The Third Reich and Palestine

Abstract

The Third Reich introduced a new factor into German foreign policyideology. It created a climate in which it was sometimes difficult to distinguish where ideology ended and diplomacy began. This trend particularly was visible in the relations between the Third Reich and Palestine. The Middle East in general, and Palestine in particular, never had special interest for Nazi diplomacy, formed but a marginal area in Hitler's strategy and diplomacy which was basically Europe-centred. The Middle East was seen at the most as a minor field for German economic, cultural and propagandist activity, the latter in the sense of spreading of Judaeophobia among the peoples of the region. Propaganda activities stemming from party rather than diplomatic sources were not solely 'missionary' in character, but also served to incite Moslem populations against Britain and France with the purpose of distracting some of these powers from their pre-occupation with European problems. The Third Reich had some minor interest in Middle Eastern oil concessions, though Hitler was not particularly keen in developing them.l There were also plans to develop German airlines to central and west Africa through Palestine, although the area was basically considered to be a potential sphere for Italian rather than German political and economic penetration.2 Until the Munich crisis and the darkening of the international horizons, official German policy in the Middle East actually tended to follow the lines laid down under the Weimar Republic. The German Foreign Ministry concentrated on economic and trade relations. As far as possible it refrained from any activity that could be interpreted as hostile to Great Britain, whose friendship appeared vital for the diplomacy of the Nazis if the latter wished to achieve their aims in Europe. With this background one can understand Germany's refusal to grant repeated Arab requests for arms in the 1936-39 disturbances in Palestine and the insistence of the German Foreign Ministry not to get involved officially in the Jewish-Arab struggle.3 It is interesting to note that at one stage (in 1936) even the Gestapo agent in Palestine, Dr Reichert (officially the representative of the German News Agency (D.N.B.) in Palestine) expressed his opinion against German involvement in the Jewish-Arab struggle from quite a different angle. In his report to his superiors, he referred to rumours that the German consul-general in Jerusalem, Doehle, had offered arms to the Arabs. Dr Reichert stated that such action 'would be dangerous, as it would strain the relations between Germany and Palestine Jewry'. His suggestion was to use the Jewish community in Palestine as a means against the economic boycott of Germany by world Jewry.4 Even the Nazi Landes-