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The Threat

Economic War (1933 Boycott)

To understand the deal, you must understand the threat. When Hitler took power, Jewish organizations around the world declared war on the German economy.

• Declaration: On March 24, 1933, the Daily Express headline screamed “Judea Declares War on Germany.” Jewish groups in America and Britain launched a massive boycott of German goods. Which we already highlighted.
• Goal: They wanted to bankrupt the new Nazi regime before it could get started.
• Nazi Problem: Germany was dependent on exports. If they could not sell their goods abroad, the economy would collapse, and Hitler would lose power. They needed a way to break the boycott.

August 25, 1933

Haavara Agreement (Transfer)

The solution came from an unlikely source. The Zionists (Jews who wanted to build a homeland in Palestine) approached the Nazis with a deal.

• Deal: Signed on August 25, 1933, the Haavara (Transfer) Agreement was a contract between the Nazi Economic Ministry and the Zionist Federation of Germany.
• Mechanism: German Jews who wanted to move to Palestine could not take their cash with them because of German currency laws. Instead, they put their money into a German bank account. That money was used to buy German industrial goods (farm equipment, steel pipes, fertilizer).
• Transfer: These goods were shipped to Palestine and sold by Jewish merchants. The immigrants then received the cash from the sale when they arrived.
• Result:
  • For Nazis: It broke the boycott. Germany sold millions of dollars of goods to the Middle East.
  • For Zionists: It brought wealthy immigrants and massive amounts of industrial machinery to Palestine. This built the infrastructure for the future State of Israel.

The Artifact

Commemorative Medal (Swastika and Star)

To celebrate this cooperation, a Nazi newspaper published a positive series on the Zionist movement.

• Trip: Leopold von Mildenstein (a Nazi SS Officer) and Kurt Tuchler (a German Zionist official) traveled to Palestine together to see the Jewish settlements.
• Article: Mildenstein wrote a series of complimentary articles for Der Angriff (The Attack), a newspaper founded by Joseph Goebbels. The series was titled “A Nazi Travels to Palestine.”

• Medal: To commemorate this series, the newspaper struck a special medal.
  • Front: A Star of David.
  • Back: A Swastika.
  • Inscription: “A Nazi Travels to Palestine” (Ein Nazi fährt nach Palästina).

Ideology

Strange Bedfellows (Ideological Alignment)

Why would they work together? Because in 1933, they agreed on one core principle: Separation.

• Nazi View: They wanted Germany to be free of Jews (judenrein). They did not care where the Jews went, as long as they left Germany.
• Zionist View: They wanted Jews to leave Europe and build a nation in Palestine. They saw assimilation (Jews blending into German society) as a threat to Jewish identity.
• Common Enemy: Both the Nazis and the Zionists opposed the “Assimilationist Jews” who wanted to stay in Germany and be “good German citizens.” The Haavara Agreement weakened the Assimilationists and strengthened the Zionists.

The Conclusion

Summary

History is rarely black and white. For a few years, the Nazis and the Zionists operated a multi-million dollar trading network. The Nazis got rid of a disliked minority and boosted their economy. The Zionists saved 60,000 Jews and built the economic foundation of what would become the political state of “Israel”.

Edwin Black, The Transfer Agreement: The Dramatic Story of the Pact Between the Third Reich and Jewish Palestine (1984).
Francis R. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question (1985).
Artifact: Der Angriff commemorative medal (1934).
Primary Document: Text of the Haavara Agreement, Circular 54/33 of the Reich Ministry of Economics.
Newspaper: Daily Express, “Judea Declares War on Germany” (March 24, 1933).