Plan to publish Hitler excerpts draws opposition

By DAVID RISING

Associated Press

BERLIN

A state government in Germany is looking at legal measures to prevent a British publisher’s plans to reproduce excerpts from Adolf Hitler’s infamous memoir “Mein Kampf” in Germany.

The Finance Ministry of the German state of Bavaria said Tuesday that publisher Peter McGee’s plans to reproduce three 16-page segments of “Mein Kampf” with critical commentary, starting next week, may violate the copyright on the book, which it holds.

The ministry said in a statement that it believes the segments are too long to be considered excerpts not covered by copyright.

McGee told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from London that his attorney has advised him otherwise, and that he plans to go ahead with the publication of the segments as an insert to his weekly Zeitungszeugen magazine. The magazine, a play on words mixing the German for “newspaper” and “eyewitness,” reproduces historical newspapers from the Nazi era alongside expert commentary.

“We’re not surprised that they’ve taken that reaction from Munich but it’s a little difficult to see how they say that when they haven’t seen the product,” said McGee, who is managing director of Albertas Limited publishing house.

“We’re not publishing ‘Mein Kampf,’ we’re publishing ... some excerpts of ‘Mein Kampf’ with some critical commentary.”

“Mein Kampf” is not banned in Germany as commonly believed, but Bavaria has used its ownership of the copyright to prevent its publication so far.

Hitler wrote “Mein Kampf” — “My Struggle” in English — after he was jailed in Bavaria in the aftermath of the failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1923 — a rambling and anti-Semitic book outlining his ideology. After World War II, the Allies agreed to hand the rights to “Mein Kampf” over to the Bavarian state government. The copyright expires in 2015 — 70 years after Hitler’s death.

McGee said it is important that a broad public have an opportunity to see the text in a structured way.