Old Zhou
Abstract:Rommel was the most famous general of the German army in World War II and was known as the "god of war" of the German army in World War II, but Rommel was finally forced to commit suicide because he was implicated in the 720 assassination incident. Many people believe that Rommel was not involved in the assassination, so he committed suicide unjustly. So was Rommel's death unjust?
Rommel was the most famous general of the German army in World War II and was known as the "god of war" of the German army in World War II, but Rommel was finally forced to commit suicide because he was implicated in the 720 assassination incident. Many people believe that Rommel was not involved in the assassination, so he committed suicide unjustly. So was Rommel's death unjust?
The 720 Incident was a major event in Nazi Germany at the end of World War II, when an anti-Nazi conspiracy within Germany orchestrated and organized the assassination of Hitler on July 20, 1944, and staged a coup d'état on Germany soil. However, by mistake, the explosion of a bomb placed under the conference table in the conference room did not kill Hitler, and the coup was suppressed. Hitler then retaliated with a bloody retribution, beginning large-scale manhunts and massacres throughout the country and in German-occupied areas. According to incomplete statistics, about 10,000 people were imprisoned in concentration camps, about 7,000 were arrested, and at least 4,980 were executed.
At noon on October 14, two generals, Burgdorf and Maisel, arrived at Rommel's house with a team of heavily armed SS troops, and conveyed to him the two options that Hitler had given him: one was to commit suicide, so that the family would no longer be held accountable, and at the same time, his honor would be retained, and he would enjoy the treatment of a state funeral, and his family would also enjoy the treatment of the marshal's family. The second is to arrest and bring to court a public trial, while Rommel's adjutants, secretaries, and even family members are arrested and interrogated for their involvement in the assassination.
In the end, Rommel chose the first option, he said goodbye to his family, and then went out to get in the car, which stopped after only 500 meters. General Bugdorff asked the driver and guards to get out of the car and come back five minutes later. When they returned to the car, Rommel had committed suicide by poisoning himself in the back seat.
Many people believe that Rommel died unjustly because he was not involved in the 720 assassination at all. Rommel was indeed not a member of the conspiracy, nor did he attend any of the conspiracy meetings on the "Valkyrie" plan to assassinate Hitler and take control of Germany proper.
As for the intersection between Rommel and the conspiracy group, there are only two cases, the first is that Major General Hans · Specdal, a member of the conspiracy group, was the chief of staff of Rommel's Army Group B. Specdar did try to win over Rommel at one point, but given the special relationship between Rommel and Hitler, in the end Spechard only had an idea and did not act on it.
The second was that on 7 July, the day after the Normandy landings, Admiral von · Stulnager, France a member of the conspiracy group, sent his adjutant, Colonel Hofack, who was also a member of the conspiracy group and the cousin of Colonel Klaus ·· Stauffenberg, who had planted the bomb in Hitler's conference room, to meet Rommel. Rommel and Hofak talked in secret for half an hour, but it is not known what they talked about.
Hofak returned and reported to Stulnagel, saying that Rommel had expressed support for the assassination of Hitler, but that there was no evidence to prove it. Many people think that this is Hofak's exaggeration for the sake of asking for credit. Assassinating the Führer and launching a coup d'état, such a big thing, can it be negotiated in half an hour? But this spy later became the most important evidence of Rommel's collusion with the conspiracy.
And then, Rommel did not take any concrete action to prove that he participated in the assassination and coup d'état. Of course, there are objective reasons for this: on July 17, three days before the assassination, Rommel was strafed by US planes while inspecting the front line in his car, and he was thrown out of the car and seriously injured. Rommel was still unconscious when the assassination took place on 20 July.
When Rommel woke up on July 22 and Spaydar briefed him on the assassination, Rommel was so shocked that he exclaimed: "These crazy guys, how can they murder the Führer?" A soldier can kill him on the battlefield, but what's the benefit? Then he said to Speedard: "I don't have any hope for the situation on the Western Front. The Führer is the idol of the populace, and as long as he lives, everything is unpredictable...... For Germany, without a head of state, the country will be in chaos. ”
He then sent a message of condolence to Hitler: "My Führer, please accept my sincere wishes and wish you a speedy recovery. Hitler replied the next day: "Please accept my best wishes for your speedy recovery." ”
In the secret conversation with Hofak, Rommel should have been aware of the existence of the Nazi conspiracy group within the German army and was ready to take action, but it is very likely that he is not clear about the specific actions of the conspiracy group, let alone necessarily expressing support for the conspiracy group. Hofak, who was arrested in early August, said in his confession that Rommel knew about the 720 assassination plan. In this way, this secret interview became the most important evidence.
As for another "evidence" that Rommel is associated with the conspiracy group, it comes from a report by the Gestapo. On 12 August, the mayor of Leipzig, Gotailer, a key member of the conspiracy group, was arrested. He provided a list of the members of the conspiracy group. Himmler, the SS leader in charge of the interrogation, saw a long list of German generals on the list – but not Rommel. Himmler added the names of Rommel and Field Marshal Kluge, commander-in-chief of the German forces on the Western Front, to the list.
Objectively speaking, Rommel participated in the assassination operation, apparently lacking enough of the whole game. However, he still knew something about the existence of an anti-Nazi conspiracy within the German army, and that the conspiracy was brewing action, and he could not say that he had a complete grasp of it, but at least he knew some of the situation.
But he didn't report it, so the charge of "failing to report knowing" can basically be determined.
And Hitler forced Rommel to commit suicide on the basis of "not reporting what he knew", which cannot be completely said to be unjustly killed.
Because, Rommel and the backbone members of the conspiracy group· Ludwig Beck, Erwin·· von Witzleben, Stauffenberg and others, as well as the German generals such as Rundstead and Manstein, who were not conspiratorial groups, were completely different, these people were all Prussian nobles, and they just looked down on Hitler from the bottom of their bones, and the reason why they supported Hitler to come to power in the first place was only out of interests, because Hitler promoted militarism and advocated foreign expansion and aggression, which naturally conformed to the interests of the Prussian aristocratic class. In the officer corps of the Germany Wehrmacht, there was always a feeling of dissatisfaction and contempt for Hitler. For example, Rundstead always contemptuously called Hitler a "Bohemian corporal" and was never willing to call Hitler on his own initiative.
As the war gradually turned against Germany, and even repeated the defeat in the First World War, these people became active and prepared to overthrow Hitler.
Rommel was different, he was from a commoner background, his father was only a secondary school principal, and the family was not an aristocratic family. Even if he joined the Germany Wehrmacht, he won a place in the army by virtue of his own combat achievements. However, he was always excluded by the aristocratic officer corps, and became a teacher at the Potsdam Military School and the principal of the Vienna Neustadt Military School. It was not until Hitler came to power in 1933 that he began to get the opportunity to flourish, because Hitler greatly admired the book "Infantry Attack", which he wrote as a tactical instructor at the Dresden Infantry School. So he was transferred to the commander of his own guard battalion. This shows that Hitler had great trust in Rommel. After the Battle of Poland, Hitler acceded to Rommel's repeated requests to release him as commander of the 7th Panzer Division. Rommel showed his prominence on the battlefield at this time, leading the 7th Panzer Division to advance wildly.
Later, Rommel was appointed commander of the African Army, leading the Afrika Korps in North Africa, winning the reputation of the "Desert Fox" and being promoted to Field Marshal Rommel in 1942, making him the youngest Marshal of the Third Reich. At the same time, the propaganda apparatus of Nazi Germany spared no effort to tout, shaping Rommel into an invincible "god of war".
It can be seen that Hitler had the grace of knowing and promoting Rommel. Hitler was so gracious to Rommel that he regarded him as his trusted general, using him to "mix sand" in the Prussian aristocratic officer corps. It should be said that Hitler's treatment of Rommel was completely different from that of such aristocratic generals as Rundstead and Manstein. If Rundstead and Manstein had known about it and did not report it, Hitler might not have "given death", because these people and Hitler were not of the same mind in the first place, they were originally at odds with each other, and they cooperated entirely because of interests.
But Rommel was completely different, Hitler had absolute trust and respect for him, and Rommel, even if he only knew about it, was an intolerable betrayal, so it is not surprising that he "gave death".
Compared to another marshal who was also from a poor background, Model, was significantly more "clean and pure" than Rommel in the 720 incident, so he was not affected in any way. It can be said that after Rommel's death, Moder became Hitler's most trusted and respected general. It should be said that although Modell's popularity is far inferior to Rommel's, his military talent and character are only higher than Rommel's. Regarding the comparison between Rommel and Moder, there will be a special article for in-depth interpretation after this issue, so stay tuned.
It can be seen from this that Rommel was forced to commit suicide, saying that he was wronged, and that he was not wronged.
(The picture in this article comes from the Internet)
Lao Zhou, whose real name is Zhou Ming, once used the screen name Guangting, has been engaged in the study of military war history for a long time, and has served as a guest on military columns on Phoenix Satellite TV and Shanghai TV many times. He has published more than 20 military books, which can be consulted and purchased on the micro-store "Zhibingtang Bookstore" and a treasure online store "Zhibingtang Bookstore". Now there is a personal column "Lao Zhou Military" on Himalaya, which produces military audio programs. The "Old Zhou New Observation" video account has been set up on major video platforms to interpret military hot spots, please support.