Mein Kampf Flying Off the Shelves in Germany

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By Daniel J. Solomon January 3, 2017

Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” — presented in a new critical edition clocking in at almost 2,000 pages — is proving to be a runaway success at the bookstore in Germany, selling more than 85,000 copies and going into its sixth print run a year after its publication.

The new edition, released by the Munich-based Institute for Contemporary History, came out after the Bavarian government’s copyright on the book recently lapsed. Germany had used that to prevent new editions of “Mein Kampf,” which it worried could spur neo-Nazis.

The Institute for Contemporary History brought together an impressive group of scholars to annotate the volume, adding in copious notes about Hitler’s mistakes and lies, in addition to other relevant historical detail.

Andreas Wirching, the director of the institute, told the Associated Press that the new edition had not encouraged modern-day haters, but rather illuminated Nazi ideas in an age of an ascendant far-right.

“On the contrary, the discussion about Hitler’s world view and how to deal with his propaganda offered the opportunity to look at the disastrous roots and consequences at a time when authoritarian political ideas and right-wing slogans are again gaining followers,” he said.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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