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?!

Haha yeah those book collectors are SO edgy!! It's living with the minute to minute possibily of paper cuts you know!! 😂
Get a grip!!

Just sell it to a book dealer. It's not hard.

Donate it to a museum honestly, don't you think any museum that actually wanted a copy for it's archives would already have one. I work for a charity shop are - we forbidden from selling copies or even 'recycling' (you wouldn't know where it ends up), so we would destroy.

And what ridiculous comments about never 'destroying' any book ... how many copies of '50 Shades of Grey' (for example) does the world need?

@Raquelos except I wasn’t talking about book collectors, was I? I’ll go get a grip, you go get a coffee and see if you wake up.

Couple of, frankly, idiots, advocating for the trade of neo nazi memorabilia on here, misinterpreting what I’m saying so they can satisfy their need to have a dig at someone before 9am… is what I call not entering a discussion in good faith.
Read the PP who detailed how they lost family members during WWII and go feel good about yourselves anyway

Worked in counterextremism for a long time. Bin it, burn it, or turn it over to a museum (if it’s a first edition, otherwise see options 1 and 2). If you sell it the most likely collector in the market is going to be - guess what - a neonazi fanboy. Trust me, they absolutely love this shite.

It’s honestly abhorrent you would consider trying to make money off this book.

Mein Kampf was on my University reading list. I bought a copy from the Uni Bookshop

If it’s a first edition, it’ll be worth something. Take it to an auction house, sell it, donate money to charity to offset guilt.

Contact the Wiener Holocaust Library and ask if they would accept it; if not I’d seriously consider disposing of it.

Jewish charities will likely not want the proceeds from its sale amp.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jun/18/books.humanities

Why should IP destroy, or even have to donate the money? I am assuming OP isn't a Nazi!

There’s so many people enjoying a good screech without engaging their brains

Seems fair enough.

I expect it's a Nazi school where neo Nazis can send their kids.

Or maybe European Fascism is on the curriculum?

Why does you having worked in counter extremism mean that the op should bin or burn the book? Clearly other people also own a copy of the book who are not neo nazi fanboys. Did you think adding a job you once worked in would add more legitimacy to what is essentially just your personal opinion about what people should or should not be allowed to read?

OP you might be interested in Mein Kampf's translation history, it's a pretty interesting story. At least one version (though not your 1939 one[ was commissioned as anti-Nazi propaganda.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mein_Kampf_in_English

Most museums are not large, well-funded operations, most largely rely on donations so it's perfectly possible that a museum doesn't have a first edition copy of this book. Equally the OP's copy might be in a better condition than their current one. The point is, offer it to a museum and see what the response is. Let them decide whether they want it. It's not like donating a double decker bus to a transport museum, a single copy of a book can easily have room found for it in the archive if it's not going on display.

Comparing "50 Shades of Grey" to "Mein Kampf" isn't really relevant. If it turns out that the author of "50 Shades of Grey" is one of the most evil people in history and tries to wipe an entire race off the face of the planet, then perhaps in 80 years first edition copies might be worth a museum getting hold of. But you're comparing a widely available, in print piece of of trash, to a historically significant, out of print one. The only similarity is that they are both awful.

It's not out of print. This particular edition will be but it is available, usually with critical analysis and framing which is a preferably way for students to engage with the text for a variety of reasons

I work in a bookshop, and we usually have a copy of Mein Kampf on the shelves. As would most branches of Blackwells, Waterstones, the odd Smiths and independents. We don’t sell it very often, but it’s almost always people with a reading list (I.e. students) buying it.

We also sell translations of the bible, the koran, The Satanic Verses, The God Delusion, Blair’s autobiography (which at one time was regularly moved to the ‘True Crime’ section by persistent visitors!), Charles Bronson’s book …

And … and … the most controversial book of recent memory - ‘Trans’ by Helen Joyce 😲 Shock, horror, bookshops sell controversial books, hurrah for free speech, long may it last!

[awaits cancellation]

Owning a vintage copy of Mein Kampf is not going to make them any more Nazi. With any luck, they might even read it and find out how unimpressive their hero was. Either way, no actual extra harm happens to anyone by selling the book, so chucking it is quite a sacrifice to make for a very uncertain benefit.

Sacrifice 😂
Lord almighty…
Love how many people on here really think Neo-Nazis may actually be put off Hitler by owning or reading Mein Kampf. Are people really so clueless about extremism? Naivety at its most embarrassing finest.
This thread is really disconcerting. The ignorance and naivety around the reach, extent and influence of Neo-Nazism and it’s dangers is staggering.

Yes, throwing £150 (or whatever it turns out to be worth) in the recycling bin is quite a sacrifice for many people. Perhaps you're wealthy enough that that's nothing to you. But even if you're not, it's easy enough to throw other people's money at your principles, more difficult when it's your own.

Lots of us would think twice, or even several times, about giving up that kind of money on the reasoning that there's a small chance that the person who buys it might be a neo-Nazi, and that a neo-Nazi owning such a thing might do some kind of tangible harm. (Like what?)

The bit about Mein Kampf's crapness maybe changing a neo-Nazi's mind was an obvious joke at the expense of Hitler 🙄 Though I suppose joking isn't allowed any more, even if you're mocking Hitler (something of which there's a tradition going back to the war).

At the end of the day, it's a slightly valuable old book. OP is not responsible if someone who buys it does something weird with it.

It's a book that is easily and cheaply available! Don't you think if someone really wanted to read it they would? No point in OP throwing cash away.

blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Mein-Kampf-by-Adolf-Hitler/9780712652544

you can buy it.

Well seeing as it's easy to pick up a copy off the shelf anyway, then the advice to bin or burn it isn't the best advice as absolutely anyone can get themselves a copy if they wish. Nice to see that there is still some freedom to read what we want, despite the authoritarians trying to dictate otherwise. I think I'll get myself one. I would sell it and get the money for it op.

Currently work in it. Far right extremism is by far the biggest threat the country and the West more generally faces in terrorism terms atm. Not suggesting no one should read it. I have, it’s dross, and with proper context historically useful to see how easily people can be manipulated by far-right firebrands with confused (not confusing, confused) and incoherent messaging. There’s much more coherent, pernicious and scary manifestos out there, all freely available online.

My problem is with OP trying to make money off it, and the incredible nativity of many people on this thread - y‘know, the kind of person whose tag on MN is ‘freedomfighters’, who probably thinks they’re edgy because they didn’t wear a mask during lockdown.

You don't seem equipped with the skills to work in any high level post in counter extremism. Full of false assumptions and personal opinions. No substance behind it.