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00:00On the 18th of October 1944, the funeral of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel took place in Ulm, near Stuttgart.
00:11Hitler made it into a state occasion. Rommel's death was staged for propaganda.
00:18In fact, Hitler had had Rommel murdered for high treason.
00:23He had gone a long way, from the most popular general to Hitler's enemy.
00:30He had gone a long way, from the most popular general to Hitler's enemy.
01:00Before El Alamein, in the summer of 1942, Rommel seemed invincible.
01:09Then General Montgomery came on the scene, Rommel's new opponent.
01:13On the 4th of November 1942, at El Alamein, Montgomery defeated the Desert Fox.
01:23Four days later, American troops landed in French North Africa.
01:30So now the Americans were to the west of them, and Montgomery's troops were approaching from the east.
01:36On the 12th of November, they reached Tobruk.
01:40Rommel's army was faced with destruction.
01:42Our retreat was like a funeral procession.
01:59Absolutely no high spirits anymore.
02:04As we marched past Tobruk, I felt like crying, after the terrible sacrifices there.
02:17We were a defeated army now, and that's what we felt like.
02:25Rommel knew that the war in North Africa was lost.
02:28He asked Hitler that his troops be evacuated.
02:41The dictator gave a categorical refusal.
02:44After the defeat of El Alamein, Rommel was in disgrace.
02:47He still blamed others for Hitler's obstinacy.
03:01He mentioned several people who he felt had misled Hitler on purpose.
03:06Himmler, Göring, Keitel.
03:11Or he'd been told that his reinforcements were already on the way,
03:15or that he knew it wasn't true.
03:23He increasingly said things like this on his last visits to Hitler.
03:31So I got the feeling that things at the most senior level
03:36had gone completely off the rails.
03:45What will happen if we lose North Africa?
03:49What will the end of the war be like?
03:52I wish I could stop thinking about these terrible things.
03:59The retreat lasted 50 days.
04:02Rommel led his troops more than 1,800 kilometers back to Tunisia.
04:06They had hardly any casualties.
04:08The desert fox had proved himself to everyone for the last time.
04:18He didn't believe in Hitler's final victory anymore.
04:22Rommel even got used to the idea of becoming a prisoner of war under the British.
04:27If you can send me an English-German dictionary by courier post,
04:31I would be very grateful.
04:33I'm sure I'll be needing it.
04:39Towards the end, he was nothing like as forthright as he used to be.
04:46And I would also say that he had gone quieter,
04:50certainly when he was with other people.
04:52He had lost the boisterous personality he used to have.
05:02He used to be able to enthuse people by force of his personality.
05:07I wouldn't say that he would drive you on,
05:11but he could certainly sweep you along with him.
05:18Hitler wanted to replace his field marshal.
05:21Another general was brought in to defend Tunisia,
05:24Hans-Jürgen von Arnim.
05:30At the beginning of March, Rommel was finally recalled.
05:34It was said to be for health reasons.
05:37State propaganda still needed the Rommel myth.
05:39His driver, Helmut von Leipzig, took him to the airport.
05:57Up till then, I would say that during this whole time in North Africa,
06:01he had been my mentor.
06:02And now, I was watching him be replaced by von Arnim,
06:09who took over his command.
06:13It was terrible for Rommel too, of course.
06:17He specially asked that I should drive him to the airport,
06:21which pleased me in a certain respect.
06:23And I must say that it really churned me up.
06:32On the 9th of March, 1943,
06:34Rommel left Africa at Sfax in Tunisia.
06:37It's spring out there.
06:42The trees are in bud and there are meadows and sunshine.
06:45The world could be so lovely for everyone.
06:49There's such limitless opportunity to make them content and happy.
06:52He wasn't happy to be leaving, you could see from his face.
07:03He went away feeling that it was all over in North Africa.
07:09And he probably already had the feeling
07:13that there wasn't going to be a successful outcome overall.
07:16Rommel was ordered back to Wiener Neustadt.
07:24He had to live in his former commander's villa as a civilian.
07:31Nobody in Germany was supposed to know that he'd left Africa.
07:36A soldier from his headquarters visited him.
07:41First of all, he called me Munziger
07:43because he hadn't got my name properly.
07:45and I remained Munziger.
07:48And he said,
07:49I'd like you to know so that you understand my situation.
07:53I'm living at the moment
07:54with news only from the paper and the wireless.
07:59State propaganda continued to exploit the myth of Rommel.
08:03The post is there, the post is there,
08:05and that's the post from Africa.
08:11The post from Weida in Thuring,
08:12where they always had luck,
08:14at the acquaintances and in offices,
08:155,000 cigaretten und landen sie an generalfeldmarschall Rommel nach Afrika.
08:20Heute kommt die Antwort.
08:22Rommel schicks dem Pimpen zum Dank eine englische Beuteuniform,
08:25sein Bild und einen Brief.
08:26And then he told me that he still gets letters from parents and mothers
08:36who assume that he is still in Africa
08:39and who then go on to say that they are relieved
08:43as long as they know that the field marshal is with his troops
08:47or something like that.
08:50And that made him rather depressed.
08:54These letters seem to pull him down.
08:55In Tunisia, on the 13th of May, 1943,
09:03the German army in Africa surrendered.
09:06130,000 German and 180,000 Italian soldiers were taken prisoner.
09:12100,000 men lost their lives in the Desert War.
09:31At the same time, Rommel had been summoned to Hitler.
09:45He wanted to have Rommel nearby for all eventualities.
09:54It looked as though Mussolini was about to be deposed
09:57and Hitler wanted to prevent revolution in Italy
09:59by sending in armed forces under Rommel's command.
10:06Although Rommel no longer believed in the final victory,
10:10he was still loyal to Hitler.
10:12I often heard him speak very disrespectfully of those in power.
10:23And there was never any appreciative word at all
10:26about the Führer or the Führer HQ.
10:35He was always shocked and said over and over,
10:39what do they think they're doing?
10:43But he always spoke in the plural.
10:46He didn't relate it directly to Hitler.
10:48It was always them upstairs or Keitel and Jodel and others.
10:54You couldn't say specifically he was derogatory about Hitler.
10:58Mussolini was toppled in Rome on the 15th of July, 1943.
11:10Marshal Bedoglio assumed power.
11:14Italy seemed likely to secede.
11:17Hitler suspected treason.
11:19Seven weeks later, Italy, Germany's Axis partner,
11:23laid down its weapons.
11:26German troops marched in.
11:28Rommel assumed command in northern Italy.
11:38The former allies were now enemies.
11:41Hitler ordered that Italian soldiers who defended themselves be shot.
11:45It was a command to murder.
11:47In Greece and southern Italy, it led to massacres,
11:55but not by Rommel's troops.
12:01For me, throughout the whole period,
12:05Rommel was a soldier who unconditionally wanted loyalty and bravery,
12:10but also wanted to know that all the laws relating to warfare
12:17were being obeyed.
12:22As far as I know,
12:24he never accepted that things could happen
12:27which contravened the rule of law.
12:30That is, which could harm civilian populations.
12:38Two weeks after the Germans marched in,
12:45Italian soldiers still fighting in northern Italy
12:47joined the partisans.
12:53On the 23rd of September,
12:56a proclamation was delivered to Rommel's men.
13:01Any sentimental feelings German soldiers may have
13:04towards Bedoglio's men wearing uniforms
13:06of our former comrades in arms
13:08are wholly inappropriate.
13:11Any of them now fighting German soldiers
13:13has lost any right to merciful treatment.
13:17Despite the proclamation,
13:19no reprisals took place in Rommel's area of command.
13:22Even former partisans conceded as much.
13:27Our memory of Rommel is,
13:29I'd like to say,
13:30among us anti-fascists,
13:33of a man for whom we feel less distaste.
13:43We know he is a part of the history of National Socialism
13:47and, therefore, a part of German history.
13:51He was a military man,
13:56but we know of no acts of brutality
13:59carried out by him
14:01against the Italian resistance movement.
14:08Rommel was moved again
14:09after only two months.
14:11He became inspector of the defences in the West.
14:14It was here that the Allied invasion was expected.
14:16Hitler still set store by Rommel.
14:21He was useful to frighten off the enemy.
14:25Rommel applied himself to his new task
14:27like a man possessed,
14:29as if he had renewed hope.
14:32I had the impression
14:34he got on with it like any soldier
14:36who had been given an order,
14:40but also with the hope
14:42that his methods would be successful.
14:46One could feel that.
14:51Rommel thought the Allied invasion
14:53could be averted.
14:54It was a hope that many Germans clung to.
14:59Even today,
15:00I think there was a possibility,
15:02if there had been a different leadership of the war,
15:05that not just there, but altogether,
15:07we would have been able to hold on
15:09up to the point
15:10when the Allies would have said,
15:11now we want to negotiate.
15:13I can't be sure,
15:14but I still think there was a possibility.
15:19Rommel had long given up the idea
15:21of a final victory for the Germans.
15:23He just hoped for an acceptable peace
15:25through negotiations.
15:29But the Allies demanded unconditional surrender.
15:33Finally, even Rommel knew
15:35there would never be peace under Hitler.
15:36I think it was at the end of 1943
15:42that my father spoke to Hitler
15:43on the subject of final victory.
15:46He said,
15:46it's just not conceivable anymore.
15:48Hitler said,
15:49I know that too,
15:50I'm not stupid,
15:51but bear in mind
15:52that I will never accept
15:53an unconditional surrender.
15:58Rommel hoped that Hitler
15:59would see reason.
16:01He was still reluctant
16:02to see the dictator's true character.
16:07My father had just hoped
16:10that if Hitler realized it was over,
16:13he would come to the obvious conclusion
16:15and step down
16:15and make way for a somewhat bearable peace.
16:23When he was on leave
16:24at home in Herlingen near Ulm
16:26in February 1944,
16:28Rommel was visited
16:29by a colleague
16:30from the First World War.
16:33Karl Strölin
16:34was mayor of Stuttgart
16:35and a very early member
16:37of the Nazi Party.
16:46In the winter of 1941,
16:48the German advance in Russia
16:50started to fail.
16:51Strölin lost confidence
16:52in Hitler.
16:53A committed National Socialist,
16:55he joined the anti-Hitler resistance.
16:57Now he tried to persuade Rommel
16:59to join the resistance,
17:00but without success.
17:04In 1944,
17:05Strölin came to see my father
17:07and I was there
17:08because I always got a special holiday
17:10when my father was at home.
17:14And Strölin said in my presence
17:15that if Hitler wasn't removed,
17:18everything would be lost.
17:20My father just said to him
17:22he would be grateful
17:22if he didn't say things like that
17:24in front of his son.
17:30Strölin also told Rommel
17:31about Jews being murdered
17:33in gas chambers.
17:34It was the first time
17:35Rommel had heard about it.
17:39Admiral Friedrich Ruger,
17:40one of his staff officers,
17:42noted what Rommel said
17:43in his diary.
17:44Justice,
17:47indispensable foundation of a state,
17:50senior command tragically filthy,
17:53slaughter,
17:55terrible guilt.
17:55One night,
18:07a British soldier
18:08who was reconnoitering
18:09the defences along the Atlantic coast
18:11was captured by the Germans.
18:13On the following morning,
18:15we were put in a car,
18:17blindfolded and hands tied
18:19behind my back,
18:20and drove for several hours.
18:27The spy was taken
18:29to La Roche-Gouillon,
18:30which was Rommel's headquarters
18:31outside Paris.
18:32And at the far end
18:36of the library,
18:37I saw Rommel
18:38sitting behind the desk.
18:42And at first,
18:43he tried to be tough,
18:45and he said to me,
18:47so you're one of these
18:48gangster commandos.
18:51I said,
18:52I don't know what you're talking about.
18:54Commandos are not gangsters.
18:55They are just the best soldiers
18:57in the world,
18:57and I happened to be one.
18:59So he laughed.
19:00He obviously respected
19:03that kind of attitude.
19:06But, he said,
19:07what I regret very much
19:09that you, the English,
19:12and us, the Germans,
19:14we ought to fight
19:15side by side
19:17against the real enemy,
19:20the Russians.
19:23I said,
19:23well, it's a very interesting idea,
19:26but I'm afraid
19:28there are a lot of things
19:28that are very, very different
19:30between you and us,
19:31and we couldn't do anything together.
19:33He said,
19:33for instance, what?
19:36I said,
19:37well, look at the Jewish question.
19:39We couldn't do the Jews.
19:40What are you doing to the Jews?
19:42Oh, well,
19:43that's a political thing,
19:44you know,
19:45and we are soldiers,
19:46we are fighters,
19:48we are not concerned
19:49with political things.
19:51I said,
19:51well, there you are.
19:52That's why we couldn't
19:53fight side by side.
19:55On the 17th of May, 1944,
19:58there was a progress meeting
19:59in Paris.
20:01Nobody there knew
20:02that Karl Heinrich von Stupnagel,
20:04commander-in-chief in France,
20:05was a member
20:06of the resistance.
20:08His small group
20:08of conspirators in France
20:10were very close
20:11to Staufenberg.
20:12The conspirators
20:13approached Rommel.
20:14Yes, we tried to get Rommel
20:18because he was one
20:18of the most popular generals.
20:20He was well-liked,
20:21the Desert Fox,
20:22everyone knew him.
20:23He was one of the few soldiers
20:25who was really well-known,
20:27and we hoped to get him
20:28to join the resistance
20:29precisely because
20:30of the bad experiences
20:31he had had with Hitler
20:32in Africa.
20:37Rommel refused to be involved
20:39in an assassination on Hitler,
20:41but didn't betray
20:42the conspirators.
20:44For a commander-in-chief,
20:48a putsch or an assassination
20:49of the head of state
20:50was just unthinkable.
20:52It was as simple as that.
20:55With their training
20:56and their background,
20:57it was just unthinkable.
21:01They've been educated
21:03in military matters,
21:04but not in politics.
21:09Rommel still hoped
21:10that Hitler himself
21:11would understand
21:12the consequences
21:13of his situation,
21:15stand down
21:15and make way for peace.
21:21But as a soldier,
21:23Rommel was realistic enough
21:24to recognize
21:25that the Allied invasion
21:26could not be prevented,
21:28despite all the defenses
21:29he had put in place.
21:31and the Allied invasion
21:31were not going to be
21:35in the front.
21:39I did various
21:43one- or two-day trips
21:44with him to the front.
21:48Well, it wasn't a front.
21:50It was an inspection
21:51of the coastal defenses.
21:52He would talk very openly
21:57in his simple
21:58South German way.
22:03He wasn't a great philosopher.
22:05He just said quite simply,
22:07we won't pull that off.
22:12And just imagine,
22:14people say such and such
22:16and look at that.
22:20There's an infantry division
22:22and they've got hardly
22:23any rifles.
22:25And in two kilometers,
22:26we've got only one battery.
22:28He still showed confidence
22:33for the cameras.
22:58and I don't believe
23:00that the Engels
23:00will come the second
23:01time again,
23:02if he's doing the attempt.
23:06On the 5th of June, 1944,
23:08the following German weather report
23:10was issued
23:11on the Atlantic coast.
23:13Cloud cover 200 to 300 meters,
23:15winds 5 to 6,
23:17heavy seas 4 to 5.
23:19With this weather,
23:20there seemed no possibility
23:21of an invasion.
23:24Rommel used the opportunity
23:26to go home to Herlingen
23:27near Ulm.
23:28It was his wife's birthday
23:30the next day.
23:34Towards 11 p.m.,
23:36the first airborne forces
23:37left British airfields.
23:40The German meteorologists
23:41had not noticed
23:42a brief lull
23:43in the bad weather.
23:52At 1 a.m.,
23:54von Gutenberg,
23:55one of our staff officers,
23:57rang me and said,
23:58at Seidel,
23:59it's all started.
24:01The paratroopers
24:02are already here
24:03and we're trying
24:04to deal with them.
24:10At 6.30 a.m.,
24:12on the 6th of June, 1944,
24:14the first British
24:15and U.S. soldiers
24:16landed on the Normandy coast.
24:20It was D-Day.
24:21From the plateau where we were,
24:41you could look down
24:42on the whole huge bay
24:43and with a powerful telescope,
24:44and with a powerful telescope,
24:46you could see this enormous fleet,
24:49which had not been touched
24:50by German aircraft
24:51because they'd not
24:52got off the ground.
24:55The fleet was protected
24:57by the bombers
24:58and fighter planes
24:59of the Allied air force.
25:00We knew that this was going
25:05to be the decisive battle
25:06and that we would lose it, too.
25:14At home in Herlingen,
25:16Rommel was told
25:17at 7 a.m. by phone.
25:2314 hours later,
25:24he was back at his headquarters.
25:26The Allies had already
25:27gained a firm footing.
25:35Rommel feared a second invasion.
25:40We were then stationed
25:41rather far from the action,
25:43north of the Seine,
25:45in a reserve position.
25:47But the next day,
25:48Rommel sent us
25:49to the Channel coast,
25:50not to the site
25:51of the invasion,
25:52but further along the channel
25:54because, he said,
25:55the actual landing
25:56hasn't happened yet
25:57and it'll be here.
26:03After a week,
26:04it was obvious to everyone
26:05the invasion had succeeded.
26:07In Paris,
26:25Rommel met Gert von Rundstedt,
26:27commander-in-chief of the West.
26:29Hitler was supposed
26:30to join them.
26:32They wanted to persuade him
26:33to end the war in the West.
26:35And he said,
26:41the day after tomorrow,
26:42I'll see the Führer
26:44and I'll tell him,
26:45we'll have to finish
26:46the whole thing politically
26:48and so on and so on.
26:52But when he came back,
26:54he said,
26:55you know,
26:55they have a different
26:56point of view from me.
26:58They see the whole picture.
26:59But then six hours later,
27:02he said,
27:03good God,
27:04the fellow
27:05has taken me in again.
27:10On the 27th of June,
27:13Rommel and Hitler
27:13met for the last time.
27:16Hitler didn't even
27:16let him speak.
27:18At that moment,
27:19Stauffenberg was preparing
27:21the attack
27:21on Hitler's life.
27:22It was the only way
27:25to try to end the killing,
27:27to get rid of
27:27that criminal regime,
27:29to save our country
27:30and to save
27:31our personal honor.
27:33There was no other way.
27:36If you knew
27:37what was going on,
27:38you had to try
27:39to stop it.
27:43Stolpnagel
27:44sent an emissary
27:45to Rommel,
27:46Caesar von Hofacker.
27:52On the 9th of July,
27:531944,
27:55he told Rommel
27:55in La Roche-Gouillon
27:56about the forthcoming
27:58assassination.
28:03It was the final attempt
28:04to win Rommel over
28:05to the idea
28:06of getting rid of Hitler.
28:08This time,
28:09it was successful.
28:13Four days later,
28:14Rommel appealed to Hitler
28:16one last time
28:17in a letter.
28:19The troops
28:20are fighting like heroes,
28:21but this unequal struggle
28:23is coming towards
28:24its end.
28:25I think we must draw
28:27the conclusions
28:27of the actual situation.
28:30I feel it is my duty
28:31as Commander-in-Chief
28:32of the Army
28:33to say this
28:34very clearly.
28:37And my friend
28:39Muniger from 1A
28:40showed me the telex
28:41and I said,
28:43has he sent it?
28:45He said,
28:46yes.
28:47I said,
28:48then he's a dead man,
28:49literally.
28:51Rommel did not expect
28:58an answer.
29:06He had an audacious plan.
29:08He wanted to put an end
29:09to the war
29:10on his own.
29:11He wanted to surrender
29:18in France
29:18and let the Americans,
29:21British and French in.
29:23And he hoped
29:24that in view
29:25of the attack
29:26on Hitler
29:26in Berlin,
29:28the entry
29:29and takeover
29:29by the Allies
29:30would go
29:31reasonably smoothly.
29:32That would have been
29:37the end of Hitler.
29:40Under the circumstances,
29:42he wanted to do
29:43the best for his country.
29:45But he knew
29:45that in this situation
29:47there must be peace
29:48with the Allies,
29:49otherwise it would
29:50be disastrous.
29:52And you know,
29:53if he'd been able
29:53to make peace,
29:55then Dresden
29:56wouldn't have happened.
29:58Hundreds of towns
29:59wouldn't have been destroyed.
30:00And I believe
30:01that after that
30:0220th of July,
30:04far more German soldiers
30:05were killed than before.
30:12Rommel went to the front
30:13every day.
30:21He needed to win
30:22the trust of his commanders
30:23and try to persuade them
30:25to support his plan.
30:30Twice he chose
30:31to do things
30:32to save his men
30:33which could have
30:34cost him his life.
30:37Once in El Alamein
30:38when he retreated
30:39against orders
30:40and then the second time
30:42when he conspired
30:44with his troop commanders.
30:47On the 17th of July,
30:49Rommel visited
30:50Sepp Dietrich,
30:51a leading SS general
30:52who was a confidant
30:53of Hitler's.
30:56Rommel went for it.
30:57He asked Dietrich
30:58if he would follow
30:59his orders
30:59if they were opposed
31:00to those of Hitler.
31:02Sepp Dietrich said,
31:05you are my commander
31:07and whatever you tell me
31:09to do
31:10will be done.
31:14At the same time,
31:16RAF fighter planes
31:17were taking off.
31:18One of the pilots
31:19recollects his orders.
31:22Our orders were to stop
31:23anybody approaching
31:25can shoot anything
31:27anything that moved.
31:30Just anything.
31:40Their centre of operations
31:41was Liverow in Normandy.
31:53At 6pm,
31:54they spotted an open car
31:55on the road
31:56from Liverow
31:57to Vermouthiers.
32:03When I realised
32:04that two bombers
32:05were about to attack us,
32:08I immediately told
32:09Captain Lang
32:10and the field marshal.
32:15Of course,
32:15I was in such a state
32:17that I screamed.
32:18It happened so quickly.
32:19They shot at us.
32:30For us,
32:31we're shooting at a vehicle.
32:34Tank,
32:35armoured car,
32:36staff car,
32:36lorry,
32:37convoy.
32:39It's just a target.
32:41Who's in it?
32:43We don't know.
32:45We have got time
32:45to exchange
32:46visiting guards
32:48at 400 miles an hour.
32:51It was only after the war
32:53that Jacques Remlinger
32:54found out
32:55whom he had shot.
32:59Rommel was badly wounded
33:00and taken
33:01to a military hospital.
33:07I got there
33:08about four or five hours
33:09after he was brought in
33:11with one of our doctors.
33:13I saw the x-ray plate
33:20where you could clearly see
33:21there was a fracture
33:22in his skull.
33:27One eye was badly swollen
33:28and his face
33:29was covered in cuts.
33:34He nodded at me.
33:36He wasn't unconscious
33:37when I was there,
33:38but he didn't say a word.
33:43I spoke to the French doctors
33:45and took the x-ray plate
33:47for the chief of staff
33:48and after a couple of hours
33:51I left
33:52and went back
33:54to the headquarters.
33:54to inform me
33:56on the 20th of July
34:031944
34:04three days after
34:06Rommel was wounded
34:06Stauffenberg detonated
34:08the bomb
34:09at Hitler's headquarters
34:10at Rastenburg.
34:14The attack misfired.
34:16The next day
34:46Hitler visited the wounded.
34:49Rommel wrote
34:50on the 24th of July
34:51to his wife
34:52from his hospital bed.
34:54As well as my accident
34:55I was particularly shattered
34:58by the attack on Hitler.
35:00One can only thank God
35:02that it was safely averted.
35:06Rommel knew his letters
35:08were being read by others.
35:11Slowly he got better
35:12but the left eye
35:13remained badly swollen.
35:16Two weeks later
35:17Rommel was sent home.
35:19It was the end
35:20of his career.
35:24Each week
35:25one of us
35:26from HQ
35:26at the front
35:27would drive
35:28to his home
35:29in Herlingen
35:30to report
35:31on the situation
35:32and to ask
35:33his advice.
35:33I went twice.
35:38Once
35:39it just seemed
35:41to slip out
35:41in a conversation.
35:43He said
35:44Schlippenbach
35:45don't you think
35:46it would have been better
35:47if the 20th of July
35:49had worked?
35:50I didn't know
35:53I didn't know
35:54how to reply.
35:55I didn't know
35:56what his position was.
35:59I answered
36:00very carefully
36:00with something like
36:02whatever you say sir
36:03I didn't give
36:05my opinion
36:06but that's what
36:07he said
36:08I remember
36:09exactly
36:10had worked.
36:12On the 8th of August
36:181944
36:19the show trials
36:20of the conspirators
36:21began.
36:25Roland Freisler
36:25was in charge.
36:36A field marshal
36:37Erwin von Witzleben
36:39was one of the accused.
36:40They were hanged
36:42the same day.
36:45The Gestapo
36:45continued to interrogate
36:47people in connection
36:47with the attack.
36:49Rommel's name
36:50was mentioned.
36:51A previously
36:51unpublished document
36:53from Hitler's secretary
36:54Martin Bormann
36:55stated
36:56Various of the accused
36:58said that
36:59field marshal
36:59Rommel
37:00was in the picture.
37:02Rommel said
37:02that after a successful
37:03attack
37:04he would be available
37:05to the new government.
37:10Rommel knew
37:13he was in danger.
37:18He discussed
37:19with his son
37:20how Hitler
37:20might react.
37:25He even said
37:26Hitler wouldn't dare
37:28to accuse him
37:29because it would
37:30have such a negative
37:31effect on his troops'
37:32morale.
37:32He wouldn't do it.
37:37He wasn't that stupid.
37:41My father was convinced
37:42that if he followed
37:43Keitel's invitation
37:44to come to Berlin
37:46he would be quietly killed
37:47and they would invent
37:49some story afterwards.
37:54Hitler had ordered
37:55that Rommel must die.
38:02Rommel had to commit suicide.
38:07He was given
38:08no choice.
38:09Hitler wanted
38:10to avoid the public
38:11finding out
38:11that Rommel
38:12was a member
38:12of the conspiracy
38:13at all costs.
38:18On the 14th of October
38:201944
38:21two generals
38:22from Fuhrer HQ
38:23came to Rommel's house.
38:25They had a vial
38:26of cyanide with them.
38:27Rommel knew
38:31what to expect.
38:33Gestapo men
38:33in civilian clothes
38:35had surrounded
38:35his house.
38:38I came in the morning
38:40so I could help him
38:41over the weekend
38:42and my father said
38:43perhaps I will be dead
38:46by this evening.
38:47It's quite possible.
38:49He spoke with me.
38:51Then they came.
38:53To start with
38:53it was quite normal.
38:55Then they asked
38:56to speak with him
38:57alone.
38:58He knew
38:59what was going
38:59to happen.
39:00It was obvious.
39:04Rommel told
39:05the generals
39:06I loved
39:07the Fuhrer
39:08and I still do.
39:14There were
39:15indications
39:15that even
39:16at the hour
39:16of his death
39:17Rommel
39:18couldn't quite
39:18tear himself
39:19away from Hitler.
39:23He was allowed
39:2415 minutes
39:24to say his
39:25farewells
39:26then he left
39:27then he left
39:27the house.
39:28His son
39:28accompanied him
39:29to the car.
39:36I went out
39:37and said goodbye
39:38to him
39:38and then he looked
39:40at Aldinger
39:41and me
39:41without saying
39:42anything
39:42and then he got in
39:45and that was it.
39:54Shortly afterwards
39:55Rommel took the poison.
39:58A doctor falsified
39:59the death certificate
40:00heart attack
40:01following an accident
40:02on duty
40:03on the Western Front.
40:04In a
40:08south-deutschen
40:08town
40:09takes the
40:11German people
40:11in a
40:13from Fuhrer
40:13anordinated
40:14Staatsakt
40:14Abschied
40:16from Marshal
40:17Rommel.
40:21Then
40:21klingt
40:22verhalten
40:22and
40:22feierlich
40:23the
40:24Trauermarsch
40:25from the
40:26Götterdämmerung
40:27Now
40:32General
40:33Vildmarschall
40:33von Rundstedt
40:34as
40:34Vertreter
40:34des
40:35Führers
40:35zur Seite
40:35des
40:36Sarges
40:36und
40:37hält
40:37die
40:37Götterdämmerung
40:37Der
40:39unermüdliche
40:39Kämpfer
40:40war erfüllt
40:41von
40:41nationalsozialistischem
40:43Geiste
40:43der die
40:44Kraftquelle
40:44und die
40:45Grundlage
40:46seines
40:46Handels
40:46bildete.
40:48Sein
40:48Herz
40:48gehörte
40:49dem
40:49Führer.
40:51Man
40:51hat
40:51fast
40:51den
40:52Eindruck
40:52gehabt
40:52dass
40:53er
40:53sein
40:53Leben
40:53war
41:18Rommel
41:19hat
41:19gone
41:19a
41:19long
41:20way
41:20from
41:21the
41:21most
41:21popular
41:22general
41:22to
41:23Hitler's
41:23At the end, he was ready to do the unthinkable, and paid with his life.
41:38But I think it was consistent for my father.
41:41If he had survived, he would have been in a terrible state about it all.
41:45And I'm sure that at the end, when he had to die,
41:49he felt that he was on the right side.
41:54Every year, on the anniversary of his death, Rommel's former enemies meet at his graveside.
42:00They bow before a man who wanted to make a great career for himself,
42:04and who was grateful to his patron and leader up till the end.
42:08They pay their respects to a man who refused to carry out crimes,
42:12but who continued to serve a criminal.
42:14He was a man who wanted to do away with Hitler,
42:17but who couldn't quite tear himself away from him.
42:20He was a man of many contradictions.
42:23He was a man of many contradictions.
42:24He was a man of many contradictions.
42:26He was a man of many contradictions.
42:27He is an actresse.
42:29I was a man who wanted to hello.
42:30I mean, this
42:43has been his former father.
42:44He was a Alice.
42:46His fellow father chiejaar to please.
42:48Gracias por ver el video
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