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Doha Virgin Megastore Put Hitler's Mein Kampf On 'Recommended Reading List'

Mein Kampf

The Huffington Post UK   First Posted: 05/12/11 14:23 GMT Updated: 05/12/11 14:23 GMT

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Virgin Megastores has been embroiled in a controversy after one of its shops in the Middle East put Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf on its recommended reading list.

Charlie Gandelman posted a picture on Twitter showing the recommendation in a store in Doha, Qatar, after Virgin failed to respond to a complaint by his friend Anna Peregrini's

"My friend was very shocked and sent a very passionate email to Virgin but got no response," he told the National newspaper.

"I have seen this book on sale before but to have it in the recommended section of an international British brand associated with Richard Branson is surprising. After Anna got no response from the company I posted it on twitter to see where it would go."

The photo was taken in the Landmark Shopping Centre in Doha.


Charles Gandelman
Qatar books-your company's in good hands, . Mein Kampf's next stop: Oprah's Book Club

Peregrini also told the Abu Dhabi-based publication: "To start with I gave Richard Branson the benefit of the doubt, I'm sure this would not be something he would know about, but to write and then receive no response from the company is disappointing, which is why we tweeted it."

In a statement Virgin said: "Each Virgin Megastore in the Middle East is responsible for the merchandising of products within its respective store and is not merchandised via a planogram from headquarters.

"Recently, one of the region's Virgin Megastores included in its book section the Arabic translation of Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler, a title available worldwide in major bookstores and online.

"For one day, the book was included in the recommended section. The recommended tag was not an endorsement of the book's author or its content. In response to a customer, we removed the title from the display."

Several people have taken to Twitter to criticise Virgin for the display in the Qatari capital, including Labour MP Denis MacShane.


Denis MacShane
Does Richard Branson know that Virgin bookstore in Doha has been recoommending Mein Kampf in Arabic as a must buy to shoppers?

Politics aside the decision to put Hitler's 1925 tome on a recommended reading list should raise eyebrows, as it is also notorious for being badly written.

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Virgin Megastores has been embroiled in a controversy after one of its shops in the Middle East put Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf on its recommended reading list. Charlie Gandelman posted a picture on ...
Virgin Megastores has been embroiled in a controversy after one of its shops in the Middle East put Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf on its recommended reading list. Charlie Gandelman posted a picture on ...
 
 
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redsquaddie
27 Fans
01:32 PM on 12/10/2011
Mein Kamf should be compulsory not just recommended Its a window into insanity dressed up in the guise of political science.
Those who ignored the warnings in the 1930.s would have done well to have read and taken note of the stated intentions of a lunatic dictator.
Hitler was a fiend so was Stalin and many more the difference is we supported Stalin in his genocide or at least turned a blind eye to his insanity.
We are in danger of forgetting that war rarely happens in a day it is most often a slow inexorable slide into madness usually by maniacs who are absolutely convinced of their superiority and rightous-ness and history mostly written by the victors can only serve to reinforce the view but this was written by the loser well before hostilities began. War itself is the crime not reading books and the first casualty of war is truth and censorship is as obscene as war itself.
I mayy not agree with what you say but I would happily lay down my life for your right to say it W Churchill Red xxx
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azbenahmed
92 Fans
 
03:03 PM on 12/09/2011
big picture.. censorship can be the first step to dictatorship. purposefully excluding this book would be counter productive. although having said that we have very little censorship on any level in this country and yet i feel us propelled towards dictatorship.. even if it is dressed up as a 'coalition'.
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chrisfre
0 Fans
11:12 PM on 12/09/2011
there's a huge difference between censoring something in your country, and glorifying it as a "recommended," thing. while neither attitude is healthy in the long run for this book, the fact that it was encouraged as a "must-read" thing is very extreme and very telling of the attitudes there, which I do find scary in a medieval kind of way. don't censor it, don't celebrate it, there's a more appropriate middle ground to just let it be.
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azbenahmed
92 Fans
 
12:31 PM on 12/10/2011
i still don't think sticking a NEWLY available book in the recommended section for a week is glorifying it. book stores constantly put newly available items in the window so people are aware of it. where, anywhere, did you see the words 'you must read this book people!'... it's not like there was a billboard and adverts.. and you call that extreme and telling? you must be the world's most intuitive psychiatrist in that case because i can't possibly see how that reflects on people's attitudes.
if ONE book store in all of the uk, put a book written by the leader of the BNP in the front window since it was newly available, would you then expect that everyone in the rest of the world presume that we are all racist in this country? because there are a lot of racists in this country but that certainly wouldn't be 'extreme' and 'very telling' of the attitudes here. medieval, really... what a drama queen. your comment is more telling of how your own attitude is medieval.
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simonbugatti
76 Fans
12:44 PM on 12/06/2011
I dare say the simplest explanation is the right one: most members of the public in that country hate Jews as much as Hitler did, so they are not offended if they can buy his book.
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azbenahmed
92 Fans
 
03:38 PM on 12/06/2011
I really think your logic is convoluted. Even a Jew should not be offended to be able to buy this book....it's a piece of history! In the same way, you don't have to be Jewish to be moved by the Diary of Anne Frank. How you can say anyone hates Jews as much as Hitler did is beyond me... he's the only one to have killed 6 million of them! And I'm Arabic! It is Zionists I hate. But back to the point in hand, I would've thought that purposefully excluding books like this for Arabs to access would be more fuel to the fire, don't you?
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chrisfre
0 Fans
02:42 PM on 12/09/2011
even though anti-zionism and anti-semitism really are one and the same, it's scary either way to hear someone freely admit their flat out hatred of a particular people. and no, excluding it wouldn't have been more fuel: the book is banned in Germany, and really isn't so easy to find in most countries, though you can if you look. so to have it RECOMMENDED at a bookstore is an obvious statement that you wouldn't see ANYWHERE else in the world. that's a fact. it is important reading, but "recommending" it is like saying "hey, look how GREAT this is!! everyone read it!!" that's a different approach to the book than gaining important historical knowledge.
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Michael II
Neither the one, nor the only
254 Fans
12:22 PM on 12/06/2011
Interesting question: who gets the authors rights on the book? It's not yet public domain I don't think.
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British4Ever
354 Fans
08:02 AM on 12/06/2011
Well they say ignorance is bliss don't they??? Cat got your tongue Mr. Huff??? Not had a good start with people threatening to leave AOL. May be you will find a few manners and get back to me and also the rest of the posters to why you refuse to post their comments knowing full well they are not racist posts!
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azbenahmed
92 Fans
 
02:56 PM on 12/09/2011
i'm expecting mine to be removed tout suite
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European1919
I am the PigmⒶn
548 Fans
05:52 AM on 12/06/2011
There is something noble about educating yourself. Those so obviously fighting against education and broadening one's mind are making a very powerful statement.
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Jimm Milenski
41 Fans
04:39 AM on 12/06/2011
What is the psychology of this love affair with the psychopathic god?
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Vapula
Failure is not an option
1712 Fans
03:39 AM on 12/06/2011
Mein Kampf is an important book and if someone puts it on their list of recommended reads then so be it. Why be afraid of ideas which have been shown to be false? If we are to avoid making mistakes we made in the past then we should understand what fueled the decisions then. This book gives unique insight into Hitler's and many German's thinking in the 1930s.
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electrictoothsyndrome
23 Fans
10:45 PM on 12/05/2011
Free nations and free people are never afraid of ideas. Only totalitarian regimes fear a free exchange of ideas, however hateful or ill-conceived.
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Arkleson
100 Fans
09:56 PM on 12/05/2011
You can buy Hitler's bad paintings, apparently, so why not his bad book?
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Arkleson
100 Fans
09:48 PM on 12/05/2011
I wonder whether it was a struggle to put it on the list....
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jmt432p
105 Fans
09:30 PM on 12/05/2011
was this rather non-news article only put up so the zealous moderators can have their little rush of power?
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azbenahmed
92 Fans
 
03:26 PM on 12/06/2011
you got fanned for that
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Raldor
33 Fans
09:17 PM on 12/05/2011
Hitler had the works of many authors who were demonised by the Nazi party burned.

There was an outcry from the rest of the world over the incident.

I have read Mein Kampf. It's a very important historical document. If you read it in the context of that era in History you will understand why the Nazis did what they did.

However, to try to stop people reading it is no different to the Nazi book burning.

The day that your reading is controlled by others will be the day you succumb to censorship and fall under the control of dictators.
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Arkleson
100 Fans
09:58 PM on 12/05/2011
You think people murder millions of innocent people and bring the World to the brink of destruction by reading a book? Some people are very easily swayed, then.
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Keeft
8 Fans
09:08 PM on 12/05/2011
My effort hasnt arrived yet.. lets just see. Mein Kampf is more about who wrote it and not its contents which are almost impossible to read or understand. My sleeve notes said it was so heavily edited to make some sense. I bought mine in Hatfield Dillons years ago while working nearby. I was surprised to get it but when attempting to get into it, the sleeve notes actually put you off. He was consumed by hate, and rambled so much. I gave up. Stephen Hawkings Brief History of Time was easier. Its sad such books get a reputation without people knowing the facts.
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Keeft
8 Fans
09:00 PM on 12/05/2011
I`ve read the coments here and again some people cant help but have a go reacting to others.
I bought Mein Kampf years ago in Hatfield Dillons when it was there, I worked the area and spent some interesting lunch breaks there. As I remember, the book was really only released for students and academics.. as some are from the Vatican Library? In case anyone got ideas. Didnt he write it in prison after a failed coup? Well. my sleeve notes tell its been so heavily edited because he rambled on so much.. I admit I didnt get far. I hoped it contained his plans for Britain. No..He was released pretty fast anyway by those who wanted his skills? Did he have time to write it in prison? I believe its more to do with who wrote it than what it contains.. I may not be academic but I found it such hard going I gave up. Stephen hawkings Brief History of Time was easier.. except I got that too late for the dvd, drat. So, Mein Kampf.. had press to sell it, curious people bought it and likely didnt get far. The sleeve notes would put most off. Is it dangerous.. I wouldnt say so. One has to understand first? Amd thats almost impossible. Written by a man consumed by hate and races.
But I read he used Rothschilds type writers to do flyers, so who used who?? The hate continues.
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