ヒトラー「わが闘争」、ポーランドで初の学術版出版　「犠牲者らに敬意」

【ワルシャワＡＦＰ＝時事】ポーランドで20日、アドルフ・ヒトラーの著作「わが闘争」のポーランド語の学術版が、初めて正規出版される。批判の声もあるが、編集者は「犠牲者らに敬意を払う」ことにつながると説明している。（写真は1942年発行のアドルフ・ヒトラー著「わが闘争」＜右＞とポーランド語訳の学術版。ワルシャワにて）
　ヒトラーのナチズム思想をまとめた「わが闘争」が出版されたのは１９２５年。２０１６年に著作権が切れた後も、出版されることはまれ。
　同書のポーランド語訳に注釈を付けた学術版の出版準備を３年前から進めてきた、歴史家のエウゲニウシュ・クロル氏は「反対派はこの本の出版を、ナチズムの犠牲者らに対する侮辱だとみる。私はその逆だと思っている」と話している。
　ナチス・ドイツの占領下で、ユダヤ系３００万人を含む６００万人が犠牲になったポーランドでは、扇動的な同書は海賊版や要約版のみが長年出回っていた。２００５年には、当時著作権を保有していたドイツのバイエルン州政府が、こうした海賊版の押収を求めていた。
　今回発売されるポーランド語版は、歴史書を専門とする出版社ベロナが、初版３０００部を発行する。同社は、宣伝は一切行わない方針だ。
　「われわれはこの本を、広く入手しやすいものにするつもりはない」と話す同社幹部は、「１９３３年以降にドイツで起きたことは、世界の多くの場所できょう、あす、あさってにも起こり得る」と指摘。
　その上で、同書は何よりもまず「ほぼ目につかない格好で民主主義を解体し、全体主義体制を構築することはたやすいということへの警告」になるとしている。
　ポーランドでは、ファシズムや共産主義などの全体主義的なイデオロギーや、特定の民族や人種に対する嫌悪を喧伝（けんでん）する行為は禁じられており、有罪と認められた場合は２年以下の禁錮刑に処される可能性がある。
　ポーランドの首席ラビ（ユダヤ教指導者）のマイケル・シュードリッヒ氏は、学術版は「良い影響をもたらすもの」になる可能性があるとみており、「ナチズムや虚言、全体主義の危険性をより完全かつ深い形で理解する一助」になり得ると述べている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/01/20-08:26）

An academic edition of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf is being published in Poland this week for the first time, with its editor responding to critics by calling it a homage to the victims.
Hitler's inflammatory tract has rarely been published even after rights to the book, which first came out in 1925, entered the public domain in 2016.
According to the critics, the publication of this book is an offence to the victims of Nazism. In my view, it is the opposite, said Eugeniusz Krol, a historian who has been preparing the Polish-language edition for the past three years.
Pirate copies or abridged versions of Hitler's blueprint for the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust have circulated in Poland for years.
In 2005, the government of Bavaria in Germany which held the rights at the time, requested the seizure of copies of one such version in Poland.
But Krol told AFP that this annotated Polish-language edition, which runs to 1,000 pages in total, would act as a historical source in a wider context.
The book, which will be published on Wednesday, will be only the second annotated edition of Mein Kampf -- after a German one that came out in 2016.
- Publication 'a positive thing'? -
The Polish edition is being handled by Bellona, a publishing house specialising in history books, and the first print run will be 3,000 copies.
The company will not be carrying out any publicity campaign for the book and the price of 150 zloty (33 euros, $40) is high for Poland.
We do not want this publication to be widely accessible, said Bellona's director, Zbigniew Czerwinski.
He said the book was above all a warning that it is easy to dismantle democracy and build a totalitarian regime in an almost invisible way.
What happened in Germany after 1933 can happen today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow in many places in the world. The signals are easily understandable, he said.
Piotr Cywinski, head of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, said in the Rzeczpospolita daily that he could understand an edition of the book intended for academic purposes.
But he warned that any editor out to make money from the book who conducts an active publicity campaign could come into conflict with Polish laws against promoting fascism.
The public propagation of totalitarian ideologies like fascism or communism and ethnic or racial hatred is banned in Poland, a country that lost six million citizens -- including three million with Jewish roots -- under Nazi occupation.
The crime carries a penalty of up to two years behind bars.
Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich said an academic edition could be a positive thing.
It could help people understand in a much more complete and profound way the dangers of Nazism, of lying, of totalitarianism, he said.
He said the question of whether or not to publish the tract was relevant 20 years ago and it was important to understand that there was now a consensus of opposition to fascism.
Now it is important that academics can read what Hitler wrote in 'Mein Kampf' because words count. And what Hitler said before coming to power was exactly what he did later, he said.