Is Germany Ready for Mein Kampf?

(NEWSER) - Hitler's autobiography-manifesto Mein Kampf has been strictly banned in Germany since the end of World War II, but a proposal to reprint it has the endorsement of the country's leading Jewish organization, among other groups, reports the Independent. "A historically critical edition needs to be prepared today to prevent neo-Nazis profiting from it," said the head of the Central Council of Jews. But politicians and many academics oppose the effort. More»

(NEWSER) - This could be awkward. Mel Brooks’ The Producers has been a smash around the world, but will the Hitler-mocking musical play in Germany? The Admiralspalast theater in Berlin—which the real Führer once frequented—is betting Germans are ready to laugh at the blood-soaked past, the Daily Mail reports. “If there’s anywhere in the world where it should be performed, it’s Berlin,” says the Admiralspalast’s director. More»

Auschwitz Memorial Museum prints Birkenau inmate drawings

(NEWSER) - The Auschwitz Memorial Museum has published a collection of death camp sketches by a mystery inmate of Birkenau that was found stuffed in a bottle. The chilling pencil sketches of the camp, by a prisoner who signed them "MM," show children being torn from the arms of their parents, and a guard smoking a cigarette as gas chamber bodies are loaded onto a truck, reports Der Spiegel. "These sketches are the only work of art made in Birkenau that depict exterminations," said a museum spokesman. The sketches, made in 1943, were discovered four years later near the camp's crematorium by a former prisoner working as a watchman at the site. More»

Jamel's a favorite burg of right-wing fanatics

(NEWSER) - No one's laughing if it's "a joke." A VBS TV reporter out to discover how crazily right wing a neo-Nazi German town is stumbled upon an outdoor cooking grill emblazoned with the words "Happy Holocaust." The small town of Jamel in northeastern Germany is known as a place where Hitler salutes are sometimes spotted, where outsiders are chased away, and where strange shooting practices take place in the woods. At least 50% of the population supports neo-Nazis or the National Democratic Party. More»

They hoped an Adolf 'herr' to 'her' transformation might curb violence

(NEWSER) - In one of the British forces' wackier schemes to rid the world of Adolph Hitler's violence, secret agents plotted to slip estrogen in the fuhrer's food in a bid to tame his aggression, according to a new book. The estrogen would be tasteless and the transformation gradual as Hitler changed from a "herr" to a "her," as the Daily Mail quips. It's not clear if the plot was launched, but it was seriously considered by the government, according to the book Secret Weapons: Technology, Science and the Race to Win World War II, written by Cardiff University Professor Brian Ford. More»