Jewish group in Germany wants Mein Kampf republished

Thursday, August 13, 2009

From the New York Times. I agree with them. It really is a simple matter - how can one recognize another potential Hitler without direct access to an example of the type of rhetoric he used? Mein Kampf is basically a book Hitler wrote about how awesome he saw himself to be, especially in the beginning where he talks about what a sharp chap he was as a kid. Even the original title he wanted to use shows this: Viereinhalb Jahre (des Kampfes) gegen Lüge, Dummheit und Feigheit, or Four and a Half Years (of Fighting) Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice. Not every dictator is the same, but one sign that you're dealing with a potential one is the continued reference to one's country's faults being a result of Enemy X, and Enemy X alone.

(بله خامنه ای و احمدی نژاد درباره ی شما میگویم، چرا دشمنتان آن قدر وجود داره؟)

The Bavarian government says it won't republish the book because it will "play into the hands of the far right", but it's available on the internet anyway, which is where groups like that thrive.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Re-sellamat Dave !

Hmm, the video's dubbing does not correspond to the real German text (though I nearly can't understand Hitler's barking) ! It's a parody (maybe not the best example for a blog dedicated to languages !)

Olivier

Me said...

Well, it's not half as funny if you understand German. Plus you have to have heard a lot about Grammar Nazis. Do you ever use the term in French?

Page F30 isn't devoted exclusively to languages though.

Anonymous said...

No, the term "grammar nazis" does not exist in French. That's true that Page F30 is not entirely devoted to languages, but it may be the one that provides the best information about language learning (and I remember some informations about German recently). I just hope this video won't lead your blog's visitors into confusion if they realise they can't understand a single German word (except "Mein Führer")despite their previous efforts ! Why not a post to explain what is a "nazi grammar", since this expression does not seem to exist outside the English-speaking world ?
(In continental Europe, no-one would dare to make a joke about Nazis, don't forget they have tortured and slaughtered millions of people [fortunately, my own family was only expelled])

Olivier

Me said...

Yeah, making fun of Nazis has a long tradition in North America. One of Seinfeld's most famous episodes was about a character known as the "Soup Nazi". Nazi in those contexts just means a person that is militaristically uptight about something - grammar, food, manners, what have you.

Even during the war Hitler was being made fun of in the US.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBfujUDlEz4

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