Whilst the Nazis must bear the brunt of the responsibility for the Holocaust, it would never have happened were it not for the co-players. The Nazis just wanted the Jews out of Germany and, once the war had begun, the countries it was occupying.
But most western countries, including Britain and the US, refused to accept Jewish refugees except under strict conditions which most potential refugees could not satisfy. As early as 1936, the British closed off the Mandate territory of Palestine as a place of refuge, in violation of the Balfour Declaration, the San Remo accords and the League of Nations treaty of 1922, in response to pressure from the Arabs.
The role of the Palestinian leadership, in particular, Haj-Amin-el-Husseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, cannot be over-stated. Even in 1941, the Nazis would have been satisfied with deporting the Jews of Europe to Palestine, but the Mufti travelled to Berlin and persuaded the Nazi leadership not to do that. This was the decisive move that led the Nazis to go for "the Final Solution".
Thus it was the Mufti who did more than any other single individual to bring about the death of the six million.
But most western countries, including Britain and the US, refused to accept Jewish refugees except under strict conditions which most potential refugees could not satisfy. As early as 1936, the British closed off the Mandate territory of Palestine as a place of refuge, in violation of the Balfour Declaration, the San Remo accords and the League of Nations treaty of 1922, in response to pressure from the Arabs.
The role of the Palestinian leadership, in particular, Haj-Amin-el-Husseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, cannot be over-stated. Even in 1941, the Nazis would have been satisfied with deporting the Jews of Europe to Palestine, but the Mufti travelled to Berlin and persuaded the Nazi leadership not to do that. This was the decisive move that led the Nazis to go for "the Final Solution".
Thus it was the Mufti who did more than any other single individual to bring about the death of the six million.
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