Mein Kampf for Auction

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

A copy of Adolf Hitler's infamous autobiography Mein Kampf, signed in his bunker as the Allied armies closed in on him has emerged for sale.

The copy of the hate-filled manifesto for his political ideology is believed to be the last copy signed by the dictator before his suicide in April 1945.

He gave it to an unidentified senior member of his staff in a last defiant gesture of hope that his Nazi ideology would continue after his death.

A copy of Adolf Hitler's infamous autobiography Mein Kampf which he signed in his bunker on March 5, 1945 as the Allied armies closed in has emerged for sale for £5,000

The signature, once large and bold, had degenerated into a small almost insignificant scribble, showing how much his mental state had degenerated and he must have known his inevitable fate

MEIN KAMPF - ADOLF HITLER'S HATE-FILLED MANIFESTO

Mein Kampf, which translates as My Struggle or My Battle, combines elements of autobiography and Hitler's political ideology. It was written in jail following his failed 1923 Munich Pusch and was published in 1925. It includes racist diatribes against Jews and their ‘twin evil’ - communism.
He argued that Germany would be forced to fight a war in the east as it secured ‘lebensraum’ – or living room – for its citizens at the expense of Slavs, whom he also viewed as inferior. It explains why aggressively an expanded Germany eastward, specifically through invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland, before an attack against Russia.
As a form of manifesto, he also argued that Germany would be better off without parliamentary government, which he blamed for the country’s problems.
While the book is not illegal in Germany, the state has not allowed it to be printed amid fears that it will promote Nazism.

Experts say that his signature at the time was rushed and resembled little more than a squiggle, a reflection of his scrambled state of mind at the time. Underneath his autograph he wrote the date March 5, 1945.

The copy of Mein Kampf - My Struggle - was a limited print-run from 1939 to mark Hitler's 50th birthday.

 

At the time Hitler had taken up permanent residence in his bunker under the Reich Chancellery in Berlin while the Russians advanced from the east and the British and Americans from the west.

On April 30 - 12 days before the end of World War II - he shot himself moments after his mistress, Eva Bruan, committed suicide by biting on a cycanide capsule.

The book was acquired many years ago by a British man from an American collector who will now sell it at auction with a pre-sale estimate of 5,000 pounds.
Richard Westwood-Brooks, of auctioneers Mullocks, said: 'The book is itself rare but this one bears Hitler's signature with the date of March 5th 1945. 'By March the Allied armies in the west and the Soviet Red Army in the east were making significant gains on German soil, and indeed on that very date the allies captured Cologne.

The copy of HItler's Mein Kampf is believed to be the last one the evil dictator put his name to before he committed suicide in April 1945. File copy of Mein Kampf

'Hitler, in retreat in his bunker in Berlin could only await the inevitable total destruction of his Third Reich. 'But it is also well known that he believed that via some miracle some sort of surprise counter attack by the German army would turn the tide in his favour.

'So on March 5 he presented this book, signing it with his bizarre signature.
'We don't know to whom he gave the book, but it was probably a senior member of his staff, and it is quite possible that it was given as a parting gift.
'The signature is also significant as it shows how much his mental state had degenerated and he must have known his inevitable fate.
'His signature, once large and bold, had degenerated into a small almost insignificant scribble.'

He added: 'Material from the last few weeks of Hitler's life are rare and this book is a particularly evocative reminder of the futility of his whole evil life.'

The auction takes place on February 14.