Italy's Schoolchildren Pick Hitler's 'Mein Kamph' As One Of Their Favorite Books In National Survey; Authorities Feel Uneasy
They had fought the Second World War II on the side of Adolf Hitler but today, when a survey has shown that the Fuehrer's "Mein Kamph" is among the schoolchildren's favorite in as many as 10 schools in their country, the Italians have been left clearly worried.
According to The Local, the survey which was launched by Italy's education ministry to promote reading and find what all books are liked the most by the country's school-goers saw that the manifesto of the Nazi leader featured among the top 10 favorites in many secondary schools.
"Mein Kamph" (my struggle) lays out the 20th-century German dictator's ideology which formed the foundation of Nazism. The book, which was written in 1924, provides the details of Hitler's anti-Semitism which led to Holocaust, killing several millions of Jews. It is perhaps the biggest murder of humanity in the history of mankind.
The Italian authorities, however, played it down saying the book was not eligible to be voted as the students were asked to select works penned by Italian writers after 2000. Alessandro Fusacchia of the education ministry said Hitler's book was not eligible for choice as the students were asked to pick from works penned by Italian workers after 2000. He called the choice as a "particularly nasty case", the Local report added.
Schools that chose to pick "Mein Kamph" were scattered across Italy - its northern, central and southern parts. The authorities were, nevertheless, impressed with the high level of participation and the range of books selected during the exercise.
The top three works that were chosen by the secondary school students were Alessandro D'Avenia's "Bianca come il latte", rossa come lil sangue (White As Milk, Red As Blood), Niccolo Ammaniti's "Io Hon Ho Paura" (I'm Not Scared) and Roberto Saviano's "Gomorra". Elena Ferrante was the top-rated female author for her "L'amica genial" (My Brilliant Friend).
Italy has been pushing for promoting book-reading habit and it is paying off. According to a 2015 study, 60 percent of Italians aged over six did not read for pleasure but the figure fell to 30 percent in southern Italy which is poor.
The sale of "Mein Kamph" started to be sold in Germany again after a 70-year ban by the state of Bavaria, which owned the copyright, expired on December 31 last year. The publication was welcome by most German-Jewish organizations, said an Independent article.
