Alimcan Idris

Alimcan Idris (or Idrisi) born in Siberia on 1887. A Tatar Volga, after finished his education in a madrassah in Bukhara, he continuing his study in Istanbul, Belgian, and Switzerland, and got doctoral degrees in philosophy and religious studies.

He served as an Ottoman agent to recruit Russian Moslems from German and Austro-Hungary PoW camps in Eastern Front during WW I. They were later collected into ‘Aslan Battalion’ and send to Syria front via Istanbul.

After WW I, Idris return to his homeland, but captured by Communist regime. Fortunately, by intervening of Germany and Turkey embassies, he was freed by his captors. He later returned to Germany in 1922. One of the founders of the Society of Islamic Worship in Berlin, after the Nazi seizure power in Germany, Idris worked for Reich Foreign Ministry, mainly as propagandist in Turkish desk.

After Hitler invaded Russia, Idris helped to recruited Turkestanis Pows into the Nazis sponsored-Turkestan Legion. He later served as a principal of SS mullah school in Dresden.

At the end of WW II, Idris and his family moved to Egypt, then to Afghanistan. After that, he lives in Riyadh and served as a consultant for Saudi Arabia King. He died in Munich in 1959.

Copyright © 2010 by Nino Oktorino