Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World by Jeffrey Herf

1939, where he worked at the German Orient Bank (1929-31) and the Dresdner Bank (1931-39) and studied at the American University in Cairo. While living abroad, he joined the Nazi Party on April 1, 1933. In 1941, he served on the advisory board of the Islamic Central Institute in Berlin. Beginning in 1942, he taught Arabic at the University of Berlin. He began to work as a scholarly adviser in the Foreign Ministry in September 1939, and on December 7,1939, he joined the radio sec tion of the Foreign Ministry's Department of Radio Policy, where he was responsible for Arabic broadcasts. On January 1, 1942, he was appointed director of Office VII, the Orient Office in the Department of Radio Policy, and remained in that position until the end of the war.' 7 In 1942 he led a staff of nineteen, which included (judging from the names) seven native Arabic speakers, and four "scholarly assistants," that is, Germans with knowledge of Arabic, the Arab world, and Islam. The office also published Barid as-Sarq (Orient Post), an Arabic-language magazine, and worked closely with the Arab Committee in the Foreign Ministry.'8 Dr. Joachim Senff, who received his doctorate in 1938 from the University of Erlangen in Arabic and Islamic studies, was a staff member. The staff included writers and translators who, again judging from their names, were both native German and native Arabic speakers. Other members of the staff included: Hans Queling, Abdel Hakim El Nagger, Dr. Rosemarie Heyd, Dr. Juan Murad, Hade Najib Quanas, Nuralidin Abdul-Hadi, Necati Akcan, Saidduddin Swallhay, Felix Schulze, Ahmed Kadem, Irmgard Werk, Wilhelmine Eichler, Ingeborg Prietz, Annemarie Rtither, Gisela Hildebrandt, and Elfriede Petschulat. Dr. Georg Kaspar and Dr. Hans-Joachim Kissling were responsible for liaison with the military, which had its own significant propaganda efforts.'9

    Germany's military victories in May and June 1940 over French and British forces in Europe enhanced its prestige among potential Arab and Muslim supporters in the Middle East. In Europe, antifascists viewed these months as ones of victory of the dictators over the democracies. Radical nationalists and Islamists in the Middle East saw the same events as defeats of colonial powers by the Third Reich, which presented itself as an anticolonial power. On July 6, 1940, one of Husseini's representatives, Naji Bey Shawkat, the former minister of justice in the Iraqi government, met with the German ambassador to Turkey, Franz von Papen. Via Shawkat, Husseini asked von Papen "to convey to His Excellency the Great Chief and Leader [Hitler] my sincerest felicitations on the occasion of the great political and military triumphs which he has just achieved through his foresight and genius. I beg Your Excellency to convey to him my regards and compliments, together with my best wishes for the undertaking entered upon to create a new order." Husseini also expressed his thanks to Hitler for the attention he had given to the Palestine problem in the preceding four years. He told Hitler that "the Arab nation everywhere feels the greatest joy and deepest gratification on the occasion of these great successes" of the German armies in Europe. Palestine had "been fighting the democracies and international Jewry" and was now "ready at any time to assume an active role and redouble her efforts both at home and in the other Arab countries. The Arab people, slandered, maltreated and deceived by our common enemies, confidently expect that the result of your final victory will be their independence and complete liberation as well as the creation of their unity, when they will be linked to your country by a treat of friendship and collaboration.... I beg Your Excellency to believe the most brotherly sentiments of the Arab people toward your great and valiant people, and present to you, Excellency my best greetings.."20

    While pleased to receive friendly greetings from Husseini, the Germans reacted cautiously because