Hitler's Zionism at a cost to German interests

"Let him [the Jew] look for his human rights where he

belongs: in his own state of Palestine." - Hitler (April 1920)

Nazi / Zionist Pact

In 1933 the Nazis and Zionists leaders signed the Haavara (Transfer) agreement, which before
Heinrich Himmler prohibited the emigration of Jews from Germany in October 1941, saw
c.60,000 Jews and £1.7 billion (2009 equivalent) transferred from Germany to Palestine.

How It Worked

Germany was still prostrated by the Great Depression and retribution debts burdened

upon her by the Versailles Treaty. The Nazis would not allowed Jewish wealth to leave

Germany, so the deal ensured the value of a Jews' wealth would be spent on German goods.

In many cases, Jews transferred actual replicas of their homes and factories from Germany

to Palestine. Also with the minimum amount of £1000 required by the British to satisfy

entry requirements, it ensured that the emigrants were mostly educated and wealthy Jews.

Two companies were established: the Haavara company in Tel Aviv, and a sister company named

Paltreu in Berlin (where 31% of German Jews lived). A Jew would pay a minimum of £1000 (2011

equivalent of $58,000.00) into the German account of the Haavara at the Wasserman Bank in Berlin,

or at the Warburg Bank in Hamburg. These funds would be used to purchase German goods for

export to Palestine, and the Jewish emigrant on their arrival in Palestine, would received the

equivalent in Palestinian Pounds, of the amount they had deposited into the German account.

Cost to Germany of Supporting Zionism

Not until the Palestinian Arab Rebellion began in 1936, a result of the mass Jewish

immigration into British Mandate Palestine, did various German institutions begin to

raise concerns about how the Nazi's Zionist policy was harming German interests.

But as we shall see, this was obviously not a concern to one Adolf Hitler.

In a March 22, 1937 memorandum from the German Consul-General in Jerusalem Hans Döhle,

warned that Germany need "not worry unduly about the sympathies of Palestinian Arabs

regarding Germany, since what is required is not even a question of an active Arab policy

so much as the need to avoid the conspicuous promotion lent to the building of the Jewish

national home." Döhle feared "that the Arab mood might turn around, and that we might be

accused of actively participating in the fight against them." and that "through our promotion of

Jewish immigration ... the position that was again captured by the Germans ... would come to grief."

A memorandum from the Office for Foreign Affairs on June 5, 1937 warned:

"Politically it (the Haavara) means giving valuable support to the establishment
of a Jewish national home with the help of German capital."

State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of the Interior Wilhelm Stuckart (circled above) warned in a

December 17, 1937 memorandum: "the advantages of the (Haavara) procedure have grown smaller

while the disadvantages are becoming larger." Stuckart was of the opinion that if the establishing of

a Jewish state was unavoidable, then "everything that would promote the growth of such a state

should be refrained from." Then Stuckart declared clearly "There is no doubt that the Haavara

procedure has made the greatest contribution to the tremendously rapid building of Palestine

[ie the Zionist colonies]. The procedure did not only come up with the largest sums of money

(from Germany) it also provided the most intelligent men amongst the immigrants, and finally,

provided the necessary machines and industrial equipment also from Germany."

Hitler's refusal to stop Nazi support of Zionism

As confirmed in a memorandum of the Political Trade Department of the Foreign Office

of January 27, 1938. The fears of German officials regarding the Nazi / Zionism pact, had

been brought before Hitler, who had decided that the Haavara pact should be continued.

Hitler decided that German support of the Zionist colonization of Palestine, should

not be halted despite the rising hostility of the Arabs towards Germany.

Another memorandum from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated November 12, 1938, demanded:

that "an initiative should be undertaken for the overdue cancellation of the Haavara agreement."

But this was not to happen until 3 years later, and only then because of the outbreak of war.

British Jews Jon & David Kimche (brothers) wrote in their 1956 book The Secret Roads:

"Hitler himself stepped in and ordered in precise terms the

encouragement of Jewish mass immigration to Palestine."

"the Fuehrer had decided again that Jewish emigration from Germany shall continue

to be promoted by all available means. Any question which might have existed up

to now as to whether in the Fuehrer's opinion such emigration is to be directed

primarily to Palestine has thereby been answered in the affirmative."

Sources

My main source (I even quote it verbatim at least once) was the 1976 paper by German

journalist Klaus Polkehn: The Secret Contacts: Zionism and Nazi Germany, 1933-1941.

Available for $12 & tax, or for free. A short paper only 30 pages long, and containing

many details not included in Edwin Black's 1984 book The Transfer Agreement, also

sourced here, and finally the Kimche quotes are from pages 28 & 30 respectfully.