[335] Butler, using Ruge's recollections, reports that when told by Hitler himself that "no one will make peace with me", Rommel told Hitler that if he was the obstacle for peace, he should resign or kill himself, but Hitler insisted on fanatical defense. No lift was present, and the men had to climb to ski down the hillside. [214][N 2], Following his success at Gazala and Tobruk, Rommel wanted to seize the moment and not allow 8th Army a chance to regroup. [208] With his communications and the southern strongpoint of the British line thus secured, Rommel shifted his attack north again, relying on the British minefields of the Gazala lines to protect his left flank. [745] Liddell Hart had a personal interest in the work: by having coaxed Rommel's widow to include material favorable to himself, he could present Rommel as his "pupil". ", "Egypt revamps cave museum devoted to Nazi general", "Corsa Rommel Trail: Boem (Pd), Civati solleva caso per gusto polemica", "Operation Sunflower: Rommel Versus the General Staff", "Le journal de bord du chef SS en Tunisie découvert", "Inside the diary of SS officer known as gas chamber 'mastermind, "Haus der Geschichte in Stuttgart - Erwin Rommel kannte wohl Pläne für Hitler-Attentat", "World War II: New Research Taints Image of Desert Fox Rommel", "Liddell Hart and the Mearsheimer Critique: A "Pupil's" Retrospective", "The Devil's General? What they want is what might be termed a physical contact with him. Caddick-Adams writes that Rommel was a "complicated man of many contradictions,"[764] while Beckett notes that "Rommel's myth (...) has proved remarkably resilient" and that more work is needed to put him in proper historical context. [166] He was present for a second failed attack on the city on 30 April. 1942. Although they got basic wages, the workers complained because it was too little and there was no heavy equipment. [380], Two generals from Hitler's headquarters, Wilhelm Burgdorf and Ernst Maisel, visited Rommel at his home on 14 October 1944. According to Strölin, sometime in February, Rommel agreed to lend his support to the resistance. They point to Rommel's lack of appreciation for Germany's strategic situation, his misunderstanding of the relative importance of his theatre to the German High Command, his poor grasp of logistical realities, and, according to the historian Ian Beckett, his "penchant for glory hunting". [204] On 2 June he demanded surrender of French soldiers at Bir Hakeim, threatening to "exterminate" them if they did not comply. [326] He was a Nazi general in some aspects, considering his support for the leader cult (Führerkult) and the Volksgemeinschaft, but he was not an antisemite, nor a war criminal, nor a radical ideological fighter. (Rommel was himself an eccentric and horrible violinist. Amid growing doubts and differences, he would remain eager for Rommel's calls (they had almost daily, hour-long, highly animated conversations, with the preferred topic being technical innovations[681]): he once almost grabbed the telephone out of Linge's hand. Upon his arrival in Tunisia, Rommel noted with some bitterness the reinforcements, including the 10th Panzer Division, arriving in Tunisia following the Allied invasion of Morocco. He further notes that while Speidel had an interest in promoting his own post-war career, his testimonies should not be dismissed, considering his bravery as an early resistance figure. [563] Morrow, citing Scheck, says that the 7th Panzer Division carried out "cleansing operations". [687] (Even when informed of Rommel's involvement in the plot, hurt and vengeful,[29] Hitler at first wanted to retire Rommel,[717] and eventually offered him a last-minute chance to explain himself and refute the claims, which Rommel apparently did not take advantage of. The Museum states that this unit was to be tasked with murdering Jewish population of North Africa, Palestine, and it was to be attached directly to Rommel's Afrika Korps. Die Plauderecke bietet allen Besuchern von Baby-Vornamen.de einen Ort, um ungestört über schöne Vornamen, die Schwangerschaft oder andere Dinge zu plaudern. Dezember 1966 starb Herbert Zimmermann im Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf[2] an den Folgen eines Autounfalls, den er in Bassum erlitten hatte. [238] On the night of 3 September the 2nd New Zealand Division and 7th Armoured Division positioned to the north engaged in an assault, but they were repelled in a fierce rearguard action by the 90th Light Division. The BBC remarks that this might be conventional honour as generals usually bestow on the opponents, if only to make their victory more impressive. [748][N 32], Historian Bruce Allen Watson offers his interpretation of the myth, encompassing the foundation laid down by the Nazi propaganda machine. [654] Hitler then made Rommel part of his defensive strategy for Fortress Europe (Festung Europa) by sending him to the West to inspect fortifications along the Atlantic Wall. Sein letzter Dienstgrad war Hauptmann. The British briefly seized Sollum, Fort Capuzzo, and the important Halfaya Pass, a bottleneck along the coast near the border between Libya and Egypt. Captain Horst van Oppenfeld (a staff officer to Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and a quarter-Jew) says that Rommel did not concern himself with the racial decrees and he had never experienced any trouble caused by his ancestry during his time in the DAK even if Rommel never personally interfered on his behalf. Repeated British counterattacks threatened to cut off and destroy the Afrika Korps. [290][291][292][293], Hitler vacillated between the two strategies. [68] In September 1935 Rommel was moved to the War Academy at Potsdam as an instructor, for the next three years. ][528], Building the Atlantic Wall was officially the responsibility of the Organisation Todt,[529] which was not under Rommel's command, but he enthusiastically joined the task,[530] protesting slave labour and suggesting that they should recruit French civilians and pay them good wages. [237], Montgomery had made preparations to cut the Germans off in their retreat, but in the afternoon of 2 September he visited Corps commander Brian Horrocks and gave orders to allow the Germans to retire. Later in the day, Rundstedt received authorisation to move additional units in preparation for a counterattack, which Rundstedt decided to launch on 7 June. [314][315][316][317] This conversation occurred about a month before Rommel was coerced into committing suicide. [304][305], By mid-July the German position was crumbling. [504], On the other hand, Christopher Gabel remarks that Richards Evans seems to attempt to prove that Rommel was a war criminal by association but fails to produce evidence that he had actual or constructive knowledge about said crimes. On the other hand, being elevated by the traditional system that gave preferential treatment to aristocratic officers would be betrayal of his aspiration "to remain a man of the troops". [105], Going against military protocol, this promotion added to Rommel's growing reputation as one of Hitler's favoured commanders,[106] although his later outstanding leadership in France quelled complaints about his self-promotion and political scheming. Es wurde sogar diskutiert, ob Zimmermann weiter als Sportreporter arbeiten dürfe. [157] Cyrenaica was captured by 8 April, except for the port city of Tobruk, which was besieged on 11 April. While awaiting further reinforcements and a shipment of 300 tanks that were already on their way, Wavell launched a limited offensive code named Operation Brevity on 15 May. He would not consider sending Rommel the reinforcements and supplies he needed to take and hold Egypt, as this would have required diverting men and supplies from his primary focus: the Eastern Front. [437] Remy states that although Rommel had heard rumours about massacres while fighting in Africa, his personality, combined with special circumstances, meant that he was not fully confronted with the reality of atrocities before 1944. He sent infantry across in rubber boats, appropriated the bridging tackle of the 5th Panzer Division, personally grabbed a light machine gun to fight off a French counterattack supported by tanks, and went into the water himself, encouraging the sappers and helping lash together the pontoons. Hitler's Paratrooper: The Life and Battles of Rudolf Witzig He was surprised to find out only his vanguard had followed his tempestuous surge. Rommel had one older sister who was an art teacher and his favourite sibling, one older brother named Manfred who died in infancy and two younger brothers, of whom one became a successful dentist and the other an opera singer. [185] The German forces near Halfaya Pass were cut off on 23 November. Although Rommel was the dominating personality in Normandy with Rundstedt willing to delegate most of the responsibilities to him (the central reserve was Rundstedt's idea but he did not oppose to some form of coastal defense, and gradually came under the influence of Rommel's thinking), Rommel's strategy of an armor-supported coastal defense line was opposed by some officers, most notably Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg, who was supported by Guderian. [216] He strongly argued that the Panzerarmee should advance into Egypt and drive on to Alexandria and the Suez Canal, as this would place almost all the Mediterranean coastline in Axis hands, ease conditions on the Eastern Front, and potentially lead to the capture from the south of the oil fields in the Caucasus and Middle East. Advancing 100 kilometres (62 mi) in two days, the division reached Rouen to find it defended by three French tanks; after they managed to destroy a number of German tanks before being taken out; the German force enraged by this resistance forbade fire brigade access to the burning district of old Norman capital, and as a result most of the historic quarter was reduced to ashes[126] According to David Fraser, Rommel instructed the German artillery to bombard the city as a "fire demonstration"[127] According to one witness report the smoke from burning Rouen was intense enough that it reached Paris[128] Daniel Allen Butler states that the bridges to the city were already destroyed. The person who gave birth to the full-blown legend was the SS soldier Walter Kirner, who presented a false map to the French authorities. [80] This unit accompanied Hitler whenever he travelled outside of Germany. Rommel's own experiences at the end of the North African campaign revealed to him that the Germans would not be allowed to preserve their armour from air attack for this type of massed assault. [720] Peter Lieb sees Rommel as a person who could not be put into a single drawer, although problematic by modern moral standards, and suggests people should personally decide for themselves whether Rommel should remain a role model or not. [701][702] The Nazi elites were not comfortable with the idea of a national icon who did not wholeheartedly support the regime. [305] Around the same timeframe, the plotters in Berlin were not aware that Rommel had allegedly decided to take part in the conspiracy. [545][N 18] In November 1941, Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels wrote about "the urgent need" to have Rommel "elevated to a kind of popular hero." The speech led to an upswing in morale and sustained confidence in Rommel. ", Rommel's victories in France were featured in the German press and in the February 1941 film Victory in the West, in which Rommel personally helped direct a segment reenacting the crossing of the Somme River. Rommel was thrown from the car, suffering injuries to the left side of his face from glass shards and three fractures to his skull. He had entrusted himself to me and would never forget me for my excellent advice. However, Germany' s direct involvement in the colonial authorities' affairs and management did not completely materialize until 1941. Erwin von Witzleben, who would have become commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht had the plot succeeded, was a field marshal, but had been inactive since 1942. To ensure that the inevitable defeat in Africa would not be associated with Rommel's name, Goebbels had the Supreme High Command announce in May 1943 that Rommel was on a two-month leave for health reasons. The Desert Air Force inflicted the highest proportions of damage on Rommel's forces. [507] Caron and Jörg Müllner, his co-author of the ZDF documentary Rommel's treasure (Rommels Schatz) tell Die Welt that "Rommel had nothing to do with the treasure, but his name is assocỉated with everything that happened in the war in Africa. [239] In the attack Rommel had suffered 2,940 casualties and lost 50 tanks, a similar number of guns, and 400 lorries, vital for supplies and movement. [785] Porch highlights Rommel's "offensive mentality", symptomatic of the Wehrmacht commanders as a whole in the belief that the tactical and operational victories would lead to strategic success. [742] Young's biography was another step in the development of the Rommel myth – with Rommel emerging as an active, if not a leading, plotter. [574][575] According to Remy, on this same day, Rommel was already back in Germany discussing the fortifications with Hitler and Speer, before returning to Italy briefly to prepare for the move to France. [673] In 1944, Rommel himself told Ruge and his wife that Hitler had a kind of irresistible magnetic aura ("magnetismus") and was always seemingly in an intoxicated condition. [340][326] Remy comments that Rommel put himself and his family (which he had briefly considered evacuating to France, but refrained from doing so) at risk for the resistance out of a combination of his concern for the fate of Germany, his indignation at atrocities and the influence of people around him. "[607], According to several historians, allegations and stories that associate Rommel and the Afrika Korps with the harassing and plundering of Jewish gold and property in Tunisia are usually known under the name "Rommel's treasure" or "Rommel's gold". He treated prisoners of war with consideration. Entschuldigen Sie die Begeisterung, die Fußballlaien werden uns für verrückt erklären …“ Gemeint war Toni Turek, der Torhüter der deutschen Mannschaft. Samuel W. Mitcham, page 175, sfn error: no target: CITEREFWatson2006 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFStrawson2014 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFDäniker2002 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFCaddick-Adams2013b (, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, Field Marshal Rommel Barracks, Augustdorf, 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, The House of Local History of Baden-Württemberg, Rommel myth § Operational and strategic level commander, "Der Mann wusste, dass der Krieg verloren ist", "Manfred Rommel, Son of German Field Marshal, Dies at 84", "Erinnerung Manfred Rommel – Sein Vermächtnis bleibt", "Dunkirk anniversary: The real reason Hitler let the British troops go", "Rommel and the Atlantic Wall December 1943 – July 1944 Oral History – World War II – Invasion of Normandy (1944)", "Obituary: Flight Lieutenant Charley Fox", Jacques Remlinger (1923–2002), pilote chasse de la RAF et des FAFL, "Manfred Rommel, son of the Desert Fox, forged a great friendship with Monty's son which became a symbol of post-war reconciliation", "German Military Tradition and the Expert Opinion on Werner Mölders: Opening a Dialogue among Scholars", "now the Gurkha regiment, pillar of India's security for decades", "Rommel resents Maori "scalphunters" tactics", "WHAT I COULD DO WITH A DIVISION OF NZ MAORI. – Das Spiel ist aus! He pressed an attack on the heavily fortified town of Mersa Matruh, which Auchinleck had designated as the fall-back position, surrounding it on 28 June. Berühmt wurde seine Radioreportage des Endspieles der Fußballweltmeisterschaft am 4. [289] Rommel and Hitler's views on the matter is a matter of debate between authors, with both seeming to change their positions. 2006 Historians like Mark Avrum Ehrlich and Jacques Roumani describes the pogrom and riots in 1941 as "Italian-led". [226] Attacks by 21st Panzer on 13 and 14 July were repulsed, and an Australian attack on 16–17 July was held off with difficulty. His leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign established his reputation as one of the ablest tank commanders of the war, and earned him the nickname der Wüstenfuchs, "the Desert Fox". Jetzt Deutschland am linken Flügel durch Schäfer. [9][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] He is generally considered a supporter and close friend of Adolf Hitler, at least until near the end of the war, if not necessarily sympathetic to the party and the paramilitary forces associated with it. The official notice of Rommel's death as reported to the public, stated that he had died of either a heart attack or a cerebral embolism—a complication of the skull fractures he had suffered in the earlier strafing of his staff car. Rommel was often cited in Western sources as a patriotic German willing to stand up to Hitler. The two Italian armoured divisions, Ariete and Trieste, were still under Italian control. [182], Some elements of the 7th Armoured Division were stopped on 19 January by the Italian Ariete Armoured Division at Bir el Gobi, but they also managed to capture the airfields at Sidi Rezegh, 10 miles (16 km) from Tobruk. [230], Preparing for a renewed drive, the British replaced Auchinleck with General Harold Alexander on 8 August. [99] In a letter to his wife he claimed after several days of blockade of movement and exposure to danger in the ruined city, the inhabitants were now rescued. Aufgrund der noch geringen Verbreitung von Fernsehgeräten wurde Zimmermanns Hörfunkreportage zur primären Informationsquelle der Deutschen, und sein Name bleibt deshalb unabänderlich in Verbindung mit dem Sieg der deutschen Mannschaft. [570], Giordana Terracina writes that: "On April 3, the Italians recaptured Benghazi and a few months later the Afrika Korps led by Rommel was sent to Libya and began the deportation of the Jews of Cyrenaica in the concentration camp of Giado and other smaller towns in Tripolitania. In Desert Warfare", "Paris stürzt sich auf Rommels Erinnerungen", "Der Mythos vom Wüstenfuchs: Wie "ritterlich" kämpften Deutsche und Briten wirklich? [111][112] Rommel was active in the forward areas, directing the efforts to make a crossing, which were initially unsuccessful because of suppressive fire by the French on the other side of the river. [177] Rommel opposed him with the 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions with a total of 260 tanks, the 90th Light Infantry division, five Italian infantry divisions, and one Italian armoured division of 278 tanks. [46] In November 1916 in Danzig, Rommel and Lucia married. [301] All this made the German command structure in France in disarray during the opening hours of the D-Day invasion. [617], Michael FitzGerald comments that the treasure should be named more accurately as Rauff's gold, as Rommel had nothing to do with its acquisition or removal. On 4 June the chief meteorologist of the 3 Air Fleet reported that weather in the channel was so poor there could be no landing attempted for two weeks. [691] (The dominant parent in Rommel's life was his mother Helene, a minor "von" and a loving but ambitious and class-conscious mother who strongly stirred him towards a military career[36][692][693][694]) While Rommel was greatly attached to his profession ("the body and soul of war", a fellow officer commented),[695] he seemed to equally enjoy the idea of peace, as shown by his words to his wife in August 1939: "You can trust me, we have taken part in one World War, but as long as our generation live, there will not be a second", as well as his letter sent to her the night before the Invasion of Poland, in which he expressed (in Maurice Remy's phrase) "boundless optimism": "I still believe the atmosphere will not become more bellicose. [233] Expecting an attack sooner rather than later, Montgomery fortified the Alam el Halfa ridge with the 44th Division, and positioned the 7th Armoured Division about 15 miles (24 km) to the south. [223], Rommel continued his pursuit of the Eighth Army, which had fallen back to heavily prepared defensive positions at El Alamein. [460][461][462][463][464][465][466][467][468][469] [266] Luftwaffe Field Marshal Kesselring strongly criticized Rommel's decision to retreat all the way to Tunisia, as each airfield the Germans abandoned extended the range of the Allied bombers and fighters. [91] Manfred Rommel tells the Stuttgarter Nachrichten that their family lived in isolated military lands but knew about the discrimination against the Jews outside. "[609], Rick Atkinson criticises Rommel for gaining a looted stamp collection (a bribe from Sepp Dietrich) and a villa taken from Jews. Non-European soldiers were mistreated and several were shot if they were giving the captors troubles. [121][122][123] The halt order was lifted on 26 May. ", Commandant of the Theresian Military Academy NCO WarSchool, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erwin_Rommel&oldid=1015790724, German military personnel who committed suicide, Grand Officers of the Military Order of Savoy, Members of the 20 July plot who committed suicide, Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class, Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor, Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave, 2nd class, Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class), Wikipedia pending changes protected pages, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Articles that may be too long from May 2020, Articles with self-published sources from February 2020, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CINII identifiers, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with multiple identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Samuels, Martin (2017) "Erwin Rommel and German Military Doctrine, 1912–1940", This page was last edited on 3 April 2021, at 15:47. [599][600] Karen Horn in her publication "Narratives from North Africa: South African prisoner-of-war experience following the fall of Tobruk" describes a witness statement reporting execution of a group of black soldiers by German guards transporting them to prisoner of war camps. [312][313] One piece of evidence that points to the possibility that Rommel came to support the assassination plan was General Eberbach's confession to his son (eavesdropped on by British agencies) while in British captivity, which stated that Rommel explicitly said to him that Hitler and his close associates had to be killed because this would be the only way out for Germany. It is likely that he had acted similarly in North Africa. [585][586], According to the publication Jewish Communities of the World edited by Anthony Lerman, in 1942 under the German occupation, the Benghazi quarter that housed Jewish population was plundered and 2000 Jews were deported across the desert, out of which circa a fifth have perished[587] Malka Hillel Shulewitz in Forgotten Millions: The Modern Jewish Exodus from Arab writes that up to 1945, the only anti-Jewish riots since centuries in Libya happened during German occupation and plunder in Banghazi[588] The Illustrated Atlas of Jewish Civilization: 4,000 Years of Jewish History by Martin Gilbert state that that German occupation led to first anti-Jewish pogrom in 1942 and subsequent plunder of the Jewish district alongside of expulsion of Jews[589] The Moment magazine in an article "Once upon a time in Libya" published in May 1987 stated that "on orders from the German military commander, the Axis forces, in 1942, plundered Jewish shops and deported 2,600 Benghazi Jews to Giado". With American industrial production beginning to make itself felt, while Germany bled herself white on the Russian Front, any chance of scoring a decisive victory had to be taken. [287], Rundstedt expected the Allies to invade in the Pas-de-Calais because it was the shortest crossing point from Britain, its port facilities were essential to supplying a large invasion force, and the distance from Calais to Germany was relatively short. The airfield at Sidi Rezegh was retaken by 21st Panzer on 22 November. By giving carte blanche to the Italians, Rommel implicitly condoned, and perhaps even encouraged, their war crimes". [2] A number of historians have since rejected the phrase as myth and uncovered numerous examples of war crimes and abuses both towards enemy soldiers and native populations in Africa during the conflict. 602 Squadron RAF,[307][308] or Johannes Jacobus le Roux of No. According to Ruge, Rommel was in a staff position and could not issue orders, but he took every effort to explain his plan to commanders down to the platoon level, who took up his words eagerly, but "more or less open" opposition from the above slowed down the process. His tactical prowess and decency in the treatment of Allied prisoners earned him the respect of opponents including Claude Auchinleck, Archibald Wavell, George S. Patton, and Bernard Montgomery. The German Army's largest military base, the Field Marshal Rommel Barracks, Augustdorf, is named in his honour. After the war, his widow—among others—maintained that Rommel believed an assassination attempt would spark civil war in Germany and Austria, and Hitler would have become a martyr for a lasting cause. [146] This thrust was not anticipated by the British, who had Ultra intelligence showing that Rommel had orders to remain on the defensive until at least May, when the 15th Panzer Division were due to arrive.

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