‘Mein Kampf’ Will Get Reprint Next Year in French and German
The copyright on Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” will expire at the end of this year, leaving the work open to French and German reprint editions.
The French publisher Fayard announced in a statement that it will release an annotated French version. The Institute of Contemporary History in Munich will publish the German reprint. Both reissues will emphasize the historical importance of the document, the French news agency AFP reported.
“The publication of this book, central to the history of the 20th century, will be accompanied by a critical analysis established by a scientific committee of French and foreign historians,” Fayard said in a statement. The release date has not been announced.
The Bavarian state placed a copyright on “Mein Kampf” after the defeat of the Nazis in World War II, and the book was banned in Germany, according to AFP. However, the Bavarian copyright will be void at the end of 2015, leaving the book open to reissue 70 years after Hitler’s death. Although several English-language translations have been made available since, a French translation hasn’t been published since 1934.
“Mein Kampf,” which means “my struggle” in German, was published originally in two volumes in Germany during 1925 and 1926. The semi-autobiographical work details Hitler’s ideology and militaristic ambitions. It outlined his desire to expand “lebensraum,” meaning German “living space,” as well as the dictator’s hatred of the Jewish people.
Hitler penned the book in prison, where he was serving time for his role in the Munich putsch of 1923. The work helped established his profile in Germany and ultimately aided his rise to power in 1933.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
