Dangerous Books series to debut Nov. 9

Photo courtesy Carl-Michael Krawczyk

Author Carl-Michael Krawczyk will discuss “Mein Kampf” in the first Dangerous Books series Nov. 9 at West Campus.

By ALEX JIMENEZ
Pima Post

Something dangerous will be at Pima Community College Nov. 9. A dangerous book, that is.

Pima will be hosting the first Dangerous Books event from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Nov. 9 in the West Campus Library classroom. 

Dangerous Books is an event meant to highlight popular banned books, books removed from public or school libraries. The first event will cover Adolf Hitler’s autobiography “Mein Kampf.”

“Each year, libraries across the country spotlight questions of intellectual freedom and censorship with events and displays for Banned Books Week,” stated the Dangerous Books announcement. “Many people are unaware that books are regularly challenged or banned from libraries, schools, and bookstores.” 

Pima Professor Carl-Michal Krawczyk will be the first speaker in the ongoing lecture series.

Krawczyk came out of retirement in 2017 to become an adjunct instructor at Pima. He is an author himself, writing “The Pursuit of Happiness: A Brit’s Journey of Self-Discovery in America.” 

“I will deliver a lecture on the background of ‘Mein Kampf,’ place the book in its historical context and then we shall open up the hall for audience comments/reactions,” Krawczyk said. 

“Mein Kampf” is the autobiographical manifesto of Hitler and was banned in Spring 2020 on Amazon, before returning for sale on the site just a few days later.

The autobiography also was banned in Germany from the end of World War II in 1945 until a copyright expired in 2016, allowing any publisher to reprint.