Look at North Africa, the Arab-Israeli wars, and all the rest of them. "[658], Rommel saw the propaganda and education values in his and his nation's deeds (He also did value justice itself; according to Admiral Ruge's diary, Rommel told Ruge: "Justice is the indispensable foundation of a nation. [813] A third base named for him, the Field Marshal Rommel Barracks, Osterode, closed in 2004. On 17 July 1944, as Rommel was returning from visiting the headquarters of the I SS Panzer Corps, a fighter plane piloted by either Charley Fox of 412 Squadron,[306] Jacques Remlinger of No. [323] According to some authors,[324][325][326][327][328] he gradually changed his attitude. [501] Scheck believes it may be forever unclear whether Rommel recognized the unprecedented depraved character of the regime. [234], The Battle of Alam el Halfa was launched on 30 August. [60] In 1919 he was briefly sent to Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, where he restored order by "sheer force of personality" in the 32nd Internal Security Company, which was composed of rebellious and pro-communist sailors. (Rommel imposed a high number of courts martial, but according to Westphal, he never signed the final order. [116], On 20 May, Rommel reached Arras. Kesselring was ordered to get control of the air and sea between Africa and Italy. [655], In France, a Wehrmacht propaganda company frequently accompanied Rommel on his inspection trips to document his work for both domestic and foreign audiences. [56] Acting as advance guard in the capture of Longarone on 9 November, Rommel again decided to attack with a much smaller force. [201] Throughout the day a running armour battle occurred, where both sides took heavy losses. Er hat den Ball – verloren diesmal, gegen Schäfer. In moments of panic, fatigue, or disorganization, or when something out of the ordinary has to be demanded from them, the personal example of the commander works wonders, especially if he has had the wit to create some sort of legend around himself. [664] His egalitarianism extended to people of other races:[665] in replying to white South African officers' demands that the black POWs should be housed in separated compounds, he refused, commenting that the black soldiers wore the same uniforms and had fought alongside the whites and thus were their equals. [603] On the other hand, Watson comments that, regarding the Afrika Korps, any Nazi indoctrination was minimised, allowing Rommel the freedom to reinvent his army in his own style. Herbert Zimmermann informierte auch bei den nächsten Fußball-Weltmeisterschaften die Radiohörer. Bensoussan says that 870 British Jews and 1,600 French Jews were expelled by the Italian Minister of Colonies. [160] Rommel knew that by capturing the port he could greatly reduce the length of his supply lines and increase his overall port capacity, which was insufficient even for day-to-day operations and only half that needed for offensive operations. [560] The website of the National Federation of Volunteer Servicemen (F.N.C.V., France) states that N'Tchoréré was pushed against the wall and, despite protests from his comrades and newly liberated German prisoners, was shot by the SS. [798], Rommel was among the few Axis commanders (the others being Isoroku Yamamoto and Reinhard Heydrich) who were targeted for assassination by Allied planners. According to Rahn, it was von Arnim (who had led the Axis forces in North Africa since 8 December) who assigned Jewish labour companies to individual units. Profitez de millions d'applications Android récentes, de jeux, de titres musicaux, de films, de séries, de livres, de magazines, et plus encore. [502] Anti-Jewish and Anti-Arab violence erupted in North Africa when Rommel and Ettore Bastico regained territory there in February 1941 and then again in April German film seeks to debunk Rommel myth", "Operational Leadership as Practiced by Field Marshall Erwin Rommel During the German Campaign in North Africa 1941–1942: Success of Failure? A war in the desert is a war of mobility and lethality. [42] His first combat experience was on 22 August 1914 as a platoon commander near Verdun, when – catching a French garrison unprepared – Rommel and three men opened fire on them without ordering the rest of his platoon forward. [218], Rommel's success at Tobruk worked against him, as Hitler no longer felt it was necessary to proceed with Operation Herkules, the proposed attack on Malta. [598], After the Fall of Tobruk, the Allied POWs were quickly delivered to the POW camps. Jetzt online gedenken. Rommel was chosen because he embodied the decent soldier, cunning yet fair-minded, and if guilty by association, not so guilty that he became unreliable, and additionally, former comrades reported that he was close to the Resistance. [198] The British had 900 tanks in the area, 200 of which were new Grant tanks. [765] Hansen counters that Rommel was hardly naive, always judged military and political situations with cold objectivity, and shared a lot of characteristics with Hitler,[766] an opinion shared by psychoanalyst and historian Geoffrey Cocks who writes that Rommel "embodies the modern synergy of technical expertise and self-promotion ... arriviste, ... professionally ambitious, adept at cultivating a mass media image ... like Hitler". This was Rommel's single most important contribution to the defense of the Normandy coast ... Rommel's pet project, the coastal obstacles, had proven to be one of the most successful innovations in the German defenses. [767], There is also, especially in Germany, an increasing tendency to portray Rommel as someone who cannot be explained in concrete details yet. The Rommel Memorial was erected in Heidenheim in 1961. [700], Rommel's political inclinations were a controversial matter even among the contemporary Nazi elites. He began to contemplate this plan some months after El Alamein and carried it out with a lonely decision and conviction, and in the end, had managed to bring military leaders in the West to his side. [669][N 24] On one hand, he wanted personal promotion and the realization of his ideals. Hitler replied, "Dear Rommel, you understand nothing about my thinking at all. Rommel immediately turned back against the British forces, occupying the Mareth Line (old French defences on the Libyan border). [582], According to the BBC, on 9 October 1942, Italian racial laws were extended to Libya, and by the end of the war, hundreds of Jews used as slave labour would perish from ill treatment. [453], James J. Sadkovich states examples of Rommel for abandoning his Italian units, refusing cooperation, rarely acknowledging their achievements and other improper behaviour towards his Italian allies, Giuseppe Mancinell who was liaison between German and Italian command accused Rommel of blaming Italians for his own errors. 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. The atrocities, according to Martin S. Alexander, included the murder of 50 surrendering officers and men at Quesnoy and the nearby Airaines. The terrain left Rommel with no choice but to follow a similar tactic as he had at previous battles: the bulk of the forces attempted to sweep around from the south while secondary attacks were launched on the remainder of the front. [304][305], By mid-July the German position was crumbling. [639] Seconded by Goebbels, Berndt was assigned to Rommel's staff and became one of his closest aides. [763] Rommel's (and Guderian's) successes and the new possibilities offered by the new tank arm were welcomed by a small number of generals, but worried and paralysed the rest. When Rommel was being considered for appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Army in the summer of 1942, Goebbels wrote in his diary that Rommel "is ideologically sound, is not just sympathetic to the National Socialists. "[775][776] Ariel Sharon deemed the German military model used by Rommel to be superior to the British model used by Montgomery. By Edward L. Bimberg,Contributions in Military Studies, Number 217, Greenwood Press, London page 103, Nazi Palestine: The Plans for the Extermination of the Jews in Palestine ", "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? [273], Hitler met with Rommel and Kesselring to discuss future operations in Italy on 30 September 1943. [51][66] While at Dresden, he wrote a manual on infantry training, published in 1934. [228] Both sides suffered similar losses throughout the month, but the Axis supply situation remained less favourable. In World War II, he distinguished himself as the commander of the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. [192], On 5 January 1942 the Afrika Korps received 55 tanks and new supplies and Rommel started planning a counterattack. Zbrodnie Wehrmachtu na jeńcach wojennych armii regularnych w II wojnie światowej [212] With Tobruk, Rommel achieved the capture of 32,000 defenders, the port, and huge quantities of supplies. 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. This measure was accompanied by shooting, also in Benghazi, of some Jews guilty of having welcomed the British troops, on their arrival, treating them as liberators. The Allies were able to achieve local air superiority, with heavy bombers attacking the 15th and 21st Panzers, who had also been delayed by a sandstorm. [144] According to Remy, the General Staff tried to slow him down but Hitler encouraged him to advance—an expression of the conflict that had existed between Hitler and the army leadership since the invasion of Poland. [205][206][207] On 6 June, 90th Light Division and the Trieste Division assaulted the Free French strongpoint in the Battle of Bir Hakeim, but the defenders continued to thwart the attack until finally evacuating on 10 June. [642][643][N 19] The American press soon began to take notice of Rommel as well, following the country's entry into the war on 11 December 1941, writing that "The British (...) admire him because he beat them and were surprised to have beaten in turn such a capable general." After the Röhm Purge, he mistakenly believed that the worst was now over, although there were still restrictions on Jewish businesses and agitation against their community. [322], At least initially, Rommel opposed assassinating Hitler. [507][609], Having arrived in Tunisia German forces ordered establishment of Judenrat and terrorised the local Jewish population into slave labour. Patrick Bernhard, Im Rücken Rommels. [137], After the armistice with the French was signed on 22 June, the division was placed in reserve, being sent first to the Somme and then to Bordeaux to re-equip and prepare for Unternehmen Seelöwe (Operation Sea Lion), the planned invasion of Britain. In 1944, after visiting Rommel in France and reading his proposals on counteracting Allied propaganda, Alfred-Ingemar Berndt remarked: "He is also interested in this propaganda business and wants to develop it by all means. [801] Rommel and Mollin were married in November 1916 in Danzig. [166] He was present for a second failed attack on the city on 30 April. In the former case, his family would have suffered even before the all-but-certain conviction and execution, and his staff would have been arrested and executed as well. [97] On 26 September Rommel returned to Berlin to set up a new headquarters for his unit in the Reich Chancellery. Sein Grab befindet sich in Witterschlick in der Gemeinde Alfter bei Bonn. [303] The Allies pushed ashore and expanded their beachhead despite strong German resistance. [507] As commander of the German Afrika Korps, Nehring would continue to use Tunesian forced labour. According to Satloff Afrika Korps soldiers plundered Jewish property all along the Libyan coast. [210], On 15 June Axis forces reached the coast, cutting off the escape for the Commonwealth forces still occupying the Gazala positions. [657], Rommel was interested in propaganda beyond the promotion of his own image. Rommel, with his innate abilities as a military commander and love of the spotlight, was a perfect fit for the role Goebbels designed for him. 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". "[659]) The key to the successful creating of an image, according to Rommel, was leading by example: "The men tend to feel no kind of contact with a commander who, they know, is sitting somewhere in headquarters. [663] Ruge suggests that his chief treated his own fame as a kind of weapon. [68] During this period Rommel indulged his interest in engineering and mechanics by learning about the inner workings and maintenance of internal combustion engines and heavy machine guns. Rommel continued to attempt to advance for two more days, but repeated sorties by the Desert Air Force meant he could make no progress. [661][662] He protested the use of propaganda at the cost of explicit military benefits though. [170] The defeat resulted in Churchill replacing Wavell with General Claude Auchinleck as theatre commander. Burgdorf informed him of the charges against him and offered him three options: (a.) The arrest plan would have been highly improbable, as Hitler's security was extremely tight. [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] In 1944, Rommel was implicated in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler. A German Navy Lütjens-class destroyer, Rommel, was named for him in 1969 and christened by his widow; the ship was decommissioned in 1998. Driving through the night, they were able to reduce the halt to a single day. [402][N 8], Rommel is praised by numerous authors as a great leader of men. By 7 December Rommel fell back to a defensive line at Gazala, just west of Tobruk, all the while under heavy attack from the Desert Air Force. Rommel did not directly intervene, though he advised the Italian authorities to do whatever was necessary to eliminate the danger of riots and espionage; for the German general, the rear areas were to be kept "quiet" at all costs. [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. [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. The Bardia garrison surrendered on 2 January and Halfaya on 17 January 1942. [277] He argued that the German armour should be held in reserve well inland near Paris, where they could be used to counter-attack in force in a more traditional military doctrine. [352][353][354][355][356][357][358] Writer Ernst Jünger commented: "The blow that felled Rommel ... robbed the plan of the shoulders that were to be entrusted the double weight of war and civil war - the only man who had enough naivety to counter the simple terror that those he was about to go against possessed. The conspirators gave instructions to Speidel to bring Rommel into their circle. [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. The Grant tanks proved to be impossible to knock out except at close range. It was intended to join these barriers to form a continuous line", "Burgdorf had with him copies of the interrogations of von Hofacker, von Stülpnagel and Speidel, along with a letter written by Keitel ostensibly dictated by Hitler himself. [69] His book Infanterie greift an (Infantry Attacks), a description of his wartime experiences along with his analysis, was published in 1937. 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. [761] Butler states that Rommel's idealistic character led to grave misjudgements because he refused to let anything compromise it, and also that although he had a sense of strategy that developed greatly during the war, he lacked a philosophy of war. [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. Seydlitz and Ziethen had led from the front and exploited fleeting opportunities to win tactical victories. [185] The German forces near Halfaya Pass were cut off on 23 November. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. The speech led to an upswing in morale and sustained confidence in Rommel. [222] The fortress fell on 29 June. – Dennis Showalter – 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. [57], Rommel remained with the 124th Regiment until October 1920. Popularly known as the Desert Fox, he served as field marshal in the Wehrmacht (armed forces) of Nazi Germany during World War II, as well as serving in the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic, and the army of Imperial Germany. [731] The British military and political figures contributed to the heroic image of the man as Rommel resumed offensive operations in January 1942 against the British forces weakened by redeployments to the Far East. Keeping the focus on Rommel distracted the German public from Wehrmacht losses elsewhere as the tide of the war began to turn. [337] Reuth, based on Jodl's testimony, reports that Rommel forcefully presented the situation and asked for political solutions from Hitler, who rebuffed that Rommel should leave politics to him. Mitcham's Life and Death of the Afrika Korps: "OKW sent an order ... spoke of numerous German "political refugees" (that is, Jews) ... "On 7 June, a number of soldiers of 53eme Regiment d'Infanterie Coloniale were shot, probably by troops of the 5th Panzer Division, following their surrender after a spirited defense in the area of Airaines, near Le Quesnoy. He directed Rommel's photo shoots and filed radio dispatches describing the battles. Sadkovich names Rommel as arrogantly ethnocentric and disdainful towards Italians. [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. [707] Rommel's relationship to the Nazi elites, other than Hitler and Goebbels, was mostly hostile, although even powerful people like Bormann[708] and Himmler had to tread carefully around Rommel. He notes, though, that "Perhaps Rommel failed to enforce the order to discharge half-Jews because he was unaware of it". They could not imagine the enormity of the impending atrocities, about which they only knew much later. [601] Maurice Remy writes that prisoners in North Africa were the responsibility of the Italians (under whose administration the POW camps were operated) anyway. Die Plauderecke bietet allen Besuchern von Baby-Vornamen.de einen Ort, um ungestört über schöne Vornamen, die Schwangerschaft oder andere Dinge zu plaudern. [278], Upon arriving in Northern France Rommel was dismayed by the lack of completed works. [790] Lieb also opines that while his harshest critics (who mostly came from the General Staff) often said that Rommel was overrated or not suitable for higher commands, envy was a big factor here. [29] According to Mallmann and Cüppers, a post-war CIA report described Rommel as having met with Walther Rauff, who was responsible for the unit, and been disgusted after learning about the plan from him and as having sent him on his way; but they conclude that such a meeting is hardly possible as Rauff was sent to report to Rommel at Tobruk on 20 July and Rommel was then 500 km away conducting the First El Alamein. [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. [64] He was then posted to the Ruhr, where a red army was responsible for fomenting unrest. By Frances Houghton page 163, Cambridge University Press 2019. Noting that the British armour was separated into three groups incapable of mutual support, he concentrated his Panzers so as to gain local superiority. [53], In January 1918, Rommel was promoted to Hauptmann (captain) and assigned to a staff position in the 64th Army Corps, where he served for the remainder of the war. [793] Martin Blumenson considers Rommel a general with a compelling view of strategy and logistics, which was demonstrated through his many arguments with his superiors over such matters, although Blumenson also thinks that what distinguished Rommel was his boldness, his intuitive feel for the battlefield. [396], On the Italian front in the First World War, Rommel was a successful tactician in fast-developing mobile battle and this shaped his subsequent style as a military commander. He grasped the significance of an improvement or an invention very quickly and often added to it. [84] Butler comments that he did share the view (popular in Germany and many European countries during that time) that the Jews were loyal to themselves as a people more than their nations. ", Kubetzky: "Politics-wise, he has nothing but fantastic conceptions." [744] Their works lent support to the image of the "clean Wehrmacht" and were generally not questioned, since they came from British authors, rather than German revisionists. [162] The commanding officer was Australian Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead. To give the impression that this was the main assault, spare aircraft engines mounted on trucks were used to create huge clouds of dust. [259] By this time it was impossible for Rommel to save his non-motorized units. Historians note that after the fall of the city both French civilians of Black African descent and colonial troops were executed on 9 June, without mentioning the unit of the perpetrators. [476] Historian Szymon Datner argues that Rommel may have been simply trying to conceal the atrocities of Nazi Germany from the Allies. [174] The Afrika Korps, comprising the 15th Panzer Division and the 5th Light Division, now reinforced and redesignated 21st Panzer Division, was put under command of Generalleutnant Ludwig Crüwell. [804] A son, Manfred Rommel, was born on 24 December 1928, later served as Mayor of Stuttgart from 1974 to 1996. [227] Throughout the first half of July, Auchinleck concentrated attacks on the Italian 60th Infantry Division Sabratha at Tel el Eisa. [417][418] His staff officers, although admiring towards their leader, complained about the self-destructive Spartan lifestyle that made life harder, diminished his effectiveness and forced them to "bab[y] him as unobtrusively as possible". [85] Rommel and Hitler had a close and genuine, if complicated, personal relationship. [473] Italian internees were sent to Germany for forced labour, but Rommel was unaware of this. Es folgten mehrere kurze Zeitungsvolontariate und die Ableistung des zweijährigen Wehrdienstes in einem Panzerregiment der Wehrmacht. [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. According to Kourt von Esebeck, those German parts of Panzer Army Africa that were motorized slipped away from El Alamein, all vehicles had been taken away from Italian forces, leaving them behind,[262] but were under pressure from the pursuing Eighth Army. [155][156] Food and fresh water were also in short supply, and it was difficult to move tanks and other equipment off-road through the sand. aus. World War II in Europe: A Concise History By Marvin Perry page 165, sfn error: no target: CITEREFMallmannCüppers2010 (. Knowing Gariboldi could not speak German, Rommel told him the message gave him complete freedom of action. Dort wurde er Pokalsieger, Meister und zog in … The quality of some of the troops manning them was poor and many bunkers lacked sufficient stocks of ammunition. On 16 August 1943, Rommel's headquarters moved to Lake Garda in northern Italy and he formally assumed command of the group, consisting of the 44th Infantry Division, the 26th Panzer Division and the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. 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. Other notable evidence includes the papers of Rudolf Hartmann (who survived the later purge) and Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, who were among the leaders of the military resistance (alongside Rommel's chief of staff General Hans Speidel, Colonel Karl-Richard Koßmann, Colonel Eberhard Finckh and Lieutenant Colonel Caesar von Hofacker). [593] As the Germans appeared in 1941, Jews initially feared the Germans but when things calmed down, they sold merchandise to the German and thus improved their business situation. Alerted by Ultra intercepts, Montgomery deployed large numbers of anti-tank guns in the path of the offensive. M.Montanari, Le Operazioni in Africa Settentrionale, Vol.IV, chapter III, 1985–1993, pp. However, in view of the Axis' deteriorating situation in Africa it returned to Germany in September. 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. According to Lewin, in 1933 when Rommel became commander of a Hanoverian Jaeger battalion, which was composed of soldiers with skiing expertise, its officers gave him the mandatory test on the snow slopes. "[410] Telp criticises Rommel for not extending the benevolence he showed in promoting his own officers' careers to his peers, who he ignored or slighted in his reports. Rommel would have known this, having commanded Hitler's army protection detail in 1939. [470]Dennis Showalter writes that "Rommel was not involved in Italy's partisan war, though the orders he issued prescribing death for Italian soldiers taken in arms and Italian civilians sheltering escaped British prisoners do not suggest he would have behaved significantly different from his Wehrmacht counterparts. He became a symbol that was used to reinforce the German public's faith in an ultimate Axis victory. [777] His compatriot Moshe Dayan likewise considered Rommel a model and icon. [657], When Rommel was seriously wounded on 17 July 1944, the Propaganda Ministry undertook efforts to conceal the injury so as not to undermine domestic morale. [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. Behind the Battle Lines: Italian Atrocities and the Persecution of Arabs, Berbers, and Jews in North Africa during World War II. [666] Rommel's proposals were not always practical: in 1943, he surprised Hitler by proposing that a Jew should be made into a Gauleiter to prove to the world that Germany was innocent of accusations that Rommel had heard from the enemy's propaganda regarding the mistreatment of Jews. [61] He decided against storming the nearby city of Lindau, which had been taken by revolutionary communists. Debra S. Marmor and Herbert A. Danner. [326] Der Spiegel comments that Rommel was simply in denial about what happened around him. The Germans then hold a meeting to decide the deployment of Jewish forced labour, with the significant authority being Rahn, Rauff and Nehring. ", "Erwin Rommel: Auf der Jagd nach dem Schatz des "Wüstenfuchses", pg.2", "Jerusalem Medal to Stuttgart Mayor, Son of General Rommel", "Hitler's Atlantic Wall: Should France preserve it?