Bavaria fights Mein Kampf publication

The German state of Bavaria is contesting publication in Poland of a new edition of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf

Bavaria says it was granted guardianship of Hitler's estate by the victorious Allies in the Second World War and it holds the rights to the book outlining the German dictator's anti-Semitic views and other ideas.

Mein Kampf, or "My Struggle," cannot be sold to the public in Germany, but it is available in libraries for research purposes.

Bavarian officials say the rights to publish Hitler's writings are restricted to prevent the spread of pro-Nazi propaganda.

The Polish publisher, however, says the newest edition will provide a new historical record of Hitler's writing and it plans to go ahead with sales in a few days.

Germany says it will try to get a court order in Poland to ban the book.

But in 1998, Bavaria failed to get such an order against a Swedish publisher that brought out an edition of Mein Kampf. The company printed 10,000 copies of the book.

After several appeals, the Swedish supreme court ruled that Bavaria had no standing to exert copyright in Sweden and no power to prevent publication in that country.