Associated Press
By Veselin Zhelev
Adolf Hitler's autobiography has been published legally for the first time in Bulgaria, and vendors say it is selling well in a country where anti-Jewish sentiment is traditionally low.
``Mein Kampf'' has not been publicly available in Bulgaria until now because it lacked two legal requirements: a critical preface stating the book is anti-Semitic and the name of a publisher.
Bulgaria was the only Nazi ally to save its Jewish citizens. Despite a deportation order of the pro-German government in the spring of 1943, Bulgaria's King Boris III rescinded the decree after a deluge of protests and appeals from lawmakers, clergymen and intellectuals.
Even now, the right-wing skinhead gangs targeting Jews and other minorities elsewhere in the former communist parts of Europe are relatively rare in Bulgaria.
The book, which details Hitler's anti-Semitic thinking, has been the subject of a major advertising campaign since it came out last week, though it's unclear by whom. Hundreds of posters showing a glaring Hitler in full uniform festoon downtown walls. The publisher, Zhar Ptitsa, maintains it is not behind the campaign, and there are no groups publicly promoting the book.
Sales figures on the book were unavailable, but it does appear to be a hot item; it's price has jumped from about $7 to about $12, a tenth of the average monthly salary.
``Sales are going well,'' Nikolai Stoilov, a vendor at the city's downtown open-air book market, said Tuesday.
Some countries in the region have forbidden publication of ``Mein Kampf'' on grounds it could fuel racial hatred. An attempt to sell it a year ago was halted by Bulgarian police, who confiscated hundreds of copies because they did not carry the name of a publisher.
That problem is gone, and the book now also carries a preface stating that the book, while anti Semitic, has historical value.
``This is a racist and anti-Semitic book and I have said this in the preface,'' said history professor Milen Semkov. ``But it is also a document of its time and therefore it has to be read.''
Jewish leaders in Sofia said they did not object to the book's publication.
``This book is part of the human history and it has to be read,'' said Emil Kalo, the leader of Shalom, the most influential organization of Bulgaria's 5,000 Jews.
But he criticized the ``unusually costly advertising campaign,'' and called the posters ``clearly fascist propaganda.''
Still, most people buying the book Tuesday appeared driven by curiosity.
``I bought it out of curiosity,'' said Manol Stoyanov, a 35-year-old businessman, fingering the copy he had just purchased. ``Forbidden fruit, you know.''
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