Amanda Latouche

Ms. Rochman
English 12
5th January 2015
The Banning of Mein Kampf
Have you read a book that had offensive and vulgar language or even contained inappropriate
images? If so, then this book could possibly be included on the endless list of books that have been
banned over the years. A book can be banned or challenged by an enraged parent, local library, or even
an entire country. The book Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler is an example among many books that have
also been banned. Within the text of Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler expresses his Nazi philosophy, hints
towards the occurrence of the holocaust and vents his ultimate hatred of Jews. Mein Kampf has been
banned since 1945 after the event of World War ll. Due to, Anti-Semitism inappropriate language and
out of respect for holocaust victims the countries of Germany, Czech Republic and Russia have all
banned the book Mein Kampf by Adolf Hilter; however currently there is debate if all countries will
have access to the book because in the year of 2015 the ban could possibly be lifted.
Hitler wrote this work while he was imprisoned in Germany. Germany banned Mein Kampf for
several reasons such several reasons such as its vulgar language, non-sensitivity towards Jewish
individuals and bad memories of the countrys history regarding the holocaust. In Mein Kampf, Hitler
references Jews as:
parasites, liars, dirty, crafty, sly, wily, clever, without any true culture, a sponger, a middleman,
a maggot, eternal blood suckers, repulsive, unscrupulous, monsters, foreign, menace,
bloodthirsty, avaricious, the destroyer of Aryan humanity, and the mortal enemy of Aryan
humanity (Hitler).

This passage showcases his opinion of Jews and features offensive language towards the Jewish
culture, which ultimately led to the book first being banned in Germany. This statement is one of many

derogatory statements that are within the text of Mein Kampf. Germany believed this book was
detrimental to there core values and threatened the integrity that they withhold for the citizens of the
country especially for those who are Jewish.
Dieter Gruaumann, the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, stated, I do very well
without the publishing of Mein Kampf. This is forbidden and good(Birnbaum). However, even though
Mein Kampf is currently banned in Germany, in a matter of months that could all change. In the year of
2015, 70 years after the banning of Mein Kampf, the book could possibly be released to the public. The
possibility of Mein Kampf being released is causing a huge uproar within the Jewish community in
Germany so, the Bavarias Justice Minister Winifred Bausback released a statement. In this statement
he said, we owe it to the victims of the holocaust and their relatives to do everything we can to prevent
the duplication and distribution of this ideological inflammatory text(Schachtel). Jewish individuals
that reside in Germany have fear of what Mein Kampf contains and know that if it is released, it will
bring back the painful memories of the holocaust, which is a memory that they have been able to keep
suppressed. The releasement of the book could not only bring back memories but also anyone could
republish the book a quality publisher, a mass market pulp house and even be placed in the wrong
hands of a Neo-Nazi group. Luckily, at this point in time there is still debate on the topic. The new
releasement of the book is yet to be confirmed. The final verdict will be decided by the end of 2015.
In addition to Germany, Russia also banned Hitlers work. Russia bans all books that are written
by Nazi leaders and Mein Kampf is included in this group of books that are banned. It is believed that
Mein Kampf possesses the qualities of promoting extremism due to its advocation of German
supremacy. Not only in Russia but also in Europe, researchers are finding that there is a rise of NeoNazi and racist parties that attempt to recreate genocidal movements of the past. Russia took note on

these movements and deemed Mein Kampf inappropriate for the country as is gave fuel to increase
racial discrimination and Nazism. Russia also banned Mein Kampf in order to fight the growing
number of Nazi sympathizers. However, there is an incredible flaw to the banning of this book within
Russia. Even though Mein Kampf is banned in most bookstores and libraries, Mein Kampf was still
circulating for many years. Mein Kampf can still be found at underground bookstores and is readily
available on Russian Internet servers, which anyone in the country has access to.
Similarly to Russia, Czech Republic has created a law that it is a criminal offense to distribute
Nazi and Communist ideology. Therefore, since Mein Kampf blatantly promotes extremism and
Nazism, it violates this law and has been banned in the country. However, one individual by the name
of Michal Ztko thought he could be an exception to this law. He willing took a leap faith to attempt
and republish a Czech edition of Mein Kampf. However, Germany holds the copyright of the book so
any other individual or publishing company that takes it upon themselves to republish the book can
face serious consequences. Czech politicians and officials have decided to condemn Michal Zito for the
republication of Mein Kampf. The social democratic MP and Chair of the Czech Parliament's Legal and
Constitutional Committee released an announcement stating, a publication of Mein Kampf in Czech
was absolutely unsuitable and incorrect". The Czech Republic was completely shocked that Zito would
republish Mein Kampf. The Czech edition of this book threatens the countrys wish for optimal
democracy for the citizens. In addition, Zitko completely embarrassed the country for republishing a
book that was banned in several other countries and even took it to the extreme of even violating the
copyright of Germany.
Even though many citizens of the following countries share the same views towards the
permanent banning of Mein Kampf others have opposing views and feel as though the ban on Mein

Kampf should be lifted allowing individuals to have access to the book. A professor of Modern History
at Free University of Berlin claims, maybe it was necessary once but now its over, it makes no sense.
You can find it so easily (Culik). Mein Kampf can be accessed easily in many other countries such as
the United States, Canada and Denmark in libraries and even on the Internet. Scholars believe the
release of Mein Kampf would educate many individuals on the holocaust and give insight to Hitlers
motives behind the holocaust and killing of over six million Jews. In the countries of Syria and
Lebanon, Mein Kampf is widely distributed and in Turkey it is even a best seller. The Palestine
Authority and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un use Mein Kampf to instill leadership skills in their
officials because, in Mein Kampf, Hitler expresses German supremacy and world domination. Mein
Kampf is used for an array for different reasons and it is unenviable to completely stop circulation of
this work due to the fact that it can be easily republished and has thousands of copies already released.
Mein Kampf still remains banned in Germany, Russia and Czech Republic, however, this ban
could possibly be lifted in 2015. Due to how inappropriate and offensive the language of Mein Kampf
is country officials and politicians believed it was wrong for their country to support a work as such.
The Jewish communities in these countries advocated for the book remaining banned because they
didnt want painful memories of The Holocaust to resurface. The book was controversial because it
provided so much discrimination and hatred towards all non-Aryan races. Within this work, Hitler
aggravated countries that were involved in The Holocaust, survivors of The Holocaust and Jewish
individuals in general. But, even though he may have aggravated some people, scholars believe Mein
Kampf could be put to good use for academic purposes and many other countries could use Mein
Kampf in order to advance there leadership skills. Mein Kampf is even a best seller in several other
countries. In Germany, there is still a debate on if at the end of 2015 Mein Kampf will be released. The

Jewish still hope that Mein Kampf will be forbidden and completely eradicated from existence, but they
wont find out until 2015. Overall, in the three countries, the book was banned due to promoting Nazi
Ideology, Anti-Semitism and derogatory language

In all honestly, I believe that in the year of 2015 Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler should be released. I do
admit that Hitlers language in the book was extremely offensive and inappropriate towards Jewish
individuals but the Holocaust was a event in history that occurred and is now over. It has come time to
move on. There has been ample time for the scars of the holocaust to heal. The book should be released
in order to diminish all power that it still possesses due to the fact that it is still somewhat relevant.
Releasing this book would be a great advancement for academic purposes informing people about the
holocaust: Hitlers motives and ideas behind it. Furthermore, the banning of the book is no longer
necessary to the simple fact that is available on the Internet. Therefore, in the year of the 2015 I believe
the final verdict should be that everyone should have access to the book.

Works Citied

Birnbaum, Micheal. "In Germany, Attitudes towards Mein Kampf Slowly Changing." The Washington
Post, 27 Jan. 2012. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
Culik, Jan. "Hitlers Mein Kampf in Czech." Central Europe Review, 27 Mar. 2000. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
Ferrer, Richard. "Mein Kampf, Entering the Public Domain Must Be Put in Its Place." The Algemeiner.
4 Sept. 2014. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
Hitler, Adolf, and Ralph Manheim. Mein Kampf,. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1943. Print.
Range, Peter. "Should Germans Ban Mein Kampf." The New York Times, 7 July 2014. Web. 11 Dec.
2014.
"Russia Ban Mein Kampf over Fear It Is Promoting Rise in Nazi Sympathizers." Dailymail, 29 Mar.
2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
Sautter, Ursula. "Should Mein Kampf Be Un-Banned." TIME, 13 Aug. 2008. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
Schachtel, Jordan. "Germany Debates Lifting Mein Kampf Ban." Briet Bart, 26 June 2014. Web. 11
Dec. 2014.

PAGE
PAGE 2
Latouche