Better late than never?
Amazon UK is asking secondhand booksellers to remove copies of “Mein Kampf,” the 1925 autobiographical manifesto of Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, telling vendors “they can no longer offer this book,” The Guardian reported.
Since the 1990s, Holocaust charities and Jewish heritage advocacy groups have campaigned for the online shopping giant to remove “Mein Kampf” and other Nazi propaganda materials. For decades, however, Amazon UK stood by the right to free speech and the book’s importance in academic settings.
Meanwhile, “Mein Kampf,” other works of Nazi propaganda and books with 20 years worth of Hitler’s public addresses, are still buyable on Amazon’s US site. Amazon did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on Tuesday.
However, in a statement in February to the New York Times, which reported that the retailer was “quietly canceling its Nazis,” an Amazon rep said, “booksellers make decisions every day about what selection of books they choose to offer” and declined to explain how they decide which books to censor.
The ban on Amazon UK affects editions of the book by mainstream sellers, such as Random House in London and India’s Jaico. Kindle eBook editions have also disappeared from Amazon, along with Hitler’s author page, which customers could follow for updates on new Nazi releases.
In the US, Houghton Mifflin is still selling copies of “Mein Kampf,” while many other works propagating Hitler’s message appear to be independently produced. It’s also possible to purchase vintage editions of works by Nazi publisher Julius Streicher, for example, who was later executed for his crimes and work on the Nazi Der Stürmer newspaper.
The Guardian also pointed out that most Nazi publications are available to download for free online — so there’s no need for Amazon and publishers to profit from the sale.
As recently as 2015, the book was a best seller in India and then in Germany in 2017. The book has garnered thousands of reviews online, many awarding it five stars.
Amazon UK did not respond to the Guardian’s request for the retailer to explain why, now, they decided to pull the Nazi works. However, in February, Amazon addressed the Holocaust Educational Trust, who had been working with British politicians, saying they were “mindful of book censorship throughout history,” but would take “concerns from [the trust] seriously.”
Some non-English editions of “Mein Kampf” remain available on Amazon’s UK site, including an annotated “critical” tome in German published in 2016.