To Print or Not to Print

I have a saying I like to use every so often. History is doomed to repeat itself. Ok, I didn't come up with this little pearl of wisdom. But I do stand behind it. I firmly believe that humans are likely to repeat the failures of the past rather than the successes. Why? I believe that it is easier to fail and fall back on the mistakes rather than being proactive and blaze a new path towards success. So what does this have to do with printing or not printing as how my title suggests. Allow me to elaborate.

In today's New York Times, there was an article called Rebuffing Scholars, Germany Vows to Keep Hitler Out of Print by Nicolas Kulish. The article describes the upcoming situation with the expiration of the copyright on Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. Copyright law allows for the rights of the copyright to be valid 70 years after the death of the author. Which puts the date of expiration of Mein Kampf's copyright at the year 2015. The Bavarian government has held possession of the copyright since Hitler's suicide at the end of World War II. In essence there are two schools of thought on the topic. One side is the government who is vehemently opposed to the printing of the book in Germany both out of respect to those killed by the Nazis duing the Holocaust and in respect to German law which prohibits the dissemination of Nazi theories, ideologies and images (among others). The other side is led by The Institute of Contemporary History which is located in Munich. Their stance is that there should be a critical, annotated version of the book which would be printed after the copyright expires. By printing a scholarly version, the institute looks to oppose any volumes that would be printed by Neo-Nazi forces. So what does this have to do with me. Allow me to elaborate.

Going back to my original statement of "History is doomed to repeat itself", I believe that by prohibiting the publication of this book, Germany is prone to repeat the mistakes of the past rather than curbing them. Why not use the book as a teaching tool. The book is easy to find through many outlets here in the United States such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. So if someone in Germany wanted to get the book badly enough they can. Why let people sneak around to get a book when the Bavarian government can make a statement of printing a version that can be educational and at the same time respectful of the dead. To be honest, the book's printing will undoubtedly offend someone. The materials can be spun to reflect the opinion of any group. That can be said about any book. But with a book of this nature, it is imperative that if it is published, it should be through an educational lens.

I read Mein Kampf during my undergraduate years for a class (which one I don't remember) and I have to admit that it was downright scary. But I believe that the banning and censoring of books and knowledge is scarier.

FH