One thing I don't understand is why this happened in post WWII Germany. Hitler was a bad guy who led Germany to ruin. Wouldn't going over his book and pointing out its fallacies to future generations be better than banishing it? Or, was Hitler effectively responding to a very real attack on Germany's culture, economy, and sovereignty?
Because it was considered hate literature. Hve you even bothered reading it before posting such a question?
Yes, indeed. And if you HAVE read it, as you say, you shouldn't have needed to even ask the question because the answer is VERY obvious.
The first part of the book is where he voices grievances which may or may not be true but if they are true are legit. The second part is where he seems to get a bit nutty. The answer is not so obvious to me which is why I posed the question. If the answer is obvious to you, please go ahead and knock it down instead of beating around the bush.
I'm not beating around ANY bush and neither am I going to give you a full critique of the book. If you understood what you read, you should be able to clearly see all the anti-Jewish statements and the promotion of his "superior" Aryan "master race." Germany had suffered a total and humiliating defeat for it's part in the war and did not (does not) want to add to it's embarrassment by endorsing the racist ravings of a madman. Surely you are able to understand that.
1. It might be worth studying Mine Kampf as they do here in the US, but Germany was trying not to encourgage the rise of another fascist movement. Complete freedom of the press is ideal, but I think in this case it was a democratic decision. 2. Although Germany was in a financial crisis, in no way could his actions be considered self-defense.
I understand someone lacks premise to support their conclusion. I'm not convinced of anything myself other than knee jerk reactions by other people do not answer the questions I have. If I held the beliefs you do with the understanding you do I would not have asked the question to begin with.
1. I have not really studied it. I just read it when I had some time on my hands. Germany was decimated from the war. Outlawing the book was a good idea if they thought five year old boys and seventyfive year old men would read it and take up arms. The decision was made by the people who set the terms of Germany's surrender. 2. Have you read the first part of the book to understand what his beefs were. I'm not saying what eventually happened was right. I do think the image we have all been fed of a sadistic madman who took over one of the most civilized countries in the world and convinced them to behave atrocisously is blatantly asinine.
Please go away if you have nothing intelligent to contribute. I'm no apologist for the guy but I do ask that those who post on this thread know the subject enough to discuss it in a meaningful way. You're like one of those Republicans who thinks George Bush is Jesus Christ and wants to tell everyone about it.
Why did Germany outlaw Hitler's book? Because a small segment of the population are not capable of reading it without becoming corrupted, in order to save the rest of society they outlaw it, stuff like that happens in U.S too. Besides, after all was said and done the German's themselves must have thought - Look what that SOB did to us. The Germans suffered the most overall, no surprise they would ban it.
Guys, if you can't enter at topic in the History forum and discuss it with a scholarly perspective, go spam Freethoughts or another forum. The question is fair and the answer should be logical and reasoned, not the snide and immature responses posted to date. On the one hand, Mein Kampf (I'm assuming this is the book you're referring to) is just words on a set of pages. Censoring the message itself by a government doesn't change how people feel and can be perceived as just so much politically correct action to appease the victims of WWII and the Holocaust. And perhaps they are deserving of appeasement on many levels. To me, however, I find it akin to outlawing Holocaust denial: sure, Holocaust denialists are nutters and, generally speaking, idiots; however, their idiocy should stand on its own merits and ridicule should be the social weapon of choice to demolish that line of thinking to a miniscule minority. On the other hand, I can see why Germany might outlaw the book (Wolfenstein was a banned game for similar reasons) since it was used as an instrument for hatred, and why take the risk that it might find that same favor with an influential minority that can gain control? It also demonstrates the government's political position on such attrocity and hatred, removing the potential criticism by would-be detractors that might be willing to attempt to make the point that things like Mein Kampf are still tolerated or even encouraged by the Bundesrepublik. Having read much of Mein Kampf, I found it fascinating and telling when Hitler's leadership of Germany is looked at historically. There's also much in it that reveals some of his motivations and hints at divine appointment or purpose in his madness.
In defense of Spidergoat, any person that is almost singlehandedly responsible for the deaths of millions of people (let alone the fact that it was genocide) is at the very least a sociopathic racist. Anyone denying that should have his/her head examined.. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
The reason for banning it was probably because the allies felt that they needed to re-educate the German people and the book would make that difficult. Look what Hitler offered. A justification of anti-semitism. Permission to hate and be violent. A promised return to a mythical Golden age of flaxen haired maidens and healthy children. Folk-song and Wagner. A Triumphant Master Race. Marching, Uniforms. Torchlight Parades. Flags. etc etc. Opposed to this they had Sit down you bad Germans and listen to all the bad things you did.
I'd like put forth something that has not been mentioned yet, but which might have some impact on the topic. The book is, according to German law, not outlawed. That is, in fact, a common misconception. Since 1945 the copyright of "Mein Kampf" belongs to the state of Bavaria and they have not issued any new printings (arguably out of historical reasons). Therefore you can legally buy and sell any prints before 1945 but anything after 1945 is automatically an illegal copy (as it has to be sanctioned by Bavaria, first). So essentially it is all about copyright infringements. Just as a side note, commented editions are also freely available. Thank you for your attention.
Thanks for the replies so far. As far as I know Hitler was among those responsible for the holocost and the misery and death it afflicted on millions of people. That said, if we look at his reasons for being upset before he gained power, and ended up with the death camps, he did seem to have logical arguments for change in Germany. I'm wondering if they threw the baby out with the bathwater when they banned the book, and if that was what they had in mind all along when they banned it.
