Updated

Inscribed copies of "Mein Kampf," the infamous anti-Semitic manifesto of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, will be put up for auction Thursday in Los Angeles.

The bidding for the two volumes of the book starts at $20,000 and is expected to fetch approximately $25,000, according to Reuters. Both copies are inscribed to Josef Bauer, an SS officer during World War II who took part in Hitler's failed Beer Hall Putsch in Munich in 1923. Hitler served nine months in prison for his part in the putsch, a failed attempt to overthrow the government of the German state of Bavaria.

While serving his sentence, Hitler wrote "Mein Kampf," -- "My Struggle" -- which laid out his vision for Germany alongside his racist ideology. The Bauer books were previously sold for $25,000 at a London auction in 2012. The buyer's identity has not been disclosed.

"I think it's very heinous, but it is an auction item, it is a memento, it's a piece of memorabilia and a piece of history," auction house proprietor Nate Sanders, who is Jewish, told Reuters.

Under German law, it is legal to buy and own "Mein Kampf." The Bavarian government currently owns the book's copyright and has prohibited the selling and printing of the book in the state except for purposes of academic use. The entire text is scheduled to enter the public domain on January 1, 2016.

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