Posted on 12/18/2008 7:39:11 PM PST by bruinbirdman
Erwin Rommel, probably the best-known German soldier of the Second World War, was considered to be a chivalrous and humane general, even by the Allied forces who fought him.
But a new exhibition in Stuttgart calls into question the true nature of the man known as the "Desert Fox".
"The Rommel Myth" strips away the legends that surround the man who faced off against Britain's Desert Rats in North Africa and who committed suicide after being implicated in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler, the Daily Mail reports.
A spokesman for the History House, the foundation which is staging the exhibition, said: "Rommel was a fabrication of Nazi propaganda."
He cited a diary entry by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels in 1941 that said: "I would strongly advise that now, as soon as the battle for North Africa has been decided, Rommel be elevated to a kind of popular hero."
Germans have traditionally been taught that Rommel was a good man, surrounded by evil.
But Gestapo documents in the exhibition paint a different picture.
They reveal that even as he was being led away by secret policeman he spoke of his devotion to Hitler.
"I loved the Fuhrer and I love him still. I am innocent of any involvement in the assassination attempt,' he said.
"I served my Fatherland to the best of my ability and would do so again."
The traditional image of Rommel is also shaken by letters he wrote and memorandum from Nazi leaders, which reveal he was a willing tool of the party.
"Rommel was turned into a veritable icon: Great Britain and the USA, too, rendered homage to Rommel, the hero," the exhibition explains.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
for later
screw Rommel... he was responsible for tens of thousands of American deaths and perpetuating Hitler’s evil war
Rommel… Rahm Emanuel… things starting to blur…
I have 30 year old military history book which portrayed Rommel as being a good soldier who followed orders to the best of his ability and did not concern himself with politics outside of the Army;and that he would have been angered to be thought disloyal to the Reich.
Rommel was still apparently fond of the "Prussian" honor and there was no indication in what I have read that he bore racial animosity towards Jews or others.Nor did Rommel make any effort to object or question the evil and stupidity of the Nazi regime.
He still may have been one of the better of a bad lot.
There really is little honor in carryibg out the orders of an evil leader.
Reincarnation’s a bych, eh!
I’d like to take a closer look at the evidence. So they’re not actually implicating Rommel in any atrocities, massacres, or mistreatment of prisoners, just lambasting him for slobbering over Hitler when it was convenient.
This reminds me of a nineties biography of H.L. Mencken that set off a round of headlines denouncing him for his racism because in his writings of ninety years ago he used politically-incorrect language in reference to blacks.
Whoop-dee-doo.
I bought “The Rommel Papers” not too long ago. I started it just need to finish it. He didn’t particularly think the British officers were well disciplined.
..of course, Joseph Goebbels would do that.
Its war & its called propaganda
there's no real news here. 
Yeah, the headline is BS to begin with. Rommel wasn’t even a Nazi party member.
screw Rommel... he was responsible for tens of thousands of American deaths and perpetuating Hitler’s evil war”
Actually it was FDR. Japan attacked the US and POTUS launched a war against the Anti-Communist NAZI’s. What is occurring Europe today is a result of OUR reconstruction efforts.
Washington warned us about this.
Patton read Rommel’s book.
I don’t disagree with your statements but be prepared for history revisionists to show up with their flame throwers.
More Socialist debunking of history. I have read too much from the Daily Telegraph to trust what it chooses to print.
I have read both Rommel and his adversaries. He was respected.
It is open knowledge that a huge number in the Wehrmacht despised the SS and Nazis.
Pick the Nazi. He's less dangerous. Oh, I get it. You can't tell them apart.
I only wish to be correct or stand corrected. The rest is merely humorous.
I found that kind of odd until I read somewhere that the Soviets did not allow active Communist Party members to serve in the nuclear submarine crews. I think that explains the presence of a political officer on the submarine in the book/movie "The Hunt for Red October"
Interesting. I was also surprised to learn that the Wehrmacht had a lot of soldiers of Jewish extraction.
I believe that 'political officers' were ubiquitous in the Soviet armed forces.
Rommel’s book and his tactics were based a lot on the cavalry tactics of an American Civil War general he admired......Nathan Bedford Forrest.
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