GERMANY’S foremost publishing taboo is being challenged by a Jewish historian who is urging the open sale of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, banned for almost 60 years.

The campaign, launched by Rafael Seligman, author of a new book on Hitler, has drawn a furious response, notably from other members of the German Jewish community.

It comes days before the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe stages a high-profile conference in Berlin on the roots of anti-Semitism.

Much of the book was dictated during Hitler’s stint in prison after the abortive 1923 Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. About 10 million copies of the book were sold until 1945. The royalties made Hitler a millionaire.

Unexpurgated editions of Mein Kampf are available in Germany only to academic researchers because the raw copy is seen as too contentious for popular consumption. On German book-buying internet sites, only a heavily edited version is available.

“If you want to understand Adolf Hitler’s plans and his effects on people you have to read Mein Kampf,” said Herr Seligman, writing in the mass-circulation Bild newspaper this week, on the occasion of Hitler’s 115th birthday. “Hitler reveals his murderous hostility to Jews and his conviction that he is doing God’s work in fighting them,” said Herr Seligman, author of Hitler: The Germans and Their Führer.

The book, argued the political historian, had to be taken seriously. He said that the case for banning it was misconceived. “Nothing better expresses Hitler’s inhumanity, his anti-Semitism and murderousness as clearly as his book. That’s why it should be freely on sale in Germany, just as it is in every democratic country.”

Herr Seligman’s views triggered an angry response from Michael Friedman, a television star, politician and prominent member of the German Jewish community. “The very idea that Hitler’s Mein Kampf could end up as a No 1 best-seller in Germany sends shudders down my spine.

“What kind of signal would we be sending to our young people if we allow it to be published freely and without comment in every bookstore?” he said. A recent survey showed that between 15 and 20 per cent of Germans harbour anti-Semitic feelings. Herr Friedman said that publishing the book would serve only to give succour to anti-Semites.

Non-Jewish historians are reluctant to enter the debate about lifting the publishing ban lest they be branded as right-wing sympathisers. However, many agree in private with Herr Seligman. One Berlin University historian, who insisted on anonymity, said: “Anyone seriously interested in German history cannot be satisfied with the edited version of this book: the original has to be made available. We need to trust ourselves.”

• War crimes: The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre said in its annual report yesterday that 166 investigations of Nazi war criminals had been launched over the past year and six convictions had been gained. It criticised Romania as the country that had done the least to bring former Nazis to justice. Most investigations had been opened in Austria, which is pursuing 60 suspects, followed by the United States with 40 and Latvia with 19.

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