Amazon has banned the sale of most editions of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and other Nazi propaganda books from its store following decades of campaigning by Holocaust charities.
Those who will not learn from history are destined to repeat it. One of the things the Nazis did was to, er, ban books. FFS!
Leading Holocaust education charities and Jewish groups have campaigned since the late 1990s to stop Amazon from selling copies of Mein Kampf but the retailer had traditionally defended the right of free speech and the need for students to understand Hitler’s thinking when it comes to selling a book which is legal to publish.
Amazon was right and the leading charities were wrong – still are wrong. If you ban words, you cannot challenge them in the battle of ideas. If you ban books and prevent people from openly reading them, then the ideas go underground and fester unchallenged. If you want to learn about the rise of the Nazis and the thinking behind it, where better to look than the leader of the organisation’s own words.
But, no, the new fascists have learned from the Nazis that banning books is a good thing, for it silences voices that are inconvenient. Unfortunately, it also silences voices from the past, from which we can learn important lessons – and that includes evil maniacs such as Adolf Hitler.
Last month Amazon acknowledged the charity’s concerns, saying the company was “mindful of book censorship throughout history” but was taking “concerns from the Holocaust Educational Trust seriously”.
They should do no such thing. Banning books is not educational. Reading them and learning about the mindset behind the ideology is, indeed, educational.
Freedom of speech is indeed dead. Freedom of speech is no more! It has ceased to be! It’s expired and gone to meet its maker! It’s a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! Its metabolic processes are now history! It’s off the twig! It’s kicked the bucket, it’s shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible! This is an ex-freedom! Farewell, it was nice knowing you while you lived.
Sorry, couldn’t resist…
I read a quote recently I’m sure where now:
“Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.”
Good quote.
I was told some time ago that the royalties from the sale of MK go to the International Red Cross. If so, does this mean that Amazon is stopping much needed funds from going to an organisation which helps victims of the Holocaust?
Wouldn’t surprise me. The stupid is strong with this one.
FFS. Another book I’m going to have to buy and put on my front room bookshelf.
There are at least another couple of books that could be said to have encouraged some people to kill off more people than Hitler’s lot did.
But Amazon wouldn’t want to appear ‘phobic’ would they?
Good point, are they banning Karl Marx’s Das Capital?
Censorship tells you they think it’s true and they can’t disprove it.