Rommel (5 Stars)

True Stories #9

Name: Erwin Rommel

Lived: 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944

Film dates: March 1944 to October 1944 (death)

Film made in 2012

Erwin Rommel is best known for his battles in North Africa from 1941 to 1943. He's known as a good German general, mainly because of the praise heaped on him by Field Marshal Montgomery, the British officer who defeated him in Africa. Montgomery said that Rommel was an excellent strategist and a fair fighter, whatever that means. I always thought that battles were fought to be won, not to be fair.

This film shows a period in Rommel's life which is less well known. In 1944 he was assigned to western France to protect the country from a possible British invasion.

In March 1944 German intelligence predicted a large British invasion, supported by American troops. This invasion was D-Day, which would take place on 6th June 1944. Rommel requested 13 tank divisions from Hitler, but he was only given three. Hitler said that the tanks were needed on the eastern front. This frustrated Rommel, because he said that a large invading force could break through German lines. Hitler dismissed Rommel's protests as defeatism.

D-Day came. As Rommel predicted, the Anglo-American forces broke through the German lines and began to head toward Paris. Rommel told Hitler the western front was lost, and the Germans should retreat from France. He suggested that Germany should sign a peace deal with England and America, so that all efforts could be put into the war against Russia. Hitler refused to even discuss this. He said that if German soldiers died on the battlefield in France it was their own fault for being too weak.

Hitler's problem was that he considered God to be on his side. His victory was pre-ordained, so he didn't have to listen to the advice of his generals.

The other generals agreed with Rommel's assessment of the war in France, but they went one step further. They wanted to assassinate Hitler, so that the country could be run by military experts. This culminated in Operation Valkyrie, led by Claus von Stauffenberg, which failed when Hitler survived a bomb explosion on 20th July 1944.

It was well known that Rommel was critical of Hitler's leadership, so General Speidel approached Rommel and asked him if he would be available to serve in a new Germany after Hitler had been removed from power. Speidel was in touch with the conspirators, but he wasn't a member of the inner circle. He knew nothing about an assassination plot. He thought Hitler would be arrested and put on trial. Rommel refused to join any plot. He said that he was a soldier, and as a soldier he would always serve his leader. As long as Hitler was in power, he would serve him, and if Hitler were put on trial he would serve the new leaders.

On 14th October 1944 Rommel was at home, recovering from wounds sustained in an American attack. The SS came to his house and accused him of supporting the assassination attempt. He denied this, but they said that he'd been named by the other conspirators. He was given the chance of taking the noble way out. Either he could be put on trial as a traitor, or he could swallow a cyanide pill and be declared a hero. He chose the latter, because he saw no way of proving his innocence.

The German newspapers reported that Rommel had died as a result of his war wounds. His wife received a general's pension for the rest of her life.

Most true stories deviate from the truth, either by accident or deliberately for reasons of dramatization. Not "Rommel". This is a film with remarkable documentary precision. The dates are stated for each of the major occurrences. It's particularly interesting to see how D-Day was viewed from the German side. We can be glad that Hitler didn't give Rommel the 13 tank divisions that he wanted. The war could have ended differently.

Interestingly, Rommel wasn't in France on D-Day. He was back at home in Germany, because it was his wife's birthday on 6th June. Was this deliberately planned by the Allied Forces, or just a coincidence?