Word: kampf
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Then there's the case of Hitler's own writings. Since the end of World War II, Bavaria has blocked reprints of Hitler's autobiography, Mein Kampf. The southern state, which owns the copyright, says the ban is the only way to keep the book from being misused by the far right. But some German historians argue that scholarly editions of the book should be legally publishable. "Mein Kampf is a key work about the Nazis' rise to power and an important source of information about the Third Reich," says Horst Möller, a professor at Munich's Institute...
Further muddying the issue is the fact that the Munich Institute has already published a scholarly edition of the diaries of Joseph Goebbels. Why ban a scholarly edition of Mein Kampf when the Nazi propaganda boss's diaries are available, asks Möller. In the hope that Bavaria might one day lift the ban, the Institute is preparing an edition of Hitler's book. Meanwhile, Germany's Central Council of Jews has said it backs the publication of an edition that would take a critical look at Nazism...
Thanks to the Internet, of course, anybody interested in reading Mein Kampf can just order a copy. And there are other ways of getting around the laws. When Broadway hit The Producers - in which two theatrical producers attempt to oversell financial stakes in a surefire flop about Nazi Germany - opened in Berlin earlier this year, it sidestepped the swastika ban by using stylized pretzels instead. For some Germans, the inventive solution - adhering to the law while winking at it - was further proof that attitudes to the past are changing. (Read: "Showtime for Hitler: The Producers Comes to Berlin...
Another argument for keeping the laws is that they serve as a sign of respect for Holocaust victims, allowing survivors in Germany to live their lives without having to confront Nazi symbols or reprints of Mein Kampf. Some Germans are also still uneasy about simply lifting the anti-Nazi laws and moving on - not just because of lingering guilt, but because of the resurgence of far-right groups and political parties. "We need to keep the current strict anti-Nazi laws to protect people and their basic rights," says Hajo Funke, professor of political science at Berlin's Free University...
Attorney GERARD SPONG, after a Dutch court indicted right-wing politician Geert Wilders for inciting violence and discrimination with his film that likened the Koran to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf...