Global InformationRelations between Nazi Germany and the Arab world information
Relations between Nazi Germany (1933–1945) and the Arab world ranged from indifference, resistance, collaboration and emulation.[1][2][3][4][5] Nazi Germany used collaborators throughout the Arab world to support their political goals. The cooperative political and military relationships were based on shared hostilities towards common enemies, such as the United Kingdom,[4][5] the French Third Republic,[2][4] along with communism, and Zionism.[2][4][5] Another foundation of such collaborations was the antisemitism of the Nazis and their hostility towards the United Kingdom and France, which was admired by some Arab and Muslim leaders, most notably the exiled Palestinian leader, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husseini (see subsection in "antisemitism in Islam").[6]
In public and private, Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler made complimentary statements about Islam as both a religion and a political ideology, describing it as a more disciplined, militaristic, political, and practical form of religion than Christianity is, and commending what they perceived were Muhammad's skills in politics and military leadership.[7] Minor Nazi party branches were established in the Middle East before the war by local German diaspora.[8] In June 1941, Wehrmacht High Command Directive No. 32 and the "Instructions for Special Staff F" designated Special Staff F as the Wehrmacht's central agency for all issues that affected the Arab world.[9]
The official Nazi racial ideology considered Arabs racially inferior to Germans, a sentiment which was echoed in deprecating statements made by Hitler and other Nazi leaders. Referring to the Arab world, Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf: "As a völkisch man, who appraises the value of men on a racial basis, I am prevented by mere knowledge of the racial inferiority of these so-called 'oppressed nations' from linking the destiny of my own people with theirs".[10]
Despite Amin al-Husseini's efforts to acquire German backing for Arab independence, Hitler refused to support them, remarking that he "wanted nothing from the Arabs". Nazi Germany was reluctant to initiate disputes with the Italian Empire or Vichy France colonies.[11] Nazi Germany sent officials and military equipment to Middle Eastern forces fighting alongside Axis powers during the Middle East theatre of World War II.
- ^ Copeland, Miles. The Game Player: Confessions of the CIA's original political operative. 1989. Page 181. "Most of them (the Nazis) were also anti-Arab, although they had the wit to conceal that fact."
- ^ a b c Herf, Jeffrey (December 2009). "Nazi Germany's Propaganda Aimed at Arabs and Muslims During World War III and the Holocaust: Old Themes, New Archival Findings". Central European History. 42 (4). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 709–736. doi:10.1017/S000893890999104X. JSTOR 40600977. S2CID 145568807.
- ^ Bougarel, Xavier; Korb, Alexander; Petke, Stefan; Zaugg, Franziska (2016) [2016]. "Muslim SS units in the Balkans and the Soviet Union". In Böhler, Jochen; Gerwarth, Robert (eds.). The Waffen-SS: A European History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 252–283. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198790556.003.0008. ISBN 9780198790556. OCLC 970401339. S2CID 133436194.
- ^ a b c d • "Hajj Amin al-Husayni: Wartime Propagandist". Holocaust Encyclopedia. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 2020. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
• "Hajj Amin al-Husayni: Arab Nationalist and Muslim Leader". Holocaust Encyclopedia. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 2020. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2020. - ^ a b c Spoerl, Joseph S. (January 2020). "Parallels between Nazi and Islamist Anti-Semitism". Jewish Political Studies Review. 31 (1/2). Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: 210–244. ISSN 0792-335X. JSTOR 26870795. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ • "Hajj Amin al-Husayni: Wartime Propagandist". Holocaust Encyclopedia. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 2020. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2020. • "Hajj Amin al-Husayni: Arab Nationalist and Muslim Leader". Holocaust Encyclopedia. Washington, D.C.: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 2020. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Nicolson1985was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Schmidt, H. D. (1952). "The Nazi Party in Palestine and the Levant 1932-9". International Affairs. 28 (4): 460–469. doi:10.2307/2604176. ISSN 0020-5850. JSTOR 2604176.
- ^ "German Exploitation of Arab Nationalist Movements in World War II" by Gen. Hellmuth Felmy and Gen, Walter Warlimont, Historical Division, Headquarters, United States Army, Europe, Foreign Military Studies Branch, 1952, p. 11, by Gen. Haider
- ^ Herf 2009, pp. 15–16.
- ^ "Hajj Amin al-Husayni: Wartime Propagandist". Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.