Official Record of the 1941 Meeting Between
Adolf Hitler and the Leader of Extreme Islam
The Times of Israel (Ed.)
Adolf Hitler and the Leader of Extreme Islam
The Times of Israel (Ed.)
Adolf Hitler hosts Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini in
1941 in
Germany. (Heinrich Hoffmann Collection/Wikipedia - The Times of Israel.)
A 2018 Editorial Note:
A Grand Mufti is the highest official of
religious law and doctrine in a Sunni Muslim country.
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini
(1895-1974), developed a close cooperation with Nazi Germany in the 1930s and
1940s. Later on he played a role in the birth of the Palestine Liberation
Organization, PLO, in 1964. [1]
Fortunately, Time is a powerful teacher and most Nazi
illusions were erased.
After the crushing defeats of anti-Semitism in the
20th century, the strengthening of Israel has been paving the way to closer
ties and cooperation between Arab countries and the Jewish State. In spite of
the misinformation still present in some media, the Islamic world as a whole is
liberating itself from the old Nazi influences and discovering the advantages
of peace in the Middle East.
The permanent harmony between Muslims and Jews cannot be
attained merely by top-down, formal diplomatic treaties. It is being built
instead through intercultural dialogue and mutual help on multiple fronts and small
scale. The nightmare of hatred among nations is dissipated - among other means
- by effective grassroots action in daily life.
Theosophy teaches universal brotherhood. Two basic
principles in esoteric philosophy are love for truth and mutual respect among
nations. Different religions and contrasting schools of thought must be able to
coexist and have a dialogue. The theosophical importance of the following
document is in the fact that it clarifies an essential source of fanaticism and
cruelty in the Middle East, which now hopefully lose strength. An enduring
peace must be the result of the growth of human soul. [2]
Read in our associated websites the articles “Occult Roots of Religious Violence”
and “Theosophy and the Middle East”.
(Carlos Cardoso Aveline)
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[Note by The Times of Israel,
21 October 2015:]
The following is an official German record of the meeting between Adolf
Hitler and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, on November 28,
1941, at the Reich Chancellory in Berlin. (Source: Documents on German Foreign
Policy 1918-1945, Series D, Vol. XIII, London, 1964.)
The original title and link at “The Times of Israel” is -
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GRAND MUFTI:
The Grand Mufti
began by thanking the Fuhrer for the great honor he had bestowed by receiving
him. He wished to seize the opportunity to convey to the Fuhrer of the Greater
German Reich, admired by the entire Arab world, his thanks of the sympathy
which he had always shown for the Arab and especially the Palestinian cause,
and to which he had given clear expression in his public speeches.
The Arab countries were firmly convinced that Germany
would win the war and that the Arab cause would then prosper. The Arabs were
Germany’s natural friends because they had the same enemies as had Germany,
namely the English, the Jews and the Communists. Therefore they were prepared
to cooperate with Germany with all their hearts and stood ready to participate in
the war, not only negatively by the commission of acts of sabotage and the
instigation of revolutions, but also positively by the formation of an Arab
Legion.
The Arabs could be more useful to Germany as allies
than might be apparent at first glance, both for geographical reasons and
because of the suffering inflicted upon them by the English and the Jews.
Furthermore, they had had close relations with all Muslim nations, of which
they could make use in behalf of the common cause. The Arab Legion would be
quite easy to raise. An appeal by the Mufti to the Arab countries and the
prisoners of Arab, Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan nationality in Germany would
produce a great number of volunteers eager to fight. Of Germany’s victory the
Arab world was firmly convinced, not only because the Reich possessed a large
army, brave soldiers and military leaders of genius, but also because the
Almighty could never award the victory to an unjust cause.
In this struggle, the Arabs were striving for the
independence and unity of Palestine, Syria and Iraq. They had the fullest
confidence in the Fuhrer and looked to his hand for the balm on their wounds,
which had been inflicted upon them by the enemies of Germany.
The Mufti then mentioned the letter he had received
from Germany, which stated that Germany was holding no Arab territories and
understood and recognized the aspirations to independence and freedom of the
Arabs, just as she supported the elimination of the Jewish national home.
A public declaration in this sense would be very
useful for its propagandistic effect on the Arab peoples at this moment. It
would rouse the Arabs from their momentary lethargy and give them new courage.
It would also ease the Mufti’s work of secretly organizing the Arabs against
the moment when they could strike. At the same time, he could give the
assurance that the Arabs would in strict discipline patiently wait for the
right moment and only strike upon an order from Berlin.
With regard to the events in Iraq, the Mufti observed
that the Arabs in that country certainly had by no means been incited by
Germany to attack England, but solely had acted in reaction to a direct English
assault upon their honor.
The Turks, he believed, would welcome the
establishment of an Arab government in the neighboring territories because they
would prefer weaker Arab to strong European governments in the neighboring
countries and, being themselves a nation of 7 million, they had moreover
nothing to fear from the 1,700,000 Arabs inhabiting Syria, Transjordan, Iraq
and Palestine.
France likewise would have no objections to the
unification plan because it had conceded independence to Syria as early as 1936
and had given her approval to the unification of Iraq and Syria under King
Faisal as early as 1933.
In these circumstances he was renewing his request
that the Fuhrer make a public declaration so that the Arabs would not lose
hope, which is so powerful a force in the life of nations. With such hope in
their hearts the Arabs, as he had said, were willing to wait. They were not
pressing for immediate realization for their aspirations; they could easily
wait half a year or a whole year. But if they were not inspired with such a
hope by a declaration of this sort, it could be expected that the English would
be the gainers from it.
HITLER:
The Fuhrer replied that Germany’s fundamental attitude
on these questions, as the Mufti himself had already stated, was clear. Germany
stood for uncompromising war against the Jews. That naturally included active
opposition to the Jewish national home in Palestine, which was nothing other
than a center, in the form of a state, for the exercise of destructive
influence by Jewish interests. Germany was also aware that the assertion that
the Jews were carrying out the functions of economic pioneers in Palestine was
a lie. The work there was done only by the Arabs, not by the Jews. Germany was
resolved, step by step, to ask one European nation after the other to solve its
Jewish problem, and at the proper time to direct a similar appeal to
non-European nations as well.
Germany was at the present time engaged in a life and
death struggle with two citadels of Jewish power: Great Britain and Soviet
Russia. Theoretically there was a difference between England’s capitalism and
Soviet Russia’s communism; actually, however, the Jews in both countries were
pursuing a common goal. This was the decisive struggle; on the political plane,
it presented itself in the main as a conflict between Germany and England, but
ideologically it was a battle between National Socialism and the Jews. It went
without saying that Germany would furnish positive and practical aid to the
Arabs involved in the same struggle, because platonic promises were useless in
a war for survival or destruction in which the Jews were able to mobilize all
of England’s power for their ends.
The aid to the Arabs would have to be material aid. Of
how little help sympathies alone were in such a battle had been demonstrated
plainly by the operation in Iraq, where circumstances had not permitted the
rendering of really effective, practical aid. In spite of all the sympathies,
German aid had not been sufficient and Iraq was overcome by the power of
Britain, that is, the guardian of the Jews.
The Mufti could not but be aware, however, that the
outcome of the struggle going on at present would also decide the fate of the
Arab world. The Fuhrer therefore had to think and speak coolly and
deliberately, as a rational man and primarily as a soldier, as the leader of
the German and allied armies. Everything of a nature to help in this titanic
battle for the common cause, and thus also for the Arabs, would have to be
done. Anything however, that might contribute to weakening the military
situation must be put aside, no matter how unpopular this move might be.
Germany was now engaged in very severe battles to
force the gateway to the northern Caucasus region. The difficulties were mainly
with regard to maintaining the supply, which was most difficult as a result of
the destruction of railroads and highways as well as the oncoming winter. If at
such a moment, the Fuhrer were to raise the problem of Syria in a declaration,
those elements in France which were under de Gaulle’s influence would receive
new strength. They would interpret the Fuhrer’s declaration as an intention to
break up France’s colonial empire and appeal to their fellow countrymen that
they should rather make common cause with the English to try to save what still
could be saved. A German declaration regarding Syria would in France be understood
to refer to the French colonies in general, and that would at the present time
create new troubles in western Europe, which means that a portion of the German
armed forces would be immobilized in the west and no longer be available for
the campaign in the east.
The Fuhrer then made the following statement to the
Mufti, enjoining him to lock it in the uttermost depths of his heart:
1. He (the Fuhrer)
would carry on the battle to the total destruction of the Judeo-Communist
empire in Europe.
2. At some moment
which was impossible to set exactly today but which in any event was not
distant, the German armies would in the course of this struggle reach the
southern exit from Caucasia.
3. As soon as this
had happened, the Fuhrer would on his own give the Arab world the assurance
that its hour of liberation had arrived. Germany’s objective would then be
solely the destruction of the Jewish element residing in the Arab sphere under
the protection of British power. In that hour the Mufti would be the most
authoritative spokesman for the Arab world. It would then be his task to set
off the Arab operations, which he had secretly prepared. When that time had
come, Germany could also be indifferent to French reaction to such a
declaration.
Once Germany had forced open the road to Iran and Iraq
through Rostov; it would be also the beginning of the end of the British World
Empire. He (the Fuhrer) hoped that the coming year would make it possible for
Germany to thrust open the Caucasian gate to the Middle East. For the good of
their common cause, it would be better if the Arab proclamation were put off
for a few more months than if Germany were to create difficulties for herself
without being able thereby to help the Arabs.
He (the Fuhrer) fully appreciated the eagerness of the
Arabs for a public declaration of the sort requested by the Grand Mufti. But he
would beg him to consider that he (the Fuhrer) himself was the Chief of State
of the German Reich for five long years during which he was unable to make to his
own homeland the announcement of its liberation. He had to wait with that until
the announcement could be made on the basis of a situation brought about by the
force of arms that the Anschluss had been carried out.
The moment that Germany’s tank divisions and air
squadrons had made their appearance south of the Caucasus, the public appeal
requested by the Grand Mufti could go out to the Arab world.
GRAND MUFTI:
The Grand Mufti replied that it was his view that
everything would come to pass just as the Fuhrer had indicated. He was fully
reassured and satisfied by the words which he had heard from the Chief of the
German State. He asked, however, whether it would not be possible, secretly at
least, to enter into an agreement with Germany of the kind he had just outlined
for the Fuhrer.
HITLER:
The Fuhrer replied that he had just now given the
Grand Mufti precisely that confidential declaration.
GRAND MUFTI:
The Grand Mufti thanked him for it and stated in
conclusion that he was taking his leave from the Fuhrer in full confidence and
with reiterated thanks for the interest shown in the Arab cause.
(End of Transcription.)
NOTES:
[1] “A Place Among the Nations -
Israel and the World”, by Benjamin Netanyahu, Bantam Books, 1993, 467 pages.
Husseini did not really represent all the Arabs but only a radical faction
among them (pp. 58-59). Yasser Arafat, the founder of the Palestine Liberation
Organization, belonged to Husseini clan (p. XVIII). See also the book “The
Israeli Solution”, Caroline B. Glick, Crown Forum, New York, 2014, 324 pages. On
chapter 3, the author gives a detailed description of the close cooperation
between Nazi Germany and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. On chapter 4, she
describes the close links between the Grand Mufti and his political heir Yasser
Arafat. See for instance pp. 50-51. (CCA)
[2] Besides reading the text in our websites and in “The Times of Israel”, readers can see
it in the PDF edition of “Documents on
German Foreign Policy, 1918-1945”, Series D, Vol. XIII, United States Government
Printing Office, Washington, London, 1964. See Document 515, pp. 881-885, here. (CCA)
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See in our blog
at “The Times of Israel” the articles
“Blavatsky, Judaism and Nazism”,
“Israel: Besides Defeating Terror”
and “Israel and the Law of Cycles”.
In the associated
websites, read the text “Theosophy and the Second World War”.
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On 14 September 2016, after examining the state of the esoteric movement
worldwide, a group of students decided to found the Independent Lodge of Theosophists. Two of the priorities adopted by
the ILT are learning from the
past and building a better future.
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