Posted Tuesday, July 14, 2009 The extraordinary Nazi - Zionist cooperative effort in 1933 - a medal retrieves it from the Memory Hole We asked who could identify this remarkable two-faced medallion, and received a score of replies: Mark Weber of the IHR writes: THAT "Nazi-Zionist" medallion was issued by the Berlin daily Der Angriff to commemorate a joint visit to Zionist Palestine by SS officer Leopold von Mildenstein and Zionist Federation official Kurt Tuchler. A series of articles on their tour, appearing under the heading "A Nazi Travels to Palestine," appeared in Der Angriff in late 1934. For more on this, see my article, "Zionism and the Third Reich," posted at http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v13/v13n4p29_Weber.html Mark Weber I HAVE one of these tokens. It was a struck for Goebbels' Der Angriff newspaper and translates as "A (Nazi) travels to Palestine". It served to commemorate the occasion a Zionist supporter/sympathiser, (and assured collaborator), SS member Baron Leopold Von Mildenstein, together with his wife and Kurt Tuchler of The Zionist Federation of Germany, spent six months travelling Palestine. At this time many German Zionists, like Tuchler, were Nazi supporters and emphatically indulged themselves in what they saw as the integrity and goodwill of NSDAP policy toward Jewish resettlement: it also furthered their political objectives. Mildenstein's favourable report was therefore sought equally by German Zionists and Nazi's in their collective efforts at proselytising the peopling of Palestine with Jewish Semites. The Journals of this visit were subsequently serialised in Der Angriff in the mid 30's. I believe Von Mildenstein also championed the promotion of Eichmann within the Resettlement Dept. The twisted genius of Goebbels can never be underestimated. Regards, Neal Jackson THE Medallion was struck by the Third Reich to honor the co-operation and support given by the Zionist Jewish Agency in helping to make Germany "Judenfrei". The SS concluded written Agreements with the Zionist organization to ensure that Jews in Germany or under their control were forced to emigrate, selling their assets, the proceeds of which were placed in German bank accounts which would be available to the Jewish Agency for the purchase of goods and services from Germany IF the deportee agreed to settle in Palestine. The new immigrant to the Jewish controlled area of Palestine, and his family would be given jobs, typically on a Kibbutz, and become a farm laborer - with his tractor and farm equipment purchased from Germany (but owned by the Jewish Agency). It was a difficult choice for the Jew who hated farming and the nasty climate in Palestine - but if it meant his and his family's life, he often took it. Accordingly, the Zionists encouraged the Nazi regime to make life as frighteningly miserable as possible for Jews under their control. The choice was Concentration Camp or Palestine (Israel). Many thousands chose Palestine. Germany rid itself of Jews and improved it's economy and Jewish Palestine ( then a Communist entity) received the colonists it desperately needed to outnumber the indigenous peoples whose land it was. Much literature exists documenting this arrangement including a book entitled "The Transfer Agreement ". In other words, Zionists strongly supported the harshest treatment of European Jews by Hitler. The Nazi regime created this Medal in honor of their collaboration in ridding Europe of Jews, while preserving their lives. Gene Herbert http://www.marxists.de/middleast/brenner/ch07.htm#20 ACCORDING to the above article,the medal commemorated Baron von Mildenstein's visit to Palestine. THIS was a medal struck in honor in honor of Baron von Mildenstein's report on Palestine, which ran in Der Angriff from Sept 26 to October 9, 1934. See Zionism in the Age of the Dictators, by Lenni Brenner. PS -- I have been hoping to eventually find a copy or scan of this report, though I have no idea where one finds back issue of Der Angriff. David F. YOU'VE probably received hundreds of replies about the medallion, but here is my contribution. "... Thus, in early 1933, Baron Leopold Itz Edler von Mildenstein, a man who a few years later was to become chief of the Jewish section of the SD (the Sicherheitsdienst, or security service, the SS intelligence branch headed by Reinhard Heydrich), was invited along with his wife to tour Palestine and to write a series of articles for Goebbels's Der Angriff. And so it was that the Mildensteins, accompanied by Kurt Tuchler, a leading member of the Berlin Zionist Organisation, and his wife, visited Jewish settlements in Eretz Israel. The highly positive articles, entitled "A Nazi Visits Palestine," were duly published, and, to mark the occasion, a special medallion cast, with a swastika on one side and a Star of David on the other." http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/a-list/2003w27/msg00029.htm David Catleugh http://randompottins.blogspot.com/2007/05/coin-with-two-sides.html FRIDAY, MAY 04, 2007 A coin with two sides AT the end of 1979 a row broke out in Britain over the fairly innocent and respectable magazine History Today, which links professional historians who write most of its copy to teachers, students, and the interested general reader. There were complaints to the publishers, letters to newspapers, even attempts to remove the magazine from some newsagents' shelves. Such publicity must have been a bit of a shock to the magazine's editors and writers, though it can't have harmed circulation figures, I imagine. I even invested 60p in a copy of the January 1980 issue myself. (Nowadays I think the magazine costs over £3.00). What caused the furore was an article entitled "A Nazi travels to Palestine", by Jacob Boas. Or rather, it was the publicity for the article, because people started kicking up a fuss before they could even have read what Boas had to say in it. Boas's article described how Baron Leopold Itz von Mildenstein, a member of the Nazi party and of Hitler's SS, set out in the Spring of 1933, accompanied by his wife and Kurt Tuchler, an official of the Zionist Federation of Germany, also with his wife, on a journey to Palestine. Hitler had just become Chancellor, and begun his anti-Jewish policies. Julius Streicher wanted to drive the Jews out of Germany. But the Nazis were not clear about how they intended to set about this without disrupting the already Depression-beset German economy, and nor did they know what the effects might be on Germany's relations with the rest of the world. The Zionists, for their part, were enjoying an upsurge of support among German Jews after Hitler took office in January 1933. Most had seen little point before in leaving a country where they were well-established to take their chances in poor and troubled Palestine. They saw themselves as good Germans whose future, like so much of their past, was in the Fatherland. But now Hitler was telling them otherwise. The Juedische Rundschaue, fortnightly paper of the Zionist Federation, saw its circulation climb from less than 10,000 to almost 38,500 by the end of 1933. It declared that only those whose commitment to the Jewish people was beyond reproach could defend Jewish rights. It also said that only the Zionists were capable of approaching the Nazis in good faith as "honest partners". The Zionists proposed that the status of German Jews be regulated on a group basis, and asked for government help towards emigration. Von Mildenstein, approached to write something favourable about Zionism and its project in Palestine, agreed on condition that he could make a visit, accompanied by Kurt Tuchler. He was favourably impressed, and saw advantages for Germany, as well as for the SS as proposers of a policy. A series of article entitled "Ein Nazi faehrt nach Palestina" began in September 1934 in Der Angriff , Goebbels' newspaper. It ran for twelve parts. Von Mildenstein saw in the Jewish settlement on the land a form of rebirth fitting Nazi notions about blood and soil, as well as a way of ridding Germany of Jews. But life was difficult in Palestine, and problems were looming, in Palestinian Arab resistance to Zionist colonisation and British rule. Though the SS gave privileges to Zionists over other Jewish groups, assisting their youth movements, and giving them the right to wear uniform and fly the blue and white flag, Von Mildenstein's own star faded amid rivalries and policy failures, while a man he had brought into the Jewish department came to the fore, one Adolf Eichmann. Himself a survivor, born in Westerbork concentration camp, Boas is a noted Holocaust historian and educator, who did not go out of his way to sensationalise this episode or demonise those taking part. He did not go on to consider later responsibilities, the role of the Evian conference, or Jewish Agency agreements, or whether more Jews could have been rescued if they could have gone elsewhere. His part of the story ends there, in 1936. But while Von Mildenstein was influencing policy, Der Angriff had a medal struck to commemorate his voyage to Palestine, a medal with the Nazi swastka on one side and the Star of David on the other. History Today used this motif in publicity for its January 1980 issue with Jacob Boas article. This brought howls of outrage from Zionist student spokespersons and others convinced it was their duty to protect Zionism from any suggestion that its leaders ever collaborated with Nazis, and to denounce History Today's supposed motives as well as an article they had not yet read. For some this subject remains taboo, even when broached by an objective and even fairly sympathetic historian, as Boas was. When Lenni Brenner, author of Zionism in the Age of the Dictators, came to speak in Britain a few years after this row, all hell broke out, as I can testify, having been on the receiving end of a few punches when I tried to stop some Zionist yobbos breaking up a meeting and throwing furniture around. Whether or not one likes Brenner, or agrees with his approach, his opponents were unable to debate the facts in his books, and had to persuade themselves they were tackling something else. Now I am grateful to Lenni Brenner for sending a picture of a solid reminder of the past. He writes that John Sigler, an anti-Zionist Jew, has found one of Goebbels' medals, struck to commemorate Von Mildenstein's trip. " John bought his medal from a respected coin dealer. It's about 1.5" in diameter and was originally in bronze. It is thicker than a coin. The photo is of a silvered bronze. (Silvered medals are common.). "The Star of David side inscription reads: EIN NAZI FÄHRT NACH PALÄSTINA -- A Nazi Travels to Palestine. The Swastika side inscription is UND ERZÄHLT DAVON IM Angriff -- And tells about it in the Angriff". Nazis and Zionists were not evenly matched in the nightmare of the 1930s and nor were their motives equally evil. But today's Holocaust revisionism and denial, whether from neo-Nazis or their dupes, has as the other side of its coin, or medal, the way the Zionist propaganda machine has sought to monopolise and distort this piece of history for its own ends, leaving out and denying whatever does not fit its myth. History must be rescued from both sets of foes. posted by Charlie Pottins at 7:40 AM William C. Carlotti, Vermont wrote: IN OCTOBER of 2002 I wrote an article for The Voice News entitled "Palestine, Immigration and Ha'avara" dealt with the subject of Zionist collaboration with the Nazi SS and with United States. The article extracted considerable information from sites on the web without appropriate attribution that might have been necessary for a scholarly journal but which I considered necessary for the limitations of space placed on such newspaper contributions. I always wondered where it would be possible to obtain a photo of the medal and a copy of the twelve favorable articles written by the Nazi that visited Palestine. Here is a copy of my article. Palestine, Immigration and Ha'avara By William C. Carlotti, Vermont MARVIN Peyser maintains that one of the benefits of supporting Israel comes from the fact that "the bulk of the $3 billion (a year) in military aid (to Israel) is spent right here in the U.S." in support of the "American defense industry," which, according to Mr. Peyser, is a "vital part of our economy." [Supporting Israel Is in America's Best Interest, June 21] Actually, the aid requirement is that it be spent with the American manufacturers of armaments, bombs, bullets, guns, weapons, planes, and other killing devices (including the design and development of the special tanks that are notorious for their intrusions into Palestine communities). European (mostly German) Jews made a similar arrangement with Hitler's Nazi German government some seven months or so after Hitler came to power in 1933. The arrangement became known as Ha'avara (the Transfer Agreement). Nazi Germany and the Jewish Agency concluded the transfer negotiations, allowing Jews emigrating from Germany to Palestine to deposit their assets in Germany and receive Palestine pounds upon their arrival in Palestine. The Zionist Federation of Germany, the Anglo-Palestine Bank, and the German economic authorities signed the Agreement on August 25, 1933, permitting the transfer of Jewish capital from Germany to Palestine by immigrants or investors. Through this unusual arrangement, those Jews bound for Palestine deposited money in a special account in Germany. The money was used to purchase German-made agricultural tools, building materials, pumps, fertilizer, motor transport, and other goods of all kinds and descriptions, which were exported to Palestine and sold there by the Jewish-owned Ha'avara company in Tel-Aviv. Money from the sales was given to the emigrants upon their arrival in Palestine in an amount corresponding to their deposits in German banks. German goods poured into Palestine through the Ha'avara, which was supplemented a short time later with a barter agreement by which Palestine's oranges and agricultural products were exchanged for German timber, automobiles, agricultural machinery, and other goods. The Agreement enabled German Jews to meet the requirements of the British certificate of immigration and served the Zionist aim of bringing Jewish settlers and development capital to Palestine, while it simultaneously served the German economy with an increase in the production and export of German goods to offset its economic depression. For a time, the Ha'avara Agreement helped the Nazis in undermining the anti-Nazi boycott initiated by the American Jewish Congress only weeks before the agreement was signed. The negotiations for the agreement were initiated six months after Hitler came to power by the Zionist Federation of Germany (by far the largest Zionist group in the country), which submitted a detailed memorandum to the new government. The memorandum reviewed German-Jewish relations and formally offered Zionist support in "solving" the vexing "Jewish question." The first step, it suggested, had to be a frank recognition of fundamental national differences: "Zionism believes that the rebirth of the national life of a people, which is now occurring in Germany through the emphasis on its Christian and national character, must also come about in the Jewish national group. For the Jewish people, too, national origin, religion, common destiny and a sense of its uniqueness must be of decisive importance in the shaping of its existence because we, too, are against mixed marriage and are for maintaining the purity of the Jewish group and reject any trespasses in the cultural domain, we&emdash;having been brought up in the German language and German culture&emdash;can show an interest in the works and values of German culture with admiration and internal sympathy " As a result, the Hitler government vigorously supported Zionism's proposal for Jewish emigration to Palestine from 1933 until 1940-41. So thorough was the collaboration that the SS became particularly enthusiastic in its support for Zionism's transfer agreement. SS officer Leopold von Mildenstein and Zionist Federation official Kurt Tuchler and their wives toured Palestine together for six months to assess Zionist development there. Based on his firsthand observations, von Mildenstein wrote a series of twelve illustrated articles for the important Berlin daily Der Angriff that appeared in late 1934 under the heading "A Nazi Travels to Palestine," praising the success of the transfer agreement. The publishers of Der Angriff issued a special medal, with a swastika on one side and a Star of David on the other, to commemorate the joint SS-Zionist visit. A few months after the articles appeared, von Mildenstein was promoted to head the Jewish affairs department of the SS security service in order to support Zionist migration and development more effectively. Between 1933 and 1941, some 60,000 of Germany's wealthiest, best-educated Jews (or about 10% of Germany's 1933 Jewish population) emigrated to Palestine through the Ha'avara and other German-Zionist arrangements. (These German Jews made up about 15% of Palestine's 1939 Jewish population.) The total amount transferred from Germany to Palestine through the Ha'avara between August 1933 and the end of 1939 was 8.1 million pounds or 139.57 million German marks (then equivalent to more than $40 million, but the equivalent of $516 million in 2002 dollars). This amount included 33.9 million German marks ($13.8 million) provided by the Reichsbank in connection with the Agreement. Several major industrial enterprises were built with the capital from Germany, including the Mekoroth waterworks and the Lodzia textile firm. The influx of Ha'avara goods and capital produced an economic explosion in Jewish Palestine. Having learned from its collaboration with Hitler's Germany, Israel's ruling elite&emdash;now interned in the Likud Party&emdash;have made the same deal with the United States to the tune of $90 billion of military aid since 1948, which has been spent in the United States to bolster the military-industrial complex. The continuing colonial expansion of Israel, turned into the United States "Fort Apache" of the Middle East, is recorded in the deaths and sufferings of the Jewish and Palestine peoples. http://www.thevoicenews.com/news/2002/1004/In_Response/R01.html The same for your french readers http://mounadil.blogspot.com/2007/05/le-revers-peu-connu-dun-cheminement.html#links PLEASE see a website: The Marxisim Message-Nazi-Zionist Cooperation. (I dont have the direct address,but it comes up on MSN.) It has a long explanation. A German Baron; SS member von Mildenstein visited Palestine on the urging of Zionsts, then wrote a positive, 12 part series in Der Angriff for Dr. Goebbels!The medal was apparently struck on Goebbels' orders in anticapation (according to the article) of further cooperation with the Zionist Council in Germany. I hope this is helpful. Many kind regards to you,and my personal hero, Mr.Irving Sincerely, David Stolz There is plenty on the medal if you google: Ein Nazi fahrt nach Palestina Among the articles: http://www.marxists.de/middleast/brenner/ch07.htm#n19 By 1934 the SS had become the most pro-Zionist element in the Nazi Party. Other Nazis were even calling them "soft" on the Jews. Baron von Mildenstein had returned from his six-month visit to Palestine as an ardent Zionist sympathiser. Now as the head of the Jewish Department of the SS's Security Service, he started studying Hebrew and collecting Hebrew records; when his former companion and guide, Kurt Tuchler, visited his office in 1934, he was greeted by the strains of familiar Jewish folk tunes. There were maps on the walls showing the rapidly increasing strength of Zionism inside Germany. Von Mildenstein was as good as his word: he not only wrote favourably about what he saw in the Zionist colonies in Palestine; he also persuaded Goebbels to run the report as a massive twelve-part series in his own Der Angriff (The Assault), the leading Nazi propaganda organ (26 September to 9 October 1934). His stay among the Zionists had shown the SS man "the way to curing a centuries-long wound on the body of the world: the Jewish question". It was really amazing how some good Jewish boden under his feet could enliven the Jew: "The soil has reformed him and his kind in a decade. This new Jew will be a new people." To commemorate the Baron's expedition, Goebbels had a medal struck: on one side the swastika, on the other the Zionist star. [19] 19. Jacob Boas, A Nazi Travels to Palestine, History Today (London, January 1980), p.38. Addendum to last email: Specifically, see page 78 of Zionism in the Age of the Dictators by Brenner. The entire work is readily available online. PPS - Mr. Brenner is one of the last true Communists, and not at all friendly to "right wing" revisionists (He expressed a desire to burn down the IHR building when contacted about stocking his books). He was clearly disgusted by the fascist collaboration of the Zionists though, and detailed it in both the above work and 51 Documents. Both are well worth reading, and carefully footnoted. David F. Our dossier on the Origins of Anti-Semitism Website support: contribute once | regularly