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Mein Kampf

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Mein Kampf
Post by biochem   » Wed Dec 02, 2015 9:53 am

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Mein Kampf is being re-published in Germany for the first time since WWII. The copyright has expired and it's freely available on the internet anyway so historians from the Institute of Contemporary History are publishing a heavily annotated version. (The government will continue to block publication of unannotated versions under the German equivalent of incitement to riot laws. Not that it will matter much the Neo-Nazi crazies will simply download it.)

I don't know about the rest of you but I had to read this thing in college history. Hitler is a talented author even in the English translation. Which is completely terrifying talent for a evil psychopath to have. I tend to agree with the historians that since it's out their online anyway, I needs to be addressed and should be addressed properly in some form by historians.

However, I have one suggestion for them. Academic writing is typically the most boring thing on earth. Academics can render even the most fascinating subject boring. If they want to get the general public to read their version they need to take their academic notes and collaborate with an author more talented than Hitler (German equivalent of David Weber for example). Otherwise anyone not forced to read their boring notes (for example as a class assignment) won't.
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Re: Mein Kampf
Post by The E   » Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:04 am

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Getting the general public to read this piece of shite is not what they want though.

The people who wish to read Mein Kampf fall into two broad categories:
1. Neonazi idiots who wish to read their bible
2. Students of history who wish to read the original text

The first category can already get the uncommented text. The second one will likely benefit from the comments, and not mind their (assumed) dryness on account of being academics themselves.

Basically, Mein Kampf isn't very relevant. It's not a necessary text to understand german history. Everything needed to understand what happened here in 1933 to 1945 can be taught without having these books at hand.

EDIT:
Regarding the "talented author" bit: I wonder if you got that impression despite or because of the translation. The bits I read, and admittedly they were just bits and not the whole text, were pretty badly written; any academic commentary would surely be an improvement.
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Re: Mein Kampf
Post by Annachie   » Wed Dec 02, 2015 5:05 pm

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That translation thing is similar, though opposite, to what I found when I tried reading the koran. In that case the translation was unreadable.

The E, it's not 1939-1945 that's important, well relatively anyway. It's the 10 or so years that led up to it.
Or so it appears to this non-German anyway.

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Re: Mein Kampf
Post by munroburton   » Wed Dec 02, 2015 5:46 pm

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Annachie wrote:That translation thing is similar, though opposite, to what I found when I tried reading the koran. In that case the translation was unreadable.

The E, it's not 1939-1945 that's important, well relatively anyway. It's the 10 or so years that led up to it.
Or so it appears to this non-German anyway.

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I think everything from 1919(and by extension 1914) plays a strong part. Heck, Hitler was wounded in WW1 - that had to shape what he became.

As for the book - tried to read a translation. Fell asleep somewhere in chapter 1. It was rambling nonsense.
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Re: Mein Kampf
Post by The E   » Thu Dec 03, 2015 3:19 am

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Annachie wrote:That translation thing is similar, though opposite, to what I found when I tried reading the koran. In that case the translation was unreadable.

The E, it's not 1939-1945 that's important, well relatively anyway. It's the 10 or so years that led up to it.
Or so it appears to this non-German anyway.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk


First, I said 1933, not 1939. Second, sure, World War 1 and the Weimar Republic are important to understand the circumstances that allowed the Machtergreifung, but at no point is reading Mein Kampf required to fully understand what happened.
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Re: Mein Kampf
Post by Annachie   » Thu Dec 03, 2015 3:28 am

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Sorry mate, I must have just read over the date and assumed it was war years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You are so going to die. :p ~~~~ runsforcelery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
still not dead. :)
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