Rashid Ali al-Gaylani
Rashid Ali al-Gaylani [al-Kailani] (Arabic: رشيد علي الكيلاني; 1892 – August 28, 1965) was an Iraqi politician who served as Prime Minister of Iraq three times. Gaylani is known for the attempted pro-Nazi coup - rebellion he staged in April 1941, during World War II, during which he took control, with the help of a group of officers led by Salah al-Din al-Sabah, over the government in Iraq, deposed the legal regent Abd al-Ila from his position, and established a pro-Nazi government who demanded the expulsion of the British from Iraq.
The rebellion ended with a British invasion of Iraq and the start of the Anglo-Iraqi war, and the defeat of al-Gaylani and his men. Shortly after the end of his term of office, the Farhud pogrom raged in Baghdad, during which upto some 1,000 Jews of Baghdad were brutally murdered, children were thrown into water in front of parents, there were mass rapes. The disturbances came following wild incitement against the Jews by Arabs and Nazis, and the bloodletting that characterized the period of his reign, in which he collaborated with the Nazis, and with the Palestine Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini.
In 1933[1]
Fritz Grobba purchased a Christian-owned newspaper, "The Arab World" (al-'Alam al-'Arabi - العالم العربي). He serialised an Arabic version of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, and soon, Radio Berlin began to broadcast in Arabic by Younes Bahri.[2][3][4]
Grobba had "built up a network of pro-Nazi agents."[5]
In 1941, there was a brief Arab Pro-Nazi coup, by the four Iraqi nationalist army generals, known as "the Golden Square," the Mufti, Mohammed Amin al-Husseini [محمد أمين الحسيني] and Rashid Ali al-Gaylani [رشيد عالي الگيلاني] assisted by al-Muthanna / Futuwwa (modeled on Hitler-Youth) fascist groups. The coup was later repelled by the Brits.
The Mufti also incited to the infamous Farhud ([الفرهود] Farhoud) pogrom against Iraqi Jews on Shavuot, June 1-2, (just before the new government settled in) , carried out by Futuwwa and others including policemen. It came after months of instigation, including by the Mufti[6] and his associates Darwish al-Mikdadi and Akram Zuaiter, portions of Mein Kampf in Arabic publications and Younis Bahri's Berlin 'voice of Hitler in Arabic' radio broadcasts. It was brutal: "Hundreds of Jews were cut down by sword and rifle, some decapitated. Babies were sliced in half and thrown into the Tigris river. Girls were raped in front of their parents. Parents were mercilessly killed in front of their children."[7] Some estimate Jewish fatalities victims to be up to a 1,000.[8] With Yunis al-Sabawi planning a greater massacre, foiled.
During WW2, senior officials in the Iraqi Ministry of Education, like Sami Shawkat and Fadhil al-Jamali, sustained firm ties with Fritz Grobba and "frustrated an initiative by the Iraqi security services to deport German teachers who were spreading Nazi propaganda in Baghdadi high schools. They also maintained a pro-Nazi nationalist organization."[9]
Four days before the Farhud, the infamous [Younis] Yunus Bahri, recruited by Grobba, incited via his broadcast.[10]
After the failed coup, Al-Gaylani and Mufti Al-Husseini fled[11] to Europe, both ending up in Berlin helping Nazi machine.
Fritz Grobba, since he returned to his post at Wilhelmstrasse (German Foreign Ministry), initiated three "Arab offices." The first office is that of the Mufti, who is considered the head of the "Arab Liberation Movement"; the second — Rashid Ali al-Gilani, who is called "the legal leader of the State of Iraq"; The third office deals with the recruitment of refugees from the entire Arab and Muslim East. Fawzi Kaukji is honored with the title "Head of the Arab Legion" and appointed by Hitler a colonel of the Wehrmacht.[12]
See also
References
- ↑ James. Barrie G. (2012). Hitler's Gulf War: The Fight for Iraq 1941. United Kingdom:Grub Street Publishers, [1]
- ↑ Iraq and its Jewish minority: from the establishment of the state to the great Jewish immigration 1921-1951. Moshe Gat]
- ↑ Sabar, A. (2009). My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Family's Past. United States: Algonquin Books. p. 63
- ↑ Benjamin, M. (2008). Last Days in Babylon: The Exile of Iraq's Jews, the Story of My Family. United States: Free Press. p. 93
- ↑ Understanding the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa is the key to understanding the whole Middle East conflict’: an interview with Lyn Julius. Fathom, Oct 2018
- ↑ Lyn Julius, The Nazi-Arab alliance: A neglected aspect of Holocaust education, JPost, May 23, 2024
The mufti also helped stage a pro-Nazi coup in Iraq in 1941 and incited the anti-Jewish massacre known as the Farhud, making no secret of his wish to exterminate the Jews in his sphere of influence in the event of a Nazi victory. As Hitler’s guest in Berlin, the mufti of Jerusalem raised SS units of Muslim troops and broadcast poisonous anti-Jewish propaganda. “Kill the Jews wherever you find them! This pleases God, religion, and history”, he exhorted from the Berlin shortwave radio station.
- ↑ Black, Edwin. The Farhud: Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust. United States: Dialog Press, 2018. [2].
The Nazi fueled pogrom in Iraq that led to the Jews leaving the country, JewishUnpacked May 23, 2022.Hundreds of Jews were cut down by sword and rifle, some decapitated. Babies were sliced in half and thrown into the Tigris river. Girls were raped in front of their parents. Parents were mercilessly killed in front of their children. Hundreds of Jewish homes and businesses were looted, then burned.
- ↑ Carole Basri, First came the Farhud: The 2-stage ethnic cleansing of Iraqi Jewry, TOI, June 2, 2021.
- ↑ Yehuda, Zvi. The New Babylonian Diaspora: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Community in Iraq, 16th-20th Centuries C.E.. Netherlands: Brill, 2017, p. 253.
Nuri al-Sa'id, according to Grobba, agreed on the eve of the war to send a delegation from the al-Futuwwa youth organization to Germany in order to participate in a conference of the German Nazi Party. Senior officials in the Iraqi Ministry of Education, such as Sami Shawkat and Fadhil al-Jamali, sustained firm ties with Grobba and frustrated an initiative by the Iraqi security services to deport German teachers who were spreading Nazi propaganda in Baghdadi high schools. They also maintained a pro-Nazi nationalist organization.
- ↑ Edy Cohen, "The Farhoud Remembered," BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 484, June 2, 2017. ([3])
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Seventy-six years after the mass massacre of the Baghdad Jews, in which the then-leader of the Palestinian Arabs, Hajj Amin Husseini, was deeply involved, his heirs to the Palestinian leadership still sustain an anti-Israel and anti-Jewish campaign of racial and political incitement unparalleled in scope and intensity since Nazi Germany... In an attempt to win Arab and Muslim hearts and minds, the first Arab-language Nazi radio station was launched in Berlin prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, broadcasting anti-British, anti-American, anti-Soviet, and particularly anti-Semitic propaganda. It thus helped spread radical anti-Semitism in the Middle East, where it found common ground with the anti-Jewish tendencies in Islam. The messages in the propaganda broadcasts were designed to achieve certain goals, such as winning the Arab population’s sympathy for the Nazis and the Führer; inciting against the British and French presence in the Middle East; stoking Arab national sentiments; and, last but not least, wildly inciting against the Jews, who were accused inter alia of stealing the Arabs’ money and being behind all the Arab world’s woes. This propaganda mill employed many teams of both civilian and military personnel, including writers, translators, academics, and Middle East experts. Among others, the broadcasts featured Arab immigrants and leaders. The mythic broadcaster and director of the Arabic station was the journalist Yunus Bahri, who reached Berlin after fleeing his native Iraq, where he had been sentenced to death for pro-Nazi activity. He was recruited by Grobba and opened his broadcasts with his famous line, “The Arab Lord Haw-Haw, this is Berlin, greetings to the Arabs.” Known for his virulent anti-Semitism, Bahri stated proudly in a memoir he wrote after the war, "I was the first Arab to collaborate with the Nazis." His hatred towards Jews was so intense that he was summoned for a reprimand in Propaganda Minister Goebbels’s office because of his excessively vitriolic attacks on Jews and especially his constant use of the term “Jewish [sic] criminals.”
Four days before the Farhoud, Bahri stated on Radio Berlin... - ↑ Rubin, B., Schwanitz, W. G. (2014). Nazis, Islamists, and the Making of the Modern Middle East. United Kingdom: Yale University Press, p. 132
- ↑ VI. - La revanche de l'Afrika Korps.
Par Edouard Sablier.
Publié le 01 septembre 1953.
Cairo, ... August. - On October 23, 1942, 70 kilometers from Alexandria, the Battle of El-Alamein began, which would seal the fate of the Afrika Korps (1).
Rommel's advance in the Western Desert had been so lightning-fast that his officers had thought they could have their mail sent to Alexandria. It was ten years too soon: today, Rommel's officers in Afrika Korps uniform are installed at the Cairo G.Q.G.
The Germans in Egypt are sought after by journalists around the world like curious beasts. This comes from the strict taboo surrounding the slightest piece of information concerning them.
I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Taking advantage of a tête-à-tête with General Neguib, I asked him: "The Germans are excellent technicians. No one disputes their right to work in Egypt or yours to employ them there. Why does Egypt seem afraid to reveal their existence in its various services?"
The general's response was instantaneous. Staring at me furiously, he exclaimed in an angry tone: "Egypt is not afraid of anyone. And I am not in the habit of lying. If I said that there were few German technicians in our service, it is because there are few. Too bad for those who try to exaggerate this issue!"
The day before this memorable interview, in front of the entire foreign colony in Cairo and the entire Revolutionary Council, the president of the German community in Egypt had lyrically stated, into the microphone and in French: "Our officers train the Egyptian army!"נקמתו של "אפריקה קורפס". על המשמר, 25 ספטמבר 1953. 'The Revenge of the Afrika Korps' "Le Monde", Paris. by Eduard Sablier. Al HaAmishnar, September 25, 1953. [...]
One day before that meeting with Naguib, the president of the German community in Egypt made a lyrical statement In this language: "Our officers are training the Egyptian army"! He said this in the ears of the entire foreign colony in Cairo and in the presence of the plenary of the "Revolutionary (Command) Council", and his words were broadcast on the radio.
That is why we allowed ourselves to question and demand the Egyptian Chief of Staff on this point. By the way, the Chief of Staff himself stated at a press conference that German experts were chosen "according to the fact that they are the only ones Egypt can trust."
Not many, but effective.
Naguib seems to be right: the number of military technicians actually employed by the armed forces is not large. About forty in all, officers and sergeants. But they encompass all the professions of modern warfare: who was an Adjutant of [Heinz] Guderian serves as a consultant to the Armored Brigade; another specialist for the commando company; two parachute technicians; Six naval combat experts, and more.
On top of that, 15 tech pilots and aeronautics experts succeeded the British team at the de-Havilland aircraft assembly plant. Six German technicians run the army's "Research and Development Center". Specialists in plastic materials and ammunition work in the weapons factories in Helwan. And three former leaders of the Hitlerjugend came not long ago to guide the youth organizations. All these experts who were recruited in Germany or in Egypt themselves, receive a rather modest salary of around one hundred pounds per month. Approximately, as well as living in Heliopolis. Most of them severed ties with the embassy of the Bonn government, which turned their attention to the damage they could cause to West German relations with the Anglo-Saxon powers. Nevertheless, it seems that for many days excellent relations have prevailed between these German experts and the American authorities...
As a matter of fact, none of them serve in an executive capacity, they are used only in the capacity of advisors...
"Mein Kampf - Und Meine Liebe"
In any case, the German influence on the existing regime in Egypt is not in doubt. Recently, for example, Naguib's Minister of Health, Nur-ad-Din.. stated in a conversation with a journalist that the "love of his life" was... Hitler, "He was an ideal leader, who sacrificed his life for the fulfillment of his noble aspirations.. He didn't live for himself, but for Germany and the German people... I always longed to be in his presence"...
In all their press parties, Nagiv and his cheerleaders forget to mention the help that Egypt extended to the war effort of the Allies during the last battles. However, let us read what he wrote in "Al-Ahram" (on July 21) the commander of the Air Force, Hassan Ibrahim, a member of the "Council of the Revolution:"
"In 1942, the Germans camped in El Alamein. We decided to send an officer to them to offer them our help in the form of information about the British Army... I was then the commander of the Civil defense in Cairo, and this allowed me to make my private plane available to his representatives. We decided that our communications with the Germans would be maintained through secret transmissions to be broadcast by a wireless officer, Anwar Sadat"...
Anwar Sadat is now one of the main members in the "Dozen" committee. He tried at the time to reach the German lines in a military plane. At the same time, General Aziz al-Masri, who also tried to escape to the Germans, was arrested. Today, General Aziz al-Masri is the Egyptian ambassador in Moscow.
Surely, all these Egyptians justified their behavior. Aspiring to fight against the British occupation army.
During the war, several Arab and Muslim personalities found refuge in Berlin, where they maintained close contact with the German authorities. These immigrants have already returned to their countries and are occupying key positions. Their German hosts are now reaping the fruits of friendship from the war days and playing important roles in the Middle East.
None of this "re-occupation" will be understood sufficiently if we do not trace its origins.
The seed that Dr. Grobba sowed l.
In 1939, Germany's key figure in the Middle East was Dr. Groba, envoy to Baghdad, Riyadh, Bachbol and Bashar Bimat. A Prussian of the old school, quite lukewarm in his attitude towards the Hitlerite regime.., well versed in all the languages and dialects of the countries of the region where he was sent to serve as an envoy. At the outbreak of the war, Dr. Groba returned to his country.
In Bagdad, he left behind the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin Al-Husseini, who worked to establish a strong anti-British organization in Iraq. In 1941, the coup of Rashid Ali al-Gilani took place, which dealt a decisive blow to the British military force and dealt a serious blow to the cause of the allies. Grobba returns to Baghdad - via Vichy's Syria. For a month he prevailed over the propaganda of the "Axis" powers in the capital of Iraq. From there he moves to Iran - and during the invasion of that country by the British forces, Grobba fled, along with a large number of Germans, Italians, Gilani and Mufti people - to Turkey. From there they all return to Germany.
A powerful propaganda center is being organized in Berlin. Dr. Fritz Grobba, since he returned to his post at Wilhelmstrasse (German Foreign Ministry), initiates three "Arab offices." The first office is that of the Mufti, who is considered the head of the "Arab Liberation Movement"; the second — Rashid Ali al-Gilani, who is called "the legal leader of the State of Iraq"; The third office deals with the recruitment of refugees from the entire Arab and Muslim East. Fawzi Kaukji is honored with the title "Head of the Arab Legion" and appointed by Hitler a colonel of the Wehrmacht.
After the plot against Hitler, Dr. Fritz Grobba disappeared from the scene and was not heard of again until the end of the war. But his group, which remained after the defeat in the western part of Germany, is now operating in the Middle East again. Dr. Munzel who was the head of the department for Eastern countries in Wilhelmstrasse, is now a consultant in Baghdad, Von Hentig, who was a delegate to the Mufti and Rashid Ali, now represents the Republic of Bonn in Indonesia. Dr. Haufmann, former consul in Haifa and Tangier and who ensured the maintenance of contact with the mufti, serves as a consultant in Beirut. Dr. Groba's assistant in Baghdad and Berlin, Dr. Stefan, is currently the secretary of the West German Embassy in Egypt. Von Harden, The one who was Alfred Rosenberg's chief of staff, works in Cairo near the military council of the Arab League.
The Mufti, Rashid Ali and Co.
The former Mufti is in Cairo and defeating an active group of Nazis, among them a Frenchman who was at the time with Waffen S. S., Rashid Ali became the political advisor of King Ibn Saud. Kaukji is a general inspector of the Lebanese army.
The whole old group of the Arab broadcast at Radio Berlin returned to the "proper" track.
The most famous of its members, Younes Behari, edits the newspaper "Al-Arab" in Paris, he also serves as a "press advisor" to the King of Libya; Bahram Shahrouch was the minister of intelligence in the government of Iran, Zafar Difai is the foreign minister of Syria.
Dr. Muhammar Salman, who ran Rashid Ali's Arab office, is currently Iraq's Minister of Health. He brought forty German doctors and chemists to Baghdad.
His former assistant Ali Safi is the director general of the Iraqi post office.
And these are the rest of the gang:
In Lebanon - Afif Tibi, the editor of the "Al-Youm" newspaper and the government spokesman in Syria - Maarouf [al-] Dawalibi, who was the prime minister; In Libya - the head of the court bureau - and acting foreign minister; In Egypt - Major General Mahmoud Salman, a military adviser to the Arab League in charge of the blockade against Israel; In Iran - the princes of the Kashgai family, who were among Dr. Mossadeq's influential followers...
United as at the front.
They kept the connections between themselves. In each of the above-mentioned countries, a "club of former refugees in Germany" was founded, everywhere they encourage and cultivate trade and friendship with the country that received them during the war. This fact, as well as the undoubted benefit: that in having trade relations with Germany - They made it so that Egypt prefers dealings with German firms, just as in Yemen the Salifi mines were handed over to German concessions. Even in Iraq, contracts were signed according to which the Germans were guaranteed the exploitation of the oil sources, "in the event that the existing concessions expire before the deadline"...
Yes, only a few dozen German experts from Rommel's camp work in the Cairo offices, but if we add to the calculation all the above facts we can say: Indeed, "Africa Korps" is taking its revenge...
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