Ohana was critical of this initiative, saying that "all harmful things should be prohibited."
"Of course, there is the freedom of speech… but we don't know what kind of turmoil it can cause [in this case]… If you look at the issue from a historical perspective, we know how harmful a certain work can be. And given this historical context we should consider the issue and decide whether to support the release of the book and make it available to the public," Ohana told Sputnik France.
"Of course, we would like that such things wouldn't exist; we don't want to see them published. It's my personal opinion. But we can't stop it, it does not depend on us, the state should take responsibility," the rabbi continued.
A similar opinion was expressed by writer and human rights activist Marek Halter. He believes that the book is full of hatred and therefore shouldn't be published.
"This year, Hitler's Mein Kampf has become available to the public. This means that there is no longer the need to ask for a permission to publish this text. I believe that this text is full of hate, it calls for hatred. I am opposed to the publication of this text, even if it is published with comments. For me, only one option is possible: if there is a text on one page, and photos depicting dead bodies at Auschwitz, or hanged people, or children's shoes at the stove — on the other. It will be interesting to see people's reactions to the text, illustrated with the outcome it had caused," Halter said.
The new edition of Hitler's Mein Kampf has a lot of commentaries made by historians and contains new biographic facts. It was published in two volumes and has quickly become a bestseller in Germany.
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