A New Critical Edition of Mein Kampf?

Under an antiquated law, it is illegal to print Mein Kampf in Germany.  After the war, the Allied Forces granted the copyright of the book to the Bavarian Finance Ministry, which has prevented the printing of the book.  Now, of course, this looks silly, since any German kid can download the entire Mein Kampf in multiple languages on his home computer. 

Now The Documentation Center at the former Nazi party grounds in Nuremberg has appealed to the State of Bavaria for permission to print an annotated edition of Hitler’s book. The Munich Institute of Contemporary History would likely be
commissioned to publish the volume, which could take several years to
complete. Time is of the essence, since the copyright expires in 2015, after which anyone – including right-wing extremist organizations – could print the book.  Thus far, Bavarian state minister Guenther Beckstein has signaled he will NOT grant permission for a new critical edition of Mein Kampf.  It is just too dangerous in view of the resurgent neo-Nazi groups, especially in the eastern German states.

Beckstein’s attitude doesn’t sit well with Matthias Brodkorb, a blogger writing on the anti-Nazi blog Störungsmelder:  "Ich möchte nicht durch Günther Beckstein vor Adolf Hitler beschützt werden." (I don’t want Guenther Beckstein to protect me from Adolf Hitler.) In his blog post, Brodkorb tells the story of how a student at his high school brought in a leather-bound edition of Mein Kampf (probably something his grandparents had on their bookshelves). The students were thrilled with appearance of this taboo object in their classroom.

Was würde eigentlich passieren, wenn Sie Hitler im Buchhandel kaufen
könnten? Tja, dann wäre es vorbei mit diesem Reiz des ja nur angeblich
Verbotenen. (What would happen if they could buy Hitler in any bookstore? Well, then the thrill of the "forbidden" would vanish.)

Even though Beckstein is wrong in his attempt to suppress Mein Kampf, I can find some sympathy for his point of view.  The events on May 1 in Hamburg show that neo-Nazi violence is a real threat. The neo-Nazi Web site Altermedia is jubilant about the "civil war-like conditions" in Hamburg, has photos of neo-Nazis attacking journalists.  Would these thugs be influenced one way or another by a critical edition of Mein Kampf? Sadly, no.  There are plenty of outlets for unfiltered fascist propaganda.