The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, said
Tuesday that while he could do without the publication of Adolf Hitler’s
Mein
Kampf in Germany, he would rather have Germans read annotated excerpts from the
book than access it from online sources.
“I can truly do without the
publication of this hatefilled book that is saturated with anti-Semitism to the
core,” Graumann said via email to
The Jerusalem Post, stipulating that if one
must actually read it, then it is better in the framework of a critical commentary
that would run as an addendum to the book.
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British publisher Peter Mcgee’s announcement that he planned on running an
annotated pamphlet of excerpts from the iconic book, which was dictated by
Hitler while he was in prison in Germany in 1923.
The German Jewish
leader expressed concern about the potential for popularity that the publication
may have, and the easy access provided by sales in urban kiosks.
“The
thought that Adolf Hitler will become a bestselling [author] makes me sick.
Anyone who plans to make profits with Hitler will certainly never have us on
their side. In addition, no one should allow the kiosk to become a Nazi hotbed,”
he wrote.
British historian and publisher Mcgee explained to
Der Spiegel
Sunday that his intention is to allow the German public to come to terms with
the text that helped spread Nazi sentiments in post-WWI Germany.
“It’s
about time the broader public is given the opportunity to deal with the original
text,” Mcgee told the newsmagazine. That same
Spiegel article also claimed
Graumann welcomed the publication, because it provided a chance to “demystify”
Hitler’s book.
Speaking with the
Post, Graumann dismissed Mcgee’s
intention.
“That the book is miserably written no longer requires any
more proof.
Mein Kampf lies between garbage and mysticism,” he
said.
He expressed hope that if Mcgee insists on publication, Germans
will understand the book is “vicious and cynical,” especially in a modern
context. Graumann said Mcgee could use an earlier project of his, Zeitungszeugen
– in which Mcgee printed facsimiles of National Socialist, Communist, and Social
Democrat newspapers from between 1933-1945 with a commentary – as an example of
how to frame Hitler’s text appropriately.
Graumann said the pamphlets
will prove the need to fight anti-Semitism and racism not only as “an
obligation, but [as] a pure matter of course that goes without saying.”