...Better not to make it widely available, some say, to keep it out of the hands of those who would revive the movement its author started.
This argument deserves serious consideration, and has been accepted by many European governments which regulate the production and dissemination of Nazi materials in a variety of ways. The Bavarian Finance Ministry holds the continental European copyright to
Mein Kampf, and routinely denies requests by authors to quote extended passages from it and by publishers to reprint it. Many European countries restrict the sale of existing copies to qualified academics. In December 2000, a Czech court issued a $50,000 fine to the publisher of an illegal Czech-language edition.
These measures may seem extreme to many Americans; we cherish our First Amendment rights and find censorship anathema. But let us not forget that in the United States we have been blessed with two centuries of secure borders and political stability. Not so our European counterparts, who have experienced Nazism and other destructive social movements on their own soil. Their efforts to control their legacy of extremism should be respected, even if their methods are not ours.
Mein Kampf presents a deeper problem, though, unrelated to such practical concerns as controlling extremism. It evokes discomfort and distaste, a desire to cover up its crude evil and let it recede from our consciousness. When we encounter things of beauty, it is natural to want to display them; here the tendency is reversed and the desire is to blot out this work of ugliness and depravity.
We should not let ourselves succumb to this temptation. "Expunge the memory of Amalek from beneath the heavens," the Bible says, referring to one of Israel's ancient enemies; but the verse itself spread the memory of those malicious people throughout the world and preserved it for all time. Thus we learn the need for prudence. "
Zakhor," we are taught, "Remember" - not just the victims but the evil that was done to them. Commit the evil to memory in order to reject it; reject the evil, but do not let yourself forget it.
Zakhor, and so we keep the Nazi bible in print.
...
Here in the pages of
Mein Kampf Hitler presented the world with his dark vision for the future. Years would pass before he attained the power to realize that vision, but
Mein Kampf's existence denies the free world the excuse of ignorance. We dismissed him as a madman and we ignored his wretched book; the result was a tragedy of unprecedented proportions. This is yet another lesson to take from
Mein Kampf: the lesson of vigilance and responsibility, of not closing our eyes to the evil around us. Since World War II, our societies have taken promising steps in this regard. It is our responsibility to ensure the continued progress of that civilizing trend.