Hitler's Mein Kampf becomes a bestseller in Germany for the first time in 70 years

It took less than two weeks for Hitler's autobiography to become a bestseller again.
(Image credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Seventy years after it was first published in Germany, Adolf Hitler's autobiography, Mein Kampf, is again a bestseller in Deutschland. The copyright for Mein Kampf had been held by the German state of Bavaria but expired on Jan 1; during the time it held the copyright, Bavaria had refused to publish the book.

As of the beginning of the year, Munich's Institute for Contemporary History published 4,000 copies of a 2,000-page annotated volume of Mein Kampf; all of the copies sold out instantly. A copy is now selling on eBay for 9,999 Euros, or about $10,890 U.S. dollars.

Germany's main Jewish group, the Central Council of Jews, had no objections to the newly published text, according to The Telegraph. Its president, Josef Schuster, said he hoped instead the text would "contribute to debunking Hitler's inhuman ideology and counteracting anti-Semitism."

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.