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Forums - General - Hitler is popular in Bangladesh

Or, at least, his book is.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8382132.stm

Mein Kampf a hit on Dhaka streets

By Alastair Lawson
BBC News, Dhaka
Mabul generally sells six copies of the book in a day

Booksellers touting their wares amid the heavy traffic in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, have discovered an unusual best-seller.

Adolf Hitler's autobiography manifesto Mein Kampf is selling as well as Dan Brown's latest novel, The Lost Symbol.

The street vendors in Dhaka are found at every major road junction and intersection.

Most of the sellers are young boys and many compete with beggars to attract the attention of motorists.

Last week, Mein Kampf did unusually well because many bought the book to give it away as an Eid present.

'All the rage'

Mabul, 15, is among many boys who risk the chaos of Dhaka's roads to earn a living selling pirated copies of popular paperbacks.

Among his offerings are The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama, the 9/11 Commission Report - Omissions and Distortions by David Ray Griffin, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and copies of Mein Kampf (volumes one and two).

"For some reason Hitler's book is all the rage among educated people - on a typical day I can sell as many as five or six," Mabul told the BBC.

Hitler is not as popular as Dan Brown or Amartya Sen among Dhaka's motorists and their passengers, but there is a constant demand for his book.

"I think it's because many people have seen Hitler in films and want to know more about him."

Mabul earns up to 1,000 taka ($8) a day in his job, usually working eight hours a day for six days a week.

He says that the best time to sell books is when traffic is at its heaviest, in the morning and evening rush hours.

When it is gridlocked, some people appear to buy his books because they are bored and there is nothing else to do.

Career path

Nearly all the books Mabul sells are photocopies of books he has bought from dealers - and in some cases the photocopying is not of the highest quality.

The maps in his Lonely Planet guide to Bangladesh, for example, are difficult to read and of poor quality.

Yet despite the dubious legality of his career path, Mabul and his friend Aminul - who has the use of only one arm - typify the entrepreneurial spirit for which many Bangladeshis are renowned.

"If I didn't do this job I would have no income - it's as simple as that," said Aminul, as he proffers a copy of Monica Ali's latest novel.

"It's not easy being disabled and selling books in a Dhaka traffic jam. Several times we come close to getting run over."



(Former) Lead Moderator and (Eternal) VGC Detective

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To be honest it's just a book. I don't blame people for wanting to read it, the book is infamous. I would say that many are curious, after all it is one of the most famous books written and it is a very personal insight into one of the most famous politicians ever.

I know that some capitalists read Che Guevara's Motorcycle Diaries out of curiosity, they don't follow his message, but are interested in learning about him. I would imagine many would read Mein Kampf for the same reason.

Or at least I hope they do...

...

The context of the book itself is detestable, anti-semitic, racist propaganda;



Whoa, they like Dan Brown? Fucked up.



wow lol

this is hilarious!



All hail the KING, Andrespetmonkey

Atleast its not Twilight , that book is dangerous.



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is this book available in western countries (I felt like writing Allied countries) I would liek to read this.



O-D-C said:
is this book available in western countries (I felt like writing Allied countries) I would liek to read this.

Most, of course, there's a few countries where the book is banned. You're good in Canada, though.



O-D-C said:
is this book available in western countries (I felt like writing Allied countries) I would liek to read this.

Yeah.  You can probably find it in your Library.

Well unless you live in Germany.



As for it's popularity... who knows. Could just be people buying it to read it like they say.

Apparently 15,000 or so copies are sold in the US a year.


Additionally it should be noted this isn't like a "best sellers" list and seems to be taken just from street vendors.

Which given the other choices... can you blame them?

Why would anyone in Bangladesh want to read something about the 9/11 reports? Even if they were dancing after it happened. (I think....)



Hahaha... and apparently Mein Kampf has a manga.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga_de_Dokuha

Reminds me of a comic I once saw where Hitler and Stalin were fighting like Dragon Ball Z characters.

I wanna say it was a Russian comic.