Rommel

[barrett.t]

Rommel was in his lifetime extraordinarily well known, not only by the German people, but also by his adversaries. Popular stories of his chivalry and tactical prowess earned him the respect of many opponents, including Claude Auchinleck, Winston Churchill, George S. Patton, and Bernard Montgomery. Rommel, for his part, was complimentary towards and respectful of his foes. Hitler considered Rommel among his favourite generals.

The Afrika Korps was never accused of any war crimes, and Rommel himself referred to the fighting in North Africa as Krieg ohne Hass—war without hate. Numerous examples exist of Rommel's chivalry towards Allied POWs, such as his defiance of Hitler's infamous Commando Order following the capture of Lt. Roy Woodridge and Lt. George Lane as part of Operation Fortitude, as well as his refusal to comply with an order from Hitler to execute Jewish POWs. Fritz Bayerlein, Rommel's friend and chief of staff in North Africa, was part-Jewish. During Rommel's time in France, Hitler ordered him to deport the Jews in France; Rommel disobeyed the order. Several times, he wrote letters protesting the treatment of the Jews. When British Major Geoffrey Keyes was killed during a failed Commando raid to kill or capture Rommel behind German lines, Rommel ordered him buried with full military honours. Also, during the construction of the Atlantic Wall, Rommel directed that French workers were not to be used as slaves, but were to be paid for their labour.

His military colleagues would also play their part in perpetuating his legend. His former subordinate Kircheim, though privately critical of Rommel's performance, nonetheless explained: "thanks to propaganda, first by Goebbels, then by Montgomery, and finally, after he was poisoned (sic), by all former enemy powers, he has become a symbol of the best military traditions. ....Any public criticism of this legendary personality would damage the esteem in which the German soldier is held" (in a letter to Johannes Streich, who also served under Rommel as the commander of the 5th Light Division in North Africa, and came to loathe Rommel).


After the war, when Rommel's alleged involvement in the plot to kill Hitler became known, his stature was enhanced greatly among the former Allied nations. Rommel was often cited in Western sources as a general who, though a loyal German, was willing to stand up to the evil that was Hitler. The release of the film The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951) helped enhance his reputation as one of the most widely known and well-regarded leaders in the German Army. In 1970 a Lütjens-class destroyer was named the FGS Rommel in his honour.

Rommel was also the namesake of Operation Desert Fox, a United States military strike against alleged Iraqi nuclear weapons facilities, launched in December 1998. God bless him, Mussolini said something like better to live one day as a lion than a thousand as a sheep. BAA BAA BAA BAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wustenfuchs]

Rommel also toured the Normandy defences instructing German soldiers on the fair treatment of prisoners. Hitler viewed this as "weakness". War without hate, here's to you Herr Feldmarschall!

[Dallas]

Originally Posted by Wustenfuchs

Rommel also toured the Normandy defences instructing German soldiers on the fair treatment of prisoners. Hitler viewed this as "weakness". War without hate, here's to you Herr Feldmarschall!

Why is the General wearing what appears to be a helmet with a bend rim?

[salinator]

The Afrika Korps were responible for the internment and forced labor of Tunisian Jews.

If Rommel had survived the war, he would have stood trial for the forced labor at Tunisa and maybe also at Normandy.

That said, I do believe him to have served chivalry the best that he could.

[panzer228]

Rommel was a great man if you asked me. He was a great strategist and he even tried to kill Hitler!

[McCoy]

Originally Posted by panzer228

Rommel was a great man if you asked me. He was a great strategist and he even tried to kill Hitler!

Nope, he didn't try to kill Hitler but he was aware of the plans that led to the july 20th assassination atempt on Hitler.

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by salinator

The Afrika Korps were responible for the internment and forced labor of Tunisian Jews.

If Rommel had survived the war, he would have stood trial for the forced labor at Tunisa and maybe also at Normandy.

That said, I do believe him to have served chivalry the best that he could.

Sal,

Interesting comment about Tunisia. However, the question is was Rommel was responsible for political actions in North Africa? If not, then it would have been a politically based prosecution. I know that some argue that the mere fact that he was in North Africa was part of the Nazi plan to export the Holocaust to the Middle East, but those decisions were made by the politicians (Nazis) to whom Rommel reported.

Not all German generals were prosecuted. Guderian was not even though he participated in Barbarossa.

Walter Rauff of the RSHA was in charge of the actions in Tunisia against civilians in general and Jews in particular. Ironically, he survived the war and was protected by foreign governments, particularly that of Chile. How much Rommel aided Rauff is not known to me, but my guess is that Rommel had more important considerations at the time.

[MAGNA]

Good point Jim. Kesselring suffered the same problem in Italy although being the type he was he took responsibility anyway. Again the SS were heavily involved. It is hard to ascertain involvement in these cases but as you say these commanders were fighting a war at the time and would have been concentrating on that aspect more than any other.

[salinator]

Originally Posted by Jim O

Sal,

Interesting comment about Tunisia. However, the question is was Rommel was responsible for political actions in North Africa? If not, then it would have been a politically based prosecution. I know that some argue that the mere fact that he was in North Africa was part of the Nazi plan to export the Holocaust to the Middle East, but those decisions were made by the politicians (Nazis) to whom Rommel reported.

No, Rommel was not responsible for the politcal actions, but unfortunately that did not make him immune to possible persecution at war's end.

Not all German generals were prosecuted. Guderian was not even though he participated in Barbarossa.

Only because the western victors wanted to learn from the father of Blitzkrieg and protected him. IIRC, the Soviets and the Poles wanted Guderian at Nuremburg.

Walter Rauff of the RSHA was in charge of the actions in Tunisia against civilians in general and Jews in particular. Ironically, he survived the war and was protected by foreign governments, particularly that of Chile. How much Rommel aided Rauff is not known to me, but my guess is that Rommel had more important considerations at the time.

Rommel was forced to withdraw the remnants of his army to Tunisia, where it sustained a bridgehead until May 1943, enabling Rauff ’s SS to conduct a well-organ-ised persecution campaign against the country’s Jews.

More than 2,500 Tunisian Jews died in a network of SS slave labour camps before the Germans withdrew. Rauff’s men also stole silver, jewels and religious artefacts from the Tunisian Jews. Forty-three kilograms of gold were taken from the Jewish community on the island of Djerba alone.

The gold and jewels were taken by the Germans as they withdrew and were later thrown into the sea off Corsica. Divers are still searching for “ Rommel’s Treasure”.

The documentary makers argue that the role Rom-mel played in supporting the Nazis’ plans to export the Holocaust to the Middle East was largely forgotten after the war because of the field marshal’s later alleged involvement in the July 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler. The Nazis responded by arresting Rommel and leaving him the choice of facing trial and certain execution or committing suicide. He chose the latter.

[Jim O]

All well and good, but in the end, any soldier that led men could have been considered a war criminal. Is there actual evidence (not just what some folks who wanted to make a documentary) that Rommel would have been prosecuted? I have read the article at Wiki (copied verbatim from the article in "The Independent" at 'Chivalrous' Rommel wanted to bring Holocaust to Middle East - Europe, News - The Independent) from which you cut and pasted. There is nothing there that states definitively that he would have faced prosecution. Without any evidence to the contrary, stating that he would have faced prosecution is supposition.