Nazi SS commander wished Grand Mufti success in fight 'against the Jewish invaders'
Who was Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem?
Netanyahu clarifies: Nazis, not mufti, decided on Final Solution

A new catalog published by the Kedem Auction House contains a valuable historical item: six previously unknown photographs from a visit by the mufti of Jerusalem to Nazi Germany.
Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini’s connection to Nazi Germany has made headlines several times in recent years thanks to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who used him as an example of Palestinian attitudes toward Israel to bolster his claim that Israel has no Palestinian partner.
Granted, Netanyahu exaggerated when he claimed in 2015 that Husseini had persuaded Hitler to launch the Final Solution, but the storm that erupted over that statement did raise awareness of Husseini’s Nazi ties.
Two months ago, the National Library of Israel made its own contribution to raising awareness of this story when it published a telegram to Husseini from Heinrich Himmler in which the SS chief wished him success in his battle against “the Jewish invaders.”
The six photos that Kedem is now offering for sale show Husseini “during a tour apparently held at a camp” in Nazi Germany circa 1943, the auction house’s website says. The photos, three of which are on the site, show Husseini with several senior Nazi officials in uniform as well as government staffers in civilian dress.

As most of the Nazi leadership was quick to eliminate all evidence of its participation in the horrors executed during World War II, any new documents written by high-ranking officials in the regime serve as a welcome insight into the depths of the dark and atrocious mechanisms of a regime that has left a tragic mark on world history.

As recently as August 2016, more documents written by Himmler were revealed. The Nazi leader's office diaries, which were believed to have been lost for 71 years, were found at the archives of the Russian military and contained gory descriptions of the Nazi leader's first-hand experiences during his visits to the extermination camps he oversaw and in which approximately six million Jews had perished.

While Israeli officials have yet to comment on the contents of the telegram that has recently emerged, many are looking forward to hear the reaction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who sparked controversy in October 2015 when he claimed during a speech he made at the 37th World Zionist Congress that Hitler did not intend to exterminate all Jews, but rather to expel them. Netanyahu further claimed that the Fuhrer was inspired to massacre all of Europe's Jews only after he convened with Mufti al-Husseini, who, as aforementioned, was afraid to face a wave of Jewish immigration to Palestine.

It remains to be seen how this new and significant finding will impact the historic narrative regarding Jewish history and the Palestinian-German diplomatic maneuvers in the years prior to the establishment of the Jewish state.


http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.795563