Nazi Germany's Propaganda Aimed at Arabs and Muslims During World War II and the Holocaust. Old Themes, New Archival Findings

8/22/2019 Nazi Germany's Propaganda Aimed at Arabs and Muslims During World War II and the Holocaust. Old Themes, Ne

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Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association

Nazi Germany's Propaganda Aimed at Arabs and Muslims During World War II and theHolocaust: Old Themes, New Archival FindingsAuthor(s): Jeffrey HerfSource: Central European History, Vol. 42, No. 4 (DECEMBER 2009), pp. 709-736Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of Conference Group for Central European History of

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Central uropean istory2 (2009),709-736.Copyright Conferenceroup orCentral uropeanHistoryf theAmericanHistorical ssociationdoi:10.1017/S000893890999104X

NaziGermany's ropaganda imedat ArabsandMuslims uringWorldWarII and theHolocaust:OldThemes,New Archival indingsJeffreyerf

WorldWar I andtheHolocaust,heNaziregime ngagedn anintensiveffortoappeal o Arabs ndMuslimsntheMiddleEast ndNorthAfrica.1t did obypresentingheNaziregimes a championfsecular nti-imperialism,specially gainst ritain,s well as bya selectiveappropriationndreceptionf the traditionsf slam nways hat uggestedtheir ompatibilityith he deology f National ocialism. his article ndthe arger roject romwhich t comesdraw n recentrchivalindingshatmake tpossibleoexpand n theknowledgef NaziGermany'sffortsnthisregion hathasalreadyeenpresentedn a substantialcholarship.2hisessaypushes hehistoryf NazismbeyondtsEurocentricimits hilepointingotheEuropean imensionsfArabic nd slamic adicalismf themid-twentiethcentury.n shortwaveadio nd nprintedtems istributedn themillions,Nazi Germany'srabicanguage ropagandaeapt cross heseeminglynsur-mountable arriers reated y its own ideology fAryan acial uperiority.From all 939to March 945, heNaziregimeroadcasthortwaverabic ro-gramso theMiddle ast ndNorth fricaeven aysndnightsweek.Thoughthebroadcasts erewellknown t the ime, hepreponderancef tsprintnd

'Thisarticle raws nmy orthcomingtudy, azi Propagandaor he rabWorld,ithYale Uni-versityressnfall 009. It also builds nJeffreyerf,The ewishnemy: azi PropagandauringWorldWar I and heHolocaustCambridge, A: Harvard niversityress, 006).2See he lassictudy yLukaszHirszowicz,heThirdeichnd he rab ast London:RoutledgeandKeganPaul;Toronto: niversityf Toronto ress, 966);andtherecentmportantork yKlaus Michael Mailmann and Martin Cuppers, Halbmondund Hakenkreuz.Das DritteReich,dieArabernd alstinaDarmstadt: issenschaftlicheuchgesellschaft,006).Also ee RobertLewisMelka, TheAxis ndtheMiddleEast:1930-1945" (unpublishedh.D.diss.,UniversityfMin-nesota, 966);Francis . Nicosia,The Third eich nd he alestineuestionNewBrunswick,J:Transactionublishers,999);Josefchrder,Die BeziehungenerAchsenmchteurArabischenWelt," in Hitler,Deutschland nd die Mchte.Materialien ur Auenpolitik es DrittenReiches, d.Manfredunke Dsseldorf:rosteVerlag, 976),365-382; PhilipBernd chrder,eutschlandinderMittleresten mZweitenWeltkriegGttingen: usterschmidt,975);Wolfgangchwanitz,Germanynd heMiddle ast,1871-945 (Princeton,J:MarkusWiener ublishers,004);andHeinz Tillmann, DeutschlandsAraberpolitikm Zweiten WeltkriegBerlin: Deutsche Verlag derWissenschaften,965).

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710 JEFFREYHERFradio ropagandaasnotpreviouslyeendocumentedndexamined orhas tenteredntothe ntellectual,ultural,ndpolitical istoryf the Nazi regimeduringWorldWar I and theHolocaust.n light f new archivalindings,earenow abletopresentfull icturef thewartimeropagandaarragenthecourse fwhich fficialsf theNazi regime orkedwith ro-NaziArab xilesinBerlin oadapt eneral ropagandahemesimed t tsGermanndEuropeanaudiences o thereligiousraditionsf slam ndtheregionalnd ocalpoliticalrealitiesf theMiddleEast nd NorthAfrica. hisadaptation as theproductof a politicalnd deologicalollaborationetween fficialsf theNaziregime,especiallyn tsForeignMinistryut lso of ts ntelligenceervices,hePropa-gandaMinistry,nd the SS on the one hand, ndpro-NaziArab exiles nwartimeerlin n the ther.tdrew n a confluencefperceivedharedoliticalinterestsnd deological assions,s well s on a culturalusion,orrowingndinteractingetweenNazi ideologynd certaintrainsf ArabnationalismndIslamic eligiousraditions.t wasan mportanthaptern thepolitical,ntellec-tual, nd cultural istoryf NazismduringWorldWar I and compriseschapternthehistoryfradicalslamistdeologyndpolitics.Inwartimeerlin, adical nti-SemitismfEuropean ndGerman-speakingprovenance ound commongroundwith radical nti-Semitismooted nKoranic erses nd the commentariesn them n thetraditionsf slam. ustas Nazi anti-Semitismas a radicalizationf elements hat lready xistedwithin uropean ulture,o the anti-Semitismf thepro-NaziArab exilesresulted rom radicalizationf elements hat lreadyxistedwithinhe tra-ditions f slam. nbothcases, hese wentieth-centuryxtremists,npatternsfamiliaro historiansfreception,ngagednwhatRaymondWilliams alled"the aborofselective radition."hat s,they ctivelyeworkedndappro-priatedreceivedtraditions,mphasizingome elements nd diminishingothers.3 s a result f their hared assionsnd nterests,hey roduced extsand broadcastshat hey ouldnothaveproduced n their wn.Throughhisactive abor or conservingnd reworkingheirown while incorporatingforeignraditions,heNazis and theirArab collaboratorsoundcommongroundoproduce he exts ndbroadcastshat ccompaniedheAxismilitaryandpropagandaffensivesn NorthAfricandtheMiddle astduringhewar.4Culturalnd ntellectualistoriansfNazism aveongdemonstratedhattcanneithere separatedrom orreduced o tsEuropean, erman,nd Christianpredecessors.hesewerenecessaryut not sufficientonditions or ts mer-gence.The samewas true f theradical ationalismnd slamismif theArab

3The phrase s fromRaymond Williams,Marxism nd LiteratureNew York: Oxford UniversityPress, 1977).4On traditions nd theirreworking y ntellectuals,ee Edward Shils,TraditionChicago: Univer-sityof Chicago Press,1981), 195-261. Also see Edward Shils, The Intellectualsnd thePowers ndOther ssays Chicago: University fChicago, 1972).



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OLD THEMES ,NEW ARCHIVAL FINDINGS 71 1exileswho oinedforceswithHitler's egime. heirpolitical utlook ouldneither e separatedrom or reduced o itsArabic r Islamic ackground.The historicalonjuncturef WorldWar I broughthem ogethern theshared roject fradicalizingheir wnpast raditions.n contemporaryca-demic anguage,hemeeting etweenNazism and militantslam nd ArabnationalismnBerlinwas chapternthehistoryf ransnationalismndculturalfusion,ne that roughtut theworst lementsf the wocivilizations.5The NazistaughtheArab xiles hefiner oints ftwentieth-centuryew-hatred,bove ll, ts aranoid,onspiracyheoryndhowtoapplyttoongoingevents.he Arabs ndMuslimsnBerlinaughtheNazis hat heir atred f heJewswasnot sunique stheymight avemaginednd hus hathey adfoundallies n unexpectednd unforeseenlaces.Nazismbecame ess EurocentricwhileArab nd slamic adicalismrew nmodern,uropeanotalitariandeol-ogy. he Nazileadershipoughtways o burst hebonds fnationalistarticu-larism nd evenof thedoctrine f theAryanmaster ace norder oappeal oArabs nd Muslims. he Arabs nd MuslimsnBerlin ngagedna variant fwhat havecalled reactionaryodernism"s they emonstratedmasteryofmodern ropagandaechniquesn the nterestf dvocatingrevivalf fun-damentalistersion f slam.6 adical nti-Semitismidnotfirstnter rab ndIslamic oliticsecause f he levernessfNazipropagandists.n the ontrary,theirlevernessay artlynunderstandinghat ome urrentsnbothArab oliticsand he eligionf slam fferedointsf ntryor positiveeceptionfNazismmessage. azi officialsorkingith heArab xiles nBerlin swell stheOrien-talistsorkingor he Sand he oreign inistryelieved hat he oundingextof slam,heKoran,swell s commentariesndoral olkwisdom fferedower-ful oints fconnection ithmodern uropeannti-Semitism.y referringotheseexts,hey elievedheyould upplementecularppealsoArab ational-istswith eligiouslyased ppeals o Muslims s Muslims.Neither azisnor heArab xiles ouldhave chieved lonewhat heir lli-ancemadepossible. he Naziregimeacked ativepeakersfArabic s well sfamiliarityith hedetails f ocalpoliticsntheMiddle ast, eficiencies adeupby hepresencef heArab xileswho couldmakeNazismsmessagender-standablenfluent,olloquialArabic o Arabs ndMuslims. he Arabexilesfrom alestine nd Iraq had no wayof reaching massaudience n theirhome ountries.ascisttalynd NaziGermany'shortwaveadio ransmitters,

5For recent iscussionfthe mpactfNazism n theMiddleEast, ee Matthias iintzel,ihadandJew- atred: slamism, azism,and theRootsof9/1 , trans.Colin Meade (New York: Telos Press,2007). Also see Bernard Lewis, Semites nd Anti-Semites: n Inquiry ntoConflict nd Prejudice(NewYork:W. W.Norton, 986 and1999).On the nti-SemiticraditionsithinhereligionfIslam,see AndrewG. Bostom, ed., The Legacy f slamicAntisemitism:romSacredTexts o SolemnHistoryAmherst,Y: Prometheusooks,2008).6Jeffreyerf,Reactionary odernism: echnology,ulture,nd Politicsn Weimar nd the ThirdReich(NewYork:Cambridge niversityress, 984).



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712 JEFFREYERFtheir rintingresses,nd from 940to 1943,theirrmies ightingnNorthAfricamade thatpossible.Nazi Germany's rabic-languageropaganda asnotprimarilyhe result f translationfNazi ideology nd canonical extsinto Arabic.AlthoughMeinKmpfendthe ProtocolsftheElders fZion weretranslatedntoArabic efore 939,neitheriguredrominentlynArabic ro-paganda.ndeed, either id Hitler'speeches orGoebbels essays. he entrypoint fNazism propagandao Arabs ndMuslims as ts electiveeadingndquotationftheKoran nd the raditionsf slam. herewereGerman iplo-matswhopreferredo limitArabic-languageropagandao appeals o secularArab nti-imperialismirectedgainstritain nd theUnited tates r to Arabanti-Communism.thers eremore omfortableith xplicitppealsothe ra-ditions f slam.npractice,hedistinctionetween ecularndreligiousimen-sions lurredntonsignificance.n the ame extsndbroadcasts,heNazis pokethe ecularanguagef attacksnAmerican, ritish,nd"Jewish"mperialismwhile lsoappealingowhat hey epicteds the ncient raditionsfhatred ftheJewsn Islam tself. azi Germanyresentedtself oth s anally f Arabanti-imperialisms well s a soulmate f hereligionf slam.The eventsn NorthAfricand heMiddle ast nd heirnteractionith hewarin Europehave ong preoccupiedmilitarynddiplomatic istoriansfWorldWar I.7 n 1965, heEastGerman istorian einzTillmannn Deutsch-landsAraberpolitikmZweitenWeltkriegrew on then-availableGermanarchivesto examine hepolicy f"Germanmperialism"n theMiddleEastfrom he1930sto spring 943.8 n 1966,LukaszHirszowiczs heThird eich nd theArab astpresentednenduringynthesisfmilitary,iplomatic,ndpoliticalhistory p to theendof WorldWar I.9 He establishedhechronologyndkeycausal rgumentsoncerningheprospectsorvictory yand the causesof defeat fFascisttaly nd Nazi Germanyn theregion, speciallyn IraqandEgypt. n 2006, two Germanhistorians,laus MichaelMalimann ndMartinCuppers, rawing n Germandiplomatic, ilitary,nd SS archivesthat ad beenopened nd declassifiednthe nterim,ublished albmondndHakenkreuz. as DritteReich,die Araber ndPalstina.10 eflecting he shiftnhistoricalnalysis hich ed to muchgreaterttention o the connection

7For recentexamples,see GerhardWeinberg,A Worldt Arms:A GlobalHistory fWorldWar I(New York: Cambridge University ress,1994); and HorstBoog et al., The Global War:Wideningof the Conflictntoa World War and the Shiftof the Initiative, 941-1943, trans. Ewald Osers(New York: OxfordUniversity ress,2001). The Germanoriginal s HorstBoog etal., Das DeutscheReichundderZweiteWeltkrieg.ol.6, Der GlobaleKrieg:Die Ausweitungum WeltkriegndderWechselder nitiative,941-1943 (Stuttgart: eutsche Verlags- nstalt, 990).8Tillmann,Deutschlands raberpolitikm ZweitenWeltkrieg.Hirszowicz, The ThirdReich nd theArab East.10Mallmann nd Cuppers, Halbmondund Hakenkreuz.Also see Klaus Michael Mallmann andMartinCuppers, "'Elimination of theJewishNational Home in Palestine': The Einsatzkommandoofthe PanzerArmyAfrica,1942," Yad Vashem tudies 5, no. 1 (2007): 111-141.



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OLD THEMES NEWARCHIVAL INDINGS 713between heHolocaust ndWorldWar I,MallmannndCuppers evealed hattheSS hadplans o extend he FinalSolution o the700,000Jews f NorthAfrica nd theMiddleEast.The question f whetherheywould be able todo so depended n the outcomeof the battles t El Alamein nd later nTunisia etweenGermany's eneral rwinRommel'sAfrika orps nd theAllied rmed orces. s the sraeli istorian uviaFriling aspointed ut, n1942given heproximityfRommel'sAfrika orps, hefear fGermannva-sion of Palestinemong tsJewish opulation as"indeedreal."The mutualattractionmong Fascist taly,Nazi Germany,nd Arab radicalism ademerged uring he Arabrevoltn Palestine etween 936 and 1939. ThenbothGerman nd talian ropaganda,ndprobablylsomoneyndarms,up-portedherebellionnd ttackedheBritish andatewhileHajAmin l-Hus-seini,the GrandMufti ofJerusalem,nd his supporters eepenedtheirenthusiasmor he Nazis and the Fascists. In light f the tensions etweenthe British nd theJews n Palestine,nd British efusalo allow ncreasedJewishmmigrationo PalestineuringheHolocaust,t s ronic o notethatBritain nd Australia'sictoryt thebattle tEl Alameinwas both decisiveturningointnthehistoryfWorldWar I and a successfulffortopreventthe xtensionftheHolocaust othe700,000Jews ftheMiddleEast.12Significantistoricalcholarshipas documentedhe actions nd beliefs fHusseini,hemostmportantublic ace nd voice of NazipropagandaimedatArabs nd Muslims.13he mutual dmirationetweenHusseini nd Hitler

nSeeJ.C. Hurewitz,he truggleor alestineNewYork: chocken ooks, 976);BennyMorris,RighteousVidims:A History fthe Zionist- rab Conflict, 88 1-2001 (New York: Vintage, 1999,2001), 128-135; and Yehoshua Porath,The Palestinian rab NationalMovement: romRiotsto Rebel-lion,Volumewo, 929- 1939 London ndTotowa,NJ:Frank ass,1977).On Britain ndJewishemigrationoPalestine,eeBernardWasserstein,ritainnd he ews f urope,939-1945,2nded.(London ndNew York: eicester niversityress. 999.Tuvia Friling,Arrows n theDark: David Ben-Gurion, he YishuvLeadership,nd RescueAttemptsduringheHolocaust,rans. ra CummingsMadison,WI: UniversityfWisconsin ress, 005),64-65. In a speechnPalestinen 1942,Ben Gurion aid, The Nazisare not far way, utwearebeing hreatenedotonlybyRommel n NorthAfrica.We are alsoin danger f nvasionfromyria nd even raqandTurkey,"4. RobertSatloff asrecentlyescribedolicies f anti-Semiticersecutionnd he stablishmentfharshabor amps uringheNorthAfricaccupationbyNaziGermany,ichy rance,ndFascisttaly. et s terribles these olicieswere, heNazis ndtheir llieswereunable o implementlans o engagen massmurderither n theregion r viadeportationo death ampsnEurope. ee RobertSatloff,mongheRighteous:ost toriesromthe ongReach ftheHolocaustntoArabLands New York:PublicAffairs,006). In this ense,thanksoAlliedmilitaryictories,heHolocaustwas notextendedo theMiddleEast.13OnHajAmin l-HusseinindNaziGermany,eeKlausGensicke,erMuftion erusalemnd ieNationalsozialisten.inepolitische iographiemin l-HusseinisDarmstadt:Wissenschaftlicheuchge-sellschaft, 007); Zvi Elpeleg, The GrandMufti: Haj Amin al-Hussaini,Founder fthe PalestinianNational ovement,rans. avidHarvey,d. ShmuelHimelsteinLondon:Frank ass,1993);andJoseph B. Schechtman, The Muftiand the Fhrer. The Rise and Fall of Haj Amin el-Husseini(NewYork: homas oseloff,965); ndAnthonye Luca, 'DerGrossmuftinBerlin: he PoliticsofCollaboration,"nternationalournalfMiddle ast Studies0,no. 1 (February979):125-138.Husseinimajor peechesn wartime erlin avebeenpublishedn German. ee Gerhard pp,



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714 JEFFREYERFandhisvirulentewhatred re matterfpublic ecord. etails bouthiscol-laboration ithHeinrichHimmler nd hisknowledgebout the Holocaustcame to light fter hewar as well. Husseiniwas also a keyfigurenfindingcommongroundbetween he ideology f NationalSocialism n the onehand, nd Arabnationalismswellas thedoctrines f militantslamon theother.While the Muftiwas a key figuren thishistoricalpisode, o, too,weremany therGerman ntelligencefficers,iplomats,militaryfficers,membersf heGerman oreignMinistry'sivisionfpoliticaladio,nnounc-ers,writers,nd editorslongwithmostlynonymousative rabic-speakingradio nnouncersndwriters. Thebroadcasts ere heresult f cooperativeeffortncluding erman fficialsorkingntheDivision fPolitical adio inJoachim onRibbentrop's oreignMinistry ithoccasional ssistance romJoseph oebbels Propaganda inistry.hey eceivedssistancerom riental-istsnthe ultural ivision fHeinrich immlers ReichSecurity ainOffice,andfrom erman rientalistsho advised heForeignMinistryndworkedntheSS researchffices.15he pro-NaziArab xilesgave heNazisa resourcethey ad nothadbefore rpossessedn such bundance.TheArabic ropagandaampaign,specially ith hortwaveadio,was farmore extensive hantheprevious ocuson theMufti lone wouldsuggest.Fascisttalybroadcast rabicprogramsrom 934 to 1943. Nazi shortwaveArabic roadcastingegan nOctober1939 and continuedntil ebruaryrMarch1945. "BerlinnArabic" nd the "Voice ofFreeArabism" nd otherstationsroadcast mixture fmusic, ews, ndcommentaryevendays ndnights week.Theybroadcast bout two hoursof news and commentaryeach evening.nformationbout the size of the isteningudienceremainsscarce.n August 941,the UnitedStatesOffice fWar nformationOWI)reportstimatedhat herewere bout90,000 hortwaveadiosn theregion:150 inAden; 55,000 n Egypt; ,000in Iraq;24,000 n Palestine; ,000inSyria; nd 25 in SaudiArabia. Radios wereoften eard n cafes nd otherpublicplaces, nd listening as a kind of collectivexperience. adio wased., Mufti-apiere.Briefe,Memoranden, eden undAufrufemTn l-usains us dem Exil 1940- 945(Berlin: Schwarz, 2001). See my examinationof some of the texts n Herf,Jewish nemy, 72-174, 179-180, and 243-244. Also see PhilipMattar,TheMufti f erusalemNew York: ColumbiaUniversity ress, 1988).14One well-known announcer was Yunus Bahri. He has written memoir nArabic ofhisyears nBerlin.See Yunus Bahri,Hun BirlTn,yy l-Arab Beirut:Dr al-Nashr il-Jmi yn, 1955).On the central ole of the GermanForeignMinistrynproducingforeign-language ropaganda,see PeterLongerich,PropagandistenmKrieg. ie PresseabteilungesAuswrtigenmtes nter ibbentrop(Munich: R. Oldenbourg, 1987).16AnneH. Fuller, Memorandum on Radio Reception in the Near East and India" (August18,1941), National Archivesand Record Administration, ollege Park (hereafterNARA), RecordGroup (hereafter G) 208, Records of theOfficeofWar Information,nformational iles on theNear East, 1941-1946, Box 417.



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OLD THEMES NEW ARCHIVAL INDINGS 71crucial opropagandaffortsn theMiddleEast n this eriod ecause ates filliteracyherewere so significant.overnmenturveys onducted fterWorldWar I foundlliteracyateswere still lmost ighty ercentnEgyptandeighty-fiveercentnLibya. n Palestine,heBritishmandatoryovern-ment ensus f 1931putthe overalliteracyates mongArabs evenyearsand older t abouttwenty ercent. mongMuslims,twas fourteenercent(twenty-fiveercent mongmen andonly hree ercent mongwomen).By1947, notherbserverssessedhe iteracyatemong alestine'srab ommu-nity o be twenty-sevenercentndtwenty-oneercentorMuslimsthirty-fivepercent ormenand sevenpercent orwomen).17 hereforehortwaveradioreached far argerudience handidprintmaterials.hroughouthewar,however, xispropagandaimed t theMiddleEast lso ncluded hedis-tributionfmillions fArabic-languageeaflets nd brochures. ome weredroppedrom he irbytheLufiwaffe.thersweredistributedn theground ypropagandaompaniesccompanyingheAxis rmed orces, erman iplomatsin Tunisia, nd networks f German ecret gents nd Arab collaboratorsmovingnrailwaysnd mall oatsntheMediterranean.18Between 940 nd pring943, heAxis rmed orces ere resentnNorthAfrica. fter heir efeatn theBattle fTunisia,hat resencended.At nopointduring he remainderf the war weretheGermans r Italians n thegroundntheMiddleEast.So formost f thewar nmost f theregion,ndespeciallynitsmost oliticallyolatile laces, otablygypt, alestine,yria,Lebanon,raq, nd ran with ersian-languageroadcasts),hemost ffectivemeans freaching broader rabic ublicwere shortwaveadiobroadcasts.Most of thebroadcastsriginatednBerlin, r to be more pecific,rom heeven safer ndmore secure mall own of Zeesen, ust outside hecapital.From the thousands f hours of thissix-year-longropaganda arrage,German overnmentrchivesontain ranscriptsrom nly1940 and 1941.The rest fwhathadbeena massiveutputwaseither ever ecordedrtran-scribed, r it was lost,fellvictim o Alliedbombing, r was intentionallydestroyedyGerman fficialshemselvesn the astmonths fthewar.Beginningnsummer941,under hedirectionfrecentlyrrived mericanAmbassadoro Egypt,AlexanderKirk,American iplomats o the CairoEmbassy egan o transcribendtranslatehe Axisbroadcaststhats,ItalianandGermanArabic roadcasts).irk ookuphispost nCairo onMarch 9,1941. He hadbeencharg 'affairesftheUnited tates mbassynBerlinn

17See"Egypt"and "Libya,"Worldurveyf ducation,ol. 1 (Paris:UNESCO, 1955), 216 and 424.On literacynPalestine, ee AmiAyalon,Reading alestine: rintingndLiteracy,900- 1948 (Austin,TX: UniversityfTexas ress,004),16-17. Bycontrast,he iteracyates or hristiansnPalestinein 1947were ighty-fiveercentormen nd ixty-fiveercentorwomen.On the ourier etwork,ee"Enemy ourier ystemsnTurkeyndSyria," ARA,RG 226,Records f theOfficefStrategicervices, airoSl/X-2,Box 4.



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716 JEFFREYERF1939 to 1940. nthat apacity,e had sent nformativeemos oWashingtonaboutNazi anti-Jewishersecution.e remained he American mbassadortoEgypt ntilMarch 9, 1944.Kirk ent hefirstr one ofthefirstfhisdis-patchesboutNaziradio roadcastsnArabic o theOffice fSecretaryfStateCordellHull in Washingtonn September3, 1941. In it,he summarizedthemesnthebroadcastsfAugust 8 toSeptember, 194 .19 he summariescontinuedndexpandedn engthnd detail ntilApril 942 whenKirk's taffat the American mbassyn Cairobeganto produce erbatimranscriptsnEnglishranslationf Nazi Germany's rabic-languageadiobroadcastso theMiddleEast.Kirk ent hetexts oWashingtonveryweekuntilMarch1944.Thereafterntil heend ofthewar,his uccessor,ickney uck, ontinuedodo so. As far s I havebeen able to determine,heresultingeveral housandpages omprisehemost omplete ecordnywheren any anguage fNaziGermany'sffortso nfluenceheArab nd slamic orld ia tsmostmportantpropaganda rogram,he shortwaveadiobroadcasts.he transcriptsf Axisbroadcastsn Arabicwereplaced n theUnitedStatesNationalArchivesnCollegePark,Maryland,nd declassifiedn 1977 but have notpreviouslyentered nto historicalcholarship.20hey are an indispensableource forexaminationf Nazism's ffortso extend ts ppeals o theArab nd Muslimsocieties.Before heNazis ould ppeal oArabs, ersians,ndMuslimsngeneral,heyneeded oclarifyf heir anti-Semitism"xtendedo thenon-Jewishemites ftheArab, ersian,ndMuslimworld.nMeinKampf,itler houghtt did.Hespokewith isdain bouthopes or anymythicalprisingnEgypt" r the deathat thatnowperhaps thersreready o shedtheir lood forus."Englishmachine uns ndfragmentationombswouldbringuch HolyWar to aninfernalnd." twas,hecontinued,impossibleooverwhelm ith coalitionof ripples powerfultatehatsdeterminedostake,fnecessary,ts ast rop fblood for ts xistence. s a vlkisch anwhoappraiseshevalueofmenon aracialbasis, am preventedymereknowledge f the racial nferiorityfthese o-calledoppressedations' rominkinghedestinyfmy wnpeoplewith heirs."21itler's amous ookgave nti-Semitismbroadmeaning,ne

19Alexanderirk, Telegrament, eptember3, 1941,8 p.m., o Departmentf State romCairoLegation, umber 361," -3, NARARG 84,Foreignervice osts f heUS. DepartmentofStatehereafterG 84),CairoLegationndEmbassy,ecret nd Confidentialeneral ecords,1939,1941-1947, 1941,820.02-830, ox4, Folder 20.02 1941.20On omeexamplesfthedistributionf theKirkdispatchesoother gencies ftheUnitedStates overnment,eeShlomoAronson,Dimensions fAlliedResponse oHitlersJewisholi-tics' nd theDeepening f theTrap,"nAronson, itler,heAllies,nd he ewsNewYork:Cam-bridge niversityress, 004),54-64.2 Adolf itler, einKampf,rans. alphMannheimBoston: oughton-Mifflin,943 nd1971),658-659.



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OLD THEMES ,NEW ARCHIVAL FINDINGS 717thatpplied irstndforemosto the ews,ut hat lso ncompassedon-Jewish"Semites"uch s Arabs nd Muslims.Disputes urroundingheBerlin lympicsf1936 lerted erman iplomatsthatHitler's road iewofanti-Semitismosed problemor ffectiveropa-ganda imed tArabs, ersians,ndMuslims. he Arab elief hat heNurem-berg ace awsn1935discriminatedgainstnon-Aryans"aused onsternationinEgypt. fficialsnEgypthreatenedoboycottheBerlin lympicsn1936.Why, heysked,hould gyptianthletesravelo a countryhat egardedhemasraciallynferior?na series fmeetingsn1936and1937,high-rankingffi-cialsntheGerman oreignMinistry,hePropaganda inistry,heNaziParty'sOffice fRacial PoliticsRassenpolitischesmt), nd Himmlers eichSecurityMainOfficeSS) devotedmany ours inallyo conclude hatNaziracialegis-lation istinguishedetween ermansndJews, otAryansndnon-Aryans.22The Naziregime egardedrabsandPersians)ndMuslims ssimplyifferent,not inferior. he ForeignMinistryevoted onsiderableffortefore ndduringWorldWar I to convince rabs, ersiansIranians),nd Muslims hatits anti-Jewisholicieswere not based on a biologicalracismdirected t"non- ryans"r"Semites"ngeneral. ather heywereonlydirectedt theJewswhowere, he Nazisclaimed, he common enemy" f Nazi GermanyandtheArab nd slamicMiddleEast.As was thecase n Nazi propagandanGermany, azi anti-Semitismimedat theAraband MuslimMiddle Eastfocused n a political ccusation mbeddedn a conspiracyheory,ne thatsupersedednanti-Semitismasedon racial iology.Havingdispensed ith hecharge hat heir acism xtended oArabs ndMuslims, azi propagandistsppealed o them s allies n a common ause,the fight gainst heJews. n September 939, Hitler resolved disputebetween ropaganda inisteroseph oebbels ndForeignMinisteroachimvonRibbentropvercontrol verpropagandaimed broad n favor f thelatter. By October1939,Nazi Germany asbroadcastingifteenours fair time n 113daily roadcasts.y the end of1940,about500 peoplewereworkingn the officesf German adio imed broad.24y 1943,the Naziregime asbroadcastingn sixteen uch tationsnthirteenifferentanguagesevery ay. Prominentxilepoliticians,uch as SubhasChandraBose fromIndia;Rashid al-Khilani romraq; and Haj Aminel-Husseini,he Grand

On these iscussions,ee"Zugehrigkeitergypter,raker,raner,erser ndTrkenur ri-schenRasse,Bd. 1, 1935-1936,"Politisches rchive esAuswrtigesmt Berlin) 99173."Arbeitsabkommenwischen emAuswrtigenmtund dem ReichsministeriumrVolks-aufklrungndPropaganda,"ARA, Records f theGerman oreignMinistryeceivedbytheDepartmentfState,Microcopy o. T120,Roll 396,frames04653-304666. On Ribbentrop,theForeignMinistry,nd Nazipropaganda,eeLongerich, ropagandistenmKrieg.24Werner chipps,Wortschlachtmther. er deutscheuslandsrundfunkm ZweitenWeltkriegBerlin:Haude andSpenersche erlagsbuchhandlung,971),16.25Ibid.,5.



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718 JEFFREYERFMufti fJerusalem;poke requently.26ithinheForeign ffice olitical ivi-sion, heOrientOffice, ivisionVII, oversawropagandandpoliticaltrategy,includingroadcasts,owardgypt, fghanistan,audiArabia, alestine,yria,Turkey,ndia, ran, udan, ndCeylon.27 nOffice or olitical adio (Rund-funkpolitischenbteilung)xistedwithin heForeign ffice olitical ivision.28By September, 1943, ts taffincluded26employees.29urtGeorgKiesinger,subsequentlyheChancellor ftheFederal epublicbetween 966 and1969,workednthe fficendwas ts irectorrom 943to1945.30 he staff et eg-ularly ith heForeign ffice rabCommittee,hich ncludedxpertsn theregionnd officialsesponsibleor ontactwithprominentrab xiles uch sHusseini nd Khilani.31 mongthe various ivisions f theForeignOfficeworkingnforeignanguageroadcasts,nly heRussian ivisionroadcastingto the enormous astern rontwas larger.32he director f DivisionVIIthroughouthewarwasKurtMunzel, diplomatnd Orientalist ho hadworked n the Dresdner ankin Cairoin the decade before he war. By1942 he led a staff fnineteen,ncludingjudging rom henames) evennativeArabic peakersnd four scholarlyssistants,"hat s,GermanswithknowledgefArabic nd slam. n addition obroadcasts,heofficeublishedBarid s-SarqOrient ost), nArabic-language agazine,ndworked loselywith heArabCommitteentheForeign ffice.

26Ibid.,8.27"Auswrtigesmt,Politische bteilung,"AAAR67478 Referat u Pers.Ru HS, Bd. 3:Haushalt,ersonalHandakte artsch),939-1943,Bde.3-4.28"Haushaltsvoranschlager Rundfunkpolitischebteilung es Auswrtigen mtes vom1.4.1942bis31.3.1943, AAARundfunkpolitischebteilung,67477Referat u Pers.Ru HS,Bd. 1:Verwaltungrganisation941-1943,Bde. 2-3.9"Anlage :Zahlenmigebersichtber en nlandspersonalbestanderAbteilungu.,Standvom1.9.1942," AAARundfunkpolitischebteilung,67477 Referat u Pers.Ru HS, Bd. 1:Verwaltungrganisation941-1943,Bde. 2-3.PersonalbestanderRundfunkpolitischebteilungBerlin, ugust 4,1943),PAAARund-funkpolitischebteilung, 67476 ReferatRu Pers. Ru HS, Bd. 1: Verwaltung rganisation1939-1945,Bde. 1-2.31"bersicht ber die ArbeitsgebieteerRundfunkpolitischenbteilungnd ihrerReferat,Anlage ,"PAAARundfunkpolitischebteilung,67477 Referat u Pers.Ru HS,Bd. 1:Verwal-tung rganisation941 1943,Bde. 2-3. The eadingfficialsntheForeignMinistryealing iththeMiddle ast ncluded rwin ttel, ritzGrobba,Werner ttovonHentig,WilhelmMelchers,CarlPrfer,nd ErnstWoermann.32"Abteilungu,Anlagea,"R67477 Referat u Pers.Ru HS,Bd. l: Verwaltungrganisation1941-1943,Bde.2-3; and"Anlagea,Abteilungu, Zahlenmigebersichtber en nlands-personalbestanderAbteilungu., Stand om1.9.1942," AAARundfunkpolitischebteilung,R67477 Referat u Pers.Ru HS,Bd. 1:Verwaltungrganisation941-1943,Bde. 2-3.33Ibid. n 1948,Munzelcompleted doctoral issertationt theUniversityfErlangen. ereturnedo ervicentheWestGerman oreign fficenthe 950s. eeLudmila anisch, ie Nach-folgerer xegeten. eutschsprachigerforschunges Vorderenrientsnder rstenlfte es20.Jahrhunderts(Wiesbaden: arrassowitzerlag, 003),199.34"bersichtber die Arbeitsgebieteer rundfunkpolitischenbteilungnd ihrerReferat,Ref. VII Orient," ; and "Rundfunkabteilungnland,Personalstand.9.1942,ReferatVIIOrient," 6, PAAARundfunkpolitischebteilung, 67477 Referat u Pers.Ru HS, Bd. 1:



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OLD THEMES ,NEW ARCHIVAL FINDINGS 719From eptember939to fall 941, heArabic roadcastsrew n the xper-tise fGerman rientalistsfArabic nd slamiciteraturendpoetry,he ocalknowledge ained yGerman iplomatsntheprewar earsnd onpro-AxisArabs ivingnBerlinwhenthewarbegan.Most of these roadcastsadthetoneofa sympathetic,ell-informedoliticallyngagedcholar,ne eager opleaseyetnotquiteable to pick up the ns and outsof ocalpolitics. heseearly roadcastsent clearmessagehat heNaziregime,atherhan elebratethe uperiorityfAryansver nferior iddleEasternemites, asa friendobothArabnationalistsndMuslims. everalxamplesllustrateey hemes. n

December , 1940,Munzel'sOrientOffice II broadcasta paper bout heEnglish ccupation fEgypt." With the ncantationOh,Mohammedaner"(Oh,Muslims!),hebroadcastmadea directppeal o Muslims nd notonlyto Arabnationalistspposed o Britishule nEgypt.t did so in therepetitiveincantationsf religiousermon hat voked he uthorityf he holyKoran"andpastdays fpiety.Oh, God s servants! boveall oftheother ommandments,one s moreimportanto theMuslimshan iety,or ietys thecore of all virtues ndthe ondof llhonorable uman haracteristics.uslims,ou renowback-ward ecause ouhavenot hownGod theproper ietynddo notfear im.You do thingshat renotcommanded,ndyou eave o the ide hingshatare.God'swordhasproveno be true,ndyouarenowthehumiliatednesinyour wncountry.hishascome aboutbecauseyoudon'thave hepietyandfear fGodasyour iousforefathersid.Ofthem,necansay hathey"arestrong gainst he unbelieversnd mercifulmongthemselves."hMuslims! irectyour azeto theholyKoran ndthe raditionf heproph-ets.Thenyouwill see that slamic aw is driven y piety owardGod andfear fhispunishment.he Koran nscribediety s aboveall other om-mandments.ead, for xample, hewords, Oh, believers,e piousanddo notdie without eing Muslim. tand yGodanddon't e divided."36Nazi broadcastsepeatedhat hevalues f slam, uch spiety,bedience,community,nity ather han kepticism,ndividualism,nd divisionweresimilaro those fNaziGermany.hat his nti-modernistssault asconveyedvia themostmodernmeans felectronicommunicationn1940 wasanother

Verwaltungrganisation941-1943,Bde. 2-3. Personnel ftheOrient fficen theForeignMinistry'sRundfunkpolitischenbteilung.Also see Kurt Munzel, gyptischer-arabischerprachfhrer(Wiesbaden: ttoHarrassowitz,958 and1983).35Kult.R.Ref. ili (VII) (Orient)Mn/P/BKulturelleralkvom3. Dezember 940, Ein BlattberdieBesetzungerEnglanderngypten,"erlinDecember , 1940),Bundesarchiverlin(BAB),R901 Auswrtigesmt,R73039 Rundfunkabteilung,ef. VIII Arabische nd ranischeSendungen,orl. 9,Dez. 1940-Jan. 941,2.36Ibid.,.



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720 JEFFREYHERFexample fwhat 'vepreviouslyalled he reactionaryodernist"haracterfaspectsf Nazi ideologyndpolicy.37his and other roadcastsonveyedhemessagehat revival ffundamentalistslamwas a parallel rojecto NationalSocialism'soliticalnd deologicalevoltgainst esternoliticalmodernity.nthis ffort,selectivend iteraleadingf heKoran nd ts pplicationocon-temporaryvents aspresenteds notonly rprimarilyrelic f a backwardculture utpart f thegreatmovement owinpower nNazi GermanyndFascisttaly. n December12, 1940,for xample, erman adio nnouncedthat slam is a religionf thecommunity,ot a religionf the ndividual.tis thus religionfthe ommonwelfareGemeinnutzes]ndnotof elf-interest[Eigennutzes].slam herefores a justandtruenationalismor tcallson theMuslim oplacethegeneralnterestheadofprivatenterests,o livenot forhimselfutforhisreligionnd hisfatherland.his sthemostmportantoalthat slam ollows.t s atthe asis f ts rayersndcommandments."38hepri-ority f "the commonwelfare" ver elf-interestas a continuingndkeytheme ftheNazi Party efore 933 and theNazi regimefterward.The Nazishopedtheappeals o Islamic hemesn these roadcasts ouldserve s an entryoint ntoArabic nd Muslimhearts nd minds nd fosterwillingnessmongMuslims o listen o Nazism secular oliticalmessagesswell.On the ameday hatRadio Berlin roadcasthe bovemessage,t alsosent ut"A Governmenttatementor he Arabs."39rom hesame tationinthe amehour, erhaps ith he ame nnouncer, azi radiomoved romthespecificallyeligious o theclearlyecular ndpolitical. istenerseardthatGermanyxpressedfull ympathy"or heArabs' struggleor reedomand ndependence"o that hey ould"take heir roper laceunder he unand to recover hegloryndhonor n service fhumanitynd civilization."The German overnment'sxpressionf "love andsympathy"or heArabshad "found strongcho among heGerman eople"whilestrengthening"the bondsoffriendshipith he Arabswhich heGermans ave cherishedformanyyears." his connectionwas not surprising,he talkcontinued,because Germans nd Arabs hared manyqualities nd virtues,"uch as"couragen war . . heroism,ndmanlyharacter."hey"both harednthesufferingnd njusticesfter he end of the First]WorldWar.Both of these

37Herf,Reactionary odernismNew York: Cambridge University ress,1984).BundesarchivBerlin, [Lichterfelde]BAB) R901 AuswrtigesAmt,R73039 Rundfunkabtei-lung, Ref. VIII Arabische und Iranische Sendungen, vorl. 39, Dez. 1940-Jan. 1941, Kult.R,Ref. VIII (Orient),Mu/Scha "Religiser Wochentalkvom 12. Dez. 1940 (arabisch)Die Freigebig-keit," roadcast n December 12, 1940, 14-16. Althoughmost of the Division of Radio Policyfilesare PoliticalArchive of the German Foreign Ministry,hese filesfrom 1940-1941 are in the Bun-desarchiv n Lichterfelde.39"Zur Regierungserklrung ur die Araber,"Talk vom 12. Dezember 1940 (arabisch), BAB)R901 AuswrtigesAmt,R73039 Rundfunkabteilung, ef. VIII Arabischeund IranischeSendung-en, vorl.39, Dez. 1940-Jan. 1941, Kult.R, Ref. VIII (Orient), Mu/Scha, 11-13.



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OLD THEMES ,NEW ARCHIVAL FINDINGS 721great eopleshad their onor nsulted;heir ights eredenied ndtrampledunderfoot. oth bledfrom he samewounds, nd both also had the sameenemy: amelyhe Allieswho divided hem nd allowed hemno claim ohonor.Now Germanyas succeededngettingutfrom nder his isgraceandregainingll of tsoldrightso thatGermany'soice s now heard very-where ndhasagaintaken ts old place/'40 azi Germany as a model toemulatef nation hat adbeenhumiliatedet adrecoveredtsndependenceandunity.Theseearly roadcastsisplayedoth hetalent s wellas the imitsfNaziOrientalism.hey acked certain olitical unch ndgrasp f ocal diomsandpolitics.he arrivaln Berlin n November 941 ofHaj Amin l-HusseiniandRashid l-Khilanind heirntouragended hishortcoming. heybothhadmuch-publicizedeetings ithHitler ndRibbentrop. heyand theirassociates orked loselywith officialsn theNazi ForeignMinistryn itsArab nd Orient ommitteesn theOffice f Political adio to fashion adioand printpropaganda or Arabs and Muslims.42n a particularlyamousmeeting ithHusseininBerlin n November8, 1941,Hitler eardHusseinilavish raise n him, xpress issupport orNazi Germanyn thewar, ndrequesthatGermanyndItaly ssue strongeclarationn supportf Arabindependencerom ritain. houghHitler eplied hat hetimehad notyetarrived or ssuinguch declaration,e toldHusseini hatwhentheGermanarmies n theEastern ront eached thesouthernxit"from heCaucuses,Hitlerwould"givethe Arabworld he assurance hat tshour of iberationhadarrived. ermany'sbjectivewould then e solely he destructionftheJewish lement esidingn the Arabsphere nder heprotectionf Britishpower." In otherwords,n the sameperiod nwhichHitlerhad taken hedecision o launch he Final Solution f theJewish uestion nEurope, ealso made clear to Husseini hathe intended o extend t outsideurope,thats,at least o theJews ivingnEgypt, alestine,rans-Jordan,ndIraq.Husseini,Khilani,and the Arabic-languageadio writers nd speakersaccompanyinghemcould fosterupport or the Axis armiesfightingn

40lbid.41On Haj Amin l-Husseinind RashidAliel KhilaninBerlin,eeElpeleg,TheGrandMufti;Gensicke, erMufti on erusalemnddieNationalsozialisten;allmann ndCuppers,HalbmondundHakenkreuz.05-120: and Hirszowicz. heThird eich nd heArab ast. 11-228.42See oneerich, ropagandistenmKrieg.43"No.515,Memorandumyan Official f theForeignMinister'secretariat,ecord of theConversationetween he Fhrer nd the GrandMufti fJerusalemn November 8, 1941, nthe Presence f Reich ForeignMinister ndMinster robba n Berlin," erlinNovember0,1941),DocumentsnGermanoreignolicyDGFP) Series (1937- i945) VolumeIII, The WarYears,une 3-December1, 1941 Washington,.C.: United tatesGovernmentrintingffice,1949-1984),881-882, 884.On themeeting,eeHirszowicz, he Third eichndtheArab ast,218-221; andGensicke,erMuftion erusalemnd ieNationalsozialisten,0-63.



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722 JEFFREYERFNorthAfrica swell s for n extensionf heFinal olution o theJews ftheMiddleEast.44KirksdispatchfApril 8, 1942, ummarizedermanArabic roadcastsftheprecedingixmonths,hat s,theperiod inceHusseini nd Kilanihadarrivedn Berlin.45 hesewere themes hat ontinuedhroughouthe war.German ropagandaroadcasts,ewrote,ttemptedo convince heArabs fthefollowing. he Axis countries ad "a naturalympathyiththe Arabsandtheir reat ivilization,he nly necomparable ith he ivilizationntro-ducedbytheNew Order ntoEurope,which s nowbeing uppressedy'Britishmperialism,'Bolshevikarbarity,'ndJewishreed' ndmore ecently'Americanmaterialism.'"ndeed, one ofthemainGermanwar ims"was"toreleaseArab ountries rom heoppressiverip fAnglo-Bolshevikmperial-ism." t was necessaryor "the Arab countries o aid their iberatorsyuniting gainst he commonenemy." hey could do so with confidencebecause the Allies despise ut fear' heArabs"whileGerman ictoryndthebreak-upftheBritishmpirewerebecomingmore ertain.nthe cram-ble thatwould follow his imminent ritish ollapse"when"Americans,Russians,ndJews"would"try o seize the countries ow heldbyBritain,the Arabsmayfind themselves ith new mastersf theydo not movequickly." hey could neverbe Britain's riends ecause "herpromisesrefalse." ritain ad"destroyedrabunitynd murdered rabpatriots;he hashanded alestine ver o theJews nd oosedtheCommunistsver ran ndIraq."The Arabs ememberedthegenerous romises adebyBritainn thelastwar."Thosepromises erebrokenwhile"Britishppression"ontinuedinto he urrenteriod.46 hroughout orldWar I,NaziGermany resenteditselfo Arabs nd Muslims s a championfanti-imperialism.Kirknoted heblend f ecularndreligiousppeals rom heAxis. BeforeIslam"the Arabshad been divided gainsthemselves.WhenMohammedunitedhem,hey verthrewhePersians, omans, ndJews sthey an now

44Frilingn Arrowsn theDark observesthatBen-Gurion was fullyware of the threat.Accordingto the language of the Genocide Convention adopted by theUnited Nations afterWorld War II,some of the resultingbroadcasts would meet its definitionof "incitement" and could thus bedescribed spartof thecrimeofgenocide. Clause 3 inArticle3 of the "Convention on the Preven-tion and Punishment f the Crime ofGenocide" includes "direct and public incitement o commitgenocide" as actsthat houldbe punishable. ee http://www.hrweb.org/legal/genocide.html.hilethe Reich PressChief,Otto Dietrich,was tried nd convictedof "crimesagainsthumanity"forhisrole in Nazi propaganda in Germany,Husseini and other pro-Nazi Arabs involved in Arabic-languagebroadcasts n Berlin facedno postwarudicial reckoning.On the Dietrich trial, ee Herf,Jewish nemy, 72-27 r4.45Alexander Kirk to Secretary fState,"Telegram340, General Summaryof Tendencies n AxisBroadcasts nArabic,"Cairo (April18, 1942), NARA, RG659, United StatesDepartmentofState,CentralDecimal Fe, 1940-1944, 740.001 1/EuropeanWar1939, MicrocopyNo. M982, Roll 114,21414.46Ibid.,1-2.



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OLD THEMES,NEW ARCHIVAL INDINGS 723overthrowheBritish,ussians,nd Americans." ow theywould be ledbytheir reateaders heMuftiHaj Amin l-Husseini]nd RashidAli [Kilani]who are ontinuallyxchangingongratulatoryessages ithHitler ndMus-solini." nlytraitorso Islamwould upport ritain nd ater heAllies.47 nAxisvictoryntheMiddleEastwouldbe "a baddayfor raitorshen hevic-torious ndrighteousiberatorsf slam rrive" ssistedy awidespreadevoltthroughouthe ntire iddle-East"y heArabs.48 xis adio ttackedhe ews"adnauseam,"laiminghathe ews, acked yBritainnd heU.S.,were thearch-enemiesf slam." heycontrolledmericaninance nd forced oose-velt opursue policy f ggression.ooseveltndChurchill,houghriminalsthemselves,ere playthingsnthehands f heJewishiends ho aredestroy-ing ivilization."t wasknown hat theWhiteHouse is full fJews' ndmosteminentiguresmong heAlliesn theNearEast reJews." he Zionist eaderChaimWeizmann as an"aspiranto the hrone fPalestine." e was "deter-mined hat alestine,yria, ndTransjordanillbe united s a pureJewishcenter hatwill control hewhole of the MiddleEastand,eventually,heworld."America nd Britain upportedhisplan.The Arabswho had "losttheirands ndwealth o therapacious ewishettlersn Palestinend theirlibertyo theBritish, illnowbe deportedo sufferamine nd discomfortin lands venmorebarrenhan hosepalmed ff n themnPalestine."ivemillion ewswere soon to be broughto Palestine. he Jewspromisedoraise n army f20,000men"ostensiblyo assist heAllies, ut n realityowipeout theArabs hould he Germansdvance."German adiorepeatedlyclaimed hat newJewishtate ould xpandnto he erritoriesf he xistingArab ountries.49Inthe pring,ummer,ndfall f1942, s General rwinRommel'sAfrikaKorpshad dvanced owithinixtymileswest fAlexandria,gypt, azi Ger-many'seadershoughtictorynNorthAfricamight e intheir rasp. itlerandMussolini hen ecided o ssue hepublic eclarationboutArabndepen-dence hat usseini ndKilanihadbeenrequestingince heir rrivaln RomeandBerlin he reviousall.50 either ichy rance orFascisttaly adgone owar n order oguaranteendependencend overeigntyo theArabs. itler adhesitatedo make uch declarationirstoas not o offendritain henhe hadhopesofreachingnaccommodation ith t and thennorder otto under-mineMussolini'sopes fexpansionntheMediterranean.ow that nupris-ing nEgyptmightndermineritishrmed orces,oth f hedictatorsgreedtogo aheadwith hedeclarationnorder o assistheirmilitaryperationsn

47Ibid.,2.48Ibid.,2-3.49Ibid.50On the decisionto issue thedeclaration, ee Hirszowicz, TheThirdReich nd theArabEast,21 1228.



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724 JEFFREYERFNorthAfrica. n July , 1942,"BerlinnArabic" nnouncedhatGermanyand taly esolvedhat the roopsf heAxis owersrevictoriouslydvancinginto gyptianerritory.. toguaranteegypt'sndependencend overeignty."The Axis forceswereenteringgypt to dismiss he British rom gyptianterritory. andto iberate hewholeoftheNearEastfrom heBritish oke.The policyof the Axispowers s inspired y theprincipleEgyptfor theEgyptians.'he emancipationfEgypt rom he hainswhichhave inked erwithBritain,nd her ecurityromherisks fwar,willenableher o assumeherposition mongthe ndependentovereigntates."51Berlin n Arabic"then roadcasthefollowingtatementythe GrandMufti fJerusalem,ajAmin l-Husseini:The glorious ictoryecured ytheAxis roopsn NorthAfrica asencouragedhe Arabs nd the wholeEast, ndfilled heir eartswith dmirationorMarshall ommel's enius,ndthebraveryf heAxis ol-diers. his s because heArabs elieve hat heAxisPowers refightinggainstthecommon nemy, amelyheBritish nd theJews,nd norder o removethedanger f communismrompreading,ollowinghe[Allied] ggressionon ran. hesevictories,enerallypeaking, illhave ar-reachingepercussionsonEgypt, ecause he oss f heNileValleyndof he uezCanal, ndthe ol-lapse f heBritishmasteryver heMediterraneanndtheRed Sea,willbringnearerhedefeat fBritain nd the nd oftheBritishmpire."52The Americansn theCairoEmbassymonitoringheArabic roadcastsromBerlinwererecordingsteady ietof anti-Semiticrgumentshat choed hepolitical ccusationst the core of Nazi propagandan Europe.The Nazisclaimed hat ritain nd theU.S. had become tooges f theJews,hatWorldWar I was Jewish ar, ndthat llied ictory ouldmean ewishominationoftheMiddleEast.At8:15p.m.Cairotime nJuly , 1942,theAmericansrecorded ne ofthe most nflammatoryroadcastsf thewarto that oint.The "Voiceof FreeArabism"hereafterFA)statementKill theJews eforeTheyKill You" illustratedhe inks etween hegeneral ropagandaine nEurope nd ts daptationo theMiddleEastcontext.t wasa statementhatequaled hat fHitler ndGoebbelsn ts nti-Semiticadicalism.he broadcastbeganwith lie,namelyhat a largenumberfJews esidingnEgypt nd anumber fPoles,Greeks, rmenians,nd FreeFrench avebeen ssuedwithrevolversnd ammunition"n order o "helpthem gainstheEgyptianstthe astmoment, henBritains forced o evacuate gypt."53he statementcontinued:

51"Despatch o. 502 fromheAmericanegationtCairo, gypt, xisBroadcastsnArabic orthePeriod uly to9, 1942,Cairo, uly1, 1942," , NARA,RG 84 Foreignervice osts ftheDepartmentfState,General ecords, airoEmbassy,942,815.4-820.02,Box 77.*2Ibid., -2.53


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OLD THEMES NEW ARCHIVAL INDINGS 725Inthe ace f his arbaricrocedurey heBritish,e thinktbest,f he ifeof he gyptianations to besaved,hat he gyptiansise s one man okilltheJews eforehey ave chance fbetrayingheEgyptianeople. t s theduty ftheEgyptianso annihilateheJews nd to destroyheir roperty.Egypt annever orgethat t is theJewswho arecarryingut Britain'simperialistolicyn theArabcountriesnd that hey re the source f allthedisasters,hichhavebefallen hecountries ftheEast. TheJews imat extendingheir ominationhroughoutheArabcountries,ut theirfuture epends n a British ictory.hat is whythey retryingo saveBritain rom erfate ndwhyBritainsarminghem o kill heArabs ndsave heBritishmpire.You mustkilltheJews, efore hey penfire n you.Kill theJews,whohaveappropriatedourwealth nd who areplottinggainst our ecurity.Arabs fSyria,raq, ndPalestine, hat reyou waiting or? heJews replanningoviolate ourwomen, okillyour hildren,nd to destroy ou.Accordingo theMuslim eligion,hedefensefyour ife s a dutywhichcanonlybe fulfilledyannihilatingheJews. his syour est pportunityto getrid ofthisdirty ace,whichhasusurped ourrightsndbroughtmisfortunenddestructionnyour ountries.illthe ews,urn heir rop-erty, estroyheirtores,nnihilatehese ase upportersfBritishmperial-ism. Yoursolehope ofsalvationiesin annihilatingheJewsbefore heyannihilateou.Here, pplied o theArab ndMuslim ontext, asthe ameogicofprojec-tion ndparanoia hatwas thedefiningeaturefNazism radical nti-Semi-tism.t was mpossibleobe moreblunt.t combinedhepoliticalccusationsofNazismwith vocationfthereligiousemandsf slam. t was unusualntheextento which t voiced hegenocidalhreatshatweremore mplicitnmanytherssertionsbout he enalityndpower f heJewshatwere road-cast n NaziArabic-languageadio.Whilethe nti-Semiticropagandafthe

Nazi regimen Germanyssured eadersnd listenershat heregimewasmaking oodon Hitler's hreatso "exterminate"nd "annihilate"heJews,theArabic-languageropagandaook an even furthertep n incitementoanti-Jewishiolence n its clearappealfor audienceparticipationnd thatlistenersakemattersnto heir wnhands.As MallmannndCuppers avedocumented,n the pringnd summerf1942,German iplomatsnd ntelligenceerviceseportedvidence fArabsympathyor heNazi causerooted n hopesthatRommel's ictoryn theregionwould eadtoexpulsionf he ews.55n view f he videncehey ath-eredregardinghehopesand actions f radicalArabs n thesemonths,heauthors rewparallelso the mood among nti-Semiticithuanian,atvian,54Ibid.,13-14.55Mallmann nd Cuppers,Halbmond ndHakenkreuz, 55-164.



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726 JEFFREYERFandUkranian ationalistsnspring941precedingheGermannvasion ftheSovietUnion nJune.At the end of1942,Walter chellenberg,he chief fforeign ntelligence or the SicherheitsdienstSD) in theReichssicherheitshauptamt(RSHA) reportedo theForeign fficehat theArabs' xtraordinarilyriendlymoodtoward ermany asbasicallyue to thehopethatHitlerwill ome'toexpeltheJews." chellenbergeportedurtherhat heArabs till elievednGerman ictorynd that venthoughonly few"heardGerman hortwaveradio, the broadcastsn "exaggeratednd embroidered" ashion preadquicklyby word of mouth. An Einsatzgruppef SS troopsunder thecommand fObersturmbannfhreralter auffwaspreparedodepartoPales-tine omurderheJewish opulationfRommelwon thebattle fElAlamein.Schellenbergnd otherGerman fficialseceivedupport rom adicalArabspreciselyecause fthe hared nti-Semiticnd anti-Zionistoals.57 azipro-paganda ad thedualpurpose fdrawing rabs ndMuslims o the ideoftheAxis s well s ncitinghem osupport aziplans o extend heFinal olutionbeyond urope's eographicalimits. s hadbeen the ase n tspropagandanGermanyndEurope, hewaragainstheAllies nd thewaragainstheJewsmergedntoonemutuallyeinforcingndeavor.Axis radiopainted grimpicture f Palestine. he conflictverPalestinecame to occupy central lace n itswartime roadcasts.twas"swimmingina pool ofblood." tspeople ived inanatmospheref shame ndmisery"and were ruledbya reign f terror ominatedythebrutal ritish nd thedirty ews." he British iolated he Arab"holyplaces," pread amine ndpoverty,ndbrutallyuled heArabswhomtheywere oongoing odeport.TheJewswere ntendingo combine alestine ith yria ndTransjordanna "hugeJewish ome."Britain's ain im ntheMiddle astwas to annihilatetheArabs ntirelynd to aid in this urpose,argenumbers fJews rebeing

56Cited n ibid., 157. The original rchive itation sCdS/VI C 13 anAA v.21.12.1942, BAB, NS19/186.57Ibid., chapters -8.58We cannot be certainhow Fascist Italyand Nazi Germanywould have treated Arabs andMuslims if theyhad defeated the Allies in North Africa and occupied the Middle East. WithinEurope, the doctrineofAryanracial uperiority ent hand n hand with atrocious rimes ommittedagainst henon-Jewish, lavic populationsof easternEurope and theSoviet Union. We know thatbefore nd duringthe German invasionof Poland in September1939 and before nd during Oper-ation Barbarossa nJune1941, Nazi propagandaoffereddeological ustifications orthese crimes nthe form of vast amounts of racistpropaganda about "Slavic sub-humans." Aside from Hitlersremarks bout the Arabs dating from the 1920s in Mein Kampf,however,German propagandaabout Arabs and Muslims,whether n Germanyor aimed at Arabs and Muslims in North Africaand the Middle East, did not echo the racist deology directed at easternEuropeans and citizensof the Soviet Union. On the contrary,German propagandawent to great lengthsto convinceArabs and MuslimsthatGermanywas an anti-Jewish,ut not an anti-Semitic, egime. f,followinga victoryn NorthAfrica,Nazi Germanywould have treatedArabs nd Muslims as racial nferiors,twould have done so withoutthe deological preparationshat ccompanied itswarcrimes n easternEurope.



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OLD THEMES ,NEW ARCHIVAL FINDINGS 111enlistedn a Palestinermy."his dea,namelyhat heJewsweregoing opar-ticipaten the annihilationf theArabs,was a Middle-Easternounterpartto the Nazi assertionhat ewswerefighting orldWar I in Europewiththe ntent fannihilatinghe German eople. n addition o Britain nd theJews, a newoppressornthe hape f theU.S.A." was soon to arrive.t wasknown thatwhen the Americanseize the British mpire hey ntend ohand verPalestineo theirmasters theJews."59Following he British isastertTobruk, resident ooseveltdecidedtosendtanks nd othermilitaryupplies o aid theBritishnNorthAfrica.nspringnd ummer942,defeatingheAxis nNorthAfrica ecame nAmer-icanprioritys well. The more heUnitedStates ntered hefray,he moreAxispropagandainkedFranklin oosevelt to theJews.On July , FritzGrobba, hehead of the OrientCommitteen theForeignOfficenBerlin,wrote propaganda irectiventitled TheJewsAre theWirepullersf theAmericans."60e urged hatmorethan n thepast,German ropagandanArabicneededto stress hateveryAmericanwho "comes to the Orientcomes n service f theJews.He is sentherebytheJews, ven fhe doesnot know t. TheJews re the wirepullers f theAmericans." is memocalledfor iffusionntoArabic f the nti-Semiticnterpretationf FranklinRooseveltthathad been standard are n German-languageropagandanGermany.61et as late as March1943,officialsn theForeignMinistrynBerlin acknowledged hat German propaganda n North Africawas"runningnto difficultiesecause eadingArab circles re hostileonlytoBritain.As in thepast hey till rusthe Americans. herefore, e shouldagain tresshenecessityfusing ll relevant aterialsboutZionism. npar-ticular, e should oint otheJews' esireo establishoundariesinPalestine]rooted n the Old Testament,hat s, [boundaries hatextend]to theEuphratesiver.Thismaterialanbe usedgraduallyo shatterheArabs' on-fidencen theAmericans'romises."62lthoughheNazi regimencouragedlimitedewishmigrationo Palestinenthe1930sunder heTransfergree-ment,tspurposewas to facilitateewishmigrationut ofGermanyut notwiththe intent f supportingionistgoals.63Nazi Germany onsistentlyopposedthe formationf a Jewish tate n Palestine,ne that t viewedasanotherpotentialoutpostof an internationalewishconspiracy. nti-Zionismbecamebotha keythemen itsappeals o the Middle East aswell

59Ibid., 5.60Fritz robba, Judeninddie DrahtziehererAmerikaner,"erlin July , 1942),PAAA,R60690KultPol,Orient. uden mRoosevelt, 941-1942,Bd. 1.61On theNazi attack nRoosevelt,eeHerf, ewishnemy.Preikecher,Aufzeichnungur ie BFP im Stabedes HerrnReichaussenministerserrnDr.Magerle,"March 6,1943),NARA, RG242,Records ftheGerman oreign ffice, icrocopyNo. T120,roll1015.63See Nicosia, The ThirdReich nd thePalestine uestion.



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728 JEFFREYERFas an importantspect f Nazi anti- merican ropagandandpolicy. Naziradio broadcastsepeatedlyenounced Roosevelt nd theJews," t timesevengoing o far s to claim hat DR himself asJewishnd thatAmericanpolicywas anexample f"Jewishmperialism."erman fficialsiewed heanti-SemiticrgumentboutJewish omination f the Roosevelt dminis-tration s vital for timulatingnti-Americanismn NorthAfrica nd theMiddleEast.Thequestionf hempactndreceptionf he ropagandaasone that re-occupiedGerman, ritish,ndAmericanfficials.ritish artimeensorshipnEgypt nd Palestinemade tdifficultorpro-Fascistndpro-NaziArabs ndMuslims here o expressheir iewspublicly. n adequate ssessmentwaitsfurther orkbyscholars ho readArabic and Persian). hat aid, eportsyAmerican iplomatsnd ntelligencegentsn theregionndicated hat nti-Jewishnd nti-ZionistlementsfNazipropagandaound positive eceptionin somequarters.he American roadcastffortsn theregionwerefar essextensivehan heGermans'. he BBC was a muchgreater rabic-languageAllied resence. et neither heBBC northeUnited tates oice ofAmerica(VOA) broadcastsunbythe Office f War nformationOWI) decided ofightwar f deaswithNazism ver he ssue f nti-Semitism.oth heAmer-icans nd theBritishhoughthatAllied dentificationith heJews nd withZionismwas a hindranceobuilding rab nd Muslim upportor heAlliedcause.n a "Weekly ropagandairective" fNovember4, 1942, heOverseasOperationsranch ftheOffice fWar nformationstablishedhefollowingguidelines or Voice of Americabroadcasts or Palestine.65he Voice ofAmerica ad tospeak o thepeopleof Palestine ithgreateract nd cautionthan lsewherentheMiddleEast.

1 Spoken ndwritten ordsmust like eguided y n honestcceptancefthefact hat he ubject fZionist spirationsannot ementioned,nas-much s any erious utbreakfanti-Jewisheeling hichmight esultamong he Arabpeoples n this rea would eopardize urstrategyntheEasternMediterranean.2. Equally aboo, tpresent,sanymentionf aJewishrmy.3. It must e rememberedhat,s awhole, heJewsre taunchlyupportingthe auseoftheUnitedNations: heArabs renot.Therefore,urwords64OnNaziGermanyndanti-Zionism,eeJeffreyerf, Convergence:he ClassicCaseNaziGermany,nti-Semitism,nd Anti-ZionismuringWorldWar I," in Anti-Semitismnd Anti-Zionism n Historicalerspective,d. Jeffreyerf Londonand New York:Routledge, 007),50-71; andHerf, euHshnemy,2-76, 180-181,and 246.65"OfficefWar nformation,verseas perationsranch,Washington,.C., 'Weekly ropa-gandaDirective, alestine,'"November4,1942),NARA,RG165 Records f theWarDepart-mentGeneral ndSpecial taff, ilitaryntelligenceivision hereafter ID), "RegionalFile."1922-1944Palestine,ox 2719,Folder 930.



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OLD THEMES ,NEW ARCHIVAL FINDINGS 729must e addressedrimarilyo Moslem ndChristianrabs,speciallynviewofthe ffectivenessfenemy ropaganda.66VOAbroadcastshouldquoteHitlerswnobservationsnregardo alien acesand ultures,ndhold hem pto ridiculend corn"while tressingthepagan-ism of our enemies nd embroiderurcomments ithBiblical nd Koranicphrasesfdenunciation."ontrastshould edrawnetweenthe erribleonse-quences fGermanule ponher wnallies nd nthe ccupied ountries ithaccountsf he enefitsobereaped y llpeoplewhen ictorysours."67nshort,in order owinand sustainupportor heAllied ause nPalestine,mericanWI officialshoughtt was essentialot to challengeirectlyhe nti-Semiticbarragerriving any veningsrom xisArabic hortwaveadio. heassumptionbehindheWI directiveas hat azipropagandaashavinguccessnunder-mining upportor heAllies y inkinghem o theJews. his concernwas arepeatedhemensubsequenteportsyOffice fStrategicervicesOSS) andAmerican ilitaryntelligencegentsnthe ourse fthewar.68Thepurpose fNazi radio roadcasts as to nflamend ncite, ot nform.Theyweredesignediterallyopreacho the onvertedatherhan osway heviews f theuncommitted.heyofferedittle,r often othingn thewayofhardnews, speciallyegardingazi Germany's ilitaryetbacks. rom1943to theend of thewar,however,Berlin n Arabic" nd "The Voiceof FreeArabism"resentedonstantnd ncreasinglyesperate arningsf thecatas-trophehatwouldbefall rabs nd MuslimsftheAllieswere owin thewar.In Germany, oebbels "Do You WantTotalWar?" peechofFebruary8,1943,had setthe tone forNazi propagandaacedwith etbacks.Whilethepropagandaxpressedonfidencenvictoryn the onger erm,t turned oincreasinglyividdescriptionsfthe disasterso befall he Germanshouldtheyose thewar.69heArabic-languageroadcastsocused n the upposedlyawful lans heJews ad nstore orArabs ndMuslims,nparticularollowing

theGerman efeatnTunisianMay1943.On September, 1943, or xample,"Berlinn Arabic" escribedThe Ambitionsf theJews."70heJewswould66Ibid.67lbid.68See, or xample,George)Wadsworth,United tates ffice f War nformation,eirut oSecState,Washington,"February7,1943),NARARG84,Lebanon:U.S.Consulate ndLegationandEmbassy,lassified eneralRecords, 936-61, 1943: 110.2 to 1943-891 Box 8, 2-3; andGeorgeBritt, nited tates ffice f War nformation,eirut,Political oteson Lebanon ndSyria,"February3, 1943),NARA RG84, Lebanon. U.S. ConsulateLegation nd EmbassyBeirut, 936-1941,Classified eneralRecords1943: 1943 110.2 to 1943- 891, 1; andGeorgeBritt,Beirut eptemberoJune"June 943)NARA RG84,Lebanon.U.S. Consulate egationandEmbassy eirut, 936-1941,Classifiedeneral ecords 943: 1943110.2 to 1943- 891,7.69SeeHerfJewishnemy,92-196.70"BerlinnArabic,"eptember, 1943, Talk:The AmbitionsftheJews," lexander irk oSecretaryfState, airo September3,1943), No. 1313,AxisBroadcastsnArabic or heperiodSeptember to8, 1943,"NARA,RG 84,Egypt: airoEmbassy eneralRecords, 933-1955,



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730 JEFFREYERFnotbe satisfiedntilheymade everyerritoryetween heTigrisnd heNileJewish."heirgoalwas to "remove heCross ndtheCrescentrom ll Arabcountries."fthey ucceeded,therewillremain ota singleArabMuslim rChristiann the Arabworld.Arabs!magine gypt, raq,and all the Arabcountriesecoming ewish ithnoChristianityr slam here."71n Septem-ber 4,Voice fFreeArabismontinuedhisine f ttack hen t sked,Whatare he ims f nternationalionism?"72heJews idnotonlywant alestine.Ratherheyought possessionf llArab ountriesn the ast nd hewest" pto theAtlantic cean. Inthewest hey ought lgeria,Morocco, ndTunisia,while n the ast, heywanted o connectyria o Lebanon nd hen ddboth oPalestine. his "Jewish lan"was the"greatest anger" hatwould facetheArabs nd Muslimsf"our enemies heBritish, mericans,nd Bolsheviksemerge ictorious."t was the "sacredduty"of Arabs o unite n order o"repulse hisJewishmenace"andpreventJewishmperialism"rom eingestablishedith heassistancef theBritish. n Alliedvictory ould enabletheJews o realize hesedreams nd to force he Arabs to live as nomads."PredictionsfcatastropheftheAllies nd "theJews"wonthewar remaineda key heme f Nazi propagandand Nazi Arabic-languageropagandantilthewar's nd.73

A monthater,n November , 1943,theVoice ofFreeArabism iscussed"Palestine etweenheBolsheviksnd theJews." It mirroredhe ncitementto murderf NazipropagandanGermany.Shouldwe not curse hetime hat asallowed his ow raceto realize heirdesires rom uchcountries s Britain,America, nd Russia?The Jewskindled hiswar n the nterestsf Zionism.TheJews reresponsibleorthebloodthat asbeen shed.Despite his, ewishmpudence as ncreasedto such an extent hat hey laimthat hey lone are the sacrifice fthiswar and that hey lonearetastingitterness.he worldwillnever e at

820.00-822.00,943,Box 93. On Goebbels'sDo You Want otalWar?" peech,eeHerf, ewishEnemy,92-196.Voice fFreeArabism,ovember, 1943, :15p.m., PalestineetweenheBolsheviksnd heJews," lexander irk o SecretaryfState, airo November 9, 1943),6-7, "No. 1410,AxisBroadcastsnArabic or heperiodNovember to9, 1943,"1-2, NARA,RG 84,Egypt: airoEmbassy eneral ecords, 933-1955, 820.00-822.00, 943,Box 93.72Voice f FreeArabism,eptember4, 1943,8:15p.m., What re theAims f nternationalZionism?"Alexander irk oSecretaryfState, airo October , 1943), No. 1325,AxisBroad-castsnArabic or heperiod eptember3 to29, 1943,"NARA,RG 84,Egypt: airoEmbassyGeneral ecords, 933-1955,820.00-822.00, 943,Box 93.73Ibid.Voice fFreeArabism,ovember,1943, :15p.m., Palestineetween heBolsheviksnd heJews," lexander irk o SecretaryfState, airo November 9, 1943),6-7, "No. 1410,AxisBroadcastsnArabic or heperiodNovember to9, 1943,"1-2, NARA,RG 84,Egypt: airoEmbassy eneral ecords, 933-1955,820.00-822.00, 943,Box 93.



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OLD THEMES NEW ARCHIVAL INDINGS 731peaceuntil heJewishace sexterminated,therwise arswill lwaysxist.TheJews rethegermswhichhave aused ll the roublentheworld."

Notonly id these ssertionslyn theface fcommon ense ndwildly xag-geratehepower f heJews, ut heylsovastlyxaggeratedheglobal ignifi-canceof the onflictetween ews nd Arabs verPalestine.nWorldWar I,especiallyfter heAlliedvictoryn the Battle f Tunisian 1942-1943,thefightingn NorthAfrica asover,ndthe onflictver alestine as sideshowtothemain rama f hewar nEurope. etwith his roadcast,FA found hecause fWorldWar I as awhole o ie ntheZionistspirationor JewishtateinPalestine. ence theonlyway o establish orld eace, nd alsopreventheestablishmentf uch state, ouldbe to exterminatetheJewishace."OneofHajAmin l-Husseini'sistinctiveontributionsothe usionnddif-fusionfradical nti-Semitismo theArab nd slamicocietiesay nhis bilityto combine azi deology ith eferenceso theKoran.OnNovember, 1943,VFA reportedhatHusseinihad spoken t a meetingn Berlinof "all theMoslems fGermanyndEurope"toprotestheBalfour eclaration. TheIslamicCentral nstituten Berlinpublished German ext of Husseini'sBalfour rotestpeech, ndtheForeignMinistryrintedhousandsfcopiesofthespeech nArabic nd distributedhem hroughtsclandestineouriernetworkn the Middle East.77 he Muftimade clearthathis hatred f theJewsayboth n ancient eligiousexts swell as in modern ecular ources.The Balfour eclaration f November , 1917,whosegoalwastheestablish-ment of a Jewishnationalhome in Palestine, was the result of aJewish-Englishonspiracynthe astwar."The declarationavePalestine,anArab-Islamicountry"fgreatmportanceoMuslims,o theJews nd n sodoing, roke ritain'sromiseso Arab eaders fpostwarndependence.us-seinipoured orth is ntense atred f theJews.He referredo their over-whelming goism"thatwas partof theircharacter,heir"contemptiblebelief" hat heywere God s chosenpeople, nd their laim hat verythinghad beencreated ortheir wn sakeand that othermen are animals hatcouldbe used for heir wnpurposes."78s a result f these haracteristics,theJewscould not be loyalto anyoneor integratento anothernation.Rather theyive ikea sponge mongpeoples, ucktheir lood,seize their

75Ibid.76Voice fFreeArabism,ovember, 1943, :30p.m., The Protestsf heMoslems fEuropeagainstheBalfoureclaration,"lexanderirk oSecretaryfState, airo November9,1943),"No. 1410,AxisBroadcastsnArabic or he eriodNovember to9, 1943," -4, NARA,RG 84,Egypt: airoEmbassy eneral ecords, 933-1955, 820.00-822.00, 943,Box 93.HajAmin l-Husseini,edeS.Em. Sein minenz] es GrossmuftinlasslicherProtestkund-gebung egendieBalfour-Erklrungm 2. November 943 (Berlin:slamischeentral-Institut,1943),PAAAR27327,Grossmufti,942-1944,297878-886.78Ibid.,97878-879.



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732 JEFFREYERFproperty,ndermineheirmorals et till emand he ightsf ocal nhabitants.Theywant verydvantageut hey on't ssumeny bligations!llof his asbroughthehostilityf heworld own n themndnourishedhe ews' atredthathad beenburning ortwo thousand ears gainst ll thepeoples."Hebelieved hat God'sanger nd the curse n theJewsmentionedntheHolyKoran"wasdue to these ewishharacteristics.heJewswho had "tormentedtheworld or geshave een he nemyf heArabs ndof slam ince ts mer-gence.TheHolyKoran xpressedhis ldenmityn thefollowingords:Youwill ind hathosewhoaremost ostile o the elieversre he ews.' hey riedto poisonthegreat nd nobleprophets. heyresistedhem,werehostile othem, ndintriguedgainsthem.Thiswas the case for1,300years. or allthat ime, heyhave not stopped pinningntriguesgainst he Arabs ndMuslims."79usseini's atred f heJewswas centralomponentfhisunder-standingf slam ndhisreadingf theKoran.Forhim, slam ooted n theKoranwas n nherentlynti-Semiticoctrine. e placed he ffortsfDisraeli,LordBalfour,ionelRothschild,ndNathaniel othschildo establishJewishhome nPalestinento hisongerontinuityfJewish-Muslimnmity.ndeed,he called heJews thedrivingorces f thedestructionf theregime f theIslamic aliphate"ntheMiddleEast.TheJews sed their ower nfinance,politics,nd thepress othis nd. The Arabs nd Muslims ll knew f"Jewishdesire" o seize the slamicholy ites, uch as theAl AksaMosque and "tobuild temple n itsruins."This cultural usion fracism,nti-Semitism,ndreligiousanaticismoundregularxpressionn theradionthe ast ear nd half f hewar.OnJanuary29, 1944, "Berlin n Arabic"broadcast Arabs nd Moslems t warwithJewry."80t presentedhe two as distinctnd differentotonly s religionsbutalso as races.Whilethe Arabswere"lavishly enerous,"heJewswere"meanlymiserly."

Whilethe Arabs recourageousndwarlike,heJews re cowardlyndfearful.he differencesetween he woraceswere he eason or he ndur-ing nmity hich as lwaysxisted etween hem.We thereforeelievehatthis nmitynd strife etween heArabs nd theJewswill lways e main-tained ntil ne of the wo races sdestroyed.hisstruggler warbetweenthe Arabs nd theJews s based on beliefs,nd such conflictsannot ndother hanwith he destructionf oneparty.Wemust lso admit hat heresponsibilityor his acialwarbetween heArabs nd theJewsies on the79IbicL 97880.80"BerlinnArabic,"anuary8,1944, Talk:ArabsndMoslems tWarwith ewry,"lexanderKirk oSecretaryfState, airo February, 1944), No. 1581,AxisBroadcastsnArabic or hePeriodjanuary22to28,944,"NARARG 84,CairoEmbassy eneral ecords, 936-1955:1944,820.02-822,Box 112.



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OLD THEMES NEW ARCHIVAL INDINGS 733shoulders f theJews.The characteristicsf theArabs, heirgenerosity,unselfishness,nd willto sacrificeannot ead towar.Enmity as lwaysxisted etween rab ndJew,ince ncient imes. ut thasbeen ccentuatedince he ppearancef slam.n slam,he ews ounddangero their eliefs.heyfoughtheProphetndhisfollowers,ndwhenthey ound hat he Moslemsweregainingtrength,hey ntriguedmongthem. hey ven ried o assaultheProphet. hisenmityas existed romthen illthepresent ay,when Moslems ealize hat heymust ree heirlands romhe vils ftheJews.t sa fact hat heJews referredaganismto Islam.The speakerhen ead saying ythePropheto the effecthattheJews rethemost rdentnemies ftheMoslems.81Both he acial ndreligiousrgumentsupportedheManichean onclusionthat conflictetween rabsndJewswas otal ndmustnd n thedestructionofone ortheother. he anti-Semitismfthebroadcastrew n an nterpreta-tionof slam's iewof theJews nd then ddedmodern,ecular nti-Semiticargumentsboutthesupposed ecisive ole of theJewsnWorldWar andWorldWar II. The anti-Semitismf the broadcasts as bothancient ndmodern, voking continuityhat xtended ackto thefoundingf Islam

yet supto date s theNaziregime'swentieth-centurynti-Semiticonspiracytheories.Inspring944,resolutionsere ntroducedn theUnited tates enate ndtheHouse ofRepresentativeso ift estrictionsnJewish migrationo Pales-tine ndtosupporthe reationfaJewishtate here. or Nazipropagandiststhese nitiativesonfirmedheir ssertionhat he war was a Jewishwar.On"Berlinn Arabic" n March1, 1944,Haj Aminel-Husseinitated hat he"wickedAmericanntentionsoward he Arabs re now clearer,nd thereremain o doubts hat hey reendeavoringo establishJewishmpirentheArabworld.More than 00 millionArabs pposethis riminal mericanmovement. . . Arabs!Rise as one nd ightoryouracred ights.ill the ewswher-ever ou ind hem. hispleasesGod,history,ndreligion.his erves our onor. odiswith ou" emphasisnoriginal]. As nthebroadcastsfJuly 942,Husseiniand other nnouncersn Nazi radiourgedArab nd Muslimistenerso takemattersntotheir wn hands ndengagen murderousiolence gainst ews"whereveroufind hem."DespiteAlliedwartimeensorshiphat reventedpen expressionsfpro-NazisympathynNorthAfricand heMiddle ast,AmericanndBritishntel-ligence gencieswere ware hatNazi Germany'snti-Jewishnd anti-Zionistpropagandatruck omeresponsivehordsn theregion.Withthe iftingf

81lbid.82"WeeklyeviewofForeign roadcasts,.C.C.,No. 118,3/4/44,Near and MiddleEast,"NARA,RG165MID, "RegionalFile."1922-1944Palestine,older 930.



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734 JEFFREYERFwartimeontrols,hepostwarmonths ndyears roducedvidencebout heaftereffectsf the Nazi propagandaampaign.n summer 945,Husseini ledGermany ut was arrestedn France.Under suspicious ircumstancese"escaped"French ustodynd arrivedn Cairo. In Washington,he OSSissued report nJune 3, 1945,aboutthepolitical esponsen theMiddleEast to possiblewar crimes rials gainst ro-NaziArabs. The authors f"The Near East and theWarCrimes roblem"wrote hat in the Near Eastthepopular ttitudeoward hetrial f[Nazi]warcriminalss one ofapathy.As a result f thegeneralNear Eastern eelingfhostilityo the mperialismof certain f theAlliedpowers,heres a tendencyosympathizeith atherthan ondemn hosewho have ided heAxis."AyearaterHusseini eturnedoEgypt. he reaction fferednexample fwhat heOSS analystsad nmind. hroughouthewar,AmericanndBritishintelligencegencies adbeen concernedbout hepro-Axisympathiesf heMuslim rotherhoodnEgypt. nJune 1,1946,Hassan l-Banna,ts eader,sent hefollowingtatemento officialsf theArabLeague.

Al-Ikhwan l-MuslimintheMoslem rotherhood]nd llArabs equestheArabLeagueon whichArabhopes repinned, o declare hat heMufti swelcome to stay n anyArab country e maychoose and thatgreatwelcome hould e extended o himwherever egoes, s a sign fappreci-ation or isgreatervices or hegloryf slam ndtheArabs. . The heartsof theArabs alpitated ithoyathearinghat heMufti as succeedednreachingn Arabcountry.he news sounded ike thunder o the earsofsomeAmerican, ritish,ndJewish yrants.he lion s at astfree nd hewill roamtheArabianungleto clear t of thewolves. . What a hero,what miracle f a man.Wewish o knowwhat heArabyouth, abinetMinisters,ichmen, ndprinces fPalestine,yria,raq,Tunis,Morocco,andTripoli regoing o do to beworthyfthis ero.Yes, his ero ho hal-lengednempirend oughtionism,with hehelp fHitler ndGermany. ermanyand Hitler regone,but Amin Al-Husseiniwill continue he truggle.. . Godentrustedimwith missionnd he must ucceed. . The LordAlmightydid not preserveAminfornothing. here mustbe a divinepurposebehind the preservationf the life of thisman,namely he defeat fZionism.Amin!Marchon! God is withyou!We arebehindyou!We arewillingo sacrificeur necks or he ause.To death! orwardMarch.83t"The Near East and the War Crimes Problem': Office of StrategicServices,Research andAnalysisBranch,R and A, No. 1090.116, 23 June 1945, SituationReport: Near East,Analysis fCurrent ntelligencefor the Use of OSS," 1-28, in NARA, RG 84, Syria: Damascus Legation,ConfidentialFe, 1945: Vol. 1-2, 030-800B, ClassifiedGeneralRecords,Box 4, Vol. H, 711-800B.84Ibid., "Summary."85"Hassan Al-Banna and the Mufti of Palestine" n "Contents of Secret Bulletin of Al Ikhwan al-Muslimin dated 11June1946," Cairo July23, 1946). NARA, RG 226, Office fStrategic ervices,WashingtonRegistrySI Intelligence,Field Files,Entry108A, Box 15, Folder 2.



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OLD THEMES ,NEW ARCHIVAL FINDINGS 735A plausible eading f al-Banna's tatement ould be thatHaj Aminel-Husseini ascontinuinghe ame trugglehatHitler ndGermany,swellas Husseinihimself,ad beenwagingduringWorldWar I. Indeed,for l-Banna, hatwar and itsthemeswereto be continuedn the MiddleEast. fso,who better oplay leading olethan politicalndreligiouseaderwithexperiencenfightingheJewish nemynEurope.Far fromriticizingimforhaving idedwith GermanyndHitler,"l-Banna xpresseddmirationforHusseinis wartime ctivities.ivingn wartimegypt, l-Banna ndthemembersf heMuslim rotherhood ouldhavebeenabletohearwhatHus-

seini ndothers n Axis adio ad osay bout he ewsnd heAllies.He foundthesewords nd ctionsdmirable. oreover, usseini'survival,escape,"ndarrivalnCairowereproof hatGodapprovedswell.Conclusion

The historyf Nazi Germany's rabic-languageropagandaimed t NorthAfricand theMiddleEastduringWorldWar I andtheHolocaustwas notstoryboutoneman, he GrandMufti fJerusalem,"aj Amin l-Husseini.Rather,t waspart f a muchbroadertoryfthediffusionf Nazi ideologyfromurope o theMiddle ast ndof heNaziregimeeffortso ntegratero-pagandawithmilitarytrategyn its unsuccessful ilitaryperationsn theregion.With he ddedmaterial rom merican nd Germanrchives, e arenow able to offermoredetail nd texture o thehistoryfNazi Germany'seffortso extend eyond Eurocentric rameworks well as to understandhow t nteracted ith slamicnd Arab adicalism.Thepropagandaarrage rew n a politicalnd deological usion etweenNational ocialistdeology,adicalArabnationalism,ndequally adical ndmilitantslam. ustsNazismrested n a selectiveeadingndappropriationof ome lementsfEuropeannd Germanraditions,o, too,did themilitantIslam xpressedyHusseini ndhis associatesnwartime erlin.Bothrep-resentedradicalizationf lreadyxistingomponentsfEuropeanndChris-tian raditionsn theonehand, nd Arab nd Muslim raditionsn theother.Whileneither as simplyn expressionfthese raditionsn general,heycannot e understood ithout lsoseeing hem s a result ftheir electiveappropriation,eception,ndradicalization.nwartimeerlin,he mprobablediffusionf Nazi ideology nd its hatredsowardnon-AryanSemites" nthe Middle East presupposed leap beyondthe racialparticularismndextreme ationalismor whichNazi Germanywas ustlyfamous nd theresultingppeals o theunlikeliestf allies.The politicalndideological ooperationetweenNazi officialsnd theirArab ndMuslim llies n wartime erlinwas an example f whathistoriansin recentyearshave called "transnationalism"r "hybridity,"hough t



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736 JEFFREYERFperhaps asnotwhat susuallymeant ythose erms. heradio roadcastsndprintedmaterialhatmergedrom hehothouse fwartime erlin ocument-edameetingfheartsndminds f wodifferentraditionshat ound ommongroundnthehatred fJewsnd iberalmodernityespiteheirtarklyifferentstartingoints,thnic ifferences,nd inguisticarriers.he Arab xiles idedin this adicalizationftheir wn traditionsypointingutwhere heir nder-standingfpassagesrom heKoran fferedntry ointso radical nti-Semitismand hatred fdemocracy.he Nazi officials,ncluding itler, erepleased olearn that cultural omponents f another ivilization roducedhatredssimilaro their wn.Justs theNazishad earned ow to radicalizereexistinganti-Semiticotentialsn European ndGerman ulture,o theofficialsndideologuesworkingn propagandaimed t Arabs nd Muslims earned owto buildon thealready xistingnti-Jewishhemes hat omprisedne com-ponent f he raditionsf slam.Anadequate nswer othe mportantuestionof the mpact f this ropagandaarragen NorthAfrica nd theMiddleEastremainseyondhe vidence resentednthis aper. he evidence scompel-ling ndpersuasivehatNaziGermany'sppeal oth oArabnationalismndtothe raditionsfradicalslam layed central ole n ts ortunatelyailed ffortsto extend ts nfluenceo NorthAfrica nd theMiddleEast.

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