German historical society to publish annotated edition of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf

Hitler’s 1925 autobiography outlines anti-Semitic beliefs and military plans
Rights were passed to the state of Bavaria following his death in 1945
Under German law copyright expires 70 years after the author’s death
New edition will contain comments from researchers as well as original text
Authorities had previously insisted it would be illegal to publish the book
Bavarian justice ministry said exception could be made annotated copies

Daniel Miller for MailOnline

Published:
17:27 GMT, 20 February 2015

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Updated:
20:25 GMT, 20 February 2015

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A German historical society is set to publish an annotated edition of Hitler’s autobiography Mein Kampf after its copyright runs out later this year.

The Munich Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ) will publish a two-volume edition of the book in which the Nazi leader outlines his anti-Semitic beliefs and plans for world domination.

The new volume will consist of 2,000 pages however just 780 of these will contain Hitler’s original text while the rest will be filled by comments from researchers as well as an introduction and index.

A German historical society is to publish an annotated edition of Hitler’s autobiography Mien Kampf after the copyright runs out later this year

First published in 1925, the rights to Mein Kampf, which means My Struggle, were passed from the Nazis Franz-Eher Publishing House to the state of Bavaria following Hitler’s death on April 30, 1945.

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Under German law copyright expires 70 years after the author’s death.

Bavarian authorities have previously insisted that it would be illegal for anyone to publish the book under German law banning the spreading of Nazi ideology.

Dieter Graumann, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said last year that he was strongly opposed to the book going on sale.

Bavarian authorities have previously insisted that it would be illegal for anyone to publish the book under German law banning the spreading of Nazi ideology

He told a news website: ‘The very thought of a new publication of Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ is more than disgusting and goes against all my beliefs to fight neo-fascism and right-wing extremism.

‘This book was and will remain a pure anti-Semitic work of irrational hatred that should be forbidden for evermore.

‘It is an abhorrent pamphlet full of incitement of the Jewish people and it brutally hurts the feelings of the Shoa-survivors.’

Justice ministers representing all German states have previously ruled that anyone publishing non-annotated copies of Mien Kampf would face a prosecution for incitement to hatred, they said.

Although no statement was given on legality of annotated copies a spokeswoman for the Bavarian justice ministry said such a work should be legal under certain conditions.

IfZ deputy director Andreas Wirsching said last year that ‘what we are publishing here is an anti-Hitler text’.