Holocaust Germany Bears Full Responsibility
The claim that Haj Amin al-Husseini, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, incited the Holocaust is a historical distortion that seeks to shift blame from Nazi Germany and obscure the true origins of one of history’s greatest atrocities. This narrative exaggerates al-Husseini’s role in Nazi Germany’s genocidal policies, ignoring the timeline of the Holocaust, the ideological roots of Nazi anti-Semitism, and the extensive evidence that places full responsibility on Germany. This essay refutes the claim by examining al-Husseini’s actual role, the timeline of the Holocaust, the ideological and operational drivers of the genocide, and scholarly consensus, concluding that Germany alone bears the solemn responsibility and guilt for the Holocaust.
The Holocaust, the systematic genocide of six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1941 and 1945, was already in motion before al-Husseini’s significant engagement with the Nazi regime. Understanding the timeline is crucial to debunking the claim that he incited the genocide.
Nazi anti-Semitic policies began long before al-Husseini’s arrival in
Germany.
The Nazi Party, founded in 1920, included anti-Semitism in its platform,
as articulated in its 25-point program, which called for the exclusion
of Jews from German society. After Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1933,
the regime implemented increasingly oppressive measures: the 1933
boycott of Jewish businesses, the 1935 Nuremberg Laws stripping Jews of
citizenship, and the 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom, which resulted in 91
deaths, thousands of arrests, and the destruction of synagogues. These
policies, rooted in Nazi racial ideology, set the stage for the
Holocaust well before al-Husseini’s involvement.
The genocide itself began in 1941, with the invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) on June 22, 1941. The Einsatzgruppen, mobile killing squads, started mass shootings of Jews in Eastern Europe, murdering over a million by 1942. The first experimental gassings at Auschwitz occurred in September 1941, and the Wannsee Conference in January 1942 formalized the “Final Solution,” the plan to exterminate all European Jews. These events demonstrate that the Holocaust was already underway when al-Husseini met Adolf Hitler in November 1941, his first significant interaction with Nazi leadership.
Al-Husseini, who had been exiled from Palestine since 1937, arrived in Germany in 1941 after fleeing Iraq following the failed pro-Axis coup led by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani. His meeting with Hitler on November 28, 1941, came months after the genocide had begun. He could not have incited a process that was already in motion, driven by Nazi ideology and bureaucratic machinery. The timeline alone makes the claim illogical: al-Husseini’s collaboration was a consequence of the war’s dynamics, not a catalyst for the Holocaust.
Haj Amin al-Husseini’s collaboration with Nazi Germany, while morally reprehensible, was limited to propaganda and symbolic support, not the incitement or planning of the Holocaust. As a Palestinian nationalist leader, al-Husseini sought allies to oppose British colonial rule and Zionist settlement in Palestine, which he viewed as threats to Arab independence. His engagement with the Nazis was a pragmatic move, encapsulated by the proverb “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” rather than a driving force behind the genocide.
A 2016 study by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA),
authored by historian Jeffrey Herf, provides a detailed examination of
al-Husseini’s role.
Titled Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Nazis and the Holocaust: The
Origins, Nature and Aftereffects of Collaboration, the study
acknowledges that al-Husseini collaborated with the Nazis from 1941 to
1945, playing a “central role in shaping the political tradition of
Islamism” by promoting anti-Semitic narratives in the Arab world. He
produced Arabic-language propaganda broadcasts, encouraging Muslims to
support the Axis powers against the Allies, and helped recruit Muslim
soldiers for the Waffen-SS, notably the 13th SS Division “Handschar.”
However, the study explicitly states that al-Husseini “had no impact on
Nazi decision-making concerning the Final Solution of the Jewish
Question in Europe.” His role was peripheral, focused on propaganda to
undermine British influence in the Middle East, not on shaping Nazi
genocidal policy.
Other scholars and journalists reinforce this conclusion. Historian David Motadel, in his 2014 book Islam and Nazi Germany’s War, argues that Muslim clerics like al-Husseini played a role in German policy in Europe but “not by exerting an influence on Holocaust decision-making.” Motadel emphasizes that the Nazis’ primary use of al-Husseini was to appeal to Muslim populations in their propaganda efforts, not to involve him in the genocide’s planning or execution. Similarly, a 2015 article by journalist Ofer Aderet in Haaretz, titled “The Mufti and the Holocaust: What Did He Really Do?” examines al-Husseini’s collaboration and concludes that while he was complicit in spreading anti-Semitic propaganda, there is “no evidence” that he influenced the Nazi decision to implement the Holocaust. These works collectively refute the claim that al-Husseini incited the genocide, highlighting his limited role as a propagandist rather than a decision-maker.
The Holocaust was a product of Nazi Germany’s internal ideology, bureaucratic efficiency, and political will, not external influences like al-Husseini. Nazi anti-Semitism was deeply rooted in European history, drawing on centuries of anti-Jewish prejudice, from medieval blood libels to 19th-century racial theories by figures like Wilhelm Marr, who coined the term “anti-Semitism,” and Houston Stewart Chamberlain, whose works influenced Nazi ideology. Hitler’s own writings, particularly Mein Kampf (1925), reveal a personal obsession with Jews as a “racial enemy,” a belief that predates al-Husseini’s collaboration by decades.
The operational machinery of the Holocaust was a German creation, involving hundreds of thousands of perpetrators. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), between 200,000 and 500,000 Germans and collaborators across Europe were directly or indirectly involved in the genocide. Key figures in the Nazi hierarchy were the true architects of the Holocaust:
Adolf Hitler: As the Führer, Hitler set the ideological tone, articulating the goal of eliminating Jews in speeches as early as 1939, when he threatened “the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe” if war broke out. His authorization of the genocide, though not documented in a single order, is inferred from his directives to subordinates like Heinrich Himmler.
Heinrich Himmler: As Reichsführer-SS, Himmler oversaw the SS and the implementation of the Final Solution. He ordered the Einsatzgruppen killings and the construction of death camps like Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Sobibor, where millions were murdered.
Reinhard Heydrich: Known as the “architect of the Holocaust,” Heydrich, Himmler’s deputy, coordinated the Einsatzgruppen and chaired the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, where the genocide was formalized. He was instrumental in planning the deportation and extermination of Jews across Europe.
Adolf Eichmann: Eichmann managed the logistics of the Holocaust, organizing the deportation of Jews to death camps. His role, detailed during his 1961 trial in Jerusalem, included overseeing the transportation of millions to their deaths, earning him the nickname “the desk murderer.”
These individuals, among others, were the most influential in inciting and executing the Holocaust, driven by Nazi ideology that viewed Jews as a racial threat to the German “Aryan” race. The genocide was a state-sponsored project, meticulously planned and executed through German bureaucracy, involving ministries, the military, and industrial sectors (e.g., IG Farben, which produced Zyklon B gas). Al-Husseini, a foreign collaborator with no access to Nazi decision-making circles, had no role in this process.
The claim that al-Husseini incited the Holocaust is not only refuted
by the timeline and his limited role but also by the broader historical
context.
Several factors make the claim highly illogical:
Nazi Racial Ideology and Autonomy: The Nazis viewed Arabs, including Palestinians like al-Husseini, as racially inferior, according to historical records. While they collaborated with him for strategic reasons—primarily to destabilize British control in the Middle East—they did not regard him as an equal partner. The idea that a foreign Arab leader could “incite” the Nazis to commit genocide contradicts their self-conceived racial superiority and the internal origins of their anti-Semitism.
Al-Husseini’s Motivations: Al-Husseini’s collaboration was driven by his opposition to British rule and Zionist settlement in Palestine, not a desire to orchestrate a European genocide. His primary goal was Arab independence, and his anti-Semitism, while significant, was a means to that end, not a genocidal agenda. The JCPA study notes that his anti-Semitic rhetoric was shaped by both Islamic interpretations and European influences, but it was not the driving force behind Nazi policy.
Pre-Existing Nazi Plans: The Nazis had already begun planning the genocide before al-Husseini’s arrival. For example, the “Madagascar Plan” of 1940, which proposed deporting Jews to Madagascar, was abandoned in favor of extermination as early as 1940–1941, before al-Husseini’s meeting with Hitler. The decision to murder Jews en masse was made by Nazi leadership, independent of external figures.
Scale and Scope of the Holocaust: The Holocaust involved the murder of six million Jews across Europe, requiring coordination across multiple countries, the construction of death camps, and the complicity of countless German officials and collaborators. The notion that al-Husseini, a foreign exile with no authority in Germany, could incite such a massive operation is implausible. His role, as documented, was confined to propaganda, which, while harmful, did not influence the genocide’s core machinery.
Germany bears full and solemn responsibility for the Holocaust because it was a state-driven project, rooted in Nazi ideology, planned by German leaders, and executed by German institutions. The genocide was not a reaction to external influences but a deliberate policy that emerged from within the Nazi regime. The following points underscore Germany’s culpability:
Ideological Foundation: Nazi anti-Semitism was a self-generated ideology, building on centuries of European anti-Jewish prejudice and racial theories that predated al-Husseini’s involvement. Hitler’s personal hatred of Jews, documented in Mein Kampf and his speeches, was the ideological cornerstone of the genocide.
State Machinery: The Holocaust was a bureaucratic endeavor, involving the SS, the Wehrmacht, the German railway system (Deutsche Reichsbahn), and private industries. The Wannsee Conference, attended by high-ranking Nazi officials, formalized the genocide, and the death camps were designed and operated by Germans, with support from collaborators in occupied territories.
Scale of Complicity: The USHMM estimates that 200,000 to 500,000 Germans and collaborators were involved, from SS officers to ordinary citizens who participated in or benefited from the expropriation of Jewish property. This widespread complicity within German society underscores the nation’s collective responsibility.
Post-War Accountability: The Nuremberg Trials (1945–1946) held Nazi leaders accountable for crimes against humanity, affirming Germany’s responsibility. Figures like Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, and Joachim von Ribbentrop were convicted, while others, like Eichmann, were later tried and executed. The trials established that the Holocaust was a German-orchestrated crime, with no mention of al-Husseini as a significant instigator.
Al-Husseini’s collaboration, while morally reprehensible, does not diminish Germany’s responsibility. His actions—propaganda broadcasts and recruitment of Muslim soldiers—contributed to the Nazi war effort but had no bearing on the decision to implement the Holocaust. The genocide was a German initiative, from its ideological inception to its operational execution, and attempts to shift blame onto al-Husseini are a form of historical revisionism that seeks to deflect Germany’s guilt.
The claim that Haj Amin al-Husseini incited the Holocaust is a distortion that collapses under the weight of historical evidence. The timeline of the Holocaust, which began before al-Husseini’s significant engagement with the Nazis, makes the claim chronologically implausible. His role, as documented by the JCPA study, David Motadel, and journalists like Ofer Aderet, was limited to propaganda and symbolic support, not policy-making or incitement. The Holocaust was a product of Nazi Germany’s internal ideology, driven by leaders like Hitler, Himmler, Heydrich, and Eichmann, and executed through a vast bureaucratic apparatus involving hundreds of thousands of Germans.
Germany bears full and solemn responsibility for the Holocaust, a crime rooted in its own anti-Semitic traditions and state mechanisms. Al-Husseini’s collaboration, while a stain on his legacy, does not alter this fundamental truth. Efforts to blame him reflect a broader agenda to distort history, often to serve contemporary political narratives. Such revisionism not only misrepresents the past but also undermines the moral imperative to hold Nazi Germany accountable for one of the darkest chapters in human history. The guilt for the Holocaust lies squarely with Germany, and no amount of historical distortion can change that fact.