"To allow the departure of the Jews from the country in which they now live, in this way, will not solve the Jewish Question and will not save the country which they are leaving from harm; but, on the contrary, their departure in this form will enable them to join freely the members of their race in enemy countries, and they will be given the possibility of going on to Palestine and other countries in the Middle East."

"Furthermore, the residence of these Jews, since the outbreak of the War to this day, in your country and in various other countries, has enabled them to learn much about your war effort, and they would, as soon as they will be able to do so, use this information for the benefit of the Allies. Apart from that, the emigration of the Jews to the Arab countries, and particularly to Palestine, runs counter to the most vital interests of the Arab people which, in every respect, is on the side of the Axis countries and their allies."

"Therefore, I permit myself to draw your attention to the fact that it is very proper and more useful to prevent the Jews from leaving your country and to send them to a place where they will be under strict supervision, such as Poland, for example. Thus, one will be protected from the danger they represent, and you will render a great service to the Arab people, who will appreciate your action, and thus the friendly relations with your people will become yet closer."

Judge Halevi: He does not write "extermination".

Attorney General: But that is absolutely clear, Your Honour.

Presiding Judge: He writes "to Poland, under strict supervision."

Judge Halevi: It would depend on the date; if it was 6 May 1943, he would have known already.

Attorney General: Whoever knew the secrets of the Germans on 6 May 1943, knew the significance of the deportation of Jews to Poland.

Our next document, No. 1312, is a copy of a letter found in the same archives - apparently a copy for the Romanian Foreign Minister. I have already said that Hajj Amin was working on all fronts. He does not rely upon the approach to Ribbentrop. He also wants to turn to all the countries from which the Jews have to depart. Therefore, he turns to Bulgaria. And now we have a copy of this approach to the Romanian Foreign Ministry - again on the same subject. The Jews want to leave for Palestine. The Jewish Agency has secured certificates for eighteen hundred Jewish children, accompanied by two hundred adults, to emigrate and proceed to Romania. The letter ends by saying:

"For this reason, I ask Your Excellency to permit me to draw your august attention to the necessity for preventing the departure of the Jews from your country for Palestine. If there are reasons which warrant the removal of the Jews, it is essential and infinitely more desirable that they should leave your country for some other place where they can be kept under active supervision, such as Poland, for example, and in this way you may be protected from the danger they represent and avoid the harm they might cause."

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/1264.

Attorney General: Our document No. 1398 is a memorandum from the Foreign Ministry, in which the Counsellor in the Italian embassy in Berlin advises of the Mufti's approaches to the Italian Foreign Minister, to prevent the immigration to Palestine of 4,500 Bulgarian Jews. The Mufti requests that steps be taken to prevent the immigration and informs the Italians that he is also writing, in this connection, to the governments of both Germany and Bulgaria.

The Court should kindly note that the Mufti was staying in Rome at that time, and some of the letters which I have submitted to you bearing his signature were written in Rome.

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/1265.

Attorney General: Birds of a feather flock together. Our document No. 1302 is a joint letter of Hajj Amin al-Husseini and Rashid 'Ali Kilani from Rome to the German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop. On 28 April 1942, the two Arab leaders declare the following:

"Your Excellency, the Reichsminister. In our discussions with you, we expressed the confidence of the Arab people in the Axis Powers and in their exalted aims, and have explained the national objectives of the Arab countries in the Near East, who are being suppressed at the present time by the British. We have declared the willingness of the Arab people to take part in the war against the common enemy until final victory. Our present request is that the German Government declares its readiness to grant to the Arab countries, suffering at the present time from British oppression, every possible succour in their war of liberation, to recognize the sovereignty and the independence of the Arab countries of the Near East, suppressed at the present time by the British, and to agree to their unification, if it should be desired by those concerned, and to the liquidation of the Jewish National Home in Palestine. We have agreed that the text and the contents of this letter will be kept absolutely secret until otherwise decided by mutual agreement. Please accept, Your Excellency the Foreign Minister, the assurance of my greatest esteem." Signed: Amin al-Husseini, Rashid 'Ali Kilani.

Attorney General: The diary of the Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin, was also amongst the documents that fell into the hands of the Allies. Mr. Arazi authenticated it. It is our No. 1306. This is a memorandum in the Mufti's diary, on a page bearing the date of 9 November 1944. Six words are noted there, but we have only succeeded in deciphering three of them. They are written in Arabic. These three say: "the best of the friends of the Arabs."

Presiding Judge: Let us see where it appears.

Attorney General: At the top of the right-hand column on 9 November, 22 Zilkade, Thursday, "the best of the friends of the Arabs," and underneath it, in Latin characters, "Eichmann."

Presiding Judge: I want to see the Arabic words here.

Attorney General: They are here, at the top of the right- hand column.

Presiding Judge: I only see the words "el Arab" - the Arabs.

Attorney General: This has been deciphered by Superintendent S. Ben-Elkana, the translator who gave you the official document.

Presiding Judge: I believe that, if someone would come here and show it to us, all three of us would be capable of reading it.

Attorney General: I could ask Mr. Ben-Elkana, who is present, to come here and decipher what he had previously deciphered.

Presiding Judge: If you please.

Judge Halevi: This was in what year?

Attorney General: 9 November 1944.

[Superintendent Ben-Elkana reads out the Arabic words to the judges.]

Presiding Judge: I understand that someone else deciphered it, and you translated it.

Attorney General: What has the Court found?

Judge Halevi: The Arabic words "The best of the friends of the Arabs" are not altogether clear.

Presiding Judge: The only thing clear is "el Arab" (the Arabs).

Attorney General: "Eichmann" is written in Latin characters.

Presiding Judge: That is definite.

Attorney General: The question centres on the middle word. Perhaps we might ask the Court to admit it in this form, and we shall make every effort to bring...

Presiding Judge: With all due respect to the expert - who undoubtedly is an expert - he was born in Austria. Perhaps you can find one who is a native of Jerusalem or Iraq?

Judge Halevi: Does the Prosecution maintain that this is Eichmann's signature?

Attorney General: No. We contend that this is the Mufti's note - we are going to submit further extracts from the diary.

Judge Halevi: But who wrote the word "Eichmann" in Latin characters?

Attorney General: I don't know; this is how we found it. I don't know who wrote it.

Dr. Servatius: Your Honour, the Presiding Judge. I have misgivings regarding the word "Eichmann", as to whether it was or was not written by the Mufti himself. And I suspect that someone else added the word at a later stage. I say this after comparing it with other notes in Latin characters appearing in a different handwriting. I would, in particular, point to the letters "ch" in the name "Eichmann" and compare them with the notes in Latin characters on 10 November, where the name "Buchberg" appears, and the letters "ch" are written differently. Hence, a handwriting expert should have been brought here first, in order to attest whether this is the same handwriting.

Presiding Judge: We shall accept it, for what it is worth.

Judge Halevi: Perhaps only that on that date Eichmann's name is mentioned in the diary.

Attorney General: That is all we can say. But, presently, we shall see something else which is connected with it.

Presiding Judge: This will be exhibit T/1267.

Attorney General: If the Accused wants to dissociate himself from these friendly relations, he may possibly succeed in doing so.

Presiding Judge: But if you want to make a further effort to decipher it, maybe the police expert, Mr. Hagag, who was born in Egypt, could do so.

Attorney General: The diary was shown to him. We thought about that. He was not able to come to a clear conclusion who wrote the word "Eichmann" - whether it was the Mufti or someone else. In this matter, he did not have a firm opinion, but we can ask him to have another look at it.

Presiding Judge: If you find out anything, please let us know.

Attorney General: We shall advise the Court.

Judge Halevi: Certainly the Accused did not write it?

Attorney General: There is no such allegation.

Dr. Servatius: One cannot see clearly what the year is. This page of the diary seems to be 1944.

Presiding Judge: It is possible to establish this by comparing the Moslem date and the Christian date.

Attorney General: A further extract from the Mufti's diary, dated 25 March 1944 ("30 Rabi el Awal"). There are two entries. It says: "The expert dealing with Jewish affairs - I want to be in contact with him." The translation is that of Superintendent Hagag. It says, "contact with him" or "a meeting with him." After that come the words, "the bombing of Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea." Next comes a word which could not be deciphered, and after that it says, "Haifa and enterprises there."

Presiding Judge: Actually, I have managed to decipher this word which is "harbia" - the reference is to war enterprises.

Attorney General: After that: "It is within our power to conduct operations throughout Palestine."

Presiding Judge: I think that, with an additional effort, the rest can also be deciphered. This will be exhibit T/1268.

Attorney General: Document No. 1304 is a photocopy of the Mufti's diary of 29 September 1943. No. 5: "Subject: The Jews of Italy, France and Hungary, and who is the expert dealing with the affairs of the Jews?" No. 6, of the same date: "Kaltenbrunner and the meeting with him on the subject of the Jews."

Presiding Judge: That is absolutely clear. The last extract from the diary will be marked T/1269.

Attorney General: Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler gave a photograph of the two of them together to "Seiner Eminenz, der Grossmufti" (To His Eminence, the Grand Mufti), as a souvenir.

Presiding Judge: This will be exhibit T/1270.

Attorney General: And here is another picture of the two, of Himmler and Hajj Amin, seated together in the company of others.

Presiding Judge: The second photograph will be exhibit T/1271.

Judge Halevi: Where was this found - in the same place?

Attorney General: All this was found at the same place.

Judge Halevi: Are you able to identify the third person here?

Attorney General: I am unable to do so. This friendship was a very close one, and on 2 November, the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, the Reichsfuehrer cabled the Mufti as follows:

"The National-Socialist movement, ever since its establishment, has inscribed on its banner the war against world Jewry. Therefore, it has always closely followed with special sympathetic interest the war of the freedom-loving Arabs, especially in Palestine, against the Jewish invaders. Recognition of this enemy and the common battle against him constitute the firm foundation for the natural alliance between Greater National-Socialist Germany and the freedom-loving Moslems throughout the world. In this spirit, I convey to you, on the occasion of the anniversary of the dismal Balfour Declaration, my most heartfelt greetings and best wishes for the successful outcome of your struggle, until certain victory." Signed: Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler.

Attorney General: We do not have the year, Your Honour, but according to all the indications, it must have been in 1943.

Judge Halevi: Was this also found amongst the Mufti's papers?

Attorney General: Yes, this is also one of the Mufti's documents - its number is 1313.

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/1272.

Attorney General: Here is something else from the Mufti's diary - document No. 1307; it is also taken from the pocket notebook of the Mufti of Jerusalem - from the Arazi documents. Inter alia, it says there: "A proposal for purging the Jews of Tripoli and seizing their property before the evacuation." This appears in the third line from the end.

Presiding Judge: [After perusing the document.] Something more can surely be done to decipher the Arabic words.

Attorney General: I am relying only on these, Your Honour; we have also deciphered others.

Presiding Judge: No, again it says here: "The word could not be deciphered." This appears before the passage which you quoted. And this word can be deciphered.

Attorney General: I am most thankful for the Court's help; so far, I have been relying only on Superintendent Hagag in this matter.

Judge Halevi: He is a handwriting expert, not necessarily...

Attorney General: Yes, but it has been the language of his studies and his mother tongue.

Presiding Judge: But if you give it back to him again, possibly he will be able to achieve more. It is fairly clear.

Attorney General: If the Court would be good enough to guide us, we shall make that suggestion to Mr. Hagag.

Presiding Judge: "Tanzif" can be "purge", for example.

Attorney General: It is translated "A proposal for purging the Jews of Tripoli and seizing their property before the evacuation."

Presiding Judge: Very well; but then what, in fact, did he fail to decipher here?

Attorney General: There was one word before this that he could not decipher.

Presiding Judge: "Iqtirah" means "proposal".

Attorney General: Thank you.

Judge Halevi: It says so in the translation, hence it is before that.

Attorney General: Yes, before that.

Presiding Judge: Very well. Let us leave it now.

Attorney General: At any rate, I am relying on these words.

Presiding Judge: This document will be marked T/1273.

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