Nazi Support of Zionism

The Brutal Zionist Role in the Holocaust The price of Zionism: "If I am asked, "Could you give from the UJA moneys to rescue Jews,  'I say, NO! and I say again NO!" Izaak Greenbaum -- head of Jewish Agency Rescue Committee February 18, 1943 Addressed to the Zionist Executive Council. "One Cow in Palestine is worth more than all the Jews in Poland" ....Izaak Greenbaum Zionism in the Age of the Dictators “The old ones will pass. They will bear their fate or they will not.” Chaim Weizmann,  the first president of Israel, made this Zionist policy very explicit: The hopes of Europe’s six million Jews are centered on emigration. I was asked: “Can you bring six million Jews to Palestine?” I replied, “No.” ... From the depths of the tragedy I want to save ... young people [for Palestine]. The old ones will pass. They will bear their fate or they will not. They are dust, economic and moral dust in a cruel world ... Only the branch of the young shall survive. They have to accept it. Chaim Weizmann reporting to the Zionist Congress in 1937 on his testimony before the Peel Commission in London, July 1937. Cited in Yahya, p. 55. Ben Gurion informed a meeting of Labor Zionists in Great Britain in 1938: "If I knew that it would be possible to save all the children in Germany by bringing them over to England and only half of them by transporting them to Eretz Israel, then I opt for the second alternative."  Ibid., p.149. As late as 1943, while the Jews of Europe were being exterminated in their millions, the U.S. Congress proposed to set up a commission to "study" the problem. Rabbi Stephen Wise, who was the principal American spokesperson for Zionism, came to Washington to testify against the rescue bill because it would divert attention from the colonization of Palestine. This is the same Rabbi Wise who, in 1938, in his capacity as leader of the American Jewish Congress, wrote a letter in which he opposed any change in U.S. immigration laws which would enable Jews to find refuge. He stated: "It may interest you to know that some weeks ago the representatives of all the leading Jewish organizations met in conference ... It was decided that no Jewish organization would, at this time, sponsor a bill which would in any way alter the immigration laws." Exaggerated Stories of Starvation?? You decide... Salli Mayer: “. . . what is happening in Poland are exaggerated stories. . . the way of the Ost Yuden. . .always asking for money.”

Nazi Support of Zionism

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Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), the founder of modern Zionism, recognized that anti-Semitism would further his cause, the creation of a separate state for Jews. To solve the Jewish Question, he maintained “we must, above all, make it an international political issue.”[1]Herzl wrote that Zionism offered the world a welcome “final solution of the Jewish question.”[2]In his “Diaries”, page 19, Herzl stated “Anti-Semites will become our surest friends, anti-Semitic countries our allies.”

51 Documents:

Zionist Collaboration
with the Nazis

Zionism was supported by the German SS and Gestapo.[3] [4] [5] [6] Hitler himself personally supported Zionism.[7] [8] During the 1930’s, in cooperation with the German authorities, Zionist groups organized a network of some 40 camps throughout Germany where prospective settlers were trained for their new lives in Palestine. As late as 1942 Zionists operated at least one of these officially authorized “Kibbutz” training camps[9] over which flew the blue and white banner which would one day be adopted as the national flag of “Israel”.[10]
The Transfer Agreement (which promoted the emigration of German Jews to Palestine) implemented in 1933 and abandoned at the beginning of WWII is an important example of the cooperation between Hitler’s Germany and international Zionism. [11] Through this agreement, Hitler’s Third Reich did more than any other government during the 1930’s to support Jewish development in Palestine and further the Zionist goals.
Hitler and the Zionists had a common goal:  to create a world Jewish Ghetto as a solution to the Jewish Question.

The Transfer Agreement

The Zionist so-called “World Jewish Congress” declared war on the country of Germany,[12] [13] knowing that it would affect their Jewish brothers residing in that country who would be left without protection.  When others tried to help them escape to other countries, the Zionist movement took actions which caused those countries to lock their doors to Jewish immigration (read more in the books, “Perfidy” and “Min Hametzer”). As a result of the Zionist influence five ships of Jewish refugees from Germany arriving in the United States were turned back to the gas chambers. 
The fundamental aim of the Zionist movement has been not to save Jewish lives but to create a “Jewish state” in Palestine.
On December 7, 1938, Ben Gurion, the first head of the Zionist ‘state of Israel’ declared “If I knew it was possible to save all the children in Germany by taking them to England, and only half of the children by taking them to Eretz Israel, I would choose the second solution.  For we must take into account not only the lives of these children but also the history of the people of Israel.”[14]
On August 31, 1949, Ben Gurion stated: “Although we have realized our dream of creating a Jewish State, we are only at the beginning.  There are still only 900,000 Jews in Israel, whereas the majority of the Jewish people still remains abroad.  Our future task is to bring all the Jews to Israel.”
Of the two and a half million Jews seeking refuge from the Nazis between 1935 and 1943, less than 9% went to settle in Palestine.  The vast majority, 75%, went to the Soviet Union.  In the mid-70’s, more people emigrated out of ‘Israel’ than came in.  The only surges of immigration to the Zionist state have occurred during anti-Semitic threats and persecution in foreign countries.[15]
It follows that for the Zionist state to achieve its goal of a Jewish world ghetto anti-Semitism must be promoted and encouraged, and as we have seen, by acts of violence if necessary.
 “To attain its practical objectives, Zionism hopes it will be able to collaborate with a government that is fundamentally hostile to the Jews”.[16]
The use of anti-Semitism as a tool to coerce immigration to the Zionist state continues to the present day:
Prime Minister Sharon has stated that anti-Semitism is on the rise and that the only hope for the safety of Jews is to move to Israel under the protection of the Zionist state. “The best solution to anti-Semitism is immigration to Israel. It is the only place on Earth where Jews can live as Jews," he said.[17]
Those who continue to call the so-called “state of Israel” the “Jewish State” are not only promoting Zionism which is contrary to the beliefs of true Judaism, but also endorsing the promotion of worldwide anti-Semitism. In doing so they are endangering the lives of traditional Jews and denying their civil liberties and human rights. 
When the British foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour (sponsor of the 1905 Aliens Act to restrict Jewish immigration to the UK), wanted the British government to commit itself to a Jewish homeland in Palestine, his declaration was delayed - not by anti-Semites but by leading figures in the British Jewish community. They included a Jewish member of the cabinet who called Balfour's pro-Zionism "anti-Semitic in result".  In contrast, a great statesman like Secretary of State Colin Powell, a supporter of traditional Judaism, has the courage to separate Judaism from Zionism and to acknowledge that speaking out against the actions of the Zionist state is not “anti-Semitism”.
We call upon our leaders in Washington to disassociate the actions of the Zionist state from traditional Judaism by no longer referring to “Israel” as the “Jewish State” but as “the Zionist State” and to speak out against the Zionist actions which promote anti-Semitism.

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Bibliography:

“Zionism and the Third Reich”, Author: Mark Weber, The Journal for Historical Review
(http://www.ihr.org), July/August 1993, Volume 13, Number 4, page 29.

Hitlers Zweites Buch – ein Dokument aus dem Jahr 1928, Stuttgart, 1961. English translation: Hitler’s Secret Book, New York, 1961, pp 212-215.

Berlin Encyclopaedia Judaica (New York and Jerusalem: 1971), Vol. 5, p.648.
See also, J.-C. Horak, “Zionist Film Propaganda in Nazi Germany,” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1984, pp 49-58.

Perfidy, Author: Ben Hecht, Milah Press, Incorporated; April 1, 1997

Min Hameitzer, Author:Rabbi Weissmandl; The book Unheeded Cry by Abraham Fuchs, is a partial translation.

Holocaust Encyclopedia, “Escape from German Occupied Europe”, http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005470

“Immigration Policies”, Jewish Virtual Library, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/grobim.html

“The Tragedy of the S.S. St. Louis”, Jewish Virtual Library, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/stlouis.html

[1] Quoted in: Ingrid Wecker, Feuerzeichen: Die “Reichskristallnacht” (Tubingen: Grabert, 1981), p. 212.  See also: Th. Herzl, The Jewish State (New York: Herzl Press, 1970), pp 33, 35, 36, and Edwin Black, The Transfer Agreement (New York: Macmillan, 1984), p.73

[2] Th. Herzl, “Der Kongress, “ Welt, June 4, 1897.  Reprinted in:  Theodore Herzls zionistische Schriften (Leon Kellner, ed.), ester Teil, Berlin:  Judischer Verlag, 1920, p. 190 (and p.139)

[3] Francis R. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question (1985), pp. 54-55.; Karl A. Schleunes, The Twisted Road to Auschwitz (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois, 1970, 1990) pp. 178-181

[4] Jacob Boas, “A Nazi Travels to Palestine,” History Today (London), January, 1980, pp. 33-38.

[5] Facsimile reprint of front page of Das Schwarze Korp, May 15, 1935, in: Janusz Piekalkiewicz, Israels Langer Arm (Frankfurt: Goverts, 1975), pp. 66-67.

[6] Das Schwarze Korps, Sept. 26, 1935.  Quoted in: F. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question (1985), pp. 56-57

[7] F. Nicosia, Third Reich (1985), pp. 141-144; On Hitler’s critical view of Zionism in Mein Kapf, see. Esp. Vol. 1, Chap. 11.  Quoted in:  Robert Wistrich, Hitler’s Apocalypse (London: 1985), p. 155.; 

[8] W. Feilchenfeld, et al., Haavra-Transfer (1972).  Entire text in:  David Yisraeli, The Palestine Problem in German Politics 1889-1945 (Israel: 1974), pp. 132-136.

[9] Y. Arad, et al., eds., Documents On the Holocaust (1981), p. 155. (The training kibbutz was at Neuendorf, and may have functioned even after March 1942.)

[10] Lucy Dawidowicz, The War Against the Jews, 1933-1945 (New York: Bantam, pb., 1976), pp 253-254; Max Nussbaum, “Zionism Under Hitler,” Congress Weekly (New York: American Jewish Congress), Sept. 11, 1942.; F. Nicosia, The Third Reich (1985), pp 58-60, 217.; Edwin Black, The Transfer Agreement (1984), p. 175.

[11] E. Black, The Transfer Agreement (1984), pp. 328, 337.

[12] “Judea Declares War on Germany!” – London Daily Express headline, March 24^th, 1933

[13] “The worldwide boycott against Germany in 1933 and the later all-out declaration of war against Germany initiated by the Zionist leaders and the World Jewish Congress enraged Hitler so that he threatened to destroy the Jews…” (Rabbi Schwartz, New York Times, Sept. 30, 1997)

[14] Yvon Gelbner, “Zionist policy and the fate of European Jewry”, in Yad Vashem studies (Jerusalem, vol. XII, p. 199).

[15] Institute for Jewish Affairs of New York, quoted by Christopher Sykes in “Crossroads to Isarl”, London 1965, and by Nathan Weinstock, “Le sionisme contre Israel,” p. 146.

[16] Lucy Dawidovitch, “A Holocaust Reader”, p. 155.

[17] “Sharon Urges Jews to go to Israel”, BBC News, 17 Nov. 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3275979.stm

Questions from Muslims Choose the title of a comment to view the details or Go Back to select a different topic.

A piece I wrote to my fellow Muslims based on what I learned from you. What is your holy book and in what language is it written? I will spread your message that not all Jews are Zionists. What can I do to convince my fellow Muslims that not all Jews are Zionists? Is Israel racist and who does it represent? Why are there religious Jews who support Zionism? We will spread your message that Zionism is not Judaism Please write us a statement to publish in Turkey in response to Gaza attacks What verses in the Torah are about the Jewish exile? Is anti-Zionism the same as anti-Semitism? How about bumper stickers as a way to reach people? We are Moroccan youth for peace and dialogue between cultures Can you explain a passage in the Talmud that seems to say men can marry little girls? Why do Jews charge interest to gentiles and not to Jews? Does the Torah say that Jews should rule from the Nile to the Euphrates? Is the power of Zionism being exaggerated? Jews are our neighbords and friends What is the source that Jews should not use violence to enter the Holy Land? Where in the Torah does it say Jews can't have a state? Where does the Torah say that Zionism is wrong? What should I tell a Zionist friend who gets angry when I say the Jews are in exile? Would you encourage Jews to live under a true Islamic state? What efforts are you making to unite organizations to bring an end to Zionism? When Jews say they are the chosen people is this racism? How can I help to bring about peace in the world? Why do Zionists call themselves Jews? According to Judaism, where does the soul go after death? Who is the "stone that the builders rejected" (Psalms 118:22)? Does Jewish law permit usury against gentiles? Do you say Israel should be given back to the Arabs? Why do you say Zionism is a short-lived breakoff movement? Why don't you say more about the non-Jewish deaths caused by Zionism? Are you a small minority? Is your evidence credible to all Jews? Can you come and speak at Students for Justice in Palestine at my university? With Rabbi Teitelbaum in Bergen-Belsen This article about Rabbi Teitelbaum of Satmar was written in 1959 in the Yiddish publication called Das Vort by a Hungarian writer, Dr. Ferenz Kennedy, who was together with the rabbi in the famous train of Jewish Hungarian personalities who by virtue of Kastner's bribery were taken to an internment camp in Bergen-Belsen, and then later from there was saved by being taken to Switzerland. Dr. Kennedy was also together with the rabbi in Bergen-Belsen, and published this article in the Hungarian newspaper, Oj Kelet when the rabbi was visiting the Holy Land. It was written by an estranged Jew and is of particular interest. I should start by noting that I am not one of Rabbi Teitelbaum's followers, but perhaps I can contribute to portraying this unusual person by describing my experiences with him over a period of several months in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where we were confined at a time and place that revealed a person's true personality. Rebbe Teitelbaum Fifteen years ago, on July 2, 1944, I first met the Satmar Rebbe at the Hungarian-Slovakian border in Madiarovar, where our train was stopped for two days. A decision had to be made about whether our transport train should travel to Auschwitz, Poland or to Auschpitz, Austira. This was the most important decision for the transport director to make. Each of us understood the difference between Auschwitz and "Auschpitz".... Someone in our group heard from the conductor that his directive was to travel to Auschwitz. This meant that the transport train was heading to the Auschwitz extermination camp. You can just imagine how desperate we were when we found out about this. In the meantime the transport train cars moved over to the sidetracks, and we spent two full days inside those cars in an area of three meters on the sidetracks. Along the side of the tracks we noticed a Jew with a nearly gray beard whose face made an enormous impression upon me. Both of his alabaster-white pointer fingers were inside his white vest while he was pacing ack and forth, murmuring his prayers or melodies, moving around like a wounded lion. I do not know whether he was reciting psalms or was thinking about our awful fate. I just saw that he was very upset, moving a few steps among the others with his head bowed. When I asked one of my friends about this man, he replied with certainty, "He is the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Teitelbaum! And whoever is with him most certainly has a lot of worries." I had never heard of a rabbi like him. The world of the Orthodox religious Jews was foreign to me, and I had never before heard of any Satmar rabbi. Therefore it was no surprise that as a skeptic I could not imagine how people could be so sure that because the rabbi was with us, we had every hope of surviving our Hell. However, I later realized that our hopes were totally justified. The Hungarian police started approaching the train cars, but the S.S. ordered them away. During those dramatic hours, Dr. Kastner in Budapest intervened. Finally our train was redirected to "Auschpitz" instead of to the Auschwitz death camp. Auschwitz was supposedly filled, and therefore we were sent to Bergen-Belsen. I lived with the Satmar Rebbe for five months in Men's Block E in Bergen-Belsen. I do not know how this happened, but it is a fact that the Germans themselves permitted him to keep his beard, which the rebbe concealed with a kerchief around his face, pretending to be suffering from a toothache. The rebbe did not eat the camp food. He lived on water and cooked potatoes. As far as I know he fasted two or three days a week. You could hear his voice in the barracks almost all day lon. It was not talking we heard, but his prayers and studying. He had a mournful tune and sobbing gestures that kept many of us awake late into the night. I learned those gestures myself, and for years I could hear it in my head as a sad memento of those tragic times. The rebbe's mournful tune made many of those living in the barracks nervous, but not me. I knew that the rebbe was using that tune to pray to G-d for mercy; he fought against the decree and prayed for rescue. The Satmar rebbe was crystal clean even in the dirty barracks -- dirt and vermin had no power over him. He used to lay on his bed, and his wife and his attendant, a young skinny man, devoted themselves to him, helping him to have something to eat so he could continue with his religious activities. His majesty and wonderful appearance amazed everyone. I admit that I too was affected by his influence and appeal. There, among the barbwire, the shadow of the Angel of Death was greatly weakened, and I began believing in heavenly forces. I often noticed that whenever Rabbi Teitelbaum recited his prayers, or whenever he simply sang his wordless tune, all of our eyes were filled with bloody tears. On one summer day, I asked the rabbi's young attendant to obtain an autograph from the rebbe. The answer came quickly: the rabbi did not consider my request to be appropriate. The weeks passed, and the Satmar Rebbe patiently and modestly suffered and got through the difficulties. However, I once saw him lose his patience. It was when on a Sabbath afternoon when he was deep in study together with Rabbi Shlomo Zvi STrasser of Debrecin. The Satmar Rebbe's eyes sparkled, and the 90 year-old Rabbi Strasser yielded to the strong will of the Satmar rebbe. I subsequently became very close to the Satmar rebbe, and this happened as follows: I had the opportunity to win the trust of a few S.S. men through some bribery and got along with them very well. In exchange for the bribes I gave them, I received newspapers, and the S.S. provided Goebbels' newspaper, Das Deutsche Reich, as well as the Völkischer Baobachter, the Pressburg newspaper Grenzbote, and other German newspapers. In addition, the German S.S. men would occasionally bring me bread and medicine. Howver, the newspapers were the most important item, and wre our intellectual food. In the camp the newspapers were very significant for us. We frequently derived encouragement from the various news reports, and awaited liberation. We disseminated the news reports every evening in to barracks among the detainees, and for that purpose the famous Hungarian Jewish playwright, Bela Zholt provided his commentaries and opinions on the dry news that the camp consumed with great curiosity. This is how we found out about the Allied invasion of Normandy. We heard the news about the capture of Warsaw and Paris, and we also learned about hte unsuccessful assassination attempt on Hitler. One night the Satmar Rebbe sent his attendant to me to ask a favor: since the Rebbe's bed was far from mine, he could not hear the news reports that were being read in low tones. In addition, the rebbe did not lie in bed at the same time as the other detainees, therefore he requested me to give him the news before I informed the rest of the barrack. I was more than happy to agree to his request, and each evening at 6:30 I would go over to the rebbe's bed and report to him the most important news and political events. The rebbe closely paid attention and heard the news about the Allied victories with cold indifference and apathy. He commented that "we still need great mercy from Heaven to be able to be liberated from here alive." The High Holy Days were approaching, and soon it would be Yom Kippur. Several of the barracks held prayer services, and in our barrack the Satmar Rebbe led the Mussaf service of Yom Kippur. Bela Zholt and Aladar Komlosh (two famous Jewish Hungarian novelists who were also interned in Bergen-Belsen) passed by outside. I approached them and invited them to listen to the prayers of Rabbi Teitelbaum, which was a deeply touching experience to see the rebbe wrapped in his tallis [prayer shawl], rocking back and forth with all his limbs and pouring out his soul to his Creator. A few meters away, S.S. men were standing outside guarding the camp prisoners in the camp surrounded by barbwire, while inside we could hear the heartbreaking prayerful voice of the Satmar rebbe who was expressing age-old laments of the ancient Jewish prayers. When we left the barrack, the cynical and assimilated Bela Zholt, who despite being so assimilated had tears welling in his eyes, said to me, "This is quite traditional, but it's very nice!" Aladar Komlosh replied that if any prayers existed in the world, it was this true prayer service of the Satmar rebbe. We all felt we were listening to a holy Jewish prayer, and we could not remain indifferent to it. At the end of November we heard reports that we would be liberated, and would be taken to Switzerland. Our hearts were filled with nervousness, fear, and apprehension. Our minds were filled with doubts as to the veracity of the reports, and the entire camp was in a tense mood. We got ready to pack our bags and waited for the moment liveration would arrive. On that very day, filled with physical and emotional stress, the rebbe's attendant approached me and asked whether I still wanted the rebbe's autograph. Some five months had already passed, and we have lived through many difficulties. I had already forgotten about the whole subject. "Of course I would like to have the rebbe's autograph," I replied with a restrained smile. This is how I obtained the rebbe's autograph in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The rebbe had not forgotten about the subject of my request during all those months, and as soon as it became "appropriate" he fulfilled my request. Afterwards, when we were actuaally released and in Switzerland on one cold December night, we marched along St. Galen Street to the barracks that had been prepared for us. On the corners of the street we were met by fellow Jews who were unable to approach us up close, but tossed apples and sweets our way, and we caught them with both hands. However, these Jews who threw us gifts had one question: "Where is the rebbe?" Bela Zholt strode along side me, excitedly observing, "You see, Ferenz, I am nothing! No one knows me even though hundreds of thousands of people have read my novels and poetry. No one is waiting for me; they only know the rebbe. They are only waiting for him!" Our group comprised more than 1,300 people, including various famous personalities from the Hungarian Jewish community. The majority of our group was of course assimilated and modernized Jews. There were very few Orthodox Jews. The transport comprised professors, poets, artists, community activists and leaders of the Hungarian Zionist movement and their families. The Satmar rebbe, Rabbi Teitelbaum, did not at all fit in to our community, whose major leaders were intellecuals and academics who believed that as soon as liberation arrived, they would be greeted with great honor. Yet suddenly here they were so bitterly disappointed since here in Switzerland almost no one paid any attention to them. EVeryone was interested in the personality known as the Satmar rebbe, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum. Everyone wanted to know where he was in the transport, and how he was feeling. Everyone asked the same question: Where is the rabbi? So we all realized that it was not the professionals and academics who were indispensable, but rather the quiet and haggard holy man. In Switzerland we all parted ways, but for a long time thereafter until today, I think a great deal about the fascinating personality of the Satmar rebbe. I frequently still remember the following little philosophical ideas: When we consider the significance of religion, and the fact that the Torah and faith is what has preserved the Jewish People over thousands of years of Exile, we must also realize that the Satmar rebbe is without a doubt one of the holiest individuals produced by the Jewish People, and is the greatest guardian to assure that the Torah of Moses is not forgotten, G-d forbid. It may be possible that we perceive him as being too fastidious, too stubborn about following every point of the Torah, but without a doubt he is the real and most loyal defender of the Torah, a true leader of the Jewish People!