By David Irving"Between Rommel and his troops there was that mutual understanding that cannot be explained and analyzed, but which is the gift of the gods . . . The men knew that 'Rommel' was the last man Rommel spared; they saw him in their midst, and they felt, 'This is our leader!' He knew how to make them feel somehow immortal."
- Major Friedrich Wilhelm von Mellenthin in an interview with the author, Pg 117
Written in the 70's this book is still considered one of the essential histories of Field Marshal Rommel. A brick of a book weighing in at 455 pages, it rolls quickly due to the writing style and the intrigue of Rommel himself. The author also has access to many of the people close to Rommel to get first hand accounts of the mysterious history of Rommel's end to help piece together this convoluted story.
Most of the book is the exciting and compelling character of Rommel and his extraordinary feats on the battlefield. Countless stories of his unconventional, bold strategies (bordering on reckless at times) coupled with an intense bravery and commitment to being with his men that fostered deep love for their brazen Field Marshal.
"However tough the strain he seemed inexhaustible. He seemed to know just what the enemy were like and how they would probably react. His plans were often startling, instinctive, spontaneous and not infrequently obscure. He had an exceptional imagination, and it enabled him to hit on the most unexpected solutions to tough situations. When ther was danger, he was always out in front calling on us to follow. He seemed to know no fear whatever. His men idolized him and had boundless faith in him."
- Theodor Werner's own writing to the author
The convoluted story of the last few years of his life, near the end of the Third Reich, is full of blatant misinformation, intentional hoodwinking and feigned loyalty. In some ways, reading this book made me think about how naive the world was back in WWII. The chicanery Rommel used routinely on the battlefield included creating fake tanks in Africa, made out of wood and cardboard to trick the enemy into thinking they had more armaments than they actually had, to later in the war, having his own trusted staff plotting the Reich's demise feeding false intelligence information to Rommel to get him to change his course of military action.
Much to my surprise, though, Rommel was loyal to Hitler and the Reich. Granted, he was sadly surprised to hear rumors of massive executions and killing of prisoners of war. Keep in mind, the military were not the Gestapo, they were soldiers defending the homeland like any soldiers. But he did sign his loyalty to Hitler oath, required of all military leaders, just a year or so before his death.
According to Irving, even though it has been claimed otherwise elsewhere with people who had other intentions in promoting it, Rommel was not a willing participant in the plot to kill Hitler. He had convoluted conversations with the plotters which led them to believe he was a supporter, nothing more, but in reality his disagreement with Hitler that coincided with the plot was a military one. He did not think they should pursue so many fronts, the one in the west as well as the one in Russia. He truly believed this division would be the death of Germany. He was bold enough to share this information, with the plotters urging and under their false intelligence information, with Hitler in an untimely manner right as the assassins were taking action. Wounded at the time from an air attack, presumably directed specifically at taking Rommel's life, which resulted in a car accident he was at the time of the assassination in a coma and then after that recouping from a head injury that he should not have survived.
The assassination did not kill Hitler so obviously there was a price that had to be paid. Generals were hung. Commanders ratted out other commanders as well as their superiors. Many lives were lost as Hitler had his revenge. But Rommel, always a favorite of Hitler's, was spared the shame and the execution. Instead he was asked to do the heroic thing and commit suicide. Out of consideration for his loyalty and years of service he was even provided a cyanide pill to spare him the problem of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This conveniently enabled the Reich to give him a hero's funeral claiming natural causes resulting from his accident and allowing his wife to receive the benefits of a Field Marshal's widow. Controversy has ensued ever since then as the mystery and intrigue of Rommel lives on.
Named as one of the "Best Dressed" of the 20th Century in 1999, shortly after the author of that list was fired for being pro-Nazi!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/282554.stm
Book 31
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