Dr. Couch, did Adolf Hitler have plans to take the Holy Land during
World War II? I know you are somewhat of an expert on that period of
history. What do you think?
ANSWER: Yes, the Germans would have taken the Holy Land and came very close to
accomplishing that goal. The great German general, Erwin Rommel (known
as the Desert Fox) was moving across North Africa with such an invasion
in mind. His army made up of Germans and Italians moved east from
Tripoli in order to take Alexandria, Egypt from the British. From there,
Rommel planned to sweep northward and take the Suez Canal, and then
march into the Holy Land, which was under the protection of England.
Meanwhile, from the north, German troops along
with some Russian Ukrainian defecting divisions, were to move south
from the Caucasus and take Palestine. The Germans were planning a pincer
movement—divisions moving from the north and the south against the tiny
land of Israel! This would give the Germans and the Italians complete
control of the Mediterranean area which would soon strangle the Allied
war efforts!
The Germans would then “liberate” the Arabs
from the “tyranny” of the English who were drawing their oil from the
Middle East for the war effort. Most of the Arab nations had pro-German
sympathies. In fact the Arab religious leader, the Grand Mufti of
Jerusalem, went to Berlin and met with Hitler concerning this plan.
In order to prevent all of this from
happening, many Jewish young men joined up with the British and formed a
“Jewish” Brigade to battle the Germans, with the promise that England
would accelerate their plans to give them a Jewish State after the war.
Unfortunately, only a few Englishman understood all of the prophetic
implications of all of this. Winston Churchill had a small inkling, and
so did the great British General Ord Wingate. Wingate was an
Evangelical, prophecy believing premillennialist. He used to be a
replacement guy, an allegorist and an amillennialist, who thought God
was finished with the Jews! He saw the light by reading the Bible with
its normal, literal interpretation. He became what I now am, a Zionist
Goy (a Gentile who loves Israel, because God does)!
By God’s providence, Rommel was stopped before
reaching Alexandria. He was somewhat of a “good guy” as the German
generals went. Often in his letters to his wife he wrote about God’s
(Gott) protection. And he was appalled to hear of the mistreatment of
the Jews in the concentration camps. It was said of Rommel’s troops that
no anti-Semitic statement was ever heard from the mouth of his
soldiers.
Thanks for asking!
Dr. Mal Couch
