also caused controversy, and German officials said they would pursue legal action against it. Since January of this year, 'Mein Kampf' has been sold again in Germany with restrictions. The sale of the version without 'explanations' is strictly prohibited in Germany, and according to the Washington Post, this is why far-right groups are trying to distribute the original version without explanations. The version with explanations is over three thousand pages long, presenting contradictions regarding Hitler's claims to the reader. During the Nazi regime, teaching 'Mein Kampf' in schools was part of a broad Nazi propaganda program, but after World War II, the re-publication of the book in Germany was not possible. According to German laws, Bavaria held the rights to Hitler's works, but this state banned the re-publication of this book for seventy years; this ban ended in early 2015, and since then, neo-Nazis have sought to promote the book again. 'Mein Kampf' is originally a 720-page book written in German, publishing the political thoughts and ideas of Adolf Hitler. When Hitler was imprisoned in Landsberg in 1924 for 'treason,' he dictated the text of the book to his secretary Rudolf Hess, who was his cellmate. A year later, the first volume of the book was published under the title 'A Reckoning,' and then the second volume titled 'The National Socialist Movement.' However, the German publisher at that time changed the long title of later editions, which was published as 'A Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice,' to 'Mein Kampf.' The first volume of 'Mein Kampf' in twelve chapters covers Hitler's childhood to the formation of the National Socialist 'Nazi' Party. The second volume of the book in fifteen chapters begins with the philosophical beliefs of the Nazi Party and examines the policies that every German 'loyal to national interests' should adopt in various fields. The Israeli newspaper Maariv also reported last year that 'Mein Kampf' has once again become one of the best-selling books in the world, with significant online sales, especially in the US and Europe. In January 2014, 'Mein Kampf' was among the twelve to fifteen most-read political books on iTunes. On the Amazon website, one can purchase around a hundred published versions and texts of 'Mein Kampf,' six of which are available for download only. However, the Islamic Republic of Iran has also had a long history in printing and publishing 'Mein Kampf.' The Persian translation of the book had reached its eighteenth edition by 2009.