Hitler book gets booted
ECAJ: 'We thank and commend Dymocks for doing the right thing and removing 55 of the 60 editions of Mein Kampf which they had previously offered for sale'.
A DECISION by bookseller group Dymocks – falling on Yom Hashoah – to remove editions of Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler’s sinister tractate on his plans for world domination and the annihilation of the Jewish people, has been welcomed by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).
ECAJ co-CEO Peter Wertheim said, “We thank and commend Dymocks for doing the right thing and removing 55 of the 60 editions of Mein Kampf which they had previously offered for sale. All references to these editions have also been removed from the Dymocks website.
“Dymocks notified the ECAJ of the action they had taken on Monday night, coinciding with the start of Yom Hashoah. I see this as a fitting tribute to our kedoshim,” he reflected.
ECAJ contacted Dymocks chairman John Forsyth earlier this month to protest about editions of Mein Kampf that did not include authoritative scholarly context about the book.
In an April 6 letter, Wertheim explained to Dymocks that of the 60 editions it was offering, just a handful had commentary and annotations from recognised scholars, while 17 included commentary other than from recognised scholars or were accompanied by marketing material, sometimes including blurbs glorifying the Nazis. The remaining 37 editions provided no commentary, failing to relate the history and implementation of Nazism.
While copies of 55 editions have been removed, ECAJ has since discovered two further editions on the Dymocks website, that bear a different title, and these are currently being investigated by the company.
Approached by The AJN, a Dymocks spokesperson stated the company would make no comment about its decision.
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