33
German kindergarten was opened in Baghdad and was attended by
German and Arab children aged between 5 and 10. All secondary-school
teachers were given the opportunity of attending courses on Nazi educa-
tional methods at the Deutsche Akademie in Munich. On achieving a cer-
tain level of proficiency in German, all Iraqi students were eligible to
receive free education in Germany. In 1938, the Iraqi Director General of
Education, Fadhil al-Jamali, sent an official uniformed delegation to the
Nuremberg Rally, where their leader was personally introduced to Hitler.
The uniform worn on that occasion by the Iraqis subsequently became
that of the new Futuwwa (Iraqi Youth Movement) modelled on the
Hitler-Jugend (Hitler Youth [HJ]).^9
The medical profession also received Grobba’s fullest attention. Iraqi
doctors who had been trained in Germany were prevailed upon to spread
Nazi propaganda among medical students. Iraq’s most prominent physi-
cian, Dr. Saib Shawkat, principal of the Royal Hospital, visited Germany in
1937, where he was presented with a full-dress Nazi uniform and engaged
a German governess to educate his children. In January 1939, he became
president of the Nadi al-Muthanna (Muthanna Club), a hotbed of Nazi
intrigue.^10 In the political field, the Germans were of course also particu-
larly active. Spending considerable sums of money, they disseminated pro-
Nazi, pan-Arab, anti-British, and antisemitic propaganda throughout the
country. Fritz Grobba’s own personal charm, his generous hospitality, his
vitality, his fluent Arabic, and his profound knowledge of oriental culture
won for him the friendship of a large circle of influential Iraqis. He waived
diplomatic precedent and frequently visited cabinet ministers and senior
Iraqi officials in their offices. He lavishly entertained carefully selected
Iraqis likely to be useful to him. He gave glittering receptions at the
German legation to which he invited Iraqis from all walks of life regardless
of their social standing.^11
It was Grobba no doubt who facilitated the disappearance of the popu-
lar Iraqi broadcaster Younis Bahri and his subsequent re-emergence on the
German radio as Iraq’s ‘Lord Haw-Haw.’^12 In early April 1939, Bahri,
then employed by the Iraqi State Broadcasting Service, suddenly vanished
from the airwaves. Rumour had it that he had been assassinated, but this
was disproved on 29 April when he was heard speaking from one of the
new German broadcasting stations. Thus he became the official Iraqi
announcer on German radio, spewing forth scurrilous anti-British propa-
ganda for the duration of hostilities. In October 1939, Axis propaganda
received fresh impetus from the arrival in Iraq of the notorious ex-Mufti
PRELUDE TO CONFLICT AND THE EMBASSY SIEGE