Sunday, July 17, 2016

Huffington Post Reviews Rubin & Schwanitz's Nazis, Islamists: "What We Got Wrong About Nazis And Terrorists"

By Steve Mariotti
Huffington Post, July 7, 2016

“Terrorism, the Skorzeny Syndrome, is flourishing in the modern world, a reminder that Hitler and Nazism are still taking their toll more than three decades after the Third Reich collapsed.”— Glenn B. Infield, biographer of Nazi commander Otto Skorzeny

On November 28, 1941, Adolf Hitler and Arab leader Mohammed Amin al-Husaini had a pivotal 90-minute meeting. New research has revealed that Hitler and the Mufti verbally cemented a pact to exterminate the Jewish population in Europe and in the Middle East.

Adolf Hitler and Mohammed Amin al-Husaini meet in Berlin, 1941

This critical meeting changed the course of history, and it likely represents the dawn of modern-day terrorism, according to the riveting book by Barry Rubin and Wolfgang Schwanitz Nazis, Islamists, and the Making of the Modern Middle East.

"Riveting book... The Nazi link to Islamic extremism and terrorist tactics is clear... Why aren't our leaders talking about this?"


ISIS’s dream of a border-melting Islamic State echoes Hitler’s efforts to create a Third Reich in Europe. The escalating terror attacks in Orlando, Turkey, Dhaka, the Medina and Baghdad in response to ISIS’s recent loss of territory are reminiscent of terrorist tactics the Nazis resorted to as their dream was crushed near the end of World War II.

Shortly after al-Husaini and Hitler met, Hitler and his inner circle began to plan at the Wannsee Conference how they would carry out the genocide of Europe’s Jews. The alliance between al-Husaini and Hitler would eventually culminate in Nazi leaders relocating to the Middle East after World War II. There, they would spread their socialist and genocidal ideologies while training Arab jihadists in terrorist tactics.

The Nazi Origins Of Modern-Day Terrorism

During the final months of World War II, Hitler saw his dreams for a Third Reich crumble as Allied Forces turned the tides of war. Hitler became increasingly desperate for results and for propaganda wins to maintain morale. He sought counsel from Otto Skorzeny, the leader of Operation Greif, which used German soldiers to infiltrate their opponents by adapting enemy languages, uniforms and customs. Skorzeny was the twisted genius who had dressed Nazi soldiers in American uniforms in an effort to spread rumors of Eisenhower’s assassination and demoralize the Allies. In 1943, Skorzeny led the rescue mission that freed Benito Mussolini from prison. In 1944, he organized a secret unit of German suicide bombers.

To read the full article, click here.