I read Mein Kampf when I was in High School (which wasnt in the city I live now). Personally I thought it was an interesting read.

2 months ago I decided to buy it, but it turns out not a single book store here will sell it. I dont really understand why. I mean they sell all the murder mystery books, and books about terrorists, whats the difference between those and this book. I should hope that by this day in age, someone should be able to read that book for its history and not because they want to believe in it.

Anyways I got the book today from a second hand bookshop that I had been on a waiting list for all this time.


Anyways I just dont get, why book stores would have such a problem with this book?

um...you never mentioned what was in the book....

Because they're the kind of annoying politically correct morons who won't sell Satanic Verses.

I tried to read Mein Kampf (my school library had it) but DAMN is it ever boring. He didn't write it, he dictated it, and he rambles on and on and ON. I really couldn't read it.

It's Hitler's autobiography/manifesto/mission statement/poorly-written piece of crap.

I really would like to read it, but my history teacher in school tried to talk us all out of it, she said it was a very tedious read. One day I think I will read it though, if I can find a copy in a book shop that is.

Your history teacher is right. I wouldn't really bother.

Mein Kampf is not only not for sale in Germany, possession of it is illegal. Same with any Nazi literature or imagery, like swastikas. Also making the Sieg Heil gesture in public is illegal.

Ah.

Really, I didnt think it was that boring. Granted I love history, and like knowing the cause to the action. But I though it was very interesting in comparison to what I was told about Hitler.

Most teachers make Hitler out to be some ragging lunatic. Which is not true. Sure by most people standards (along with mine) the things he did were horrible. But the book really shows that rather then being the psychopath people have made him out to be, he is a sociopath.

Dont take this the wrong way. Hitler was a horrible man, that did awfull things. But he was also a genius of manipulation.

It is not poorly written. And I wouldn't exactly call it an autobiography. It more or less a book that hitler dictated just before he came to power. It contains some of his ideas. But also his veiws of the world.

The books isnt just some thousand pages about hating jewish people. In fact I think his racial veiws take up maybe 3 or 4 pages. I think its a very good history book for understanding how and why hitler came to power.

That'd be interesting, but it sounds boring from everyone else's point of view. I don't know why they have any reason to ban it *shrug*

well think bout it ... you know what governments and the media can be like about something as stupid as a song lyric by marilyn manson ... how much worse would they be if impressionable teens had access to the persobnal ramblings of a genocidal psycho/sociopath?

personally i think the book should be more available ... either you have it in you to do that or not ... the book wont make a difference ... if youre that kinda person itll happen eventually anyways ...

If you're trying to get hold of it - Amazon's probably a good bet.

that book WOULD be an interesting read, now that i know about it. dun get me wrong, i dun think nethin that hitler did was 'right'. but it's always interesting to get into the mind of the man behind it all (well, 'behind it all' in nazi germany that is)

Exactly what I think on the subject, Porce.

I think a very important thing about history is we should be able to learn from it and prevent bad things from happening in the future. And I'd imagine that Mein Kampf would provide insight into how Hitler came into power. But then, I'm against banning any literature. I have a lovely bookmark that says "Free people read freely: Celebrate Banned Books Week"

(PS: Ooh I didn't know that the possession of such things was illegal in Germany. A friend of mine from Langdenfeld (err I think that's how it's spelled) read Mein Kampf...the little lawbreaker!)

I read that!!! How can anyone just decide NOT to sell that book? It's a piece of history, taken from the mind of an evil-genius - - we can't erase all the negative points in history.

For some reason bookstores and governments and such get it into their puny little heads that by letting people read boring literature that doesn't make much sense (I read bits of Mein Kampf ages ago - my lasting impression was of a rambling, incompetent, incoherent writer), they will somehow open the floodgates of evilness. This is of course nonsense, as the book would bore the pants off of even the most avid neo-Nazi.
Also, the government likes to keep up the pretence that Hitler was insane, when in fact he was quite sane... horribly sane. The kind of cold, calculating sane that lets you murder millions.

I know. It's a bugger to get your hands on any bok written by any german between 1910-50. I tried to get the book "Metropolis" (german expressionist film) was based on, but no one sold it. I discovered, later, that this was because the author was a Nazi.

I'd like to read Mein Kampf, just to irritate people.

But can I pose a retorical question?

"Does reading a book written by a nazi make me a nazi?"

According to a lot of people, that is the case. But how can one discover how bad a person was without being allowed to study them?

No, reading a book by a Nazi does not make you a Nazi. I've read books by socialist and I am definately NOT a socialist. I've read stuff by violent uprisers and, though I believe that a violent uprising against the government is inevitable, I'm a pacifist.

heh, it shouldnt be sold for the same reason most books dont get published in the first place - its utter drivvel, nonsesical to a fault and boring as hell... i read half of it before i gave the thing to an oxfam shop in the middle of a bundle of other books >.<

^.^

If so, I'm a communist, a capitalist, a fascist, an anarchist, a Satanist, a Wiccan, a Christian, a Jew, a Hindu and a Muslim.

Bloody hell.

hehehe. see my point? Or at least a poor attemp to get a few laughs.

You make a good point, Bluey.

Dude,I've read this book!Mr History Teacher (who is a complete stoner and the biggest dude i know) lent me his copy!his personal copy-lol tut tut i have a forbidden book!

Someone said that it's a federal offence in America if you have a personal copy of Kennedy's assasination (u know,like one u videoed(<-----spelt that wrong!) on the day) but i watched it once-yum gory stuff.

By illegalising something are we preventing it from occuring - eg Nazism in Germany?

No - it has just been driven underground.
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Flip side
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If we do not censor extremism and hatred then what is there to protect our society (especially the young and impressionable) from (what can be persuasive but are ultimately) wrong ideologies?

Mein Kampf is more than just a collections of twisted drivellings. It is significant. It is a focus that draws out a very specific kind of hatred that seeks out such focal points. Maybe it should be available - and marketed as a really dull read.

If Ayotollah Kohmeni had denounced the Satanic Verses as being really quite boring, then perhaps Salman Rushdie's sales wouldn't have soared quite so high...

One of the best ways to get to know your enemies/opponents/opposing points of view is to read about it firsthand. I find it most interesting to read things I disagree with, because it helps me to further develop my own opinion on the subject. It goes with the saying, "know your enemy." If you're not familiar with the opponents' arguments or methods, then you'll never "win" against them in a battle of wits or of tactics or anything else. You have to know where your opponent is coming from in order to know which arguments/methods/etc. will prove effective or convincing.