Salah Montasser, an Egyptian author and journalist who writes for the official daily Al-Ahram and for other Egyptian dailies, recently published an article in the Egyptian daily Al-Masri Al-Yawm titled "The Question that Everyone Ignores: Why Did Hitler Murder the Jews?" In it, he argued that Jewish propaganda has managed to convince the world that Hitler murdered six million Jews, although this number seems "implausible," especially since Germany's Jewish population before the war was less than a quarter of that number. Citing arguments made by "a knowledgeable German friend" of his, he wrote that the Nazis actually killed only 100,000 - 600,000 Jews, much less than the number of Algerians killed in this country's war of independence against the French and the number of Palestinians that the Jews themselves killed in the conflict between the two peoples. He added, still citing the German friend, that Hitler had reasons for hating the Jews: although they constituted only 2% of the German population, they took over the media, the judicial system, the press, and the film industry, as well as theater and literature; spread moral degeneration, homosexuality and pornography, and were responsible for the collapse of the banks at the close of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
Montasser's article evoked a reaction from two other Egyptian journalists, who wrote that his claims were inaccurate and could also draw harsh responses. In an article titled "In Defense of the Truth," Dr. 'Abd Al-Mun'im Sa'id, board chairman of the Egyptian daily Al-Masri Al-Yawm, argued that Montasser's article could be interpreted as justifying what Hitler did to the Jews and could revive racist myths from the past. He condemned the use of stereotypes and generalizations against all peoples, and especially against the Jews, and argued that each individual should be judged on his own merits. Addressing Montasser's claims regarding the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust, he called them deceptive, pointing out that the Nazis exterminated not only the Jews of Germany but the Jews in all the countries they occupied. He also rejected the comparison with the number of Algerians killed in the war of independence, arguing that, unlike the Algerians, the Jews were the victims of a systematic ethnic cleansing that nothing could justify. Finally, he emphasized that Hitler systematically murdered not only Jews but also others, such as Gypsies and Communists, while noting that the Jewish Holocaust did not justify Israeli aggression against the Palestinians.
Osama Al-Ghazali Harb, the board chairman of Egypt's largest party, the Free Egyptians party, and the editor of Al-Ahram's political magazine Al-Siyassa Al-Dawliya, wrote that Montasser's article shocked him, and commended Dr. 'Abd Al-Mun'im Sa'id's for "putting things in the true perspective" and for engaging in a "cultured discussion" with Montasser.
Below are translated excerpts from the three articles:
Salah Montasser (Source: Al-Ahram.org.eg)
Egyptian Journalist Salah Montasser: Hitler Did Not Murder Six Million Jews; Jewish Propaganda Invented This Number
In his article, published June 6, 2016 in Al-Masri Al-Yawm, Salah Montasser wrote: "[Contrary to the claims] that the Jews spread – [and managed to entrench] to such an extent that it is [now] forbidden to question them and everybody who does so is accused [of antisemitism] – the truth is that the main enemies of Adolf Hitler, the German leader who rose to power in 1933, were the Communists, and he indeed eliminated them. In addition, he also killed a large number of Jews. Some say the number was six million, an enormous number that is implausible but which Jewish propaganda managed to spread and to entrench. But the question that nobody asks, and perhaps nobody is allowed to ask, is why Hitler did what he did to the Jews.
"Below I present the transcript of a recorded conversation that a knowledgeable German friend of mine sent me, in which he speaks in English in order to address the world and answer the question: what did the Jews do in Germany that caused Hitler to take revenge upon them? The speaker [in the recording] says: Everyone speaks of what the Germans did to the Jews, and there is nothing wrong with that. During the Third Reich between 100,000 and 600,000 Jews were directly or indirectly killed by the Nazi party. This figure, though large, is very small compared to the number of Algerian victims in the war of independence against France, or the number of Palestinian victims [killed] by Jews, or the millions killed by the Americans, Britons and Russians [in their hostilities against] other peoples.
"[So] what did the Jews do in Germany? When we ask what the Germans did to the Jews, we must [also] ask why it happened. The truth is that, starting in the 1850s, the Jews took over senior positions in the German Reich and did three dramatic things to harm Germany. First, they were a minority consisting no more than 2% of the German [population]. When Hitler rose to power they numbered 600,000, out of 60 million Germans. But this tiny minority managed to dominate 50% of the media, and [its members] constituted 70% of the judges. They forced their presence upon the media, and in film, theatre and literature. They were granted excessive dominance and promotion. While gaining this dominance they brought about most of the bank collapses [that occurred] between 1870 and 1920. They caused many financial collapses, and this is not Nazi propaganda. The Jews themselves admitted it. During this period millions of German households lost their livelihood, their savings and their investment options because of the Jewish banking gangs.
Another point was their impact on the German psychology, and this is the most dangerous factor. They spread a culture of iniquity in the press, in the media, in theatre and in literature. The first homosexual cabarets opened in Berlin in the 1920s, and the first pornographic [films] were created and screened by Jews in the 1880s and 1890s. [They spread] prostitution, homosexuality, every kind of sexual obsession and decadent art. This is a silly kind of art, now called modern art, and it was all spread and promoted by the Jews. This caused anger and outrage among German society. [The Jews] wrote books mocking Christianity and Jesus, just as Salman Rushdie did to the Muslims. The Nazis obviously benefitted from this anger and outrage. When Adolf Hitler rose to power, the number of unemployed Germans reached six million, and between 1935 and 1938 he managed to create jobs for all of them. Within two years he managed to create six million jobs, and that is amazing. Wanting to distort Hitler's success, the Jews said that if he created six million jobs it was only by killing six million Jews. The Jewish propaganda claiming that Hitler had killed six million Jews [eventually] won and today it is heard all over the media. This, while the entire Jewish population of Germany numbered less than a quarter of this figure..."[1]
Egyptian Journalists Attack Montasser's Article
'Abd Al-Mun'im Sa'id: Montasser's Statements May Be Interpreted As Justifying What Hitler Did
In his response article, published June 13 in Al-Masri Al-Yawm, 'Abd Al-Mun'im Sa'id wrote: "I owe a great debt to Salah Montasser, as a friend who always stood beside me in times of need... Hence, the reader should view what I write here as [an expression of] disagreement [with him and no more than that]... Salah Montasser is not just another writer, so what he wrote in his column... may be interpreted as justification for what Hitler did not only to the Jews but also to other races and groups which he regarded as inferior to the Aryan race. This [justification] may revive many myths regarding various groups and races that were commonly believed throughout history...
"I know Salah Montasser as a liberal and a reformist who calls for preserving a healthy [body] and a rational mind and viewing things honestly and reasonably. According to [the values of] this ideological school, viewing human [groups] as homogenous and saying 'the Jews said this' or 'the Jews did that' contravenes the recognition that human societies contain all sorts of people, ranging from stupid to intelligent and from moderate to radical. The Jews, who were dispersed among the nations, exhibited even greater cultural diversity. Thus, it is impossible to draw a comparison between Albert Einstein and [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu or [Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor] Lieberman, or between the three of them and Noam Chomsky, or between any of them and Layla Mourad [a Jewish Egyptian singer and actor who converted to Islam]. The examples are many and [the point] applies [equally] to Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus. One should not make generalizations and speak of an [entire] group of people dispersed all around the globe as one monolithic unit, and say that if one Jew said something then he represents all Jews. Each statement should be attributed only to the one who made it.
"Equally, one must not take the opinion [of some individual] as definitive, even the opinion of 'a German friend,' because in Germany, too, as in all Western countries, there are different kinds [of people]. In Germany there are Nazi and Fascist groups that have their own view of history, of existence and of other human groups [such as] the Jews, Arabs or others – and Donald Trump's opinions are not very different from [theirs]. These people's views are not free of deception, and this is also true of the German's statement that the number of Jews in Germany [before the war] was no greater than 500,000 [and therefore] how could the number of [Jewish] victims be six million? This number [six million] does not represent only the Jews of Germany but the Jews in all the countries that Germany occupied, which contained hundreds of thousands and even millions [of Jews]...
"The comparison [that the German friend draws] between the number of people killed in [the Nazi] detention camps and the [number of] martyrs killed in the Algerian war of independence ignores some horrific facts, [for instance that] the German Jews and the others [exterminated by the Nazis] did not carry arms and did resist their detention. [Their killing] was part of a systematic ethnic cleansing of civilians, whether by starving them or by killing them in gas chambers... None of this can be justified by citing the reasons that Hitler, the Nazis and the radical European right kept repeating, [namely] that the Jews took over the media and the judicial system and caused the financial crises in Germany and other parts of Europe between 1870 and 1920. In that period a conflict broke out between the major European countries France, Germany, Prussia, Austria and Russia... and the Jews were only a small minority in a progressive country [Germany], which was full of academics and philosophers and political leaders of every description. Hence, preferring the opinions of the 'German friend' over the statements and the books written by historians of every ideological school, on both the left and the right, cannot lead to the truth.
"The same is true for the claim that the Jews were responsible for moral decadence and spread licentiousness and sexual perversion... This is a reflection of one of the stereotypes of Jews that were prevalent in Nazi and racist literature...
"None of this grants Israel any kind of license for it actions of settlement or its hostility towards the Palestinians and the Arabs at large. On the contrary, it proves that what happened to the Jews under the heading of 'antisemitism' happens not only to Jews but spread to the Arabs, who are also Semites, and to Muslims, whether in the imperialist period or in the modern era, when every Muslim is treated as though he is Osama bin Laden or [ISIS leader] Al-Baghdadi. Decent and honest thinking [leads to the conclusion] that what was done to the Jews by Nazi Germany is a huge mark of shame that no historic claims can justify..."[2]
Dr. Osama Al-Ghazali Harb: I Was Shocked To Read Montasser's Article; I Am Happy That 'Abd Al-Mun'im Sa'id Set Things Right
Egyptian journalist Dr. Osama Al-Ghazali Harb, board chairman of the Free Egyptians party, wrote: "Salah Montasser's article... filled me with amazement and even anxiety due to the reactions it could spark, which the honorable gentleman [Salah Montasser] undoubtedly does not need. The issue of Hitler's and the Nazis' position towards the Jews and the other races they regarded as inferior to the Aryan race is one of the large issues that have preoccupied the world since the 1920s or 1930s. Hitler's victims were not all Jews but belonged to dozens of races and nationalities. Therefore I am grateful for the important article that Dr. 'Abd Al-Mun'im wrote in Al-Masri Al-Yawm on June 14, 2016 under the headline 'Defending the Truth,' which put things in their rightful place as part of a civilized debate with Mr. Salah Montasser.[3]
