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today’s ” AR-online” again ** see you in Cincinnati!AR-Online recent issues: August 1999 July 1999 June 1999 May 1999 April 1999 March 1999 February 1999 January 1999 December 1998 November 1998 October 1998 September 1998 August 1998 July 1998 Alphabetical index (text) [ H-Net Humanities & Social Sciences OnLine ] Internet Sale of Mein Kampf Reply-To: H-NET List for History of the Holocaust < [email protected] > Sender: H-NET List for
History of the Holocaust < [email protected] > Date: August 10, 1999 From: John Fox Upon receipt of Susanna Hicks ‘ reference to the New York Times article of 9 August ref. the (misleadingly titled) article concerning the internet sale of “Mein Kampf” and the reactions of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, I immediately logged on to the article to see what it was all about. I have this to say.
Are the people at the Simon Wiesenthal Centre completely off their heads in trying to block the internet sale of “Mein Kampf” to would-be German purchasers? Not only is the book a key historical document, but yet again – or should it be, “here we go again”? – their actions raise the question of censorship. Admittedly, of course, the German authorities are equally to blame in banning the distribution of the book in Germany, especially through home-grown booksellers.
On the other hand, of course, nobody can stop any German from reading this important and key text in the comfort of a local or university library. The whole thing strikes me as a total nonsense, especially since it is quite insulting to present-day Germans to try to “limit” their reading in case they are seduced by what Hitler had to say. Something else about the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s actions greatly worries me.
Will they next get it into their heads to try to “ban” the sale and even the reading of this historical text elsewhere in the world? Really, enough is enough of this “nanny-like” posturing. Sincerely. John Fox [H-Net Humanities & Social Sciences OnLine] Send comments and questions to H-Net Webstaff