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{{Short description|1944 SS operation}}
{{For|the 2008 terrorist-attack drill/mockup at the Logan airport in Boston, Massachusetts|Operation Atlas}}
{{use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{For|the 1969 military operation in Vietnam|Operation Atlas Wedge}}
{{operational plan {{operational plan
| name =Operation ATLAS | name = Operation Atlas
| partof = ] and the ]
| partof =]
| image = | image =
| caption = | caption =
| scope = | scope =
| type = | type =
| location =] | location = ]
| coordinates= | coordinates =
| map_type = | latitude =
| latitude = | longitude =
| longitude = | map_type =
| map_size = | map_size =
| map_caption= | map_caption =
| map_label = | map_label =
| planned = | planned =
| planned_by = ]{{sfn|MI5 Kurt Wieland|2001}}
| planned_by =]<ref name=autogenerated2></ref><br>Berlin-based ]<ref name=autogenerated2 />
| objective = Attacking the ] and fomenting tensions among Palestinian Jews and Arabs.<ref name=autogenerated3> {{dead link|date=January 2014}} </ref> | objective = Attacking the ] and fomenting tensions among Jews and Arabs.{{sfn|MI5 Kurt Wieland|2001}}
| target = | target =
| date =October 1944 | date = October 1944
| time = | time =
| time-begin = | time-begin =
| time-end = | time-end =
| timezone = | timezone =
| executed_by=A special commando unit of the ] | executed_by = A special commando unit of the ]
| outcome =Operation failed | outcome = Operation failed
| casualties = ]<br>] Soldier killed
| casualties = none
| injuries = 3 members injured
| fatalities =
| injuries =
}} }}
{{Campaignbox Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine}}
'''Operation Atlas'''{{sfn|MI5 Kurt Wieland|2001}} was the ] for an operation carried out by a special commando unit of the ] which took place in October 1944. It involved five soldiers: three who were previously members of the ] religious sect in ], and two ] who were close collaborators of the ], ].{{sfn|MI5 Kurt Wieland|2001}}


Atlas aimed at establishing an intelligence-gathering base in Mandatory Palestine, radioing information back to Germany, and recruiting and arming anti-British Palestinians by buying their support with gold.{{sfn|Fountain|2001}}
'''Operation ATLAS'''<ref>{{dead link|date=January 2014}} </ref>
was the ] for an operation carried out by a special commando unit of the ] which took place in October 1944. It involved five soldiers: three who were previously members of the ] religious sect in Palestine, and two ] close collaborators of the ], ].<ref name=autogenerated2 /><ref name=mi5file></ref>

The mission aimed at establishing an intelligence-gathering base in Palestine, radioing information back to Germany, and recruiting and arming anti-British Palestinians by buying their support with gold.<ref>Rick Fountain, at ] 5 July 2001</ref> It also aimed at fomenting tensions between Jews and Arabs, thus creating problems for the British Mandatory authorities.


The plan failed utterly, and no meaningful action could be undertaken by the commandos. Three of the participants were arrested by the ] a few days after their landing. The German commander was captured in 1946 and the fifth, ], succeeded in escaping. The plan failed utterly, and no meaningful action could be undertaken by the commandos. Three of the participants were arrested by the ] a few days after their landing. The German commander was captured in 1946 and the fifth, ], succeeded in escaping.


One version of the incident by ] and ], alleges that the mission included a plan to poison the drinking water resources of the residents of ]. This version is not disputed by others. One version of the incident advanced by ] and ] alleges that the mission included a plan to poison the drinking water resources of the residents of ]. British and German archives have yet to reveal any evidence for this story, and the mufti's biographers ignore it.


== Background == ==Background==
]
Numerous German-Arab commando operations were conducted over 1943-1944 from North Africa to Syria and Iraq, in order to collect intelligence, conduct sabotage operations against the Allies, and to foment uprisings.<ref name="Mallmann 2010 p.200">{{harvnb|Mallmann|Cüppers|2010|p=p.200}}</ref>


Numerous German-Arab commando operations were conducted over 1943-1944 from North Africa to Syria and Iraq, in order to collect intelligence, conduct sabotage operations against the Allies, and to foment uprisings.{{sfn|Mallmann|Cüppers|2010|p=200}} ] was one of prominent Palestinian Arabs leaders who fled ] in 1937 during ] and spent World War II period as visiting collaborator of the ].
Amin al-Husseini, who was one of the main ] leaders and who had fled ] in 1937 during ], spent the war as a guest of the ]. On November 28, 1941, he met with ] and received an undertaking that ] would either pursue at war's end 'the destruction of the Jewish element residing in the Arab sphere under the protection of British power' or 'the destruction of the power protecting the Jews.'<ref>], with Jürgen Matthäus, ''The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1942'', University of Nebraska Press, 2004 p.406;'die Vernichtung des im arabischen Raum unter der Protektion der britischen Macht lebenden Judentums sein,' drawing on David Yisraeli, ''The Palestine Problem in German Politics'', 1889-1945 p. 310. In his note to the text p. 539 n. 107, Browning records that ]'s recollection is slightly different and less specific: "At the moment of Arab liberation, Germany had no interest there other than the destruction of the power protecting the Jews" (''die Vernichtung der das Judentum protegierenden Macht''). ISBN 0-8032-1327-1</ref>


As the ] closed in on Germany from the west of the ] and from the east through ], operations were devised to disrupt and divert Allied forces on Germany's southern and eastern flanks. One such operation in the Middle Eastern theatre consisted of at least one sabotage operation in Palestine. The Waffen SS unit members were ordered to contact pro-Nazi agents in Palestine and set up secret bases in the region.
Kurt Wieland, a Palestine-born German from the Templer community in ], was head of the Palestinian Hitler Youth in 1938. He joined the ] in 1940,<ref name="Mallmann 2010 p.201">{{harvnb|Mallmann|Cüppers|2010|p=p.201}}</ref> and took part in the ] in 1941. Wieland was assigned to the military intelligence corps due to his knowledge of languages. He advanced his position rapidly and eventually got to the rank of major, serving in the special commando unit of the ] under the command of ]. The unit involved belonged to ].<ref name="Mallmann 2010 p.200"/> Wieland was in charge of the technical side of the operation.<ref>{{harvnb|Adams|2009|p=15}}.</ref>


The operation, originally developed out by Walter Lorch and named ''Elias'', was redesigned by his nephew Kurt Wieland in the summer of 1944 as Operation Atlas.{{sfn|Biddiscombe|2018|pp=795–796}} A similar plan had been hatched by Abdullatif Zul el-Kifel, a member of the circle around Amin al-Husayni.{{efn|al-Husayni attribuited to Zul el-Kifel the paternity of operation Atlas {{harv|Biddiscombe|2018|pp=795–796,800}}.}} Al-Husayni argued that were the ] against British authorities in Palestine to fail, they would redirect their anger against Palestinian Arabs who would stand in need of leadership. The ] in Palestine was also pressing for action to retaliate for Arabs deaths incurred by the Jewish revolt.{{efn|"Within the homeland itself, the most radical elements in the PAP were already pushing for a campaign of retaliation in response to Arab deaths occurring as a by-product of Palestinian Jewish terrorism. Thus, tactical operations would replicate the anti-Jewish outrages of the interwar period. The focus was on prospective bombings of synagogues and burnings of shops owned by Palestinian Jews, and the Mufti suggested that his fighters be equipped with incendiary devices." {{harv|Biddiscombe|2018|p=797}}}} al-Husayni imagined preparing the ground by such an operation so that they could take over the leadership in what would be a defensive operation.{{sfn|Biddiscombe|2018|pp=796–797}} He also insisted that the Palestinian commandos in such a raiding operation avoid any confrontations with the British Mandatory power, envisaging that desistence would improve his future negotiating power in the region.{{sfn|Biddiscombe|2018|p=797}}
As the ] closed in on Germany from the west of the ] and from the east through ], operations were devised to disrupt and divert Allied forces on Germany's southern and eastern flanks. One such operation in the Middle Eastern theatre consisted of at least one sabotage operation in Palestine. The implementation of this particular plan was assigned to Kurt Wieland, an intelligence operative, whose background in the region would enable him to make use of his operational experience, his familiarity with Palestine and his connections with the locals. The Waffen SS unit members were ordered to contact pro-Nazi agents in Palestine and set up secret bases in the region.


To obtain Nazi support for his version of the plan, al-Husayni had to overcome his reluctance to allow Palestinian Germans to participate in the operation.{{sfn|Biddiscombe|2018|p=798}} On the other hand, the anti-Jewish focus suited the SS, and one original proposal by ] to include an Atlas attack on the ] that would provoke British reprisals was scuppered for that reason.{{sfn|Biddiscombe|2018|p=798}}
The Nazis' main intention was to cause the British to divert some of their forces to Palestine, thereby improving the Nazis' ability to repel the Allied forces from Nazi Germany.{{Citation needed| date=July 2013}}


==Commando members==
In addition to Wieland, two more German soldiers, who had been formerly raised in Palestinian Templer communities, were assigned to the unit. They both knew the region quite well, and belonged to the Brandenburg division: Werner Frank,whose job was to man the radio, was born in ], had joined the Hitler Youth there in 1934, and had become a Brandenburger in 1940; and Friedrich Deininger, born in ].{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} Deininger had assisted the Palestinian Arab forces during the Palestinian uprising and, as a result, had been imprisoned at ].{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} Later he is reported to have escaped and made his way back to ], where he became a Brandenburger and joined the SSF.<ref name="Mallmann 2010 p.201"/>
The implementation of this particular plan was assigned to Kurt Wieland, an intelligence operative, whose background in the region would enable him to make use of his operational experience, his familiarity with Palestine and his connections with the locals. Wieland was a Palestine-born German from the Templer community in ] and had developed a personal animus against the ] after his family business had suffered as a result of a ].{{sfn|Biddiscombe|2018|p=795}} He became head of the Palestinian Hitler Youth in 1938. He joined the ] in 1940,{{Sfn|Mallmann|Cüppers|2010|p=201}} and took part in the ] in 1941. Wieland was assigned to the military intelligence corps due to his knowledge of languages. He advanced rapidly in the ranks and was soon appointed major, serving in the special commando unit of the ] under the command of ]. The unit involved belonged to ].{{sfn|Mallmann|Cüppers|2010|p=200}} Wieland was in charge of the technical side of the operation.{{sfn|Adams|2009|p=15}}
Two ], attached to Amin al Husseini's milieu in Germany, were also assigned to the unit: ],<ref name=autogenerated1></ref><ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref></ref> a native of the Palestinian village ] and veteran of guerilla warfare near Nablus during the revolt<ref name="Mallmann 2010 p.201"/> and Abdul Latif, a native of Jerusalem, who had been sent into exile for involvement in the 1936-9 uprising and became the Berlin editor of the mufti's Arabic radio addresses.<ref name="Mallmann 2010 p.201"/> He was delegated to look after political connections.<ref name="Adams 2009 15">{{harvnb|Adams|2009|p=15}}</ref> All five members of the unit were briefed by al-Husseini before the mission.<ref name="Mallmann 2010 p.201"/>


In addition to Wieland, two more German Templars, from the Brandenburg division: were assigned to the unit. Werner Frank, born in Haifa and a member of the Hitler Youth organization since 1934, was a radio-operator born in ]. Friedrich Deininger, born in ].{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} Deininger had assisted the Palestinian Arab forces during the Palestinian uprising and, as a result, had been imprisoned at ].{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}.
== The Operation ==
The operation was a failure from the start due to intelligence gathered earlier by the local authorities about German operations in the area due to the defection of ] agent ] earlier in February 1944,<ref name="Adams 2009 15"/> mismanagement of the parachute drop, and the cold reception their presence in the area encountered from local Palestinians.<ref name="Adams 2009 15"/>


Two ], attached to Amin al Husseini's milieu in Germany, were also assigned to the unit: ],{{sfn|Schwanitz|2010}}{{sfn|Mallmann|Cüppers|2006|p=201}} and Abdul Latif, a native of Jerusalem, who had been sent into exile for involvement in the 1936-9 uprising and became the Berlin editor of the mufti's Arabic radio addresses.{{Sfn|Mallmann|Cüppers|2010|p=201}} He was delegated to look after political connections.{{Sfn|Adams|2009|p=15}} All five members of the unit were briefed by al-Husseini before the mission.{{Sfn|Mallmann|Cüppers|2010|p=201}}
On the night of October 6, 1944, the five unit members parachuted from a "]" airplane over the ] region in ]. Their equipment included submachine guns, dynamite, radio equipment, a dupliating machine, a German-Arabic dictionary,<ref name="Mallmann 2010 p.201"/> 5,000 ] in different ] and ]. It was the discovery of these dispersed cargo boxes on the 9th of October that alerted the British to the fact an operation was underway.<ref name="Mallmann 2010 p.201"/> A report also talks about "some poison" in the equipment.<ref>, 2001, KV 2/400.</ref> According to historian ], this refers to capsules of poison that were probably aimed at eliminating collaborators of the Mandatory Authorities.<ref name ="Destremau">Christian Destremau, '''', Perrin, 2011.</ref>


==The operation==
The unit was dropped in two different locations near ], and most of their equipment scattered around those locations. ], who was injured during the parachuting, began heading towards Jerusalem after he landed. The rest of the unit (the two Germans and Abdul Latif) hid in a ] in ].
The operation was a failure from the start due to intelligence gathered earlier by the local authorities about German operations in the area due to the defection of ] agent ] earlier in February 1944,{{Sfn|Adams|2009|p=15}} mismanagement of the parachute drop, and the cold reception their presence in the area encountered from local Palestinian Arabs.{{Sfn|Adams|2009|p=15}}


On the night of 6 October 1944, the five unit members parachuted from a captured ] flown by Luftwaffe ] over the ] region in ]. Their equipment included submachine guns, dynamite, radio equipment, a duplicating machine, a German-Arabic dictionary, 5,000 ] in different ] and ].{{Sfn|Mallmann|Cüppers|2010|p=201}} It was the discovery of these dispersed cargo boxes on 9 October that alerted the British to the fact an operation was underway.{{Sfn|Mallmann|Cüppers|2010|p=201}}
Both local people recommended by the Mufti, Nafith and Ali Bey al-Husseini, refused to provide any support to the commando. Later, during his interrogation by the police, Abdul Latif claimed that Ali Bey had stated that "he was not mad enough to provide them any support". He added that Nafith Bey had explained to him that they were not aware of the political relationship between Arabs and British and that it was a terrible mistake to participate to such an adventure with Germans.<ref name ="Destremau"/>


The unit was dropped in different locations near ], and most of their equipment scattered around those locations. ], who was injured during the parachuting, began heading towards Jerusalem after he landed. Abdul Latif and two Germans hid in a ] in ].
Soon after the parachute drop, local ] discovered one of the parachuted money supplies as well as a ] and ]s. Word of the new coins in Jericho rapidly spread across the region and became the first clue for the authorities that a secret operation was underway. As a result, Jerusalem police commander Fayez Bey Idrissi ordered extensive searches in Wadi Qelt.


Both local people recommended by the Mufti, Nafith and Ali Bey al-Husseini, refused to provide any support to the commando. Later, during his interrogation by the police, Abdul Latif claimed that Ali Bey had stated that "he was not mad enough to provide them any support". He added that Nafith Bey had explained to him that they were not aware of the political relationship between Arabs and British and that it was a terrible mistake to participate to such an adventure with Germans.{{sfn|Destremau|2011|p=148}}
On October 11{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}, the British authorities posted the following statement in the Hebrew press:


==Aftermath==
:{{Cquote|Meanwhile, Abdul Latif made contact with two Arab policemen seeking the British forces, {{sic|?|whom|reason="who" would be correct here}} provided him with food and water, and updated information. On October 16, 1944 two Germans and Abdul Latif were captured in a cave in Wadi Qelt, after Idrissi instructed to follow the two policemen {{sic|?|whom}} provided food and information to the dwellers of the cave.}}
{{unsourced-section|date=January 2024}}
Kurt Wieland, Werner Frank and Abdul Latif were captured. The information about their capture was revealed to the inhabitants of ] in October 1944. On 16 October the British Mandate authorities published the following official statement:


{{quote|Police information led to a combined military and police operation in the Wadi Qelt area and resulted in an important arrests by the Trans Jordan Frontier Force}}
== Aftermath ==
Information about the capture of the soldiers was revealed to the inhabitants of ] in October 1944. On October 16, the British Mandate authorities published the following official statement:


On 27 October a full report of the capturing of the enemy parachutists was published in the ] newspaper under the title:
:{{Cquote|Police information led to a combined military and police operation in the Wadi Qelt area and resulted in an important arrests by the Trans Jordan Frontier Force}}


{{quote|Enemy parachutists were captured nine days after parachuting in the region. two Germans and one Arab. – They came equipped with money, Arab dictionaries and weapons.}}
On October 27, a full report of the capturing of the enemy parachutists was published in the ] newspaper under the title:


The newspaper stated that on 8 October, the Jericho police chief learned that gold coins were being circulated in the city. As a result, an investigation was initiated which resulted in the seizure of gold coins from five local shepherds. The shepherds told the policemen of the site in which they discovered the coins. As a result, a ] began which involved military and local police forces, as well as members of the ] and the ]. On 16 October a sergeant in the Jordanian Frontier Force discovered a man dressed in traditional Arab clothing, standing at the entrance to a cave and holding a gun. The man surrendered without a fight and soon afterwards two additional people were discovered inside the cave, a German and an Arab.
:{{Cquote|Enemy parachutists were captured nine days after parachuting in the region. two Germans and one Arab. - They came equipped with money, Arab dictionaries and weapons.}}

The newspaper stated that on October 8, the Jericho police chief learned that gold coins were being circulated in the city. As a result, an investigation was initiated which resulted in the seizure of gold coins from five local shepherds. The shepherds told the policemen of the site in which they discovered the coins. As a result, a ] began which involved military and local police forces, as well as members of the ] and the ]. On October 16, a sergeant in the Jordanian Frontier Force discovered a man dressed in traditional Arab clothing, standing at the entrance to a cave and holding a gun. The man surrendered without a fight and soon afterwards two additional people were discovered inside the cave, a German and an Arab.


] and Frederick Deininger were not captured, and several days afterwards, the search for them was halted. Deininger was not caught until 1946, when he attempted to renew contact with his family in ]. Hasan Salama managed to flee to a house of a doctor in a small village near ], where he had a foot injury treated. ] and Frederick Deininger were not captured, and several days afterwards, the search for them was halted. Deininger was not caught until 1946, when he attempted to renew contact with his family in ]. Hasan Salama managed to flee to a house of a doctor in a small village near ], where he had a foot injury treated.


== Historiography == ==Historiography==
===Document release===
On 4 July 2001, about 200 secret documents from the British ] Archives were released to the public, most of which were related to Germany from the years 1939–1944. Among the documents released, was detailed information relating to the German Operation Atlas and the German and Palestinian Arab unit members who were parachuted into Palestine to carry out the operation.{{sfn|Fountain|2001}}


===The mission to poison Tel Aviv story===
=== Document release ===
In 1983, Michael Bar-Zohar and Eitan Haber published ''The Quest for the Red Prince'', a book about the hunt by Mossad agents for ], son of Hasan Salama, the ]'s head of operations who had been responsible for the execution of the 1972 ].
In July 4, 2001, about 200 secret documents from the British ] Archives were released to the public, most of which were related to Germany from the years 1939-1944. Among the documents released, was detailed information relating to the German Operation ATLAS and the German and Palestinian Arab unit members who were parachuted into Palestine to carry out the operation.<ref name=autogenerated3 /><ref></ref>


They allege that the project included a plan, specifically thought up by al-Husseini, to poison the water supply of ].{{sfn|Bar-Zohar|Haber|2002|pp=45ff}} The drop is said to have included several cardboard boxes containing a fine white powder consisting of a strong water-soluble ]. Each box is said to have contained poison sufficient to kill about 25,000 people. This part of the parachuted cargo is said to have gone astray, with the unit failing in attempts to recover them.
=== The mission to poison Tel-Aviv story ===


This Bar-Zohar/Haber story is repeated uncritically in several sources. Historian ] in his book ''Der Mufti von Jerusalem und die Nationalsozialisten. (The Mufti of Jerusalem and the Nazis)'' where he also asserts that al-Husseini was "a genocidal player in the Holocaust".{{sfn|Zohar|2020}} The story reappears also in Youssef Aboul-Enein and Basil H. Aboul-Enein's ''The Secret War for the Middle East: The Influence of Axis and Allied Operations During World War Two'',{{sfn|Aboul-Enein|Aboul-Enein|2013|p=29}} and in ] ''The Case for Israel''.{{sfn|Dershowitz|2003|p=54}}{{sfn|Finkelstein|2005|pp=321–322}}
In 1983, Michael Bar-Zohar and Eitan Haber published ''The Quest for The Red Prince'', a book about the hunt by Mossad agents for ], son of Hasan Salama, the ]'s head of operations who had been responsible for the execution of the 1972 ].


Historian ] has cast doubts on the story:
They allege that the project included a plan, specifically thought up by al-Husseini, to poison the ] that fed the grid supplying ] with its drinking water.<ref>{{harvnb|Bar-Zohar|Haber|1983|pp=45ff}}</ref> The drop is said to have included several cardboard boxes containing a fine white powder consisting of a strong water-soluble ]. Each box is said to have contained poison sufficient to kill about 25,000 people. This part of the parachuted cargo is said to have gone astray, with the unit failing in attempts to recover them.


<blockquote>The claim that the mufti got "ten containers with poison" to kill a quarter of a million people via the water system of Tel Aviv in exchange for the five Palestinian paratroopers in late 1944 (61) is not substantiated in British or German sources. If the authors can now show really hard proof, this would be a discovery, since the British police report of 1944 on file is very detailed.{{sfn|Schwanitz|2009|pp=178–179}}</blockquote>
The Bar-Zohar/Haber story is repeated by historian ] in his book ''Der Mufti von Jerusalem und die Nationalsozialisten. (The Mufti of Jerusalem and the Nazis)'', in which he underscores al-Husseini's role as a Nazi collaborator. Gensicke argues also that al-Husseini was "a genocidal player in the Holocaust".<ref name="zohar, jp, 2011">{{cite web | url=http://m.jpost.com/HomePage/FrontPage/Article.aspx?id=86235360 | title=The führer of the Arabs | publisher=] | accessdate=29 July 2013 | author=Zohar, Gil}}</ref> The same view is adopted by ], an expert on the history of ], in his ''Empire of Secrets''. Walton writes of Salama's "implacable anti-Semitism".<ref>Calder Walton, ''Empire of Secrets'', HarperCollins Publishers, 2012.</ref> The story is also reported by Youssef Aboul-Enein and Basil H. Aboul-Enein in their ''The Secret War for the Middle East: The Influence of Axis and Allied Operations During World War Two,''<ref>Youssef Aboul-Enein and Basil H. Aboul-Enein, ''The Secret War for the Middle East: The Influence of Axis and Allied Operations During World War Two,'' Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2013, p.29</ref> ] in ''The Nazi connection to Islamic Terror'' and in the ''Case for Israel'' by ].<ref>], ''The Nazi connection to Islamic Terror'', IUniverse, 2003, p.87.</ref> <ref>], '']'' , 2011, p.54</ref>


In his '']'', ] notes that this claim has not been reported by the scholarly literature or by many other works that target the Mufti:
Historian ] has cast doubts on the story :
<blockquote>The claim that the mufti got "ten containers with poison" to kill a quarter of a million people via the water system of Tel Aviv in exchange for the five Palestinian paratroopers in late 1944 (61) is not substantiated in British or German sources. If the authors can now show really hard proof, this would be a discovery, since the British police report of 1944 on file is very detailed.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Wolfgang Schwanitz | title = A Mosaic on the Mufti's Islam | journal = Jewish Political Studies Review | year = 2009 | volume = 21 | pages = 178–179}}</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>The major biographies of the Mufti are ''The Mufti of Jerusalem'' by Palestinian historian ] and ''The Grand Mufti'' by Israeli historian ]. (...). Neither mentions a German-Arab commando unit en route to poison Tel Aviv's wells.{{sfn|Finkelstein|2005|p=278}}</blockquote>
According to historian ], the cargo contained no such quantities of toxic material, but only poison capsules, probably to be of service in attempts to liquidate locals believed to be collaborating with the Mandatory Authorities.<ref name ="Destremau"/>


Historian ] points out that the cargo contained no such quantities of toxic material, but only poison capsules, probably to be of service in attempts to liquidate locals believed to be collaborating with the Mandatory Authorities.{{sfn|Destremau|2011|p=148}} According to MI5 files, the parachutists brought three types of poison to Palestine: some suicide pills for themselves, six tubes of powder to put tracking dogs off their scent (they didn't realise this was poisonous and kept it with their food) and an envelope of "arseneous oxide". Regarding these latest, Wieland said that the mufti insisted it be brought for the purpose of eliminating Arab traitors but Latif denied it was the mufti's idea. The 400-page files do not mention any intention to poison population or enough quantities for such a plan.<ref>MI5 files KV-2-400/401/402 (formerly known as PF 600,528 "Kurt Wieland" Vols. 1–3).</ref>
In his '']'', ] notes that this claim has not been reported by the scholarly literature or by many other works that target the Mufti :
<blockquote>The major biographies of the Mufti are ''The Mufti of Jerusalem'' by Palestinian historian ] and ''The Grand Mufti'' by Israeli historian ]. (...). Neither mentions a German-Arab commando unit en route to poison Tel Aviv's wells.<ref>], '']'', University of California Press, 2005, p.278.</ref></blockquote>


=== In popular fiction === ===In popular fiction===
In 2009, the Israeli journalist and military affairs commentator, ], published the fictional novel "]" ({{lang-he|אהובת הטמפלר מעמק רפאים}}), which incorporated the story of Operation ATLAS while making several changes to the plot, the exact period in which the parachuting was carried out, the names, and their fate. In 2009, the Israeli journalist and military affairs commentator, ], published the fictional novel "]", which incorporated the story of Operation Atlas while making several changes to the plot, the exact period in which the parachuting was carried out, the names, and their fate.


== References == ==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}} {{notelist}}


==Citations==
== External links ==
{{Reflist|20em}}
* {{dead link|date=January 2014}} </ref>


==Sources==
* , ], October 27, 1944 (Hebrew)
{{refbegin|35em}}
* , published on ] on October 28, 1944
*{{cite book| title = The Secret War for the Middle East: The Influence of Axis and Allied Intelligence Operations During World War II
* , published on the ] on November 1, 1944
| last1 = Aboul-Enein | first1 = Youssef H.
* , published on ] on 5 July 2001
| last2 = Aboul-Enein | first2 = Basil H.
| year = 2013
| publisher = Naval Institute Press
| isbn = 978-1-612-51309-6
}}
*{{cite book| title = Historical Dictionary of German Intelligence
| last = Adams | first = Jefferson | year = 2009
| publisher = Scarecrow Press
| series = Historical Dictionaries of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gnEWm4kC844C&pg=PA15
| isbn = 978-0-810-86320-0
}}
*{{cite book| title = The Quest for the Red Prince
| last1 = Bar-Zohar | first1 = Michael
| last2 = Haber | first2 = Eitan
| author1-link = Michael Bar-Zohar
| author2-link = Eitan Haber
| year = 2002 | orig-year = First published 1983
| publisher = The Lyons Press
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JJnzAAAACAAJ
| isbn = 978-1-58574-739-9
}}
*{{cite journal | title = The Mufti's Men: Haj Amin al-Husayni and SS Parachute Expeditions to Palestine and Iraq, 1944–1945
| last = Biddiscombe | first = Perry
| journal = ] | via = GWonline: Bibliography, Filmography and Webography on Gender and War since 1600
| date = July 2018 | volume = 82 | issue = 3 | pages = 783–815
| url = https://gwonline.unc.edu/node/10651
}}
*{{cite book| title = The Case for Israel
| last = Dershowitz | first = Alan | year = 2003
| publisher = Wiley | author-link = Alan Dershowitz
| isbn = 978-0-471-67952-3
}}
*{{cite book| title = Le Moyen-Orient pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale
| last = Destremau | first = Christian | year = 2011
| author-link = Bernard Destremau
| publisher = Perrin
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iXGRw65lFBgC&dq=operation+Atlas+1944&pg=PT149
| isbn = 978-226203880-9
}}
*{{cite book| title = Beyond Chutzpah
| last = Finkelstein | first = Norman | year = 2008
| author-link = Norman Finkelstein
| orig-year = First published 2005
| publisher = University of California Press
| url = https://archive.org/details/beyondchutzpahon00fink_0 | url-access = registration | via = ]
| page =
| isbn = 978-0-520-24989-9
| ref = {{harvid|Finkelstein|2005}}
}}
*{{cite news| title = Nazis planned Palestine subversion
| last = Fountain | first = Rick
| publisher = ]
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1423589.stm
| date = 5 July 2001
}}
*{{cite web| title = Kurt Wieland, alias Heinz Hecht, Frederick Baksen, Abu Yassin
| author = <!-- not stated -->
| publisher = ] | location = London
| url = https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/record?catid=8095616&catln=6
| date = 11 May 2001
| ref = {{harvid|MI5 Kurt Wieland|2001}}
}}
*{{cite book| title = Halbmond und Hakenkreuz: das Dritte Reich, die Araber und Palästina | edition = 2nd
| last1 = Mallmann | first1 = Klaus Michael
| last2 = Cüppers | first2 = Martin
| author1-link = Klaus-Michael Mallmann
| year = 2006
| publisher = Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CSNoAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Hassan+Salama
| isbn = 978-3-534-19729-3
}}
*{{cite book| title = Nazi Palestine: The Plans for the Extermination of the Jews in Palestine
| last1 = Mallmann | first1 = Klaus Michael
| last2 = Cüppers | first2 = Martin
| author1-link = Klaus-Michael Mallmann
| year = 2010
| editor1-last = Matthäus | editor1-first = Jürgen
| editor2-last = Mallmann | editor2-first = Klaus-Michael
| publisher = Enigma Books
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vjsLAqafdQ8C&pg=PA201
| isbn = 978-1-936-27418-5
}}
*{{cite journal | title = Benny Morris: 1948
| last = Schwanitz | first = Wolfgang
| author-link = Wolfgang Schwanitz
| journal = Sehepunkte
| date = November 2010 | volume = 10 | issue = 11
| url = http://www.sehepunkte.de/2010/11/14920.html
}}
*{{cite journal | title = Review: The Mufti of Jerusalem
| last = Schwanitz | first = Wolfgang G.
| author-link = Wolfgang Schwanitz
| journal = ]
| date = Spring 2009 | volume = 21 | issue = 1/2 | pages = 182–187
| jstor = 25834834
}}
*{{cite news| title = The führer of the Arabs
| last = Zohar | first = Gil
| newspaper = ]
| url = https://www.jpost.com/magazine/features/the-fhrer-of-the-arabs
| date = 20 December 2020
}}
{{refend}}


==External links==
]
* , ], 27 October 1944 (Hebrew)
]
* , published on ] on 28 October 1944
]
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312101837/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JfAZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GSMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1684,23546 |date=12 March 2016 }}, published on the ] on 1 November 1944
]
* , published on ] on 5 July 2001
{{Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine}}
] ]
] ]
]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 22:02, 25 November 2024

1944 SS operation

For the 1969 military operation in Vietnam, see Operation Atlas Wedge.
Operation Atlas
Part of Middle East theatre of World War II and the intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine
LocationMandatory Palestine
Planned bySicherheitsdienst
ObjectiveAttacking the British rule and fomenting tensions among Jews and Arabs.
DateOctober 1944
Executed byA special commando unit of the Waffen-SS
OutcomeOperation failed
Casualties1 Arrested
Nazi-Arab Soldier killed
Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine

Operation Atlas was the code name for an operation carried out by a special commando unit of the Waffen SS which took place in October 1944. It involved five soldiers: three who were previously members of the Templer religious sect in Mandatory Palestine, and two Palestinian Arabs who were close collaborators of the mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husseini.

Atlas aimed at establishing an intelligence-gathering base in Mandatory Palestine, radioing information back to Germany, and recruiting and arming anti-British Palestinians by buying their support with gold.

The plan failed utterly, and no meaningful action could be undertaken by the commandos. Three of the participants were arrested by the Transjordan Frontier Force a few days after their landing. The German commander was captured in 1946 and the fifth, Hasan Salama, succeeded in escaping.

One version of the incident advanced by Michael Bar-Zohar and Eitan Haber alleges that the mission included a plan to poison the drinking water resources of the residents of Tel Aviv. British and German archives have yet to reveal any evidence for this story, and the mufti's biographers ignore it.

Background

Three captured parachutists

Numerous German-Arab commando operations were conducted over 1943-1944 from North Africa to Syria and Iraq, in order to collect intelligence, conduct sabotage operations against the Allies, and to foment uprisings. Haj Amin al-Husseini was one of prominent Palestinian Arabs leaders who fled Mandatory Palestine in 1937 during 1936–1939 uprising and spent World War II period as visiting collaborator of the Axis Powers.

As the Allied forces closed in on Germany from the west of the Rhine and from the east through Prussia, operations were devised to disrupt and divert Allied forces on Germany's southern and eastern flanks. One such operation in the Middle Eastern theatre consisted of at least one sabotage operation in Palestine. The Waffen SS unit members were ordered to contact pro-Nazi agents in Palestine and set up secret bases in the region.

The operation, originally developed out by Walter Lorch and named Elias, was redesigned by his nephew Kurt Wieland in the summer of 1944 as Operation Atlas. A similar plan had been hatched by Abdullatif Zul el-Kifel, a member of the circle around Amin al-Husayni. Al-Husayni argued that were the Jewish insurgency against British authorities in Palestine to fail, they would redirect their anger against Palestinian Arabs who would stand in need of leadership. The Palestine Arab Party (PAP) in Palestine was also pressing for action to retaliate for Arabs deaths incurred by the Jewish revolt. al-Husayni imagined preparing the ground by such an operation so that they could take over the leadership in what would be a defensive operation. He also insisted that the Palestinian commandos in such a raiding operation avoid any confrontations with the British Mandatory power, envisaging that desistence would improve his future negotiating power in the region.

To obtain Nazi support for his version of the plan, al-Husayni had to overcome his reluctance to allow Palestinian Germans to participate in the operation. On the other hand, the anti-Jewish focus suited the SS, and one original proposal by Karl Tschierschky to include an Atlas attack on the Haifa Oil Refinery that would provoke British reprisals was scuppered for that reason.

Commando members

The implementation of this particular plan was assigned to Kurt Wieland, an intelligence operative, whose background in the region would enable him to make use of his operational experience, his familiarity with Palestine and his connections with the locals. Wieland was a Palestine-born German from the Templer community in Sarona and had developed a personal animus against the Yishuv after his family business had suffered as a result of a local Jewish anti-Nazi boycott. He became head of the Palestinian Hitler Youth in 1938. He joined the Brandenburg regiment in 1940, and took part in the SSF covert German mission to Iraq in 1941. Wieland was assigned to the military intelligence corps due to his knowledge of languages. He advanced rapidly in the ranks and was soon appointed major, serving in the special commando unit of the Waffen-SS under the command of Otto Skorzeny. The unit involved belonged to Amt V1, the Third Reich's civilian foreign intelligence agency. Wieland was in charge of the technical side of the operation.

In addition to Wieland, two more German Templars, from the Brandenburg division: were assigned to the unit. Werner Frank, born in Haifa and a member of the Hitler Youth organization since 1934, was a radio-operator born in Haifa. Friedrich Deininger, born in Waldheim. Deininger had assisted the Palestinian Arab forces during the Palestinian uprising and, as a result, had been imprisoned at Bat Yam..

Two Palestinian Arabs, attached to Amin al Husseini's milieu in Germany, were also assigned to the unit: Hasan Salama, and Abdul Latif, a native of Jerusalem, who had been sent into exile for involvement in the 1936-9 uprising and became the Berlin editor of the mufti's Arabic radio addresses. He was delegated to look after political connections. All five members of the unit were briefed by al-Husseini before the mission.

The operation

The operation was a failure from the start due to intelligence gathered earlier by the local authorities about German operations in the area due to the defection of Abwehr agent Erich Vermehren earlier in February 1944, mismanagement of the parachute drop, and the cold reception their presence in the area encountered from local Palestinian Arabs.

On the night of 6 October 1944, the five unit members parachuted from a captured B17 Flying Fortress flown by Luftwaffe KG 200 over the Jericho region in Wadi Qelt. Their equipment included submachine guns, dynamite, radio equipment, a duplicating machine, a German-Arabic dictionary, 5,000 Pound sterling in different currencies and explosives. It was the discovery of these dispersed cargo boxes on 9 October that alerted the British to the fact an operation was underway.

The unit was dropped in different locations near Jericho, and most of their equipment scattered around those locations. Hasan Salama, who was injured during the parachuting, began heading towards Jerusalem after he landed. Abdul Latif and two Germans hid in a cave in Wadi Qelt.

Both local people recommended by the Mufti, Nafith and Ali Bey al-Husseini, refused to provide any support to the commando. Later, during his interrogation by the police, Abdul Latif claimed that Ali Bey had stated that "he was not mad enough to provide them any support". He added that Nafith Bey had explained to him that they were not aware of the political relationship between Arabs and British and that it was a terrible mistake to participate to such an adventure with Germans.

Aftermath

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Kurt Wieland, Werner Frank and Abdul Latif were captured. The information about their capture was revealed to the inhabitants of Palestine in October 1944. On 16 October the British Mandate authorities published the following official statement:

Police information led to a combined military and police operation in the Wadi Qelt area and resulted in an important arrests by the Trans Jordan Frontier Force

On 27 October a full report of the capturing of the enemy parachutists was published in the Davar newspaper under the title:

Enemy parachutists were captured nine days after parachuting in the region. two Germans and one Arab. – They came equipped with money, Arab dictionaries and weapons.

The newspaper stated that on 8 October, the Jericho police chief learned that gold coins were being circulated in the city. As a result, an investigation was initiated which resulted in the seizure of gold coins from five local shepherds. The shepherds told the policemen of the site in which they discovered the coins. As a result, a manhunt began which involved military and local police forces, as well as members of the Arab Legion and the Transjordan Frontier Force. On 16 October a sergeant in the Jordanian Frontier Force discovered a man dressed in traditional Arab clothing, standing at the entrance to a cave and holding a gun. The man surrendered without a fight and soon afterwards two additional people were discovered inside the cave, a German and an Arab.

Hasan Salama and Frederick Deininger were not captured, and several days afterwards, the search for them was halted. Deininger was not caught until 1946, when he attempted to renew contact with his family in Wilhelma. Hasan Salama managed to flee to a house of a doctor in a small village near Qula, where he had a foot injury treated.

Historiography

Document release

On 4 July 2001, about 200 secret documents from the British MI5 Archives were released to the public, most of which were related to Germany from the years 1939–1944. Among the documents released, was detailed information relating to the German Operation Atlas and the German and Palestinian Arab unit members who were parachuted into Palestine to carry out the operation.

The mission to poison Tel Aviv story

In 1983, Michael Bar-Zohar and Eitan Haber published The Quest for the Red Prince, a book about the hunt by Mossad agents for Ali Hassan Salameh, son of Hasan Salama, the Black September's head of operations who had been responsible for the execution of the 1972 Munich massacre.

They allege that the project included a plan, specifically thought up by al-Husseini, to poison the water supply of Tel Aviv. The drop is said to have included several cardboard boxes containing a fine white powder consisting of a strong water-soluble poison. Each box is said to have contained poison sufficient to kill about 25,000 people. This part of the parachuted cargo is said to have gone astray, with the unit failing in attempts to recover them.

This Bar-Zohar/Haber story is repeated uncritically in several sources. Historian Klaus Gensicke in his book Der Mufti von Jerusalem und die Nationalsozialisten. (The Mufti of Jerusalem and the Nazis) where he also asserts that al-Husseini was "a genocidal player in the Holocaust". The story reappears also in Youssef Aboul-Enein and Basil H. Aboul-Enein's The Secret War for the Middle East: The Influence of Axis and Allied Operations During World War Two, and in Alan Dershowitz The Case for Israel.

Historian Wolfgang G. Schwanitz has cast doubts on the story:

The claim that the mufti got "ten containers with poison" to kill a quarter of a million people via the water system of Tel Aviv in exchange for the five Palestinian paratroopers in late 1944 (61) is not substantiated in British or German sources. If the authors can now show really hard proof, this would be a discovery, since the British police report of 1944 on file is very detailed.

In his Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History, Norman Finkelstein notes that this claim has not been reported by the scholarly literature or by many other works that target the Mufti:

The major biographies of the Mufti are The Mufti of Jerusalem by Palestinian historian Philip Mattar and The Grand Mufti by Israeli historian Zvi Elpeleg. (...). Neither mentions a German-Arab commando unit en route to poison Tel Aviv's wells.

Historian Christian Destremau points out that the cargo contained no such quantities of toxic material, but only poison capsules, probably to be of service in attempts to liquidate locals believed to be collaborating with the Mandatory Authorities. According to MI5 files, the parachutists brought three types of poison to Palestine: some suicide pills for themselves, six tubes of powder to put tracking dogs off their scent (they didn't realise this was poisonous and kept it with their food) and an envelope of "arseneous oxide". Regarding these latest, Wieland said that the mufti insisted it be brought for the purpose of eliminating Arab traitors but Latif denied it was the mufti's idea. The 400-page files do not mention any intention to poison population or enough quantities for such a plan.

In popular fiction

In 2009, the Israeli journalist and military affairs commentator, Gad Shimron, published the fictional novel "The Sweetheart of the Templar From the Valley of Rephaim", which incorporated the story of Operation Atlas while making several changes to the plot, the exact period in which the parachuting was carried out, the names, and their fate.

Notes

  1. al-Husayni attribuited to Zul el-Kifel the paternity of operation Atlas (Biddiscombe 2018, pp. 795–796, 800).
  2. "Within the homeland itself, the most radical elements in the PAP were already pushing for a campaign of retaliation in response to Arab deaths occurring as a by-product of Palestinian Jewish terrorism. Thus, tactical operations would replicate the anti-Jewish outrages of the interwar period. The focus was on prospective bombings of synagogues and burnings of shops owned by Palestinian Jews, and the Mufti suggested that his fighters be equipped with incendiary devices." (Biddiscombe 2018, p. 797)

Citations

  1. ^ MI5 Kurt Wieland 2001.
  2. ^ Fountain 2001.
  3. ^ Mallmann & Cüppers 2010, p. 200.
  4. Biddiscombe 2018, pp. 795–796.
  5. Biddiscombe 2018, pp. 796–797.
  6. Biddiscombe 2018, p. 797.
  7. ^ Biddiscombe 2018, p. 798.
  8. Biddiscombe 2018, p. 795.
  9. ^ Mallmann & Cüppers 2010, p. 201.
  10. ^ Adams 2009, p. 15.
  11. Schwanitz 2010.
  12. Mallmann & Cüppers 2006, p. 201.
  13. ^ Destremau 2011, p. 148.
  14. Bar-Zohar & Haber 2002, pp. 45ff.
  15. Zohar 2020.
  16. Aboul-Enein & Aboul-Enein 2013, p. 29.
  17. Dershowitz 2003, p. 54.
  18. Finkelstein 2005, pp. 321–322.
  19. Schwanitz 2009, pp. 178–179.
  20. Finkelstein 2005, p. 278.
  21. MI5 files KV-2-400/401/402 (formerly known as PF 600,528 "Kurt Wieland" Vols. 1–3).

Sources

External links

Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine
Background
1920s
1930s
During World War II
After World War II
Actors
Prominent figures
Category:Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine
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