Haj Amin al-Husseini Did Not Incite the 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 Timeline of the Holocaust: Al-Husseini’s Involvement Came Too Late

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.

Al-Husseini’s Role: Propaganda, Not Policy

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 Ideological and Operational Drivers of the Holocaust: Germany’s Sole Responsibility

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 Illogical Nature of the Claim: Historical and Contextual Analysis

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:

1.  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.

2.  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.

3.  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.

4.  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’s Sole Responsibility and Guilt

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.

Conclusion

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.