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Operation Atlas〔(The document from the British MI5 archives which covers the details of "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 Palestine, and two Palestinian Arabs who were close collaborators of the mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husseini.〔〔(a summary of the MI5 released files )〕 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.〔Rick Fountain, ( 'Nazis planned Palestine subversion ,' ) at BBC News 5 July 2001〕 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 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 == 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. Kurt Wieland, a Palestine-born German from the Templer community in Sarona, was 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 his position rapidly and eventually got to the rank of 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.〔.〕 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 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. 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. 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 Haifa, had joined the Hitler Youth there in 1934, and had become a Brandenburger in 1940; and 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,〔(Benny Morris: 1948 )〕〔〔("Halbmond und Hakenkreuz: das Dritte Reich, die Araber und Palästina", Klaus-Michael Mallmann & Martin Cüppers, 2006, pg 240 (German) )〕 a native of the Palestinian village Qula and veteran of guerilla warfare near Nablus during the revolt〔 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.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Atlas (Mandatory Palestine)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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