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?!

Dark things always fascinated people. Sometimes purely for gruesomnes, sometimes from the "how the heck did it come to this" angle. Person doesn't have to be a creep to be very interested in dark history of the world. It is sometimes fascinating if you think about it. But each to their own. It's like with anything, some like this and some like that.

No book should be destroyed simply because people don't agree with it. You cannot change ideas and minds unless you understand the arguments being put. Checking on line selling Mein Kampf is not banned, although some sellers might individually make such a decision - wrongly in my opinion. To suggest banning or destroying a book makes one no better than the Nazi's, or than those who burned and advocated the banning of Satanic Verses. Having read both, I can confidently say that neither were worth reading - but I don't have a right to condemn what I have not read. When we police thoughts though, no matter how much we may disagree with them, we are on a slippery slope. Where is the line drawn? Who draws it? And what happens when we are on the wrong side of it?

I’d try local universities and relevant museums.

Please don’t contact a shul - don’t ask Jewish people to do the labour of dealing with this.

Please don’t bin it. Offer it to your local University, or a museum.

Don't bin it. Sell it or donate it to a museum. We really don't need to go round destroying historical items. They are of interest to some people. Although by all accounts the book is actually quite boring. But don't destroy it.

I don't think it's "like with anything," although I think I understand what you mean.

However, I'm happy to stand by my opinion that fetishize and fantasize about Nazis and Naziism are creeps.

And while not everyone who would want to buy an original edition of the book is a creep (I'm assuming the OP's husband isn't, e.g.), I'd not want the chance of satiating Nazi-fetishizing creeps to be on my conscience, whatever I'd do with the proceeds.

You want to read it out of historical interest or sheer curiosity? Have at it. You want to carefully preserve a first edition and gaze on it with admiration in its place next to your Totenkopf? Creep.

Sell it and donate the proceeds to a relevant charity?
At least some good comes of it.
We shouldn't erase history, all the people saying burn it are being a bit silly

Ugh, "that those who fetishize..." (I shouldn't type without more caffeine)

I am Jewish and very interested in history, I would be interested in it.

Bin it. People who want to read it from a historian POV can do so by going through the right channels. You sell it or give it away it will most likely fall into a Neo-Nazi’s hands for the purpose of idolatry - Nazism is not in the past. It is not just ‘history’.
Presumably if Osama Bin Laden had written a memoir with his ‘profound’ ideas on women’s rights and what to do about people who don’t follow Islam we wouldn’t be selling that willy nilly. It’s irresponsible.

I am astonished by the people saying destroy it / burn it, do they really not realise the irony of taking a position that is identical to that of the Nazis on writings they disapproved of?

It is so important that we preserve our history and learn from it rather than trying to just erase the parts we don't like - that really is the mindset of the terminally stupid.

OP if it is a first edition then it is probably valuable, I agree entirely with those saying find an antiquarian bookshop and ask them its value and how you can sell it on. Good luck

Completely disagree with this. This sort of material SHOULD be preserved and should be able to be accessed in certain circumstances as a historical record of the time.

Burning books is never the answer.

I wouldn't sell it but I would give it to a museum.

Could be an interesting read tbh considering who and what for trained him...

www.wob.com/en-gb/about-rare-books

Might help?

We actually have a German one signed by the head of the local Nazi party given to FIL when he was born. It’s worth quite a lot of money
We won’t ever sell it but it’s part of our family history so we won’t destroy it either. If the person in charge of it ever doesn’t want it they will donate it to a museum

Only in Germany. Some selling platforms eg Amazon, have banned it from their site.

It’s not banned.
It was illegal to own a copy in Austria until quite recently though

English language copies of Mein Kampf are readily available (there are a number of editions currently in print and can be bought from most bookshops and online). So obviously the contents of the book are not a barrier to selling it.
Whether your particular edition has any value or not is down to an antiquarian bookseller to advise you.

I am astonished by the people saying destroy it / burn it, do they really not realise the irony of taking a position that is identical to that of the Nazis on writings they disapproved of?

Its not comparable. Destroying or binning a book that is freely available to read because there are plenty of copies preserved already, along with being digitally immortalised, is not censorship. No one here has said all copies should be burned in a big Nazi style book bonfire.
But if you happen to find one now, in your attic, there really is no reasonable reason to keep it, or give it away or sell it when it has its risks. These books already exist in relevant museums, and are available in libraries.They are not that rare or remotely in danger of being erased from history.
I think surely we can agree that the world only needs a certain amount of actual hard copies of ‘Mein Kampf’.

100% with not binning/burning it.

Germany is one of the most tolerant countries in the world today (it often ranks the #1 most admired in polls, including two conducted by the BBC world service) and the prime reason for that I feel is the Germans are very open and honest about history. Nothing is hidden. There are sign posts where such and such event happened. They have taken their history on board.

Contrast this with the US where they have had a very ‘celebratory’ (whitewashed) version of history in their textbooks (though it is changing in more recent years), thus have never properly confronted or learned from their history of racism and as a result it is still a country riddled in race issues. Eight slave owning, racist presidents, two of whom Washington and Jefferson, took out adverts in the newspaper seeking the return of their escaped slaves as they were “constitutionally theirs” under the Fugitive Slave Act (signed into law by Washington) of the Constitution. The Declaration of ‘independence’ meanwhile dehumanised the natives as “savages”. Since 2021 both the constitution and the declaration now carry warnings for containing racist material. The US anthem (lyrics written by another slave owner, Francis Scott Key) the third verse is removed as it condemned slaves who fought for the British to attain their freedom). White only citizenship 1791 (signed by Washington) is one of many race laws these people came up with. Statues of the individuals mentioned have no place in a tolerant, free society. Keeping them perpetuates intolerance and celebrates subjugation. Removing some of the aforementioned (which has happened) ain’t enough. For over 100 years they had “The Rescue” and “The Discovery of America” statues outside the Capitol building, the former depicting a native “savage” being manhandled by a “brave” civilised white man, the latter a female native “savage” looking up in awe at all conquering Columbus (both were only removed in the 1950s). Storming the Capitol building last year, this wouldn’t have happened in a society that had learned from its past. Had Germany followed the US route of hiding/whitewashing history you’d see similar activity by Germans today.

This contrast is covered by US historian James Whitman in his 2017 book, Hitler's American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law, Princeton University Press.

Donate it to a museum or a verified historian. I wouldn’t bin it - whilst abhorrent, it’s an historical artefact.

To suggest banning or destroying a book makes one no better than the Nazi's

You think that suggesting destroying a (shit, racist) book is equivalent to the genocide and torture of millions of people?

Have a look on bookfinder to see what it's worth.

It’s not banned and very easy to buy all over the internet! It’s a historic book - not rules to live your life by.