Free Icon of Evil: Hitler's Mufti and the Rise of Radical Islam by David G. Dalin, John F. Rothmann

was the architect and administrator of the Nazis’ “Final Solution,” 44 was the extermination of the Jews. In the text of his telegram to the mufti sent on November 2, 1943, which was read at the twenty-sixth anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, Himmler proclaimed the essence of their mutual objectives: “The National Socialist Movement of Greater Germany has, since its beginning, inscribed upon its flag, the battle against world Jewry. It has therefore always pursued with sympathy the battle of the freedom loving Arabs against the Jewish intruders. The recognition of this enemy and the common battle against him provides the firm basis for the natural ties between National Socialist Greater Germany and the freedom loving Moslems in the whole world. With this thought I convey to you, on the anniversary of the unholy Balfour Declaration, my deepest greetings and wishes for the success of your battle until final victory.” 45
    The mufti’s close working relationship and friendship with Adolf Eichmann, as with Heinrich Himmler, is well documented and indisputable. Following the capture of Eichmann in May 1960, the speculation about the relationship between these two men became a subject of active public discussion. In a press conference held at the time of the Eichmann trial, on May 4, 1961, al-Husseini denied any connection with Adolf Eichmann during World War II. Indeed, he claimed at this press conference that he did not even know who Eichmann was until he read about his capture in the newspapers. 46 In fact, the mufti and Eichmann not only knew each other, but collaborated actively in their years of service to the Third Reich. At the Nuremberg trials, Dieter Wisliceny, one of Eichmann’s senior deputies, would testify that the mufti “was one of Eichmann’s best friends and had constantly incited him to accelerate the extermination measures. I heard him say that, accompanied by Eichmann, he had visited incognito the gas chamber of Auschwitz.” 47 On this visit to Auschwitz, al-Husseini reportedly urged the guards in charge of the chambers to be more diligent and efficient in their efforts. 48
    One can only imagine how the mufti must have rejoiced as he toured the Auschwitz death camp complex. What he witnessed was indeed, in his mind, the final solution to his Jewish problem. With a sweeping audacity that was almost too bold to grasp, Hitler had determined simply to eliminate his perceived enemies. As he examined the details of the process that led to extermination, al-Husseini realized that he would not have to transport his Jews anywhere. The Jews were concentrated in the Tel Aviv/Jaffa region of Palestine. No railroad cars would be needed for transport. No “selection” would be necessary. No Jew would be needed to work or labor in any way for his Arab state of Palestine. All that the mufti would need would be the technical assistance of his good friends Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Eichmann to construct factories of death to eliminate the Jews from Palestine once and for all.
    As the mufti left Auschwitz to return to Berlin, he could only marvel at Germany’s ruthless efficiency in solving its Jewish problem. With a smug certainty, he marveled at his good fortune in living at a time when he was blessed with such a superb ally and friend in the person of Adolf Hitler.
    Eichmann and al-Husseini admired each other tremendously. Eichmann, as Dieter Wisliceny recalled in his testimony at Nuremberg, “was very strongly impressed with the Mufti.” 49 The mufti, in turn, reciprocated this admiration. When he spoke of Eichmann in the presumed privacy of his diary, al-Husseini observed that he was a “very rare diamond, the best savior of the Arabs.” 50
     
    Hitler’s Voice to the Arabs: The Mufti and Nazi Radio Broadcasts to the Middle East
     
    From the very outset of his stay in Berlin, it became apparent that the Nazis planned to employ al-Husseini as their chief spokesman in the Middle East. Working