What to do with Mein Kampf?!

[Bannedcontent]

My late DF was a history buff and after he died we gave a lot of his books to charity but kept a few.

Among them was an English translation of Mein Kampf. It’s a first edition from 1939.

I held on to it as a historic artefact but would now like to move it on.

I can’t sell it on Amazon or eBay as it’s banned.

So the question is: do I bin it? (YABU)
Do I donate it to a library or something? (YANBU) Where?!

It's puzzling, we ban books that advocate violence ect, yet freely sell various other e.g. Music album's that showcase or glamourise violence ect.

Donate to Imperial War Museum or a university history department.

I wouldn't advise selling to a personal collector...I suspect there are some very dodgy individuals out there who collect this stuff.

I worked at the IWM and we were very, very careful about who had access to this kind of thing - only bona fide students and researchers. While they need to be in museums and archives, I would be very worried about anyone who wanted to own such a thing. I always think: these things have been in the presence of evil...and wouldn't want it in my home.

Sorry for being nosey but what books do you own?

Sell it, make some money

Well I’m glad you just contributed @DrowsyDragon @carefullycourageous @IAmAWomanNotACis I was beginning to think I was going a bit loopy there, reading all these bizarre comments recommending ways to sell and profit off a core Nazi text and acting as though every old copy of Mein Kampf was a sacred artefact and to throw it in the bin like an old Anne Rice novel would be some kind of sacrilege or crime against historical enquiry 😂

It's interesting the concept that because the OP has ended up with a physical copy of a highly controversial book they don't want, they are unable to dispose of it in case they are then compared to Nazis.
I liked the compost bin idea - at the end of the day your copy is just paper and glue. Let it go. The book is out there, you're not personally erasing history by disposing of something you don't want, nor wish to pass on.
Incidentally for most of my life, I believed I my unknown grandfather was a Nazi.
It certainly puts an interesting slant on discussions around immigration, British values and heritage.
(As it turns out I have Irish heritage on my DF's side, which still puts an interesting slant)

I'm going to guess we might be the few people who actually currently work in Uni Libraries/Antiquarian Books/ Museums/Archives. Not everything is an artefact and can or should be preserved and as for making money off Nazi memorabilia, blech. I am instinctively suspicious of private collectors of Nazi stuff. Plenty is in museums for the historical record, and it certainly doesn't stop deniers and, as I have said, unless there is a unique feature, this is just a copy of an old bad book. And as a UK book, there's almost certainly already the legal deposit copy in the BL or one of the other five legal deposit/copyright libraries.

Surely a university would love this? We had to study it at Uni (languages, history and politics degree.)

Some of the comments on here... wow. Its historically an important book we shouldn't just cancel it because its uncomfortable..for history students its actually one of the best primary sources we have access to and gives and understanding into what happened and why.
I had to read extracts for history and my only take away was that it was really boring and a bit of a slog.
I think u shud see if any museum would be interested in it.

It seems like nowadays many people think that if you engage with something and give it headspace, you approve of it and agree with it, or its author.

So you get those idiots who now won't contemplate Harry Potter books because they're scared that people will think they're transphobes.

And no, I'm not directly comparing Harry Potter to Nazism.

And I do share the total distaste for Nazi memorabilia collecting.

Ok, I am not saying don't engage. I am saying there are plenty of copies in Universities for people to engage with, there is no need to preserve this one. Offer to your local uni, a war museum and if they say no, dispose with a clean conscience. Nothign is being cancelled.

Well, that's another point isn't it, not selling this book isn't saving someone from being exposed to it. It is already freely available. No point then in destroying it.

The burn-it crowd is just virtue signaling their disapproval of the Nazis as though that isn't the default position of everyone on this thread. Good grief someone up thread is calling people who disagree Nazi sympathisers ffs. Really the lack of nuance in that kind of thinking is apparent to everyone except them.

I'd like to read it. I'm didn't realise it was banned.

I would try and donate to a museum or educational facility. An organisation that will be responsible in owning it and passing it on if the need arises. I wouldn’t donate or sell to a private collector in case I inadvertently gave it to an actual Nazi who collects memorabilia, rather than a history buff. I suspect they tend to disguise their real reasons for wanting this stuff when buying it.

Failing that, I’d probably compost it.

What if there's an order from the wrong sort of government that all universities and museums must destroy their copies?
What reference is there then if they then start misrepresenting the text?

It's not unheard in history for texts to be 'standardised' so that they represent what discourse those in power wish to set. And for that to lead to human rights abuses and persecution. The Bible is one of those texts, not just in the books included, but the wording and translations. People both in favour of Christianity in its various forms and against it all have misused it throughout history in that way; it's absolutely possible for a malevolent authority to come into power and seek to restrict access and then rewrite the thing to suit their purposes, along the lines of 'he said he wanted a homeland for those that didn't share the same values, there's no way that meant systematic murder of millions, as extermination isn't mentioned anywhere in our official copy'.

All you need is a populist candidate in difficult times where, for example, their father's involvement with some sort of Klan is glossed over and their actual membership of or sympathy with even more vile organisations is kept quiet.

It's not banned.

The burn-it crowd is just virtue signaling their disapproval of the Nazis as though that isn't the default position of everyone on this thread. Good grief someone up thread is calling people who disagree Nazi sympathisers ffs. Really the lack of nuance in that kind of thinking is apparent to everyone except them.

This is exactly it! Thank you for articulating what I couldn't @Raquelos

probably many of those copies around...if valuable...sell it...donate some money and spend rest on a night out....we found some interesting nazi stamps and coins and a hitler youth vest while clearing out late gm house...she used to run a hotel and had many american and polish and czech soldiers stay....they gave the bits to her....we sold the lot on ebay as allowed then....donated some money to IWM and had a good night out.

It isn't banned, you can buy it on AMazon!!

If you want to read it you should, there is nothing more likely to make you realise the mediocrity of Hitler as a thinker. It is just a badly written rant.

I think I would burn it or recycle it just because I wouldn't know what to do with it and it is not a rare book, it is a well-known and widely available book, that I wouldn't want to keep and I wouldn't feel comfortable advertising to sell.

Book auctioneers -
www.dominicwinter.co.uk/

Keep it! Definitely don’t burn it as some suggested.

Museum person here. Museums (properly accredited ones) have strict acquisition policies which list what they are and aren’t allowed to collect. They aren’t usually allowed to duplicate items in the collection (there are exceptions), the condition and care needed are taken into account, and they also have to fit the museum’s remit which may be geographical, linked to a particular period etc. Most museums need to put new acquisitions to a board of trustees or a committee of some sort, which can take some time, and yes, we regularly need to reject things for various reasons. If a museum can’t take something, they may be able to suggest somewhere else that can, and the Museums Association has a page where items are offered to other museums.

I can't imagine which university or museum would actually want it? If they want a copy for historical reasons there are more than likely to have one already.

I work in a charity shop and it is very clearly listed as something we are not allowed to sell.