Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World (22 page)

By May 21, at least six texts had been prepared and approved for distribution in North Africa and the Middle East. They included "Islam and the Jews," probably written by the Mufti; a cartoon-like series mocking the English, "King George and His Ministers"; "Bolshevism, the Plague of Humanity"; and Hans Alexander Winkler's previously mentioned call for sabotage entitled "Oh En- glishman:'83 The texts were printed with folded, pocket-sized color drawings. The text of "Bolshevism, the Plague of Humanity" warned Arabs of the fate of Islamic Iran at the hands of the "godless" enemy. England, it began, "sold the Moslems in Iran to the Bolsheviks," who moved into the country and "stole the wealth, raped the women, and destroyed what was beautiful. What was holy to the believers, they desecrated and covered with filth." The colored drawings depicted the disaster inflicted on Iran by "godless hordes." The text reported that it began when "England gave its allies, the godless Bolsheviks and the Jews, free entry into the free and proud countries of the Middle East." In "a stream of blood and suffering, the red hordes poured into Iran and the Arab countries [and] destroyed everything in their path that was sacred to the believers." "Like a column of locusts," along with "this river of blood and suffering a second plague came to the country: the Jews! For England had promised all these countries as a reward to them [the Jews] and the Bolsheviks." "The Muslim's defenseless women are the victims of the red beasts. Only God knows the number of women who have been raped." Those Iranians who believed the English and Bolsheviks suffered "oppression and tears." The enemy grabbed "everything that is valuable," and under force and violence, "the oppressed people ... sends the country's wealth to England and to red Russia." The starving now cried out for bread "because the English and the Bolsheviks have taken all the food for their soldiers." The text urged the reader look closely at its pictures to "understand what the word `freedom' means to the English and the Bolsheviks. Then you will know where your friends are and who has fought you as an enemy." It was time to "wake up and act. Otherwise it will be too late and the English and the Bolsheviks will rob you of everything that you hold sacred. Your faith, your freedom, and your honor."84

"King George and His Ministers" offered a remarkable fairytale-style account, complete with twenty color pictures and captions, of the first years of World War II in Europe, ending in a complete British collapse. "Once there was a great king named George." Mimicking the style of a traditional chronicle, it reports that "this king had a minister named Churchill" who was "great but only in spreading lying propaganda and drinking whiskey." The British succumbed to arrogance and thus "declared war on another country that was peacefully going about its work." Yet "this people was young and strong" and threw King George's soldiers "into the sea." The images show British soldiers retreating at Norway, Dunkirk, Greece, Crete, Malaysia, and Singapore. Further, "many of the king's warships and merchant ships were sunk by the submarines and flyers of the brave adversary." It mocked the sovereigns who escaped to London and who "acted as if they still had their countries, that they governed them, and had a strong army that followed their orders." As the situation be came more dire, King George sent Churchill to see "the warmonger Roosevelt in distant America to ask him for help." But Roosevelt had started a war himself and "had been hit so hard by the adversary that he couldn't give ships or soldiers to the minister." In desperation, "the king and his minister seized at the last straw. They became pious." But "God saw through their hypocrisy because the king had lied too much and had brought too much trouble to the world." He turned his back on the king and hid "all the king's countries," such as Canada and Australia. Having lost the British Empire, "King George gave up the fight." Thereby "the many oppressed peoples of the world were again free" and looked to the future "full of hope and happiness." This, the pamphlet concluded, "was too much for Churchill, who could not live without war and lies. He collapsed and abandoned his soul, which at that same moment went to hell."85

On June 25, Neurath informed the Foreign Ministry that Rommel had requested "immediate implementation of active propaganda in Egypt." The following day, the Foreign Ministry informed him that 700,000 leaflets had been prepared for distribution.86 In addition, the German military leadership was sending the following: "Rommel, the Lion of the Desert" (500,000 copies), "Oh Mohammed Ali Zaghlul"(ioo,ooo), "A New Era Has Broken Out" (ioo,ooo), "England, Master of Lies" (ioo,ooo), "Green Is the Color of the Muslims" (ioo,ooo), "Oh Englishman" (ioo,ooo), and "Signs of Collapse" (ioo,ooo), with all leaflets to be distributed by planes over Egypt's major cities.87 On June 29, 250,000 additional leaflets were sent by plane to North Africa, "another million copies" were being printed, and more were being prepared.88 On July 15,1942, following the orders from the Army High Command and the Foreign Office, the Luftwaffe flew 760,000 leaflets to North Africa. They included 200,000 copies of the appeal by Husseini and Kilani that had been read on the radio, 100,000 copies of "Awake You Who Are Sleeping," and 50,000 colored postcards entitled "Roosevelt, Churchill, and the Arabs."89 Allowing for possible overlap in these figures, the leaflet blitz of June and July 1942 amounted to between 2 million and 3.86 million Arabic-language leaflets dropped from planes or distributed byAfrikakorp soldiers and intelligence agents on the ground.

The text of "Rommel, the Lion of the Desert" expressed the mood of imminent victory, Axis and Nazi anti-imperialism, and appeals to Egyptian nationalism similar to those being broadcast on Axis Arabic radio.

Egyptians, seize the day! Don't miss the coming, unique opportunity to shatter the British yoke forever.

Hunt the foreigners who act like masters in your own country!

Drive out the oppressors, who think only of themselves and let you starve!

Out with those who torment and torture you and have your brothers thrown in dungeons.

You are not alone! Friends stand ready to help you complete the work of liberation!

The soldiers of the Axis with their brave allies have again marched on all fronts to new battles and new victories.

And as shining as the fame of its army is, so too is the fame of its leader: General Rommel!

Last year, General Rommel defeated the English without difficulty and brought their march to Tripoli to a sudden end. This year, he again will strike them until a new "victorious" retreat of the English army takes place.... This time, though, the English retreat will not take place in distant countries but rather through Egypt, your own country!

Protect yourself so that the English don't leave your beautiful homeland as "scorched earth" as they did in the Philippines, Malaysia, Java, and Burma and as they have done everywhere in their countless retreats all over the world.

Guard your home and your fields.

Guard your camps and your factories.

Guard your bridges and your dams.

Guard everything that you hold dear from the torches and madness of this oppressor of all peoples!

The great hour will come.... Work for your freedom as Rommel works for you. Welcome him into your hearts as the harbinger of a new era and the friend of the Egyptian people!

God willing, England's defeat is certain!90

In these and other leaflets and broadcasts accompanying the Panzerarmee advance, the slogans of German and Italian propaganda included the following: "Egypt must be free from England," "Egypt for the Egyptians," and "The Axis fight for Egypt's complete independence, political freedom, and sovereignty."9' Nazi Germany, which was occupying and exploiting the European continent for its benefit, presented itself to the Arabs as a liberator and advocate of national independence and freedom.

In these same weeks, Italian Foreign Minister Gian Galeazzo Ciano approved the aerial distribution of two leaflets over Egypt. The first read:

Egyptians, the hour of your liberation has finally come. The powerful Italian and German troops are marching with unstoppable speed toward the friendly Egyptian people. The unbearable British arrogance that for sixty years has stolen the fruits of your labor, expropriated the wealth of your soil, insulted your military dignity, and damaged your independence is about to fall under the unavoidable blows of the Axis soldiers. Today, Egypt and the Axis powers are united in the same ideal and goal: that Egyptian soil should be liberated of our common enemy. Egyptians, receive the soldiers of the Axis armies as friends. Their victory is your freedom!

The second sounded a similar note:

The soldiers of the Axis will make you once again masters in your own country, following the Duce's word: "The Mediterranean belongs to the Mediterraneans." Facts will show you that the Axis troops come to Egypt as friends with the single goal of driving the English out. Germany and Italy will respect your freedom, your independence, and your sovereignty92

In early April 1942, Hans Alexander Winkler, working with Neurath, in North Africa had sent seven drafts of leaflets to the Foreign Office for approval for distribution in Egypt.93 By late May the Wehrmacht leadership had approved his drafts.94 On May 29, Gerhard Ruble, the director of the Department of Radio Policy in the Foreign Ministry, who was also an SS officer and later participated in the Einsatzgruppen murders on the Eastern Front, sent Kurt Munzel to North Africa to work with von Neurath and Winkler for two months.95 On July 21, Josiah von Rantzau, working in the Political Department of the Foreign Ministry, informed Winkler, "Your initiatives have fallen on very fruitful soil here and your texts will be used extensively." The leaflets would be flown to North Africa and "immediately distributed" by the Luftwaffe. Rommel "had spoken of them with high praise."96 Winkler replied, expressing his pleasure at this news and saying he thought that "a great deal can be accomplished in this way." Egypt was "so full of tension, that a clever and determined propaganda can unleash movements for us." He added that "the enemy's main argument against us" was that the Nazis were advocates of the doctrine of racial superiority. "Given the inclination of the Orientals to feelings of inferiority, this enemy agitation is not without success. But the wind can be taken out of the sails of English propaganda with praise of the Egyptians' cultural accomplishments and an emphasis on the Jews as the common racial-and for the Egyptians-religious adver- sary."97 As Nazi officials had done earlier during discussions in the 193os about the relevance of the Nuremberg race laws for Arabs, Persians, and Muslims in general, Winkler argued that Nazism was a doctrine aimed only at the Jews.

One of Winkler's creations was a long-winded (116 lines) leaflet in poetic form calling for the prevention of sabotage in Egypt in the event of a British defeat. He urged Egyptians to awaken from a long political slumber to fight with the Germans against the English oppressor. In the poem an English voice says: "I will destroy everything. And he burned the peasant's harvest. And he ignited the gasoline tanks. And he started fires in the big cities. And he killed the pigs and sheep. And he blew up the bridges. And he destroyed the trains." Before the English "flees, he destroys the country. So that nothing is left. Not even the mosques and schools." The text extols the alertness of "the men of the country" who guarded the wheat harvest, mills, coal reserves, train stations, post offices, electricity works, cotton fields, oil tanks, rail lines, bridges, radio stations, and waterworks. "When the English came in the night with their helpers ... Jews and traitors" with "fire and dynamite ... the men of the country" protected everything. The "dynamite cartridge exploded in the criminals' hand and tore him to pieces, and the fire in his hand enveloped the Jews and burned him." The English fled "because the strong one hunted him," and thus he was "not able to carry out his destruction.... The hour of liberation arrived. And the women made a trilling joyful sound. And the children's home was preserved. And the businessman went to his store. And the traveler took the train. And the bus drove over the bridge. And the children went to school. And the students rushed to the university. And the cotton could be sold. And the wheat was turned into bread. And the people thanked God for his blessings. And the work of human hands could not be destroyed by the merciless English."98

In another long (240 lines) leaflet in poetic form, Winkler appealed to Egyptian students and youth to awaken and unite against the English.

Once upon a time, the youth and students gathered in front of the universities. They were full of rage. The wide plaza was like a red sea. . . . The sea became larger and larger, with larger waves and then flowed like the overflowing Nile into the streets of the city where the English tyrants had their seat of government. Egypt's youth mixed together with the young people of the university, the rich and the poor, the clever and the simple. All were united. Just as the fingers of the hand unite to make a fist, so the men of the people united. They awoke, the sons of Egypt. And in the face of their unity, their anger, their power and their will, the English tyrants gave up and obeyed their command.... But this is not a history from our own days. Then, Egypt's soul was awake. Where has it gone? Is it possible for a people to forget? Is it possible that a people falls asleep? And sleeps when all are awake?

The text directs its appeal to "Oh Cairo. Oh place of the Azhar and the university." Was it possible, the text asked, "that a strong people sleeps, sleeps in the hour of its liberation? Sleep, my sons, sleep."99

Yet in the eighteen additional texts he sent to Berlin in April 1942, Winkler showed he could also be a man of fewer words. Some referred to English or Jewish misdeeds: "Why is the girl in the meadow crying? She is crying because the Australians stole her sheep." "The English club and the Jews' synagogue are close to one another. They are talking to one another on the street: `How [they are thinking] can we take the Egyptian's property away from him?"' Other texts called on Arabs to engage in sabotage: "Abu Zed puts a needle into the enemy's camel's hoof. It paralyzed the camel and he escaped from the enemy. Dschocha threw a handful of sugar into the gas tank of the English so his car was stuck in the desert and could not move forward or backward." He suggested some of the hazards the English might face: