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Book lovers and anti-censorship champions find themselves in a bit of an ethical pickle this day.
Adolf Hitler’s autobiography Mein Kampf went on sale today in Germany after a period of 70 years, having been banned in the country since the end of World War II.
However, the copyright of the anti-Semitic manifesto in which Hitler justifies the Holocaust expired on 1 January 2016. Following this, an annotated text with critical commentary and analysis is now available in bookstores across the country.
This development naturally begs many, many questions. Is censorship justified in some cases, particularly when the artefact is drenched in hate and bloodshed? Is there a counter-argument to be made about confronting the sins of our past, learning and moving on? Can a wronged community find catharsis if a history of systematic marginalisation and murder is buried in the sands of time? Where do we go from here?
Maybe Twitter has the answer?
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)