International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

Axis of Denial: Unveiling the Collaboration between Hajj Amin al-Husseini and the Nazi Regime in the Facilitation of the Holocaust and Genocidal Propaganda in the Arab-Islamic Sphere

This paper interrogates and substantiates the pivotal role played by Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, in the ideological and logistical machinery of the Holocaust. Far from being a marginal or symbolic figure, al-Husseini's active collaboration with the Nazi regime between 1941 and 1945, particularly in Berlin, places him within the sphere of complicity in genocidal intent and action. Drawing upon a wide range of primary sources—including intercepted communications, records of meetings with Nazi leadership, al-Husseini’s own radio broadcasts, and transcripts from the Nuremberg trials—this study demonstrates that al-Husseini not only endorsed the extermination of Jews in Europe but actively sought the expansion of the Final Solution to the Middle East. His efforts to block the transfer of Jewish children from Axis-controlled Europe to Palestine, his antisemitic propaganda disseminated throughout the Islamic world, and his recruitment of Muslim SS units in the Balkans, all suggest a calculated strategy aligning Islamic antisemitism with Nazi ideology. This research challenges postwar attempts to sanitize or obscure al-Husseini's involvement, particularly in Arab nationalist and Islamist narratives, and argues for a reexamination of his historical legacy in light of genocidal complicity. By situating al-Husseini’s collaboration within broader geopolitical and theological frameworks, the paper also exposes the underexplored confluence of European fascism and radical Islamism in the mid-twentieth century.