Court upholds ban

Munich court upholds ban on publication of 'Mein Kampf'

A Munich court has upheld an injunction preventing publication of Hitler's "Mein Kampf." A German weekly had wanted to print excerpts accompanied by commentary from academics.

British publisher Peter McGee had planned to print passages from Adolf Hitler's book in the January issue of "Zeitzeugen."

"We believe the court's decision is wrong," McGee said on Thursday. Even so, he said he would respect the ruling and refrain from publishing the excerpts.

"Zeitzeugen" illustrates aspects of the Third Reich using original publications from the time alongside analysis from historians. In this case, McGee had wanted to quote from Hitler's book, but print only a small amount of explanatory commentary.

However, the publication of excerpts from "Mein Kampf" is only permitted in Germany if they serve as part of a larger, original text.

The Bavarian finance ministry, which holds the rights to "Mein Kampf," had filed the injunction in January to stop the publication.

The court's decision is not yet final and can still be appealed.

(Published by DW-World - March 8, 2012)