GERMANY:

Hitler Heir Doesn't Want 'Mein Kampf' Royalties


A German historian said Sunday a distant relative of Adolf Hitler could
sue the state of Bavaria for royalties from the Nazi dictator's book
"Mein Kampf" but the retired Austrian engineer said he wants no part of
it.

Werner Maser told Bild am Sonntag that Peter Raubal, whose father Leo
Raubal was a nephew of Hitler, would have a strong chance of winning the
copyright from Bavaria, which was given the German rights to the book by
the postwar occupying powers.

"Peter Raubal is the only heir of Hitler that I know of," Maser said.
"As the closest relative alive, he could claim royalties from Hitler's
book 'Mein Kampf'. Raubal would have to sue Bavaria. I am quite certain
he would win."

Hitler died with no immediate heirs but Leo Raubal was one of his
half-sister Angela Raubal's children. Maser said Leo Raubal long
considered such a lawsuit before his death in 1979. Bild am Sonntag said
royalties could be worth millions of euros.

"Yes I know the whole story about Hitler's inheritance," Peter Raubal
told Bild am Sonntag in what the paper said were his first public
comments on the issue. "But I don't want to have anything to do with it.
I will not do anything about it. I only want to be left alone."

In Germany, it is illegal to distribute "Mein Kampf" except in limited
circumstances. Nazi symbols like the swastika and the stiff-armed Hitler
salute are also banned. "Mein Kampf" is available online and in most
countries, including Israel.

Hitler dictated the tome to his secretary Rudolf Hess while in prison in
Bavaria following the failed Munich "Beer Hall" putsch of 1923. It
outlines a doctrine of German racial supremacy and ambitions to annex
vast areas of the Soviet Union.

Published in 1925, it became a school textbook after Hitler won power in
1933. All German newlyweds also received a copy.

Now, purchasers who can prove an academic purpose may secure an existing
copy but otherwise sales are banned and Bavaria refused to authorize new
copies. The Allied Control Commission assigned Bavaria the rights to
Hitler's assets in 1946.

(source: Reuters)