Mein Kampf: Eine Kritische Edition review – taking the sting out of Hitler’s hateful book

It is entirely appropriate to republish the Nazi leader’s autobiography – now out of copyright – in this scholarly new edition. The text, which still provokes fear, needs to be treated as history

How do you solve a problem like Mein Kampf? Since 1945 the solution in Germany has been to prevent the printing of it. The presence of millions of legacy copies, combined with the liberty of the internet, meant that this unofficial ban was always imperfect. The symbolic nature of the book, however, meant that it was both understandable and, for a long time, entirely appropriate.

Yet the banning of the book also served to foster a myth – the myth that Mein Kampf carried a uniquely toxic message, conveyed in uniquely toxic language that could be quarantined off after 1945 and rendered harmless. Now, 70 years after Hitler’s death, the copyright that prevented its publication has expired and Germans have had to think hard about how to handle the prospect of its renewed availability. But 70 years of careful scholarship on Nazi Germany have also destroyed the myth that Mein Kampf can be isolated in this way. Rather, it has to be read as having been firmly anchored in the political, cultural and intellectual currents of its day. Neither Hitler nor his ugly ideas came from outside history – to the contrary, they were a product of it. Hitler can only be understood, it follows, if he is read as an author like any other.

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