The plan, a convenient corollary of the German-Ottoman alliance, was formally launched by Turkish Sultan Mehmed V shortly after the start of the war. From a mosque in Constantinople, the Sultan declared Britain, France and Russia the enemies of Islam, calling upon the Muslim subjects of those countries and their colonies to resist their oppressors.
According to the fatwa that was subsequently issued, any Muslim that engaged in war against the Ottomans would have to pay the highest penalty.
In the same year, two prisoner of war camps were built in Wunsdorf and Zossen - 7km away. Wunsdorf's Halbmondlager (Half Moon Camp) - so called because of the high concentration of Muslims - held about 5,000 prisoners at its peak, while Zossen had more than 12,000. [...]
Despite the calculated efforts, only a small proportion of the Muslim prisoners of war ended up fighting for the German side. At least 1,100 people from Tatarstan - now part of Russia - 1,084 Arabs and 49 Indians defected. [...]
Wunsdorf has played a strategic role in many of Germany's key historic moments. Between 1939 and 1945, the Wehrmacht High Command was located nearby and from the end of World War II until 1994, Wunsdorf served as the headquarters of the High Command of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. With 35,000 Soviet troops stationed there, along with their families, the area came to be known as "Little Moscow" by local residents.
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