Germany takes action to stop reprinting of Nazi newspapers

Germany takes action to stop reprinting of Nazi newspapers

www.abc.net.au

German authorities launched legal action yesterday against a British publisher who reprinted and sold a Nazi newspaper featuring fiery remarks by Adolf Hitler's propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.

The paper - the Voelkischer Beobachter (People's Observer), from March 1, 1933 - is the second in a series of Nazi-era newspapers republished in annotated facsimiles that has sparked a row in Germany over press freedom.

The latest edition in the series hit German newsstands early yesterday, with a photograph on the front page of the Reichstag parliament building in flames, seen as a pivotal moment in the rise to power of the Nazis.

The fire was used by Hitler - who had been sworn in as chancellor four weeks earlier - to "prove" that Communists were hatching a plot against the German government and justify a swift crackdown.

"Murder, terror, fire and destruction: these are the terrible things this fanatical party (the Communists) leaves behind it," Goebbels writes in the commentary on the first page.

"We've had enough," cries the headline. "Now we're going to take ruthless and dramatic measures."

Bavaria's finance ministry, which holds the rights to all publications from the main Nazi publishing house, said in a statement it would seek to press charges against the publisher, Peter McGee, for copyright infringement.

In addition, the ministry said it would lodge a civil action to stop future papers being published.

On January 16, the ministry issued an order banning any further publication of Nazi material, but the publishers ignored the instruction.

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We all know what happened during the war. I think that publication of the Nazi material should not be banned as it shall serve as a reminder of what happened to those that have forgotten. What do you think? Should it be banned or do you think that the Germans are afraid that some secrets might come out?

www.abc.net.au
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reply to post by rattan1


There are always secrets but I don't think the German Govt is worried about that. I think they are more worried that the Germans may go down the Nazi road again. After all, there are plenty Hitler admirers left.

Then there's the shame factor. Most Germans aren't proud of WWII, maybe the Govt is trying to protect their citizens from their own history.
Who knows.. At any rate, I'm against censorship of this kind.

To censor it though is a way to forget it and thats a worse problem than rereading the misguided propaganda spread by Goebbels. repeating the same mistakes because of lax memory seems to be a much to normal human reaction!

Zindo

[edit on 1/22/2009 by ZindoDoone]

Why bother with ink when they could go digital? ... or could there be some added value in the nostalgia or collectors interest in having the paper in it's original medium?

Have all the issues/content hosted by an offshore entity and no one could ever stop them ...charge for access or run it off donations.

reply to post by rattan1

Having been around this movement I can assure you that these items are very seductive recruitment tools and are collector's items. National Vanguard used to sell them in the 1990s. Germany's Neo-Nazi movement has flourished since the mid-1980s and is growing. Russia is the one we need to fear for this, it is out in the open, state-tolerated and extremely violent. I hate to suggest Youtube but there are some pretty disturbing documentaries and news reports that have been posted over the last few years on there that illustrate this.

I wish the german government would stop bowing to every jew who wants to force his/her opinion on germany or all things german.Believe me,if the jews could make a buck off the sale of nazi items,they would be first in line with something to sell. Ken Snyder

reply to post by secretagent woooman



I have seen many documentaries about Neo-Nazis groups around the world and by far the Neo-Nazi groups in Russia are by far the worst and scariest.

If people only knew....well this is ATS so here ya go. Below is one documentary that I have seen. There are many on the subject of Russian Nazi groups.


Documentary on Russian Neo Nazis (Warning, Graphic)
Part one


Part two

Having traveled the world, I have never met an intelligent racist. It is apparent in the videos that these fearful youths require numbers to perpetrate violence. The truth is we are one. Knowledge is power, ignorance is death, life is choice. What do you choose?

The Message Is Clear

History must be ignored, lest it not be repeated.