Seventy years after the death of Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf is in the public domain and free to be republished.

The history of its English version is relatively well-known, thanks to historians James and Patience Barnes. Its history in French is not. While French journalist Antoine Vitkine wrote a 2009 global history of Mein Kampf and two French lawyers and a historian recently shed light on the French-language editions of Mein Kampf, neither book has been translated into English.

Beginning in 1934—and into the 21st century—a tug-of-war over the French version of the text took place among an eccentric, right-wing publisher named Fernand Sorlot, Hitler’s lawyers, German censors, and the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism.

With a much-anticipated critical edition of Hitler’s hateful screed in the pipeline, it’s worth revisiting how the French translation endured decades of dubious sales, editing and censorship.

From ‘My Struggle’ to ‘My Doctrine’

When Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933, people around the world were fascinated with the Nazi leader known for his fiery rhetoric. Many were curious to learn more about the man’s life and his true beliefs.