Arabic translation of ‘Mein Kampf’ sold in Israel

Arabic copies of Mein Kampf [My Struggle] by Adolf Hitler were spotted on sale at a bookstore in Reineh, an Arab-Israeli town near Nazareth. The cover depicts the Nazi leader, responsible for the invasion of Poland, the Second World War and the Holocaust alongside a red swastika and the Nazi eagle symbol. Amit Barak, an Israeli, saw the book and contacted Betzalmo, an NGO devoted to “human rights in the spirit of Judaism.” He also contacted the owner of the store and told him he has 24 hours to remove the book from the shelves. The owner was stunned to learn his store carries the publication and said he'll do it in 24 seconds – and did so. The owner told Mako that it was his son who placed the book in the store and that he himself is “a religious man who never even brings such books in.” He explained that he buys stocks of books from other sellers and it's possible he accidentally purchased the Nazi books as part of a larger shipment without realizing it. He apologized and promised “in the future we will be more careful.” The legal status of the book in Israel is unclear, the copyright expired years ago but offers to translate the book into Hebrew for educational purposes were met with fierce objection. The Knesset even debated outlawing the book in 1995 yet never voted on it, making the release of the book, at least in theory, legal. The history of how the German publication ended up in Arabic is a fascinating one. After several false starts that contained mistakes such as Hitler stating he “became a socialist” and not a nationalist, the job fell to Shakib Arslan who used a French translation. Arslan is the grandfather of current Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt, website Qantara.de reported. However, a proper Arab-German dictionary was needed to carry out a full translation of the work. The job of producing a new German-Arabic dictionary fell on Hans Wehr, Andreas Jacobi and Hedwig Klein. Ironically, Klein was Jewish and Jacobi was of Jewish origin. Klein was murdered in Auschwitz and Jacobi went missing during the war. Released in 1945, the Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic was hailed as one of the best of its kind. Yet it did not lead to a precise translation of Mein Kampf to Arabic. The translations that are being offered around the Arab world, to this very day, are all incomplete and faulty. Mein Kampf was written by Hitler while in prison for a failed uprising against the German Republic. In it, the former-painter speaks about his experiences as a soldier during the World War I and his conviction that the world is controlled by powerful forces beyond the control of the common man, unless he again finds his racial loyalty to his or her tribe. Hitler was utterly convinced that he was a genius and refused to listen to others, from medical experts to seasoned generals, when they dared to contradict him. The book presents his perspective about his life as an ongoing war against idiocy. When the war came to an end, Hitler said that Germany deserved to burn as it was unworthy of his greatness at the end of World War II when defeat for Nazi Germany was imminent.

Arabic translation of ‘Mein Kampf’ sold in Israel

The book was offered at a bookshop in the town of Reineh near Nazareth, the owner apologized and removed the book at once.

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Arabic translation of ‘Mein Kampf’ sold in Israel

The book was offered at a bookshop in the town of Reineh near Nazareth, the owner apologized and removed the book at once.

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