EU agrees on new racism rules.

[minionofmidas]

Well, it's really a sad state of affairs when you have a bunch of stuffy bureaucrats making laws, especially when they don't have to be accountable to the people. 

One thing that really baffles me is that you may not purchase "Mein Kampf" in many European countries and "Triumph of the Will" is banned as well.  I could go down to Barnes and Noble tomorrow and buy Mein Kampf right from the shelf.

You cannot make up for past atrocities by banning books and adverse opinions (however false and stupid they may be).

It is often noted that while Mein Kampf is banned in Germany now it could be bought in England during WWII. Of course, it's a best selling book in Turkey and most of the Middle East right now.

I think it's legal in Sweden, anyway - I know people who own it (non-Nazis).

It's a common misconception that Mein Kampf is "banned" in Germany. There's no official ban, it's more of a copyright issue.

Until his death in 1945 the copyright for Mein Kampf belonged to Adolf Hitler. Hitler's official place of residence was Munich. So, when he died and the Third Reich came to an end, the copyright for Mein Kampf first went to the Allied administration of occupied Germany. The Allies then handed the copyright over to the state of Bavaria.

Since then it has been the policy of the government of Bavaria that it doesn't allow to reprint Mein Kampf, except for commented/"censored" issues intended for scientific or educational use. It is totally legal to own, buy and sell Mein Kampf, provided these issues were published before 1945. However, if you're printing or publishing Mein Kampf the government of Bavaria will sue you. The copyright for Mein kampf will end on December 31, 2015 (70 years after the death of the author).

The net effect is the same though.

[minionofmidas]

The net effect is the same though.

Well, not entirely. The main effect is that you won't find new issues of Mein Kampf in the bookstore, which of course would also be the case had it been banned.

I don't how it is with antique shops. I guess if the owner has the balls to admit that he has an old issue of Main Kampf and is willing to sell it, it is not so much a problem. But I guess placing an issue of Mein Kampf in your shop window isn't necessarily good for business.

Out of sheer curiosity, I looked for English versions of Mein Kampf on the German Amazon.de website. "Hitler's Second Book: The Unpublished Sequel to Mein Kampf" is available. Second hand issues of the original Mein Kampf are also available in English on "Amazon Marketplace".

I'm actually curious what will happen in nine years from now. Will some tiny far right publishers start to print Mein Kampf again?

You bet. (Although as that book is hardly an advertisement for Nazi "thought"...)