Born in the Berber Kabyle region of Tizi Ouzou, Saïd Mohammadi served in the French army. Attracted to Algerian nationalism, and intensely religious, he became involved with the Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini. During World War II, he joined the Mufti to work with Nazi Germany, hoping that Hitler's defeat of France would lead to the liberation of Algeria and other French colonies. He enlisted in the Wehrmacht and fought in the Balkans (Yugoslavia and Greece) as well as on the Russian front during Operation Barbarossa. After a stay in Berlin, he received the Iron Cross First Class, for exemplary soldiers.