Posted on 01/05/2017 9:30:26 AM PST by HLPhat
BERLIN (AFP) – The first reprint of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” in Germany since World War II has proved a surprise bestseller, heading for its sixth print run, its publisher said Tuesday. The Institute of Contemporary History of Munich (IfZ) said around 85,000 copies of the new annotated version of the Nazi leader’s anti-Semitic manifesto had flown off the shelves since its release last January.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
True but Hitler directed his anti-Semitism towards the Jews.
Hitler’s statements on the strength of Islam and the weakness of Christianity showed where he stood on religion.
Current Islamic Jihadists greatly mirror Nazi fascism.
Tell people they can’t have something and it makes them want it more.
It’s probably the Muslims buying it.
Observe how Julius Streicher illustrates the fact that the cultural/human nature of the underlying condition - had been festering for a long time:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3511044/posts?page=38#38
In the LCMS, Luther is quoted profusely in the context of a religious organization whose school curriculum and clergy NEVER addressed what Streicher was referring to.
Having attended LCMS schools from elementary through University - I find that omission disturbingly negligent.
>>Hitler directed his anti-Semitism towards the Jews.
It wasn’t just Hitler - it was a cultural condition that evidently existed for a long time:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3511044/posts?page=38#38
Evidently confiscating the anti-semitic Lutheran text referenced by Julius Streicher didn’t prevent those ideas from being recycled.
The danger of confiscating and banning (or negligently ignoring) books and ideas is that it makes it difficult to educate people about those ideas and contradict/neutralize them; and this is especially true when someone like Martin Luther is quoted routinely - without ever tempering that affirmation and praise in the reality of his other works, written late in life that are hidden from view.
Who will teach the Germans/Muslims/Lutherans how to contradict what no teacher has ever been allowed to read or discuss?
What goes on in the mind of a child who's been indoctrinated to regurgitate every line of Luther's Chatechism - who then discover Luther's other works on the internet?
Personally, I think Mein Kampf and it's inspirational Lutheran literature should've been an open part of the curriculum in Germany, and elsewhere.
And I think Jefferson would agree:
"...who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavoring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world, and through all time;
...
that it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government, for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order; and finally, that truth is great and will prevail if left to herself, that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate, errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them. ""I HAVE SWORN UPON THE ALTAR OF GOD ETERNAL HOSTILITY TO EVERY FORM OF TYRANNY OVER THE MIND OF MAN"--The Virginia Act For Establishing Religious Freedom
--Thomas Jefferson, 1786
The popularity of the ideas therein certainly isn't limited to Germany, or Germans.
They seem to thrive wherever ignorance and submission to the collective is the normal state of affairs.
Thomas Jefferson had some thoughts on how to address that:
"EDUCATE THE COMMON PEOPLE"
“To the contrary, the debate about Hitler’s worldview and his approach to propaganda offered a chance to look at the causes and consequences of totalitarian ideologies, at a time in which authoritarian political views and rightwing slogans are gaining ground.”
Are the annotations in German or in Arabic? Either way, unless the new readers are people trying to understand yet another terrible socialist error, this is cause for concern.
>>unless the new readers are people trying to understand yet another terrible socialist error, this is cause for concern.
This is encouraging:
“It turned out that the fear the publication would promote Hitler’s ideology or even make it socially acceptable and give neo-Nazis a new propaganda platform was totally unfounded,” IfZ director Andreas Wirsching said in a statement.
“To the contrary, the debate about Hitler’s worldview and his approach to propaganda offered a chance to look at the causes and consequences of totalitarian ideologies, at a time in which authoritarian political views and rightwing slogans are gaining ground.”
So where might this search for the causes lead?
Julius Streicher gives us a few bread crumbs to follow from his seat on the witness stand at Nuremberg:
Julius Streicher, (Trial of The Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, 1945, Vol. 12)
[Note, although Streicher had a part in the race laws, Hitler outlined his religious justification for the race laws in his private notes before he came into power.
When asked if there were any other anti-Semitic publications, other than Der Stürmer, published in Germany, Streicher replied:
Anti-Semitic publications have existed in Germany for centuries. A book I had, written by Dr. Martin Luther, was, for instance, confiscated. Dr. Martin Luther would very probably sit in my place in the defendants’ dock today, if this book had been taken into consideration by the Prosecution. In this book The Jews and Their Lies, Dr. Martin Luther writes that the Jews are a serpent’s brood and one should burn down their synagogues and destroy them...
What does this mean?
I read Mein Kampf. It’s a good thing Hitler was such a bad writer; nobody ever got converted to Naziism by reading this snorefest of a book.
It’s interesting where the trail of cultural/inspirational bread crumbs leads:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3511044/posts?page=50#50
Streicher makes an accurate historical observation, and in Mein Kampf Hitler (or Hitler’s ghost writer) calls Luther a great warrior.
Today, children are still indoctrinated to regurgitate Luther on command by religious institutions that continuously quote and praise Luther - while negligently failing to bring to light, discuss, contradict, and neutralize the poison in Luther’s thoughts, late in life, that indicate maybe he’d either lost his mind, his faith, or both.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=martin+luther+the+jews+and+their+lies
I think the Germans on the right track - publish Mein Kampf and allow people to discuss and learn from the errors.
“Those who do not learn from the past ___________ it”
Hess took down Hitler's dictation in his cell. Ghost written? Not the same thing
Hess was Adolf Hitler’s Bill Ayers.
Hess was an insufferable toady probably gay for Hitler. Hitler was a madman. I don’t believe Hess changed a word hitler dictated.
The MSM and the current western mindset has hitler being the most evil man in history. In the twentieth century alone, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, the Turks who killed the Armenians, were as bad or worse than Hitler. But the love of the leftist for left wing murderers has glossed over their murderous crimes. Coming close behind are Castro, Che Guevara and more that I can’t think of at this time.
And Hess didn't take a dump without asking Hitler first, that's why I'm convinced Hitler ordered him to fly to Britain to try to negotiate with the Brits.
That is a belief shared by some that I happen to think is a good possibility.
Hitler liked England. He could have vaporized the troops that escaped at Dunkirk. They were all in a concentrated mass. Hitler made one of the biggest mistake (second only to attacking Russia at the time he did) of the war. he hoped for reconciliation with England to find a way to have them join him in the battle against the Marxists in Russia. Churchill wasn’t buying it.
In the end, Hitler was, as his generals called him behind his back, ‘The Corporal’.
It was primarily von Ribbentrop who hated England, and Hitler knew there was no way von Ribbentrop would go for negotiating with the Brits.
The problem is, Hitler really had no leverage on the Japs, to tell them to call off the dogs on going after the British colonies in Asia. Hitler could have offered to help the Brits keep their Empire in exchange for peace, but he simply couldn’t pull that off.
If you'd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
The article doesn't make clear that this is a 2,000 page annotated version of the 900 or so page original. The annotations by anti-Nazi historians. The Arab world will prefer the original version. Besides, it's only published in German, not many Arabs can read it.
I agree. I’m an absolutist in few areas, but free speech is one of them. We’re entering a very data-driven age, and I want stupid people to say and publish as many ignorant things as they possibly can in a 24 hour period. I like knowing who’s all right with Mein Kampf, Days Kapital, The Koran, Bushido- The Soul of Japan, and whatever else is floating around out there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.