Relations between Nazi Germany and the Arab world

Nazi perceptions of the Arab world

Hitler’s views on Arabs and Islam

In speeches, Hitler made apparently warm references to Muslim culture such as: “The peoples of Islam will always be closer to us than, for example, France”. ^[1]

A famous anecdote about Adolf Hitler’s perspectives towards Islam and the Arabs is recounted by Albert Speer in his best-selling memoir, Inside the Third Reich . Speer reports that “Hitler had been much impressed by a scrap of history he had learned from a delegation of distinguished Arabs.” ^[2] The delegation had speculated that the world would have become “Mohammedan” if the Berbers and Arabs had won the Battle of Toursin the 8th Century AD, and that the Germans would have believed to be a religion that believed in spreading the faith in the world. ^[3] Speer then presents Hitler ‘s claims on this subject:

Hitler said that the conquering Arabs, because of their racial inferiority, would be unable to contend with the harsher climate of the country. They could not have been more vigorous than natives, so that they could not have been Arabs but Islamized Germans could have stood at the head of this Mohammedan Empire. ^[4]

Similarly, Hitler was transcribed as saying: “Had Charles Martel not been victorious at Poitiers […] then we should have been converted to Mohammedanism, which is one of the culminations of the heroism and which opens up the seventh Heaven to the bold Then the Germanic races would have conquered the world. ” ^[5]

According to Speer, Hitler usually concluded his historical speculation by remarking, “You see, it’s been misfortune to have the wrong religion.” Why did not we have the religion of the Japanese, who look at sacrifice for the Fatherland as the highest good? The Mohammedan’s religion would be much more than Christianity, why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness? ” ^[6]

Hitler’s views on the Arab world

This “exchange” occurred when Hitler received Saudi Arabian ruler Ibn Saud’s special envoy, Khalid al-Hud al-Gargani. ^[7] Earlier in this meeting Hitler noted that one of the reasons why Nazi Germany had warm sympathies for the Arabs was:

… because we were jointly fighting the Jews . This led to the Chat _him_ Palestine and the requirements there, and he himself Then he Stated That Would not rest up to the last Jew left HAD Germany. Kalid al Hud observed that the Mohammed Prophet … had acted the same way. He had driven the Jews out of Arabia …. ^[8]

Gilbert Achcar wryly observes that the Führer did not point out to his Arabs to that meeting that he had incited German Jews to emigrate to Palestine, and the Reich has been helped to get Zionist organizations to get around British-imposed restrictions on Jewish immigration. ^[9]

Hitler had his military commanders in 1939, shortly before the start of the war:

We shall continue to make disturbances in the Far East and Arabia. Let us think and let us see you in these people at best lacquered half-apes who are anxious to experience the lash. ^[10] [11]

Prior to the Second World War , all of North Africa and the Middle East were under the control of European powers. Despite the Nazi racial theories which denigrated Arabs as members of an inferior race, individual Arabs who assisted the Reich in fighting the British for possession of the Middle East were treated with honor and respect. Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini , for example, “was granted honorary Aryan” status by the Nazis for his close collaboration with Hitler and the Third Reich. ^{[12] [13] [ page needed ]}

The German government has a strong association with some Arab nationalist leaders based on their anti-colonial and anti-Zionist interests. The most notable examples of these common-cause fights were 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine and other actions led by Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, and the Anglo-Iraqi War , when the Golden Square ( Rashid Ali al-Gaylani ) overthrew the pro-British ‘Abd al-Ilah regency in Iraq and installed a pro Axisgovernment. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

In response to the Rashid Ali coup, Hitler issued Führer Directive No. 30 on May 23, 1941 to support their cause. This Order Begins: “The Arab Freedom Movement in the Middle East is our natural ally against England.” ^[16]

General der Flieger Hellmuth Felmy was appointed central authority for all “Arab affairs concerning the Wehrmacht” under the so-called terms of this “Directive No. 30”. ^[17] General Felmy summarized the military perspective on strategic common interests of German and Arab nationalists in the following passage:

The already tense situation in the Middle East was further complicated by the emergence of Jewish nationalistic aspirations. Arab hatred of the Jews and disappointment at the failed Arabs for independence led to bloody riots. At first purely anti-Jewish in nature and directed against the growing Jewish immigration in Palestine, the uprisings were later aimed at Great Britain as the mandatory power. The situation continued to be unsatisfactory until the outbreak of World War II, when it was overshadowed by the crisis in Europe. When England declared war on Germany the Zionist organizations, which had actively supported the influx of Jewish immigrants in Palestine, at once proclaimed solidarity with Britain against Germany. ^[18]

On 11 June 1941 Hitler and the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces issued Directive No. 32, titled “Preparations for the period after ‘Barbarossa'” which read (in part):

Exploitation of the Arab Freedom Movement. The situation of the English in the Middle East will be rendered more precarious, in the event of major German operations, if more British forces are tied down at the right moment by civil commotion or revolt. All military, political, and propaganda measures to this end must be carefully coordinated during the preparatory period. As central agency abroad I nominate Special Staff F, which is to take part in all plans and actions in the Arab area, whose headquarters are in the area of ​​the Commander Armed Forces South-east. The most competent available experts and agents will be made available to it. The Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces will specify the duties of Special Staff, in agreement with the Foreign Minister where political issues are involved. ^[19]

General der Artillerie Walter Warlimont , who was involved in military alliances with some Arabs, reports that many

… the only real political rallying among the Arabs in their common hatred of the Jews, while “Arab nationalist movements” as such, because of the diversity of interests in the various Arab countries, existed only on paper. ^[20]

Arab perceptions of Hitler and Nazism

According to Gilbert Achcar , there was no unified Arab perception of Nazism :

Hitler and fascist ideology were controversial in the Arab world, just as they were in Europe, with both supporters and opponents.

Massive programs of propaganda were launched in the Arab world, first by Fascist Italy and later by Nazi Germany . The Nazis in particular focused on the impact of the new generation of political thinkers and activists. ^[22]

Erwin Rommel was almost as popular as Hitler. “Heil Rommel” was reportedly a common greeting in Arab countries. ^{[ citation needed ]} Some believed the Germans would be free from the rule of the old colonial powers France and Britain. ^{[ citation needed ]} After France’s defeat by Nazi Germany in 1940, some Arabs were chanting against the French and British around the streets of Damascus : “No more Sir, no more Mister, Allah’s in Heaven and Hitler’s on earth.” ^[23] Posters in Arabic stating “In heaven God is your ruler, on earth Hitler” were frequently displayed in the towns of Syria . ^[24]

Some wealthy Arabs who traveled to Germany in the 1930s brought back fascist ideals and incorporated them into Arab Nationalism . ^[25] One of the main founders of Ba’athist thought and the Ba’ath Party , Zaki al-Arsuzi , Stated That Fascism and Nazism HAD Greatly Influenced Ba’athist ideology. An associate of al-Arsuzi, Sami al-Jundi , wrote:

“We were racists. We Admired the Nazis. We were Immersed in reading Nazi literature and books That Were the source of the Nazi spirit. We were the first Who thought of a translation of Mein Kampf . Anyone Who Lived in Damascus At That Time Was witness to the Arab inclination to Nazism Michel Aflaq , founder of the Ba’athist philosophy, admits Hitler and the Nazis for standing up to Britain and America, this admiration would combine aspects of Nazism into Ba’athism. ^[26] [27]

The two most noted Arab politicians who actively collaborated with the Nazis were Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (Quds) Haj Amin al-Husseini, ^{[28] [ page needed ] [29]} and the Prime Minister Iraqi Rashid Ali al-Gaylani. ^[30] [31]

The British forced Mufti al-Husseini into exile for his role in the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine . The ex-Mufti had agents in the Kingdom of Iraq , the Mandate of Palestine and Mandatory Palestine . In 1941, the Mufti actively supported the Iraqi Golden Square coup , led by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani. ^[32]

After the Golden Square Iraqi regime was defeated by British forces, Rashid Ali, the Mufti, and other Iraqi veterans took refuge in Europe, where they supported Axis interests. They were particularly successful in recruiting several tens of thousands of Muslims for membership in German Schutzstaffel (SS) units, and as propagandists for the Arabic-speaking world. The range of collaborative activities was wide. For instance, Anwar Sadat , who later became president of Egypt , was a willing co-operator in Nazi Germany’s espionage according to his own memoirs. ^[22]

Adolf Hitler met with Haj Amin al-Husseini is 28 November 1941. The official German Notes of That meeting Contain Numerous references to combatting Jews Both inside and outside Europe. The following excerpts from that meeting are statements from Hitler to the Mufti:

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. … This was the decisive struggle; On the political plane, it is presented 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 provide positive and practical assistance to the Arabs involved in the same struggle, because they were used in a war for survival or destruction in which the Jews were able to mobilize all of England’s power for their ends. ..the fuhrer would have his own give the Arab world the assurance that his hour of liberation had arrived. Germany’s objective would then be solely the destruction of the Jewish element in the Arab sphere under the protection of British power. Mufti would be the most authoritative spokesperson 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 might also be interested in such a reaction.^{[33] [34] [35]}

Haj Amin al-Husseini became the most prominent Arab collaborator with the Axis Powers. He developed friendships with high-ranking Nazis, including Heinrich Himmler , Joachim von Ribbentrop and (possibly) Adolf Eichmann . ^{[ citation needed ]} He contributed to Axis propaganda services and to the recruitment of Muslim and Arab soldiers for the Nazi armed forces, including three SS divisions of Yugoslavian Muslims. ^[25] He was involved in planning “wartime operations directed against Palestine and Iraq, including parachuting Germans and Arab agents to foment attacks against the Jews in Palestine.” ^[36]He assisted the German entry into North Africa, particularly the German entry into Tunisia and Libya . His espionage network provided the Wehrmacht with a forty-eight-hour warning of the Allied invasion of North Africa. The Wehrmacht, however, ignored this information, which turned out to be completely accurate. ^{[ citation needed ]} He intervened and protested to government authorities in order to prevent Jews from emigrating to Mandatory Palestine . ^[37] There is persuasive evidence That He Was Aware of the Nazi Final Solution ,. ^[38]After the war, he claims that he never knew about the extermination camps or the plans for genocide , that the ‘evidence’ against him was forged by his Jewish enemies, and even denied having met Eichmann. He is still a controversial figure, both vilified and honored by different political factions in the contemporary Arab world. ^[39]

Researchers like Jeffrey Herf, Meir Zamir and Hans Goldenbaum agree on the importance of the German propaganda effort in the Middle East and North Africa. But the latest research on the massive and influential radio broadcasts was able to prove “that the texts are supplied by German and not, as sometimes believed, by the reader [s] of the Arabic broadcasts […]”. Furthermore, Goldenbaum concludes “That the man who was long regarded as the most important Muslim of all, Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, did not play any particularly important role in this case. were broadcast by Radio Berlin and he was always presented as a role model, al-Husseini did not have any influence on the broadcast content. The Arabs in general did not seem to have partners with equal rights. They were secondary recipients of propaganda and orders, Goldenbaum concluded. Cooperation never went beyond the overt battle against colonialism. “^[40] [41]

Opposition

Gilbert Achcar, a professor of Development Studies at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, argues that historical narratives are often over-emphasized and under-appreciated. Arab political history, overshadowing the many dimensions of conflict between Nazism and the Arab World . He accuses Zionists of promulgating a collaborationist narrative for partisan purposes. He proposed that the dominant Arab political attitudes were ‘ anti-colonialism ‘ and ‘ anti-Zionism ,’ though only a comparatively small faction adopted anti-Semitism , and most of the Arabs were actually working on Ally and anti-Axis (as evidenced by the high number of Arabs who fought for Allied forces). Achcar states:

The Zionist narrative of the Arab world is based on one figure who is ubiquitous in this whole issue-the JerusalemGrand Mufti Hajj Amin al-Husseini, who collaborated with the Nazis. But the historical record is actually quite different. The initial reaction to Nazism and Hitler in the Arab World and especially the theory of Nazism, which was perceived as a totalitarian, racist and imperialist phenomenon. It was criticized by the liberals or what I call the liberal Westernizers, ie those who have been attracted by Western liberalism, and who have denounced Nazism as another form of imperialism. In fact, only one of the major ideological currents in the Arab world developed a strong affinity with Western anti-Semitism, and that was Islamic fundamentalism-not all Islam or Islamic movements but those with the most reactionary interpretations of Islam.^[42]

Cooperation

Mandatory Palestine

The Palestinian Arab and Nazi political leaders said that they had a common cause against International Jewry. The most significant practical effect of Nazi policy on Palestine between 1933 and 1938, however, was to increase the number of Palestinian Jews. The Mufti had sent messages to Berlin through Heinrich Wolff  ( de ) , the German Consul General in Jerusalem endorsing the advent of the new diet as early as March, 1933, and was enthusiastic over the Nazi anti-Jewish policy, and particularly the anti- Jewish boycott in Germany. “[The Mufti and other sheikhs asked] only that German Jews not be sent to Palestine.” ^[43]

Nazi policy for solving their Jewish problem of the end of 1937 During this period the League of Nations Mandate for the establishment of a Jewish Homeland in Mandatory Palestine was used as a refuge for Jews was “still internationally recognized”. The Gestapo and the SS inconsistently cooperated with a variety of Jewish organizations and efforts (eg, Hanotaiah Ltd., Anglo-Palestine Bank , Temple Society Bank, HIAS , Joint Distribution Committee, Revisionist Zionists, and others), most notably in the Haavurah Agreements, to facilitate emigration to Mandatory Palestine. ^[44]

Nora Levin wrote in 1968: “Up to the middle of 1938, Palestine had received one of the Jews who had emigrated from Germany since 1933 – 50,000 out of a total of 150,000.” ^[45] Edwin Black , benefitting from more modern scholarship, has written that 60,000 German Jews immigrated into Palestine between 1933 through 1936, bringing with them $ 100,000,000 dollars ($ 1.6 trillion in 2009 dollars). This precipitous Increase in the Palestinian Jewish population stimulated Palestinian Arab political resistance to continued Jewish immigration, and Was a major reason for the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine , qui in turn led to the British White Paperdecision to abandon the League of Nations Mandate to establish a Jewish National Home in Palestine. The result changes in British policy effectively closed Palestine to most European Jews who suffered persecution throughout World War II. After 1938 the majority of Zionist organizations adhered to a strategy of ‘Fighting the White Paper as if it was not War, and fighting the War as if it was no White Paper.’ Zionists would smuggle Jews in Palestine whenever possible, regardless of whether they came under conflict with the British authorities. At the same time the Zionists and other Jews would ally themselves to the British battle against Germany and the Axis, even while the British blocked the escape of European Jews into Palestine. ^[46]

In 1938 the German policy towards the Jewish Homeland in Palestine appears to have changed, quoted in German Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes from March 10, 1938:

The influx into a Jewish state of the Jewish capital in a Jewish state, which runs against the German interests; for this state, instead of absorbing world Jewry, will someday bring about a considerable increase in the world Jewry’s political power. ^[47]

One consequence of the Mufti ‘s opposition to England’ s role in the Palestinian Authority and its rejection of the Palestinian Authority. Many of his followers, who had fought Jews and the English in Palestine, followed him to work for his political goals. Among the most notable Palestinian soldiers in this category was Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni , a kinsman and officer of the Mufti who had been wounded twice in the early stages of the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. The Mufti feels Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni to Germany in 1938 for explosive training. Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni then worked with the Mufti to support the Golden Square regime, and they were sentenced to prison by the British after they retook Iraq. He subsequently became the popular leader of approximately 50,000 Palestinian Arabs who joined the Mufti’s Army of the Holy War during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. His fellow Iraq-veteran and German collaborator Fawzi al-Qawuqji became a rival general in that same struggle against Zionism. ^[48]

As noted in the above paragraph by Gen. Felmy, after the Kristallnacht pogroms in November 1938, most Jewish and Zionist organizations aligned with Germany and its allies to oppose Nazi Germany. After this time, the Gestapo to the Jewish organizations has become more sporadic. ^[49]

The Mufti Opposing All Immigration of Jews in Palestine. The Mufti’s numerous letters appealing to various governmental authorities to prevent Jewish emigration to Palestine have been widely republished and cited as documentary evidence of his collaboration with Nazis and his participatory support for their actions. For instance, in June 1943 the Mufti recommended to the Hungarian minister that it would be better to send them to Jews in Hungary to Concentration Camps in Poland rather than to find them in Palestine (it is not entirely clear that the Mufti was aware of the Extermination Camps in Poland, eg Auschwitz , at this time):

I would like your Excellency to allow you to draw your attention to the need for prevention, and it would be necessary to do so. they would find themselves under active control, for example, in Poland …. ^[50]

Achcar quotes the Mufti’s memoirs about these efforts to influence the Axis powers to prevent emigration of Eastern European Jews to Palestine:

We fought this enterprise by writing to Ribbentrop, Himmler, and Hitler, and, thereafter, the governments of Italy, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and other countries. We succeeded in foiling this initiative, to circumstance that the Jews to make terrible accusations against me, in which they held me accountable for the liquidation of four hundred million Jews who were unable to emigrate to Palestine in this period. They added that I should be tried in Nuremberg. ^[51]

Achcar then notes that the Mufti ‘s motivation to block Jewish emigration into Palestine:

… was certainly legitimate when it was addressed to the British mandatory authorities …. It had no legitimacy whatsoever when addressed to Nazi authorities who had cooperated with the Zionists to send them out of extermination of the Jews of Europe. The Mufti was well aware that the European Jews were being wiped out; he never claimed the contrary. Nor, unlike some of his present-day admirers, did he play the ignoble, perverse, and stupid game of Holocaust denial …. His self-esteem would be more serious than the Germans … he cites …: “Their losses in the Second World War represent more than thirty percent of the total number of their people …. Statements like this, from a man who was well placed to know what the Nazis had done … constituted a powerful argument against Holocaust deniers. Husseini reports thatReichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler … told him in the summer of 1943 that the Germans had ‘already exterminated more than three million’ Jews: “I was astonished by this figure, as I knew nothing about the matter until then.” THUS. in 1943, Husseini knew about the genocide … .Himmler … again in the summer of 1941 … let him in a secret that … Germany would have an atomic bomb in three years’ time …. ^[52]

In November 1943, when he became aware of the nature of the Nazi Final Solution , the Mufti said:

It is the duty of Muhammadan in general and Arabs in particular to drive Jews from Arab and Muhammadan countries … .Germany is also struggling against the common foe who oppressed Arabs and Muhammadans in their different countries. It is very clear that they will be able to solve the problem that Jews represent in the world. …. ^[53]

Kingdom of Iraq

On April 1, 1941, a day after General Erwin Rommel began his Tunisian offensive, the 1941 Iraqi coup d’état overthrew the pro-British Iraq regime. General Felmy’s recollections of the following Anglo-Iraqi War include:

Rashid Ali feels an urgent appeal for assistance to Berlin, where the Wehrmacht High Command held a conference on May 6, 1941 to discuss measures to be taken to support the rebellion. It was decided to give Iraq all assistance possible and to intensify the war against Great Britain in the Middle East. Diplomatic relations between the Third Reich and Iraq were resumed. The German ambassador to Iraq, Dr. Grobba, returned to Baghdad. ^[54]

Dr. Fritz Grobba served intermittently as the German ambassador in Iraq from 1932 to 1941, supporting anti-Jewish and fascist movements in the Arab world. Intellectuals and army officers have been invited to the Nazi party, and anti-Semitic material was published in the newspapers. The Alam al-Arabi (“The Arab World”), which published anti-Jewish, anti-English, and pro-Nazi propaganda, including a serialized translation of Hitler’s Mein Kampf in Arabic. ^[55]

On June 1-2, 1941, immediately after the collapse of the pro-Nazi Rashid Ali government in Iraq, the Mufti and others inspired a pogrom against the Jews of Baghdad known to the Farhud . The estimates of Jewish victims from 110 to over 600 killed, and from 240 to 2000 wounded. Gilbert Achcar’s research indicates that historian Bernard Lewis misquoted the total number of victims to the number of Jewish victims, the overwhelming majority appeared to be killed by the British-led repression of the Arabs. ^{[56] [ page needed ]}Edwin Black concludes that the exact numbers will be known, pointing out the improbability of the initial estimate of the fatalities that included both Arabs and Jews (including 28 women), as opposed to the claims of Jewish sources that as 600 Jews were killed. ^[57] Similarly, the estimates of Jewish homes destroyed from 99 to over 900 houses. These theses are debated in the secondary literature, it is generally agreed that 580 Jewish businesses were looted. The Iraqi-Arab Futuwwa youth group-modeled after the Hitler Youth -were widely credited with the Farhud. The Futuwwa were commissioned by Iraqi minister of education Saib Shawkat , who also praised Hitler for eradicating Jews.^{[58] [59] [60]}

In June 1941, Wehrmacht High Command Directive No. 32 and the “Instructions for Special Staff” designated Special Staff in the Wehrmacht’s central agency for all issues that affected the Arab world. ^[61] General Felmy’s testimony about this period:

At the time of the Iraqi rebellion a number of Arab students residing in Germany had volunteered for duty in … the Wehrmacht High Command, Foreign Group … to receive a four-weeks training course in Dueren, in West Germany. About 30 Arab volunteers were transferred from Dueren to Special Staff in the framework of the German-Arab training battle … Sunium, … Greece … in July 1941. Training of the Moslems began immediately. The Arabs had a fair knowledge of German and showed them willingness to learn …. One mistake that was made to use as instructors Germans who had lived in Palestine and the other Middle East countries. These men have long been accustomed to look Arabs as a race of menials, and something of this attitude crept into the instruction. When efforts were made to establish a better working relationship … the Arabs came to the conclusion that they were already considered as full-fledged partners in the Axis. One of the major issues … was the conflict engendered by the difference in the political loyalties of the volunteers. Some of the latter professed their faith in one Arab chieftain, while the others argued the merits of his opponent. So, Fauzi Kaikyi, the Syrian army leader. After his escape from the British, Fauzi had established himself in Berlin and started to take over the Arabs at Sunium. Some of the latter professed their faith in one Arab chieftain, while the others argued the merits of his opponent. So, Fauzi Kaikyi, the Syrian army leader. After his escape from the British, Fauzi had established himself in Berlin and started to take over the Arabs at Sunium. Some of the latter professed their faith in one Arab chieftain, while the others argued the merits of his opponent. So, Fauzi Kaikyi, the Syrian army leader. After his escape from the British, Fauzi had established himself in Berlin and started to take over the Arabs at Sunium.^[62]

The ‘Fauzi Kaikyi’ mentioned by General Felmy was the Syrian soldier Fawzi al-Qawuqji . He had been awarded an Iron Cross, second class, for his service as Ottoman Army lieutenant fighting alongside General Otto von Kreiss’ Prussians, who had opposed the British in Palestine during World War I. He was later ordained by the Arab League of the Arab Liberation Army , one of the five Arab armies Involved in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War . ^[63]

The political divisiveness between these factions, and mainly between the ‘Big Two’ leaders, Haj Amin al-Husseini and Rashid Ali, were a persistent problem for Arabs who had fled Iraq and found asylum with their Axis allies in Europe. ^[62] The problems for their supporters who remained in Allied-held Arab lands could be worse, however. Palestinian fighter Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni spent over four years in prison for his participation in the Iraqi rebellion. ^[48]

North Africa

On January 20, 1942, 15 high-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials set up a villa in Wannsee, Berlin suburb, to coordinate the execution of the ” Final Solution ” (Endlösung) of the Jewish Question. At this Wannsee Conference , Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler’s deputy and head of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office, or RSHA), noted the numbers of Jews to be eliminated in each territory. There are two entries, 165,000 for Occupied France, and 700,000 for the Unoccupied Zone, which included France’s North African possessions, ie Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. ^{[64] [ page needed ] [65] [66]}

The SS had established a special unit of 22 people in 1942 to Kill Jews in North Africa. It was led by SS Obersturmbannführer Walter Rauff , who helped develop the mobile gassing vehicles Germans used to murder Russian prisoners and Jewish people in Russia and Poland. A network of labor camps was established in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. ^[67] Over 2,500 Tunisian Jews perished during a six-month period in these camps. ^[68]

According to Robert Satloff , only one Arab in North Africa, Hassan Ferjani, was convicted by an Allied military court in World War II for performing acts that led to the deaths of Jews, male members of the Scemla family of Tunisia, while many Arabs acted to save Jews. ^[69] For instance, King Mohammed V refused to make the 200,000 Jews who were living in Morocco, although this discriminatory practice was enforced in France. He is reported to have said: “There are no Jews in Morocco. ^[70]The historian Haim Saadon opines that there are some exceptions, there was no violence against Jews and Muslims, and that was not particular sense of camaraderie, Jews and Muslims treated each other well. ^[71]

Arab incorporation and emulation of fascism

Nationalists

Many emerging movements ^{[ citation needed ]} in the Arab world Were Influenced by European fascist and Nazi organisms During the 1930s.The Young Egypt Party ( “green shirts”) étroitement resembled the Hitler Youth and was “Obviously Nazi in form”, selon historian Bernard Lewis . ^[72] The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) adopted styles of fascism. Its emblem, the red hurricane, was taken from the Nazi swastika , ^[73] leader Antoun Saadeh was known as al-za’im (the Führer), and the party anthem was “Syria, Syria, über alles” sung to the same tune as the German national anthem. ^[74]He founded the fascist SSNP with a program that Syrians were “a distinctive and naturally superior race”. ^[75]