The first reprint of Adolf Hitler's "Mein
Kampf" in Germany since World War II has
proved a surprise bestseller, heading for its
sixth print run, its publisher said Tuesday.
The Institute of Contemporary History of Munich
(IfZ) said around 85,000 copies of the new
annotated version of the Nazi leader's anti-
Semitic manifesto had flown off the shelves since
its release last January.
However the respected institute said that far
from promoting far-right ideology, the publication
had enriched a debate on the renewed rise of
" authoritarian political views" in contemporary
Western society.
It had initially planned to print only 4,000 copies
but boosted production immediately based on
intense demand. The sixth print run will hit
bookstores in late January.
The two-volume work had figured on the non-
fiction bestseller list in weekly magazine Der
Spiegel over much of the last year, and even
topped the list for two weeks in April.
The institute also organised a successful series
of presentations and debates around "Mein
Kampf" across Germany and in other European
cities, which it said allowed it to measure the
impact of the new edition.
"It turned out that the fear the publication
would promote Hitler's ideology or even
make it socially acceptable and give neo-
Nazis a new propaganda platform was
totally unfounded, " IfZ director Andreas
Wirsching said in a statement.
"To the contrary, the debate about Hitler's
worldview and his approach to propaganda
offered a chance to look at the causes and
consequences of totalitarian ideologies, at a
time in which authoritarian political views
and rightwing slogans are gaining ground."
'Not reactionaries or radicals'
The institute said the data collected about
buyers by regional bookstores showed that they
tended to be "customers interested in politics
and history as well as educators " and not
"reactionaries or rightwing radicals" .
Nevertheless, the IfZ said it would maintain a
restrictive policy on international rights. For now,
only English and French editions are planned
despite strong interest from many countries.
The institute released the annotated version of
"Mein Kampf" last January, just days after the
copyright of the manifesto expired.
Bavaria was handed the rights to the book in
1945 when the Allies gave it control of the main
Nazi publishing house following Hitler's defeat.
For 70 years, it refused to allow the
inflammatory tract to be republished out of
respect for victims of the Nazis and to prevent
incitement of hatred.
But "Mein Kampf" -- which means "My Struggle"
-- fell into the public domain on January 1 and
the institute said it feared a version without
critical commentary could hit the market.
Partly autobiographical, "Mein Kampf" outlines
Hitler's ideology that formed the basis for
Nazism. He wrote it in 1924 while he was
imprisoned in Bavaria for treason after his failed
Beer Hall Putsch.
The book set out two ideas that he put into
practice as Germany's leader going into World
War II: annexing neighbouring countries to gain
"Lebensraum", or "living space", for Germans,
and his hatred of Jews, which led to the
Holocaust.
Some 12.4 million copies were published in
Germany and from 1936, the Nazi state gave a
copy to all newlyweds as a wedding gift.
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