Hitler's Gift to the Jews by Karla Stover

                                 

https://bookswelove.net/stover-karla/

                           It's Complicated

Once upon a time, an Austrian man was doing time in Landsberg Prison on charges of treason. Landesberg consisted of four brick-built cell blocks built in a cross-shape orientation.” This allowed guards to watch all wings simultaneously from a central location. Landsberg, which was used for holding convicted criminals and those awaiting sentencing, was also designated a a Festungshaft (meaning fortress confinement). Its facilities were similar to modern protective custody unit. There was no forced labor, the cells were reasonably comfortable, and visitors were allowed. The Austrian’s sentence was five years and during that time, he received many visitors. However, his favorite pass-time was writing and he had plans for a two-volume book which the author wanted to call Four and a Half Years [of Struggle] Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice. When volume one was done, the editors were his chauffeur, Emil Maurice, and his friend and confident Rudolf Hess. The author was, of course, Adolf Hitler. At his publisher’s suggestion, the book was retitled Mein Kampf and in it Hitler outlined his political ideology, his plans for Germany’s future, and the reasons for his antisemitism. The book came out on July 18, 1925 and, much to the prison governor’s disappointment, initial sales were disappointing. If, per chance, it ran into many editions, it would "enable Hitler to fulfill his financial obligations and to defray the expenses incurred at the time of his trial."

As luck would have it, following Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, Mein Kampf became a best seller in Germany, was in high demand by libraries, and often reviewed and quoted in other publications. It was given free to every newlywed couple and every soldier fighting at the front. By 1939, it had sold 5.2 million copies in eleven languages. It made so much money, Hitler eventually had a large tax debt which was wiped out when he became Germany’s chancellor.

However, after Germany's loss in the war and Hitler's death, what to do with the book?  Though Hitler left all his wealth, property, and rights to the book to the German state, since his official place of residence was Munich, its copyright passed to the government of Bavaria, which refused to allow it to be republished. Not to worry: Mein Kampf was being published world-wide.

According to a 2016 Boston Globe  article, "Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has been publishing an abridged edition of the tome since 1933 and began donating proceeds from the book to charities in 2000. However, according to the publisher,  "it’s been a tough road – the recipients of the money and the nature of the exchanges have been debated  – it seems as if the publisher has struck a productive balance by partnering with the Jewish Family & Children's Service." 

In 2000, US News & World Report revealed that HMH had made $400,000 in royalty profits from “Mein Kampf” since 1979. The article prompted the company to begin donating the royalties to nonprofits that promote “diversity and cross-cultural understanding.” In practice, those organizations have all been related to Holocaust education and combatting anti-Semitism." Now comes a new wrinkle: to gift Hitler’s book royalties to the cultural projects of Boston institutions, said projects having nothing to do with the Holocaust or anti-Semitism. "Sadly, say some observers, "HMH’s latest plan for “Mein Kampf” royalties will [likely] stymie Holocaust education efforts — even while anti-Semitism is again on the rise.