Amazon can’t seem to decide whether or not to ban Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
Earlier this week, the Guardian reported that the online bookseller had banned most editions of Hitler’s infamous anti-Semitic manifesto from being sold on its website.
The company had emailed various booksellers to let them know they’d no longer be able to sell the book through Amazon, saying that it ran contrary to the company’s code of conduct.
But the New York Times reports that at least one edition of the book, translated by Ralph Manheim and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Harcourt, is still for sale on the Amazon website.
The listing for the book contains a message from Amazon that reads in part, “As a bookseller, we think it is important to offer this infamous work because of its historical significance and educational role in the understanding and prevention of anti-Semitism.”
The Times notes that used copies of the book are still banned from the Amazon website, however, although they’re still for sale on Amazon-owned AbeBooks.
The Amazon listing for the Houghton Mifflin edition of the book contains several customer reviews, with many praising Manheim’s translation while making it clear they do not agree with Hitler’s views.
“The only reason I gave this 4 stars is not because I espouse any of the garbage in this crap. It's just that if you want to get to sleep fast, read it, it'll knock you out,” one customer wrote.
Another reader commented, “I burned this book last night in a fire pit … This book is concentrated evil please avoid.”
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
