Rommel - 1891-1944

[Mihail]

Umm he was given a heroes burial because he was so loved by his men and a hero of the people of germany. Not because hitler thought it was the "right thing to do".

[Kakoru]

holy crap, thx Donitz!
Your awesome!!!

*prints pages*

Originally Posted by SuperCoolDonitz.I love him

Oh and if you are wondering why i have a fetish on rommel (and dönitz): he was a true hero, he was a genius and a great militairy leader. If the attack on Hitler had just succeeded (the briefcase bomb attack on hitler by Claus von Stauffenberg) then the miliairy could have seased power and made peace, the war would have ended in 1944

Didn't Rommel wanted a war in the east?
also, how exactly would it end in 1944?
Goering is second in command and im sure he too wanted to defeat the Soviet Union..

no, the point is that many people in the 'regular army' were fully aware of the attrocities being carried out across Europe and they didn't do anything about it.

Not really.. I doubt many people in the heer or even the waffen-ss knew anything of the fates of the Jews or maybe they atleast thought that the Jews had fair treatements.
Eitherway, how exactly would they know?

Edit: Btw, does anyone know the number of "atrocities" done by the Soviet Union?
Was it like 30 million "innocent" people who died under Stalin's hand??
Just wondering..

[[11PzG]matyast]

He is my hero, may he reast in peace, and recieve his rightfull place among great men.

[AzH]

Rommel wasn't great. he could have been great. choosing the winning side is a sign of greatness. being on the winning side is a prerequisite for greatness. Rommel wasn't great.

[Mihail]

Originally Posted by AzH

Rommel wasn't great. he could have been great. choosing the winning side is a sign of greatness. being on the winning side is a prerequisite for greatness. Rommel wasn't great.

Being great does not always mean winning in the end. Rommel was Great.

[General Taskeen]

I don't know how many times I have to say this, but not all Germans were Nazi's, and there are plenty of examples; Rommel, Dönitz, Hans von Luck, and countless other highranking people within the German Army, along with many regular soldiers.

Let's take Hans von Luck for example. In most respects, von Luck held many ideals similar to Rommel. This guy also had a jewish wife, and even negotiated with the Gestapo to get people out. It should be noted that he also had several cease-fires with the British.

Also, the allies weren't exactly all saints either. Perhaps some of you are unaware of the horrible massacres the Soviets did upon the Polish people. Also, after the war, Stalin needed someone to blame, because they had no clear enemy and, like the Nazi's, Stalin wished to blame the Jews. He also disallowed the practice of religion.


You people just don't seem to get it or don't know enough about Rommel to have a solid counter-argument.

Perhaps you should actually read Großadmiral Dönitz excellent post before you start throwing around old and very recycled arguments. This thread is about Rommel and all the good he represented, not Nazi's or the atrocities done upon the Jewish people.

The facts are simple. Not only was Rommel not a Nazi, but he defied Hitler with a passion. There were multiple times when Rommel clearly disobeyed Hitler's orders for the survival of the men under his command. He treated his men with utmost respect and actually cared for them. In the end, he took his own life, in order to protect the lives of his family and staff, because he became involved in the plot to kill Hitler.

Rommel strongly disagreed against Hitler and his Nazism and really wanted to negotiate with the Allies, for a collective effort in order to deal with the Soviets.

Theres the hard facts people, plain and simple. I shall consider this manner closed.

[El Hombre del Fuego]

Originally Posted by Anlushac11

It had nothign to do with Hitler. Please actually read a history book before commenting. History Channel doesnt count.

The Allies seized control of the shipping lanes bringing supplies to Rommel and when the sea lanes were cut off the Germans and Italians tried flying over supplies and were slaughtered over the Med by Allied aircraft operating from North Africa and more importantly Malta.

In effect the Allies cut off Rommels supplies. IIRC Rommel needed 1000-1500 tons a month and was occasionaly getting 500 tons a month. Rommels failure at first Battle of El Alamein huinged on the safe arrival of a Italian freighter carrying 5,000gallons of fuel. The tanker made it into the harbor but was torpedoed and sunk at anchorage. Withouit fuel Rommel had to fall back and prepare defensive positions.

Rommels refusal of the SS in North Africa is mentioned in his memoirs.

In Rommel: The Desert Fox, placed together by the Rommel Papers and accounts of Rommel's loved ones, states Hitler utterly failed to even offer much of the equipment needed to win the war in Africa. Maybe I missed it, but I in no way recall the SS being mentioned as intended reinforcements.

IF they did wind up going to Africa, it would not have made much of a difference; he needed tanks, not murderers.

Sorry if it WAS in my source, but whatever. No harm done, right?

[vladtemplar]

Many Soviet Generals were much greater than Rommel, they accomlished more with less. And they won the war. Most were held back by Stalin, but after victory at Stalingrad, they got more freedom in the military operations, and Soviets started winning all the battles

[Admiral Donutz]

Originally Posted by Kakoru

Didn't Rommel wanted a war in the east?

huh, i didnt mentioned that?

also, how exactly would it end in 1944?
Goering is second in command and im sure he too wanted to defeat the Soviet Union..

After the removal of hitler the militairy could take power (by force), order the militairy to lay down their arms and then start negosiations with the allies for peace. Rommel did want to get rid of hitler although he prefered a coup instead of a attack.

After the war, however, his wife maintained that Rommel had been against the plot as it was carried out. It has been stated that Rommel wanted to avoid giving future generations of Germans the perception that the war was lost because of a backstab, the infamous Dolchstoss theory, as it was commonly believed by some Germans following WWI.

[Mihail]

Originally Posted by vladtemplar

Many Soviet Generals were much greater than Rommel, they accomlished more with less. And they won the war. Most were held back by Stalin, but after victory at Stalingrad, they got more freedom in the military operations, and Soviets started winning all the battles

The same can be said for rommel during his last year in Africa, 90% of his supply line was not getting to him, he was always running low on fuel, lack of fresh armor, Infact by time rommel left africa due to his injury, Rommel had more british and american panzers then he did of his own.

Although I do agree, There were very good generals on our side as well, but I never said they were not great or as great.

Timoshenko, Zhukov, Vasilievski, Koniev and Govorov, if it were not for the fact that Stalin killed off most of seasoned generals we would have been much better off during or atleast during the early half of the war.