{"id":51210,"date":"2017-04-01T17:05:05","date_gmt":"2017-04-01T15:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=51210"},"modified":"2017-03-31T07:27:15","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T05:27:15","slug":"04-05-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=51210","title":{"rendered":"Nazi SS commander wished Grand Mufti"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Nazi SS commander wished Grand Mufti success in fight ‘against the Jewish invaders’
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Ofer Aderet<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"S.S. head Heinrich Himmler with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini in 1943.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Nazi SS commander wished Grand Mufti success in fight ‘against the Jewish invaders’<\/strong><\/span>
\n Heinrich Himmler’s message, made public this week by Israel National Library, was sent to mark the ‘wretched’ Balfour Declaration and noted a shared recognition of ‘the enemy,’ world Jewry.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A year and half ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked controversy with comments about the ties between the Nazi regime and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem during World War II. Netanyahu claimed that it was Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini himself who convinced Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to exterminate Europe’s Jews, before backpedalling on his remarks.<\/span><\/p>\n

But a new discovery by the National Library of Israel has brought the ties between the mufti and the Nazis back into focus. The archive found a 1943 telegram from Nazi SS leader Heinrich Himmler to Husseini, written in German. The timing of the telegram is significant: It was sent on November 2, 1943 and marked 26 years since the British government issued the Balfour Declaration expressing its support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. (This November will mark the declaration’s 100th anniversary.)<\/span><\/p>\n

The Himmler telegram reads: \u201cTo Grand Mufti Amin al-Husseini: From the outset, the National Socialist [Nazi] movement of Greater Germany has been a standard-bearer in the battle against world Jewry. For this reason, it is closely following the battle of freedom-seeking Arabs, particularly in Palestine, against the Jewish invaders. The shared recognition of the enemy and the joint fight against it are creating the strong base [uniting] Germany and freedom-seeking Arabs around the world. In this spirit, I am pleased to wish you, on the anniversary of the wretched Balfour Declaration, warm wishes on your continued fight until the great victory.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was signed by Himmler as SS commander of the entire Third Reich.<\/span>
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The telegram from S.S. head Heinrich Himmler to Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, sent to mark the 26th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration in 1943. Israel National Library<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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The back side of the telegram from S.S. head Heinrich Himmler to Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, sent to mark the 26th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration in 1943. Israel National Library<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Chen Malul of the National Library\u2019s content department said the telegram took a circuitous route before ending up at the archive in Jerusalem. With the defeat of Nazi Germany, where the mufti had lived during World War II, the document was confiscated by the American army. It then came into the possession of a member of the pre-state Haganah underground army in Palestine, who in turn donated it to the National Library.<\/span>
\n Several months ago, as part of ongoing work in the archives, the file was recategorized as pertaining to the Balfour Declaration due to its mention in the telegram.<\/span><\/p>\n

The file came to the library’s attention after staff was asked to look for materials connected to the 1917 declaration. The telegram was made public this week on Chen\u2019s blog on the National Library\u2019s website.<\/span>
\n Ultimately, Himmler\u2019s promise of a \u201cstrong base\u201d uniting Nazis and Muslims didn\u2019t stand the test of time. \u201cThe mufti failed to achieve most of his goals. Nazi Germany did not declare its support for the idea of Arab independence,\u201d said Dr. Esther Webman, a senior research at Tel Aviv University’s Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies. She noted that efforts to incite the Arabs of the Middle East against the colonial powers in World War II also failed.<\/span>
\n The telegram supplements what historians already knew: At a particular time, an ideological partnership existed between part of the Nazi leadership and the mufti. Nevertheless, it does not serve to confirm Netanyahu\u2019s initial reference to an imaginary conversation between the mufti and Hitler that purportedly took place in November 1941, two years before Himmler sent his telegram.<\/span>
\n The Israeli prime minister had initially claimed: \u201cHaj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said to him: \u2018If you expel them [the Jews], they will all come here [to Palestine].\u2019\u201d According to Netanyahu\u2019s account, Hitler then asked, “So what am I supposed to do with them?” and the mufti replied: “Burn them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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