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INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL

Zionism and the Third Reich

by Mark Weber

Early in 1935, a passenger ship bound for Haifa in Palestine left the German port of Bremerha
bore the Hebrew letters for its name, "Tel Aviv," while a swastika banner fluttered from the m
although the ship was Zionist-owned, its captain was a National Socialist Party member. Man
traveler aboard the ship recalled this symbolic combination as a "metaphysical absurdity."/1 A
this is but one vignette from a little-known chapter of history: The wide-ranging collaboration
Zionism and Hitler's Third Reich.

Common Aims

Over the years, people in many different countries have wrestled with the "Jewish question":
the proper role of Jews in non-Jewish society? During the 1930s, Jewish Zionists and German
Socialists shared similar views on how to deal with this perplexing issue. They agreed that Jew
Germans were distinctly different nationalities, and that Jews did not belong in Germany. Jew
Reich were therefore to be regarded not as "Germans of the Jewish faith," but rather as memb
separate national community. Zionism (Jewish nationalism) also implied an obligation by Zio
resettle in Palestine, the "Jewish homeland." They could hardly regard themselves as sincere Z
simultaneously claim equal rights in Germany or any other "foreign" country.

Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), the founder of modern Zionism, maintained that anti-Semitism is
aberration, but a natural and completely understandable response by non-Jews to alien Jewish
attitudes. The only solution, he argued, is for Jews to recognize reality and live in a separate s
own. "The Jewish question exists wherever Jews live in noticeable numbers," he wrote in his
work, The Jewish State. "Where it does not exist, it is brought in by arriving Jews ... I believe
anti-Semitism, which is a very complex phenomenon. I consider this development as a Jew, w
fear." The Jewish question, he maintained, is not social or religious. "It is a national question.
must, above all, make it an international political issue ..." Regardless of their citizenship, Her
Jews constitute not merely a religious community, but a nationality, a people, a Volk. /2 Zionis
Herzl, offered the world a welcome "final solution of the Jewish question."/3

Six months after Hitler came to power, the Zionist Federation of Germany (by far the largest Z
the country) submitted a detailed memorandum to the new government that reviewed German
relations and formally offered Zionist support in "solving" the vexing "Jewish question." The
suggested, had to be a frank recognition of fundamental national differences: /4

Zionism has no illusions about the difficulty of the Jewish condition, which consists abo
in an abnormal occupational pattern and in the fault of an intellectual and moral posture
rooted in one's own tradition. Zionism recognized decades ago that as a result of the
assimilationist trend, symptoms of deterioration were bound to appear ...

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Zionism believes that the rebirth of the national life of a people, which is now occurring
Germany through the emphasis on its Christian and national character, must also come a
the Jewish national group. For the Jewish people, too, national origin, religion, common
and a sense of its uniqueness must be of decisive importance in the shaping of its existen
This means that the egotistical individualism of the liberal era must be overcome and rep
with a sense of community and collective responsibility ...

We believe it is precisely the new [National Socialist] Germany that can, through bold
resoluteness in the handling of the Jewish question, take a decisive step toward overcom
problem which, in truth, will have to be dealt with by most European peoples ...

Our acknowledgment of Jewish nationality provides for a clear and sincere relationship
German people and its national and racial realities. Precisely because we do not wish to
these fundamentals, because we, too, are against mixed marriage and are for maintaining
purity of the Jewish group and reject any trespasses in the cultural domain, we -- having
brought up in the German language and German culture -- can show an interest in the w
and values of German culture with admiration and internal sympathy ...

For its practical aims, Zionism hopes to be able to win the collaboration of even a gover
fundamentally hostile to Jews, because in dealing with the Jewish question not sentimen
are involved but a real problem whose solution interests all peoples and at the present m
especially the German people ...

Boycott propaganda -- such as is currently being carried on against Germany in many w

in essence un-Zionist, because Zionism wants not to do battle but to convince and to bui

We are not blind to the fact that a Jewish question exists and will continue to exist. From
abnormal situation of the Jews severe disadvantages result for them, but also scarcely to
conditions for other peoples.

The Federation's paper, the Jüdische Rundschau ("Jewish Review"), proclaimed the same mes
recognizes the existence of a Jewish problem and desires a far-reaching and constructive solu
purpose Zionism wishes to obtain the assistance of all peoples, whether pro- or anti-Jewish, b
view, we are dealing here with a concrete rather than a sentimental problem, the solution of w
peoples are interested."/5 A young Berlin rabbi, Joachim Prinz, who later settled in the United
became head of the American Jewish Congress, wrote in his 1934 book, Wir Juden ("We Jew
National Socialist revolution in Germany meant "Jewry for the Jews." He explained: "No sub
save us now. In place of assimilation we desire a new concept: recognition of the Jewish natio
race." /6

Active Collaboration

On this basis of their similar ideologies about ethnicity and nationhood, National Socialists an
worked together for what each group believed was in its own national interest. As a result, the
government vigorously supported Zionism and Jewish emigration to Palestine from 1933 unti
when the Second World War prevented extensive collaboration.

Even as the Third Reich became more entrenched, many German Jews, probably a majority, c
regard themselves, often with considerable pride, as Germans first. Few were enthusiastic abo
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roots to begin a new life in far-away Palestine. Nevertheless, more and more German Jews tur
during this period. Until late 1938, the Zionist movement flourished in Germany under Hitler
circulation of the Zionist Federation's bi-weekly Jüdische Rundschau grew enormously. Num
books were published. "Zionist work was in full swing" in Germany during those years, the E
Judaica notes. A Zionist convention held in Berlin in 1936 reflected "in its composition the vi
life of German Zionists."/7

The SS was particularly enthusiastic in its support for Zionism. An internal June 1934 SS pos
urged active and wide-ranging support for Zionism by the government and the Party as the be
encourage emigration of Germany's Jews to Palestine. This would require increased Jewish se
Jewish schools, Jewish sports leagues, Jewish cultural organizations -- in short, everything tha
encourage this new consciousness and self-awareness - should be promoted, the paper recomm

SS officer Leopold von Mildenstein and Zionist Federation official Kurt Tuchler toured Pales
for six months to assess Zionist development there. Based on his firsthand observations, von M
wrote a series of twelve illustrated articles for the important Berlin daily Der Angriff that appe
1934 under the heading "A Nazi Travels to Palestine." The series expressed great admiration
pioneering spirit and achievements of the Jewish settlers. Zionist self-development, von Mild
had produced a new kind of Jew. He praised Zionism as a great benefit for both the Jewish pe
entire world. A Jewish homeland in Palestine, he wrote in his concluding article, "pointed the
a centuries-long wound on the body of the world: the Jewish question." Der Angriff issued a s
with a Swastika on one side and a Star of David on the other, to commemorate the joint SS-Zi
few months after the articles appeared, von Mildenstein was promoted to head the Jewish affa
of the SS security service in order to support Zionist migration and development more effectiv

The official SS newspaper, Das Schwarze Korps, proclaimed its support for Zionism in a May
page editorial: "The time may not be too far off when Palestine will again be able to receive it
have been lost to it for more than a thousand years. Our good wishes, together with official go
them."/10 Four months later, a similar article appeared in the SS paper: /11

The recognition of Jewry as a racial community based on blood and not on religion lead
German government to guarantee without reservation the racial separateness of this com
The government finds itself in complete agreement with the great spiritual movement w
Jewry, the so-called Zionism, with its recognition of the solidarity of Jewry around the w
and its rejection of all assimilationist notions. On this basis, Germany undertakes measu
will surely play a significant role in the future in the handling of the Jewish problem aro
world.

A leading German shipping line began direct passenger liner service from Hamburg to Haifa,
October 1933 providing "strictly kosher food on its ships, under the supervision of the Hambu
/12

With official backing, Zionists worked tirelessly to "reeducate" Germany's Jews. As American
Francis Nicosia put it in his 1985 survey, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question: "Zionis
encouraged to take their message to the Jewish community, to collect money, to show films on
generally to educate German Jews about Palestine. There was considerable pressure to teach J
Germany to cease identifying themselves as Germans and to awaken a new Jewish national id
them." /13

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In an interview after the war, the former head of the Zionist Federation of Germany, Dr. Hans
summed up the situation: "The Gestapo did everything in those days to promote emigration, p
Palestine. We often received their help when we required anything from other authorities rega
preparations for emigration." /14

At the September 1935 National Socialist Party Congress, the Reichstag adopted the so-called
laws" that prohibited marriages and sexual relations between Jews and Germans and, in effect
the Jews an alien minority nationality. A few days later the Zionist Jüdische Rundschau editor
welcomed the new measures: /15

Germany ... is meeting the demands of the World Zionist Congress when it declares the
now living in Germany to be a national minority. Once the Jews have been stamped a na
minority it is again possible to establish normal relations between the German nation an
Jewry. The new laws give the Jewish minority in Germany its own cultural life, its own
life. In future it will be able to shape its own schools, its own theatre, and its own sports
associations. In short, it can create its own future in all aspects of national life ...

Germany has given the Jewish minority the opportunity to live for itself, and is offering
protection for this separate life of the Jewish minority: Jewry's process of growth into a
will thereby be encouraged and a contribution will be made to the establishment of more
tolerable relations between the two nations.

Georg Kareski, the head of both the "Revisionist" Zionist State Organization and the Jewish C
and former head of the Berlin Jewish Community, declared in an interview with the Berlin da
at the end of 1935: /16

For many years I have regarded a complete separation of the cultural affairs of the two p
[Jews and Germans] as a pre-condition for living together without conflict... I have long
supported such a separation, provided it is founded on respect for the alien nationality. T
Nuremberg Laws ... seem to me, apart from their legal provisions, to conform entirely w
desire for a separate life based on mutual respect... This interruption of the process of
dissolution in many Jewish communities, which had been promoted through mixed marr
is therefore, from a Jewish point of view, entirely welcome.

Zionist leaders in other countries echoed these views. Stephen S. Wise, president of the Amer
Congress and the World Jewish Congress, told a New York rally in June 1938: "I am not an A
of the Jewish faith, I am a Jew... Hitler was right in one thing. He calls the Jewish people a rac
race." /17

The Interior Ministry's Jewish affairs specialist, Dr. Bernhard Lösener, expressed support for
article that appeared in a November 1935 issue of the official Reichsverwaltungsblatt: /18

If the Jews already had their own state in which the majority of them were settled, then t
Jewish question could be regarded as completely resolved today, also for the Jews thems
The least amount of opposition to the ideas underlying the Nuremberg Laws have been s
by the Zionists, because they realize at once that these laws represent the only correct so
for the Jewish people as well. For each nation must have its own state as the outward
expression of its particular nationhood.

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In cooperation with the German authorities, Zionist groups organized a network of some forty
agricultural centers throughout Germany where prospective settlers were trained for their new
Palestine. Although the Nuremberg Laws forbid Jews from displaying the German flag, Jews
specifically guaranteed the right to display the blue and white Jewish national banner. The fla
one day be adopted by Israel was flown at the Zionist camps and centers in Hitler's Germany.

Himmler's security service cooperated with the Haganah, the Zionist underground military org
Palestine. The SS agency paid Haganah official Feivel Polkes for information about the situat
and for help in directing Jewish emigration to that country. Meanwhile, the Haganah was kept
about German plans by a spy it managed to plant in the Berlin headquarters of the SS. /20 Ha
collaboration even included secret deliveries of German weapons to Jewish settlers for use in
Palestinian Arabs. /21

In the aftermath of the November 1938 "Kristallnacht" outburst of violence and destruction, th
helped the Zionist organization to get back on its feet and continue its work in Germany, altho
more restricted supervision. /22

Official Reservations

German support for Zionism was not unlimited. Government and Party officials were very mi
continuing campaign by powerful Jewish communities in the United States, Britain and other
mobilize "their" governments and fellow citizens against Germany. As long as world Jewry re
implacably hostile toward National Socialist Germany, and as long as the great majority of Je
world showed little eagerness to resettle in the Zionist "promised land," a sovereign Jewish st
would not really "solve" the international Jewish question. Instead, German officials reasoned
immeasurably strengthen this dangerous anti-German campaign. German backing for Zionism
limited to support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine under British control, not a sovereign Je

A Jewish state in Palestine, the Foreign Minister informed diplomats in June 1937, would not
Germany's interest because it would not be able to absorb all Jews around the world, but wou
an additional power base for international Jewry, in much the same way as Moscow served as
international Communism. /24 Reflecting something of a shift in official policy, the German p
much greater sympathy in 1937 for Palestinian Arab resistance to Zionist ambitions, at a time
and conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine was sharply increasing. /25

A Foreign Office circular bulletin of June 22, 1937, cautioned that in spite of support for Jewi
in Palestine, "it would nevertheless be a mistake to assume that Germany supports the formati
structure in Palestine under some form of Jewish control. In view of the anti-German agitation
international Jewry, Germany cannot agree that the formation of a Palestine Jewish state woul
peaceful development of the nations of the world."/26 "The proclamation of a Jewish state or
administrated Palestine," warned an internal memorandum by the Jewish affairs section of the
create for Germany a new enemy, one that would have a deep influence on developments in th
Another SS agency predicted that a Jewish state "would work to bring special minority protec
every country, therefore giving legal protection to the exploitation activity of world Jewry."/2
1939, Hitler's new Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, likewise warned in another circ
that "Germany must regard the formation of a Jewish state as dangerous" because it "would b
international increase in power to world Jewry." /28

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Hitler himself personally reviewed this entire issue in early 1938 and, in spite of his long-stan
skepticism of Zionist ambitions and misgivings that his policies might contribute to the forma
Jewish state, decided to support Jewish migration to Palestine even more vigorously. The pros
Germany of its Jews, he concluded, outweighed the possible dangers. /29

Meanwhile, the British government imposed ever more drastic restrictions on Jewish immigra
Palestine in 1937, 1938 and 1939. In response, the SS security service concluded a secret allia
clandestine Zionist agency Mossad le-Aliya Bet to smuggle Jews illegally into Palestine. As a
intensive collaboration, several convoys of ships succeeded in reaching Palestine past British
Jewish migration, both legal and illegal, from Germany (including Austria) to Palestine increa
dramatically in 1938 and 1939. Another 10,000 Jews were scheduled to depart in October 193
outbreak of war in September brought the effort to an end. All the same, German authorities c
promote indirect Jewish emigration to Palestine during 1940 and 1941. /30 Even as late as Ma
least one officially authorized Zionist "kibbutz" training camp for potential emigrants continu
Hitler's Germany. /31

The Transfer Agreement

The centerpiece of German-Zionist cooperation during the Hitler era was the Transfer Agreem
enabled tens of thousands of German Jews to migrate to Palestine with their wealth. The Agre
known as the Haavara (Hebrew for "transfer"), was concluded in August 1933 following talks
German officials and Chaim Arlosoroff, Political Secretary of the Jewish Agency, the Palestin
World Zionist Organization. /32

Through this unusual arrangement, each Jew bound for Palestine deposited money in a specia
Germany. The money was used to purchase German-made agricultural tools, building materia
fertilizer, and so forth, which were exported to Palestine and sold there by the Jewish-owned H
company in Tel-Aviv. Money from the sales was given to the Jewish emigrant upon his arriva
an amount corresponding to his deposit in Germany. German goods poured into Palestine thro
Haavara, which was supplemented a short time later with a barter agreement by which Palesti
were exchanged for German timber, automobiles, agricultural machinery, and other goods. Th
thus served the Zionist aim of bringing Jewish settlers and development capital to Palestine, w
simultaneously serving the German goal of freeing the country of an unwanted alien group.

Delegates at the 1933 Zionist Congress in Prague vigorously debated the merits of the Agreem
feared that the pact would undermine the international Jewish economic boycott against Germ
Zionist officials reassured the Congress. Sam Cohen, a key figure behind the Haavara arrange
that the Agreement was not economically advantageous to Germany. Arthur Ruppin, a Zionis
emigration specialist who had helped negotiate the pact, pointed out that "the Transfer Agreem
interfered with the boycott movement, since no new currency will flow into Germany as a res
agreement..." /33 The 1935 Zionist Congress, meeting in Switzerland, overwhelmingly endor
1936, the Jewish Agency (the Zionist "shadow government" in Palestine) took over direct con
Ha'avara, which remained in effect until the Second World War forced its abandonment.

Some German officials opposed the arrangement. Germany's Consul General in Jerusalem, H
example, sharply criticized the Agreement on several occasions during 1937. He pointed out t
Germany the foreign exchange that the products exported to Palestine through the pact would
elsewhere. The Haavara monopoly sale of German goods to Palestine through a Jewish agenc
angered German businessmen and Arabs there. Official German support for Zionism could le
German markets throughout the Arab world. The British government also resented the arrang
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June 1937 German Foreign Office internal bulletin referred to the "foreign exchange sacrifice
from the Haavara. 3/5

A December 1937 internal memorandum by the German Interior Ministry reviewed the impac
Transfer Agreement: "There is no doubt that the Haavara arrangement has contributed most si
the very rapid development of Palestine since 1933. The Agreement provided not only the lar
money (from Germany!), but also the most intelligent group of immigrants, and finally it brou
country the machines and industrial products essential for development." The main advantage
memo reported, was the emigration of large numbers of Jews to Palestine, the most desirable
as far as Germany was concerned. But the paper also noted the important drawbacks pointed o
Döhle and others. The Interior Minister, it went on, had concluded that the disadvantages of th
now outweighed the advantages and that, therefore, it should be terminated. /36

Only one man could resolve the controversy. Hitler personally reviewed the policy in July and
1937, and again in January 1938, and each time decided to maintain the Haavara arrangement
removing Jews from Germany, he concluded, justified the drawbacks. /37

The Reich Economics Ministry helped to organize another transfer company, the Internationa
Investment Agency, or Intria, through which Jews in foreign countries could help German Jew
Palestine. Almost $900,000 was eventually channeled through the Intria to German Jews in P
Other European countries eager to encourage Jewish emigration concluded agreements with t
modeled after the Ha'avara. In 1937 Poland authorized the Halifin (Hebrew for "exchange") tr
company. By late summer 1939, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary and Italy had signed sim
arrangements. The outbreak of war in September 1939, however, prevented large-scale implem
these agreements. /39

Achievements of Haavara

Between 1933 and 1941, some 60,000 German Jews emigrated to Palestine through the Ha'av
German-Zionist arrangements, or about ten percent of Germany's 1933 Jewish population. (T
Jews made up about 15 percent of Palestine's 1939 Jewish population.) Some Ha'avara emigra
considerable personal wealth from Germany to Palestine. As Jewish historian Edwin Black ha
"Many of these people, especially in the late 1930s, were allowed to transfer actual replicas o
and factories -- indeed rough replicas of their very existence."/40

The total amount transferred from Germany to Palestine through the Ha'avara between Augus
end of 1939 was 8.1 million pounds or 139.57 million German marks (then equivalent to mor
million). This amount included 33.9 million German marks ($13.8 million) provided by the R
connection with the Agreement. /41

Historian Black has estimated that an additional $70 million may have flowed into Palestine t
corollary German commercial agreements and special international banking transactions. The
had a major impact on a country as underdeveloped as Palestine was in the 1930s, he pointed
major industrial enterprises were built with the capital from Germany, including the Mekoroth
and the Lodzia textile firm. The influx of Ha'avara goods and capital, concluded Black, "prod
economic explosion in Jewish Palestine" and was "an indispensable factor in the creation of th
Israel."/42

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The Ha'avara agreement greatly contributed to Jewish development in Palestine and thus, indi
foundation of the Israeli state. A January 1939 German Foreign Office circular bulletin report
misgiving, that "the transfer of Jewish property out of Germany [through the Ha'avara agreem
contributed to no small extent to the building of a Jewish state in Palestine."/43

Former officials of the Ha'avara company in Palestine confirmed this view in a detailed study
Agreement published in 1972: "The economic activity made possible by the influx German ca
Haavara transfers to the private and public sectors were of greatest importance for the country
development. Many new industries and commercial enterprises were established in Jewish Pa
numerous companies that are enormously important even today in the economy of the State o
their existence to the Haavara."/44 Dr. Ludwig Pinner, a Ha'avara company official in Tel Avi
1930s, later commented that the exceptionally competent Ha'avara immigrants "decisively co
the economic, social, cultural and educational development of Palestine's Jewish community.

The Transfer Agreement was the most far-reaching example of cooperation between Hitler's G
international Zionism. Through this pact, Hitler's Third Reich did more than any other govern
the 1930s to support Jewish development in Palestine.

Zionists Offer a Military Alliance With Hitler

In early January 1941 a small but important Zionist organization submitted a formal proposal
diplomats in Beirut for a military-political alliance with wartime Germany. The offer was mad
radical underground "Fighters for the Freedom of Israel," better known as the Lehi or Stern G
Avraham Stern, had recently broken with the radical nationalist "National Military Organizati
Leumi) over the group's attitude toward Britain, which had effectively banned further Jewish
Palestine. Stern regarded Britain as the main enemy of Zionism.

This remarkable Zionist proposal "for the solution of the Jewish question in Europe and the ac
participation of the NMO [Lehi] in the war on the side of Germany" is worth quoting at some

In their speeches and statements, the leading statesmen of National Socialist Germany h
often emphasized that a New Order in Europe requires as a prerequisite a radical solutio
Jewish question by evacuation. ("Jew-free Europe")

The evacuation of the Jewish masses from Europe is a precondition for solving the Jewi
question. However, the only way this can be totally achieved is through settlement of the
masses in the homeland of the Jewish people, Palestine, and by the establishment of a Je
state in its historical boundaries.

The goal of the political activity and the years of struggle by the Israel Freedom Movem
National Military Organization in Palestine (Irgun Zvai Leumi), is to solve the Jewish pr
in this way and thus completely liberate the Jewish people forever.

The NMO, which is very familiar with the good will of the German Reich government a
officials towards Zionist activities within Germany and the Zionist emigration program,
that view that:

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1. Common interests can exist between a European New Order based on the German con
and the true national aspirations of the Jewish people as embodied by the NMO.

2. Cooperation is possible between the New Germany and a renewed, folkish-national Je

[Hebräertum].

3. The establishment of the historical Jewish state on a national and totalitarian basis, an
bound by treaty with the German Reich, would be in the interest of maintaining and
strengthening the future German position of power in the Near East.

On the basis of these considerations, and upon the condition that the German Reich gove
recognize the national aspirations of the Israel Freedom Movement mentioned above, th
in Palestine offers to actively take part in the war on the side of Germany.

This offer by the NMO could include military, political and informational activity within
Palestine and, after certain organizational measures, outside as well. Along with this the
men of Europe would be militarily trained and organized in military units under the lead
and command of the NMO. They would take part in combat operations for the purpose o
conquering Palestine, should such a front by formed.

The indirect participation of the Israel Freedom Movement in the New Order of Europe,
already in the preparatory stage, combined with a positive-radical solution of the Europe
Jewish problem on the basis of the national aspirations of the Jewish people mentioned a
would greatly strengthen the moral foundation of the New Order in the eyes of all huma

The cooperation of the Israel Freedom Movement would also be consistent with a recen
by the German Reich Chancellor, in which Hitler stressed that he would utilize any
combination and coalition in order to isolate and defeat England.

There is no record of any German response. Acceptance was very unlikely anyway because b
German policy was decisively pro-Arab. /47 Remarkably, Stern's group sought to conclude a
Third Reich at a time when stories that Hitler was bent on exterminating Jews were already in
circulation. Stern apparently either did not believe the stories or he was willing to collaborate
enemy of his people to help bring about a Jewish state. /48

An important Lehi member at the time the group made this offer was Yitzhak Shamir, who lat
Israel's Foreign Minister and then, during much of the 1980s and until June 1992, as Prime M
operations chief following Stern's death in 1942, Shamir organized numerous acts of terror, in
November 1944 assassination of British Middle East Minister Lord Moyne and the Septembe
of Swedish United Nations mediator Count Bernadotte. Years later, when Shamir was asked a
offer, he confirmed that he was aware of his organization's proposed alliance with wartime Ge

Conclusion

In spite of the basic hostility between the Hitler regime and international Jewry, for several ye
Zionist and German National Socialist interests coincided. In collaborating with the Zionists f
desirable and humane solution to a complex problem, the Third Reich was willing to make fo

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sacrifices, impair relations with Britain and anger the Arabs. Indeed, during the 1930s no nati
substantively further Jewish-Zionist goals than Hitler's Germany.

Notes

1. W. Martini, "Hebräisch unterm Hakenkreuz," Die Welt (Hamburg), Jan. 10, 1975. Cited in:
"The Secret Contacts: Zionism and Nazi Germany, 1933-1941," Journal of Palestine Studies,
Summer 1976, p. 65.

2. Quoted in: Ingrid Weckert, Feuerzeichen: Die "Reichskristallnacht" (Tübingen: Grabert, 19

See also: Th. Herzl, The Jewish State (New York: Herzl Press, 1970), pp. 33, 35, 36, and, Edw
Transfer Agreement (New York: Macmillan, 1984), p. 73.

3. Th. Herzl, "Der Kongress," Welt, June 4, 1897. Reprinted in: Theodor Herzls zionistische S
Kellner, ed.), erster Teil, Berlin: Jüdischer Verlag, 1920, p. 190 (and p. 139).

4. Memo of June 21, 1933, in: L. Dawidowicz, A Holocaust Reader (New York: Behrman, 19
155, and (in part) in: Francis R. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question (Austin:
Texas, 1985), p. 42.; On Zionism in Germany before Hitler's assumption of power, see: Donal
The Jews in Weimar Germany (Baton Rouge: 1980), pp. 94-95, 126-131, 140-143.; F. Nicosia
(Austin: 1985), pp. 1-15.

5. Jüdische Rundschau (Berlin), June 13, 1933. Quoted in: Heinz Höhne, The Order of the De
(New York: Ballantine, pb., 1971, 1984), pp. 376-377.

6. Heinz Höhne, The Order of the Death's Head (Ballantine, 1971, 1984), p. 376.

7. "Berlin," Encyclopaedia Judaica (New York and Jerusalem: 1971), Vol. 5, p. 648. For a loo
of this "vigorous life," see: J.-C. Horak, "Zionist Film Propaganda in Nazi Germany," Histori
Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1984, pp. 49-58.

8. Francis R. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question (1985), pp. 54-55.; Karl A.
The Twisted Road to Auschwitz (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois, 1970, 1990), pp. 178-181.

9. Jacob Boas, "A Nazi Travels to Palestine," History Today (London), January 1980, pp. 33-3

10. Facsimile reprint of front page of Das Schwarze Korps, May 15, 1935, in: Janusz Piekalki
Langer Arm (Frankfurt: Goverts, 1975), pp. 66-67. Also quoted in: Heinz Höhne, The Order o
Head (Ballantine, 1971, 1984), p. 377. See also: Erich Kern, ed., Verheimlichte Dokumente (M
Verlag, 1988), p. 184.

11. as Schwarze Korps, Sept. 26, 1935. Quoted in: F. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palest
(1985), pp. 56-57.

12. Lenni Brenner, Zionism in the Age of the Dictators (1983), p. 83.
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13. F. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question (1985), p. 60. See also: F. Nicosia
and the Holocaust," The Journal of Modern History (Chicago), Vol. 64, No. 3, Sept. 1992, pp

14. F. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question (1985), p. 57.

15. Jüdische Rundschau, Sept. 17, 1935. Quoted in: Yitzhak Arad, with Y. Gutman and A. Ma
Documents on the Holocaust (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1981), pp. 82-83.

16. Der Angriff, Dec. 23, 1935, in: E. Kern, ed., Verheimlichte Dokumente (Munich: 1988), p.
Nicosia, Third Reich (1985), p. 56.; L. Brenner, Zionism in the Age of the Dictators (1983), p.
Margaliot, "The Reaction...," ad Vashem Studies (Jerusalem), vol. 12, 1977, pp. 90-91.; On K
remarkable career, see: H. Levine, "A Jewish Collaborator in Nazi Germany," Central Europe
(Atlanta), Sept. 1975, pp. 251-281.

17. "Dr. Wise Urges Jews to Declare Selves as Such," New York Herald Tribune, June 13, 193

18. F. Nicosia, The Third Reich (1985), p. 53.

19. Lucy Dawidowicz, The War Against the Jews, 1933-1945 (New York: Bantam, pb., 1976)
Max Nussbaum, "Zionism Under Hitler," Congress Weekly (New York: American Jewish Con
11, 1942.; F. Nicosia, The Third Reich (1985), pp. 58-60, 217.; Edwin Black, The Transfer Ag
(1984), p. 175.

20. H. Höhne, The Order of the Death's Head (Ballantine, pb., 1984), pp. 380-382.; K. Schleu
Road (1970, 1990), p. 226.; Secret internal SS intelligence report about F. Polkes, June 17, 19
Mendelsohn, ed., The Holocaust (New York: Garland, 1982), vol. 5, pp. 62-64.

21. F. Nicosia, Third Reich (1985), pp. 63-64, 105, 219-220.

22. F. Nicosia, Third Reich (1985), p. 160.

23. This distinction is also implicit in the "Balfour Declaration" of November 1917, in which
government expressed support for "a national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, while
avoiding any mention of a Jewish state. Referring to the majority Arab population there, the D
went on to caution, "...it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may preju
and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine." The complete text of th
is reproduced in facsimile in: Robert John, Behind the Balfour Declaration (IHR, 1988), p. 32

24. F. Nicosia, Third Reich (1985), p. 121.

25. F. Nicosia, Third Reich (1985), p. 124.

26. David Yisraeli, The Palestine Problem in German Politics 1889-1945 (Bar-Ilan University
p. 300.; Also in: Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series D, Vol. 5. Doc. No. 564 or 567

27. K. Schleunes, The Twisted Road (1970, 1990), p. 209.

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28. Circular of January 25, 1939. Nuremberg document 3358-PS. International Military Tribu
Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg: 1947-1949), vo
243. Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression (Washington, DC: 1946-1948), vol. 6, pp. 92-93.

29. F. Nicosia, Third Reich (1985), pp. 141-144.; On Hitler's critical view of Zionism in Mein
esp. Vol. 1, Chap. 11. Quoted in: Robert Wistrich, Hitler's Apocalypse (London: 1985), p. 155
Nicosia, Third Reich (1985), pp. 26-28.; Hitler told his army adjutant in 1939 and again in 194
asked the British in 1937 about transferring all of Germany's Jews to Palestine or Egypt. The
the proposal, he said, because it would cause further disorder. See: H. v. Kotze, ed., Heeresadj
Hitler (Stuttgart: 1974), pp. 65, 95.

30. F. Nicosia, Third Reich (1985), pp. 156, 160-164, 166-167.; H. Höhne, The Order of the D
(Ballantine, pb., 1984), pp. 392-394.; Jon and David Kimche, The Secret Roads (London: Sec
Warburg, 1955), pp. 39-43. See also: David Yisraeli, "The Third Reich and Palestine," Middle
Studies, October 1971, p. 347.; Bernard Wasserstein, Britain and the Jews of Europe, 1939-19
43, 49, 52, 60.; T. Kelly, "Man who fooled Nazis," Washington Times, April 28, 1987, pp. 1B,
interview with Willy Perl, author of The Holocaust Conspiracy.

31. Y. Arad, et al., eds., Documents On the Holocaust (1981), p. 155. (The training kibbutz w
Neuendorf, and may have functioned even after March 1942.)

32. On the Agreement in general, see: Werner Feilchenfeld, et al., Haavara-Transfer nach Pa
(Tübingen: Mohr/Siebeck, 1972).; David Yisraeli, "The Third Reich and the Transfer Agreem
of Contemporary History (London), No. 2, 1971, pp. 129-148.; "Haavara," Encyclopaedia Jud
vol. 7, pp. 1012-1013.; F. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question (Austin: 1985)
Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews (New York: Holmes and Meier, 1985), p
The Transfer Agreement, by Edwin Black, is detailed and useful. However, it contains numero
and wildly erroneous conclusions. See, for example, the review by Richard S. Levy in Comme
1984, pp. 68-71.

33. E. Black, The Transfer Agreement (1984), pp. 328, 337.

34. On opposition to the Haavara in official German circles, see: W. Feilchenfeld, et al., Haav
nach Palaestina (1972), pp. 31-33.; D. Yisraeli, "The Third Reich," Journal of Contemporary
pp. 136-139.; F. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question, pp. 126-139.; I. Wecker
Feuerzeichen (1981), pp. 226-227.; Rolf Vogel, Ein Stempel hat gefehlt (Munich: Droemer Kn
110 ff.

35. W. Feilchenfeld, et al., Haavara-Transfer (1972), p. 31. Entire text in: David Yisraeli, The
Problem in German Politics 1889-1945 (Israel: 1974), pp. 298-300.

36. Interior Ministry internal memo (signed by State Secretary W. Stuckart), Dec. 17, 1937, in
Eschwege, ed., Kennzeichen J (Berlin: 1966), pp. 132-136.

37. W. Feilchenfeld, et al, Haavara-Transfer (1972), p. 32.

38. E. Black, Transfer Agreement, pp. 376-377.

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39. E. Black, Transfer Agreement (1984), pp. 376, 378.; F. Nicosia, Third Reich (1985), pp. 23

40. E. Black, Transfer Agreement, p. 379.; F. Nicosia, Third Reich, pp. 212, 255 (n. 66).

41. W. Feilchenfeld, et al., Haavara-Transfer, p. 75.; "Haavara," Encyclopaedia Judaica, (197

1013.

42. E. Black, Transfer Agreement, pp. 379, 373, 382.

43. Circular of January 25, 1939. Nuremberg document 3358-PS. International Military Tribu
Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg: 1947-1949), Vo
243.

44. Werner Feilchenfeld, et al., Haavara-Transfer nach Palaestina (Tübingen: Mohr/Siebeck,

in: Ingrid Weckert, Feuerzeichen (Tübingen: Grabert, 1981), pp. 222-223.

45. W. Feilchenfeld, et al., Haavara-Transfer nach Palaestina(1972). Quoted in: I. Weckert, e

(1981), p. 224.

46. Original document in German Auswärtiges Amt Archiv, Bestand 47-59, E 224152 and E 2
(Photocopy in author's possession).; Complete original German text published in: David Yisra
Palestine Problem in German Politics 1889-1945 (Israel: 1974), pp. 315-317. See also: Klaus
Secret Contacts," Journal of Palestine Studies, Spring-Summer 1976, pp. 78-80.; (At the time
made, Stern's Lehi group still regarded itself as the true Irgun/NMO.)

47. Arab nationalists opposed Britain, which then dominated much of the Arab world, includi
and Palestine. Because Britain and Germany were at war, Germany cultivated Arab support. T
Palestine's Arabs, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el-Husseini, worked closely with
during the war years. After escaping from Palestine, he spoke to the Arab world over German
helped raise Muslim recruits in Bosnia for the Waffen SS.

48. Israel Shahak, "Yitzhak Shamir, Then and Now," Middle East Policy (Washington, DC), V
(Whole No. 39), 1992, pp. 27-38.; Yehoshafat Harkabi, Israel's Fateful Hour (New York: Har
1988), pp. 213-214. Quoted in: Andrew J. Hurley, Israel and the New World Order (Santa Bar
1991), pp. 93, 208-209.; Avishai Margalit, "The Violent Life of Yitzhak Shamir," New York R
May 14, 1992, pp. 18-24.; Lenni Brenner, Zionism in the Age of the Dictators (1983), pp. 266
Brenner, Jews in America Today (1986), pp. 175-177.; L. Brenner, "Yitzhak Shamir: On Hitle
Perspectives (League of Arab States), March 1984, pp. 11-13.

49. Avishai Margalit, "The Violent Life of Yitzhak Shamir," New York Review of Books, May
18-24.; Lenni Brenner, Zionism in the Age of the Dictators (1983), pp. 266-269.; L. Brenner, J
America Today (1986), pp. 175-177.; L. Brenner, "Skeletons in Shamir's Cupboard," Middle E
International, Sept. 30, 1983, pp. 15-16.; Sol Stern, L. Rapoport, "Israel's Man of the Shadow
Voice (New York), July 3, 1984, pp. 13 ff.

From The Journal of Historical Review, July-August 1993 (Vol. 13, No. 4), pages 29-37.

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4/18/2019 Zionism and the Third Reich

Mark Weber studied history at the University of Illinois (Chicago), the University of Munich,
University and Indiana University (M.A., 1977). In March 1988 he testified for five days in T
Court as a recognized expert witness on Germany's wartime Jewish policy and the Holocaust

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