What Really Happened to Rommel (Secrets That Won WWII) - [1998 | VHS | 60FPS]

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[Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] on the 14th of October 1944 two generals of the German army arrived at this villa in Harlingen it was the home of one of their country's most distinguished soldiers Field Marshal Erwin Rommel his wife Lucy and son Manfred the Field Marshal recovering from wounds he had received in Normandy was there to meet his visitors but this was no social after a brief discussion Rommel left the villa with the two generals for a last short journey within minutes he was dead by his own hand what had happened to turn one of the Third Reich's greatest heroes into one of its greatest enemies marked out for death by the Fuhrer himself [Music] Ramel had been a loyal servant of a perfectly but Ronald's reputation was never stained by the crimes of the Nazi regime Ronald was laid to rest as a hero but his death had been ordered by his Fuehrer the preparations for his funeral had been put in hand while he was still alive the wreaths ordered the tributes written in advance it was all a charade a matter of public relations [Music] for Rommel had been implicated in the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler on the 20th of July 1944 but how deeply was Ronald involved in the July bomb plot did he know of the plan to murder his commander-in-chief from 1941 the reputation of Irvin Rommel had overshadowed that of all other German generals a remarkable achievement for a commander whose victories were won in the theater scene by Hitler as a sideshow in part Ronald's reputation was fostered by Hitler himself who had chosen two men Rommel and general eduardito to be his soldiers in Sun and snow to satisfy the German public's craving for dashing military heroes rommel remains a legend as compelling now as when he ranged over the battlefield unlike rum beetle was an ardent Nazi who had played a part in Hitler's abortive military coup in Munich in 1923 Dietl remained a general in the snow dying in a plane crash in Lapland in 1944 it is Rama who remains to capture the imagination [Music] Bethan Rommel was born on the 15th of November 1891 in the town of heightened Hein inverting Berg he did not come from a military family his father was a reasonably successful provincial doctor their home reflected the modest bushwa origins of Irvin Ronald and his brothers and sisters at school he was a sickly dreamy child but as an adolescent he developed harder edges and a keen mathematical mind [Music] his father encouraged Rommel to join the army in the summer of 1910 he became an officer cadet at the military school in Danzig on the baltic after cadet school he joined the 124th wuertenberg Infantry Regiment it was during this period in his life that Rommel met Lucy Mullen whom he was to marry in 1916 the military world in which Rommel Mathura was one of simple unquestioning loyalty duty to the Kaiser and to the fatherland even at this early stage in his career however Rommel stood out from his contemporaries he was a non drinker and non smoker dedicated to his profession soon rummells professionalism and that of the German army would be tested in the heat of battle in September 1914 Germany went to war for more than two years Rommel remained on the Western Front for the hopes of quick victory were replaced by the death House of trench warfare he was a slight figure but Ronald's courage and personality cast a spell over all who met him the autumn of 1917 found Ronald in Italy commanding a battalion of Mountain troops by now he was the much wounded holder of an Iron Cross 1st class as a young officer on the Western Front Ronald had displayed a flair for infiltration tactics that had earned him a transfer to a mountain battalion these units were designed to perform special tasks in small battle groups whose commanders were allowed of freedom of action far greater than would normally be permitted by their rank this presented Rommel with the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his - as a commander at the Battle of Caporetto Rommel led his troops deep into the Italian rear capturing nine thousand men and 80 guns his youthful promise had been more than fulfilled Ronald was awarded the pool in their heat he was 27 when the war ended in a German surrender which was quickly followed by political chaos at home to the humiliation of defeat was added the occupation by allied troops of the west bank of the Rhine crippling war reparations were imposed on Germany and its army reduced to 100,000 men here in lay the seeds of future conflict after the war Ronald remained in the German army a civilian life would have been unthinkable for him he became the commander of a rifle company a post he would hold for the next nine years later Rommel would train budding company commanders as an instructor at the War School in Dresden haunted by the slaughter of the trenches Rommel declared that first and foremost he wanted to teach the Army's future company commanders how to save lives in October 1933 Rommel was given command of a Jaeger battalion in the hearts mountains it was here in 1934 that he met Adolf Hitler now Chancellor of Germany for the first time Rommel refused to mount the planned parade of his troops until Hitler's SS guard the Leibstandarte had been removed it was a remarkable act of courage on the part of an obscure Colonel so slight that his helmet looked like a coal Hitler had come to power in December 1933 his accession to chancellor blessed by President Hindenburg the aging symbol of Prussian militarism soon Germany was marching to a different drum and Hitler had donned a military men the passing of the old German military order was symbolized by the burial of Hindenburg at the massive monument raised to him in East Prussia scene of a crushing victory over the Russians in 1914 Hitler now bound the German army to him with a personal oath of loyalty as head of state and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces he was the dictator of Germany Rommel and Lucy now had a son Manfred Rommel was still completely non-political a soldier pure and simple uncomfortable in civilian clothes Rommel reserved his contempt for the sturm optimum or SA the Nazi party's million-strong private army of stormtroopers whose ambition was to absorb Germany's small professional army in a process of permanent revolution the SA was as big a threat to Adolphe Hitler as it was to the army in June 1934 Hitler removed the threat and secured the loyalty of professional soldiers like Rommel by ordering the murder of the SA leadership the SA still marched its torches blazing but it was now toothless [Music] rearmament not only reassured the German officer corps but also provided the basis for the rapid expansion of the Armed Forces skillful propaganda concealed their underlying weakness and played on the fears of British and French politicians who dreaded a new bloodbath even more terrible than that in France in the First World War when Hitler reoccupied the demilitarized Rhineland in 1936 against the advice of the senior generals the British and French sat on their hands this bloodless victory impressed Rommel as much as it did millions of other patriotic Germans and by now Rommel was a man on the move 1937 saw the publication of a best-selling tactical manual written by Raoul the infantry attacks that same year the teacher of the officer corps became a student Ronald attended the first of a series of Nazi indoctrination courses for army officers he was now convinced that the officer corps must be politicized and be ready to fight for the Fuehrer's new policies and Rommel himself was now playing a part in these policies albeit in a minor role in the autumn of 1938 Germany had occupied the Sudetenland the largely german-speaking border area of Western Czechoslovakia when the triumphant Hitler arrived in the Sudetenland his escort for the occasion was provided by a battalion under the command of Rommel Rommel then enjoyed a less successful attachment with the Hitler Youth movement during which he fell out with its unappetizing leader Baldur von Schirach soon a German soldiers duty to fight for the furious policy would be transferred from the parade ground to the battlefield on the first of September 1939 Hitler invaded Poland rommel now a major-general commanded the Fuhrer's personal headquarters in Poland walking at Hitler's side in the campaign and travelling with him in his curiously named command train America Rommel exalted that soldiers are worth something again [Music] but Ronald the simple soldier was blind to the terrible fate already enveloping the conquered Polish nation in Poland the German army and air force had demonstrated albeit in limited form the new theory of blitzkrieg or lightning war six months later in the Battle of France the combination of armor and air power would overwhelm the French army and the British Expeditionary Force Rommel was now commanding 7th Panzer Division in middle-age and after a lifetime of service in the infantry he proved himself to be a master of armored warfare as the French discovered to their cost after crossing the river Meuse Rommels division was at the heart of the german drive across northeast france averaging as many as 50 miles a day 7th Panzer moved so fast it earned the nickname of the ghost division but the havoc left in its wake was all too real rommel reveled in this exhilarating soldier he wrote Lucy I've been in action for days on end constantly on the move in tank armored car or staff car there's no time to sleep at all in a mechanised division you've got to be so damn fast so far I have to [Music] by the end of May 7th Penzer had trapped half the French first Army and within 48 hours Rommel was recounting his success to Hitler at the Furies headquarters in the our den the bond between Hitler and Rommel was strengthened when the Fuhrer greeted him of the words we were all very worried about you back in action the ghost division raced over the river Somme scene of the terrible carnage in the summer of 1916 and under a broiling Sun turned north towards the Channel coast Rommel who was relishing the publicity he attracted made sure that he was there when his forward tanks reached the sea getting his boots wet for the cameras at Sava tahi Rommel took a dozen French and British generals prisoner including a disconsolate general fortune of the 51st Highland division by now Rommel and 7th Panzer had taken nearly 100,000 prisoners but his very success and the attention it attracted was breeding resentment among many of Ronald's peers in the earth in February 1941 while the rest of the German army was preparing for the invasion of the Soviet Union Rommel was chosen by Hitler to lead an armored expeditionary force the Africa Corps to help Germany's Italian allies in North Africa [Music] the British had been giving the Italian forces in Libya a hard time in December 1940 the British Western force commanded by Field Marshal Weibull had launched an offensive from Egypt which had driven the Italians out of eastern Libya Rommel and the first elements of the Africa Corps arrived at the port of Tripoli in western Libya in February 1941 [Music] undaunted by the rout of the Italians Rommel defied orders and immediately went on the offensive he caught the overstretched british deployed piecemeal and with most of their tanks in need of repair they were unceremoniously swept back across the Egyptian frontier the desert gave Rommel the opportunity to exploit his flair for the tactics of ruse and Bluff he concealed the weakness of his armor from the British with dust clouds raised by convoys of trucks which suggested a much larger force than he had at his disposal for Rommel victory was always sweet but never sweeter when he had fooled his opponent into a premature and needless withdrawal or surrender [Music] for the next 18 months Rommel retained the initiative constantly in the thick of the fighting a nightmare for his staff as he was often out of touch with his headquarters but an inspiration when he arrived at a critical point to lead the attack the desert war was a seesaw affair confined to leaps along the Mediterranean coast from supply point to supply point and swinging hooks delivered through the desert Rommels first offensive had carried the Africa Corps across the western border of Egypt and brought the port of Tobruk held by the Australians under siege in November 1941 a new British commander general Auchinleck launched a counter-offensive which pushed Rommel westward but failed to cut off the Africa cores retreating columns Rommel excelled in the cut and thrust of desert warfare he was unconventional in his handling of armor often using his tanks as bait to lure the British armored and it traps lined with his anti-tank guns the fighting in the Western Desert was a soldier's war in which both sides respected each other and their prisoners there were none of the atrocities which made the war in Eastern Europe especially terrible [Music] out of uniform the desert fox was disarmingly ordinary a small balding man with a head which seemed too big for his body in action flying into the front line in his feast verse torch Rommel was an electrifying figure [Music] he even forced all collector right I am not jealous of Rama in January 1942 Rommel resumed the offensive he drove the British Eighth Army eastward fighting a bitter battle at Ghazala which forced Auchinleck to retire to a position at El Alamein inside the Egyptian border this time Auchinleck could not save Tokra but in July he inflicted a decisive check on the overextended Africa Corps at the First Battle of El Alamein [Music] it saved 8th army but did not save its commander the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill decided to dismiss alcaman later likening the business to shooting a noble stag arkad Lex replacement was general Bernard Montgomery who arrived in North Africa when the tide was turning in favor of the 8th army [Music] British fighter bombers were playing havoc with the Africa cores Mediterranean supply convoys Rommel was now a Field Marshal but a baton was no substitute for the oil and tanks the Africa Corps had been denied exhaustion and illness sapped its commanders strength in contrast Montgomery resisted Churchill's promptings to launch an all-out offensive until he was confident of a marked superiority in men and materiel like Rommel he was haunted by the senseless waste he had witnessed in the First World War like Rommel he was a husband ER of men's lives although Monty's methods were those of caution rather than daring an orthodoxy Monti kept a portrait of his charismatic opponent in his Caravan headquarters the better to get to know the enemy Rommel did not return the compliment [Music] the ailing Ronal was in Germany on sick leave when on the night of the 23rd of October 1942 Montgomery opened the Second Battle of El Alamein with a massive artillery barrage [Music] Raoul came hurrying back to North Africa but could not stem the breakthrough made after a week-long infantry slogging match by eighth Army's tanks [Music] by nightfall on the 3rd of November Rommel was down to his last 30 serviceable tanks he was left with no option but to order a general withdrawal on the 4th Montgomery had the victory he had promised Churchill Rommel ill and exhausted could promise no more than a fighting retreat after an agonizing delay Hitler approved Rommels request to withdraw Ronald's next task was the preservation of an army of 70,000 men on a 2,000 mile fighting retreat under constant air attack British codebreakers at Bletchley Park monitored every detail of Ronald's westward progress harried but not destroyed by eighth army but foul weather and Montgomery's in eighth caution preserved what was left of the Africa good meanwhile on the seventh of November British and American troops came ashore in the Vichy French colonies of Morocco and Algeria Operation Torch threatened to trap the retreating Africa Corps between two allied armies the torch landing force had the men and machines but as yet did not possess the fighting metal of the Africa Corps when they came face to face with Brahmins retreating veterans the raw troops of the American 2nd Corps were given a savage mauling at the Kasserine pass but Rommel was now on the edge of physical collapse like a marathon runner and tottering towards the tape victory at Kasserine had freed him to turn south to settle accounts with the pursuing 8th army but he was repulsed at Medellin on the 6th of March Montgomery wrote Rommel attacked me at dawn it was very foolish of him I have five hundred six pounder anti-tank guns I have four hundred tanks and I have good infantry holding strong pivots and a great weight of artillery the man must be mad within a month Rommel had left North Africa for good far away in his headquarters in East Prussia Hitler refused to allow the Africa Corps to withdraw to Sicily the Fuhrer had just lost one army in Russia at Stalingrad on the banks of the Volga he would now lose another on the shores of the Mediterranean when Rommel had recovered his health he was ready once more for active command in August 1943 he was appointed commander of German troops in northern Italy German strategic horizons were now shrinking in 1942 at Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia Rommel had discussed with the Fuhrer plan orient the seizure of the rich oil fields of the Middle East now the European perimeter of the Third Reich was under threat [Music] Hitler's sweeping geopolitical daydreams had been blown away to be replaced by the grimmer concept of fortress Europe Rommel was now to be the architect of concrete barriers rather than sweeping battle plans at the end of 1943 Rommel was appointed commander of Army Group B in northern France under the commander-in-chief West field marshal gerdt von Rundstedt at the top of Ronald's agenda was the strengthening of the so-called Atlantic Wall the Third Reich's Western perimeter defense which propaganda claimed stretched some 1,700 miles from the North Cape to the Spanish frontier but in reality only the most sensitive sectors were fortified within weeks of his arrival Rommel had increased the rate of mine laying from 40,000 a month to over a million half a million obstacles were laid on the beaches and like the airborne landing grounds behind the wall [Music] but Rommel knew that the wall alone would not defeat an Allied invasion of northwest Europe mindful of the almost total air superiority now enjoyed by the Allies Rommel once the master of mobile armored warfare was convinced that he would have to get his guns and armor to the water's edge at the moment the Allies came ashore only then could they be defeated at a conference in Holland he told officers of 88th Corps all your forces have got to be committed to the defense of the coastline itself in this he was in fundamental disagreement with von Rundstedt who favored holding back a strong armoured reserve ready to strike when it became clear where the main Allied blow was falling Rommel argued that Allied air attacks would smash up any attempt to move large bodies of armor by de movement and attack by night would end in confusion there was no satisfactory resolution of this heated tactical debate nor was there any agreement on where the Allies would land von Rundstedt believed that the Allies would take the shortest sea route to cross the pas de Calais Rommel became increasingly anxious about the possibility of landings on the western coast of Normandy between kin and Cherbourg in the end he was proved correct the Allies had decided to land in Normandy as early as the summer of 1943 but they employed a brilliant deception plan to persuade the German High Command that their intention was to land farther east near Calais dummy air forces came to life around the port of dover landing areas were prepared to accommodate landing craft made solely for the benefit of the handful of Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft allowed to penetrate British airspace Bantam radio traffic from a handful of mobile transmitters created an American first Army Group in southeast England poised to breach the Atlantic Wall in the pas-de-calais the invasion route favoured by the German High Command its highly visible commander General George S Patton was real enough but his destination weeks after d-day was to be Normandy the Germans swallowed the bait meanwhile across the English Channel another top-secret operation was underway a plot to assassinate out of Hitler the war had seen several attempts to kill Hitler not all of them genuine in November 1939 a bomb exploded 20 minutes after he had left his annual reunion with old Nazi comrades in Munich it had been planted by the Gestapo with the aim of increasing the Fuehrer's popularity the beer hall setup and the propaganda funeral of those killed in the blast did not deter the genuine military and civilian plotters among them were two staff officers in the German army Major General Baron Henning von Tresckow and captain phibian von Schwaben both [Music] in 1943 they nearly succeeded in killing Hitler when the Fuhrer visited the Russian front they placed a brandy bottle packed with British plastic explosives aboard the aircraft which was to fly the Fuhrer back to his headquarters in haustenberg but the bomb had a faulty detonator cap it failed to explode and the bogus brandy bottle had to be retrieved from rustenberg by the gallon Tresckow Hitler had seemed at a charmed life [Music] the circle of conspirators in the German High Command grew wider by the spring of 1944 it had drawn in general Karl Heinrich von Strucker the military governor of occupied France in Berlin the main conspirator was general Ludwig Beck who had been the German Army's chief of staff in the 1930s the military and civilian conspirators against Hitler comprised a number of groups with different aims but they could all see that the war was lost they were convinced that the destruction of Germany and its subjugation to the Soviet Union could be prevented only by a speedy surrender to the British and Americans to achieve this Hitler would have to be killed Rommel remained loyal to Hitler to whom he had easier access than most but he was also a realist as the prospect of the Allied invasion approached Rommel was torn between patriotism and his duty as a professional soldier he knew that Germany would be crushed between the Soviet Union and the United States [Music] Rommels feelings about Hitler had originally been straightforward Rommel the uncomplicated soldier was grateful to his Fuhrer for rescuing and then restoring the fortunes of Germany as he had proudly put it in 1939 soldiers are worth something again [Music] but the gathering evil which had accompanied this revival indeed had fueled it was beyond ramos comprehension [Music] nevertheless Rommels loyalty to the Nazi regime was being severely tested he was eventually to conclude that if the Allies gained a foothold in France Germany's only option would be to seek peace with the British and Americans then the three of them could march east against the Russians this might have been militarily feasible but it was political fantasy Rommels reasoning like his character was without guile but it was to draw him into deadly danger Rommel was ignorant of the plans to kill Hitler but a senior officer who was aware of what was going on was his new chief of staff Lieutenant General Hans spider spider a laconic thought overton Berger was up to his neck in the plot to kill Hitler now he was working alongside Rommel in the latter's headquarters in the Chateau of La Roche Guillon near the River Seine the defenders of the Atlantic Wall were readying themselves for the Allied invasion but none of them from the humblest private to the exalted commander of Army Group B knew where or when it would come the Allied deception plan had worked it's spelled for Rommel however there was a domestic matter to attend to his wife Lucy's 50th birthday was on the 6th of June on the 4th of June Rommel left LaRoche Booya for hurling him spidel remained in charge of Ramos headquarters on the other side of the channel countdown to d-day had begun in the small hours of the 6th of June American paratroopers landed in Normandy on the western flank of the Allied beachhead off the Normandy coast lay the Allied invasion Armada with the dawn came bombardment from the air and from the warships lying off the coast [Music] the invasion of northwest Europe had begun and in the sector which Rommel had anticipated by the end of the day 60,000 Americans and 75,000 British and Canadian troops were assured the Panzers with with Rommel had planned to smash the invasion on its beach heads were held back Ronald's headquarters at LaRoche kuia was infected by a peculiar calm as the evidence of the invasion mounted spidel remained inactive he even returned to bed he did not ring Ronald at hurling him until 10:00 on the morning of the 6th of June there were three Panzer divisions within striking distance of the invasion beaches Spider declined to move was he looking over his shoulder at the pas-de-calais convinced that the main blow was yet to fall or was his sluggish reaction to the crisis a deliberate attempt to ensure Allied success at 10 p.m. on d-day a grim-faced Rommel arrived in Norman as he had fear allied airpower was making the daylight movement of men and armored extremely hazardous [Music] displaying all his old energy Rommel now threw himself into the battle which was raging in the sunken lanes and hedgerows of the Normandy countryside [Music] it was now that spidel revealed to members of his staff that he had been plotting against Hitler the conspiracy was seeping out into the open while the German Armour was grouped and regrouped unable to land a heavy punch as the Allies pushed inland spidel engineered a meeting between Rommel and one of his fellow conspirators Lieutenant Colonel says von Hoffa vanished or nagels adjutant in Paris Allied bombers and the efforts of the French Resistance were disrupting the German buildup in Normandy on the 11th of June spidel called on von Rundstedt chief of staff general Bloomington telling him for the first time about the opposition to Hitler but not about the plans to assassinate him while spidel talked to blumenfield Rommel was conferring with von Rundstedt the result was that marshal von Rundstedt sent a gloomy signal to the Fuhrer informing him that if he could not establish a stable front line in Normandy von Rundstedt would be forced to make what he termed fundamental decisions as spidel and Rommel drove back to their headquarters spidel attempted to draw his chief into the circle of conspirators playing on the field marshals troubled conscience over stories of the death camps established in eastern Poland later that day Rommel voiced his alarm to army group B's Naval DA's on officer Admiral Ruger pacing the grounds of La Rochelle yawn after dinner Rommel suggested to rouga that the German army in the West should surrender he hinted that the Nazi leadership had blood on their hands adding I have always fought clean Rommel then wrote to his wife Lucy it's time for politics to come into play all the well both Ronald and von Rundstedt were looking to the northeast for the anticipated arrival of Patton's first US Army Group one of the decoy efforts which spiders compliant intelligence staff gave the utmost credence it also seems that on his own initiative spidel was withholding a vital Panzer Division the 116th from the Normandy front calculating that it would be needed to deal with the SS garrison in Paris after Hitler had been removed by the 15th of June Rommel was sufficiently depressed by the overall situation in Normandy to compare it with the dark days of early November 1942 when he had been forced to concede defeat at El Alamein he demanded that a representative of the High Command come to Normandy to see for himself the odds against which his troops were fighting he was in for a surprise on the morning of the 17th of June Hitler arrived in France to meet his generals the Fuhrer had divined that Rommel was in the same mood which had overtaken him before the retreat from El Alamein the line of retreat from Normandy led straight to Berlin Ronald von Rundstedt and their respective staffs traveled to meet Hitler at his headquarters near soir song in this bunker complex 300 miles from the fighting in Normandy Ronald and on Rundstedt confronted the Fuhrer in the presence of Hitler Ronald seemed to regain much of his old confidence for the last time the Fuehrer cast his spell he told Rommel that thousands of v1 rockets were now raining down on a defenseless London an exaggeration which seemed visibly to put a new spring in the field marshal step [Music] it would not last on the 26th of June the Americans broke through at sallow and began to seal off the cotton tampon incident to the east Montgomery was hammering away at kin [Music] Patton's phantom Army Group still haunted spidel staff on the 27th of June it warned that there were huge forces in southern England readied for an invasion in the pas de Calais in fact there were only 12 divisions on the other side of the channel all of them destined for the fighting in Normandy at the end of the month Ronald joined the senior commanders in the West for a conference with Hitler at the Berghof the Fuehrer's mountain retreat in Bavaria Rommel had told for instead that the war must be stopped now I intend to make no bones about it when I see Hitler [Music] at the Berghoff Rommel bravely attempted to confront Hitler with what he knew to be the truth he told Hitler he could not leave a meeting without speaking on the subject of Germany Hitler asked Rommel to leave the room immediately the conference continued without Robin he was never to see out of Hitler again back in Normandy Rommel received yet another visitor Field Marshal Kruger a veteran of the Eastern Front had arrived to replace von Rundstedt as Western Command Kruger knew of the plot against Hitler but had kept his distance from it Kruger and Rommel did not hit it off when they met by now strop Naugle in Paris and spidel at Ronald's headquarters were becoming increasingly desperate to win Rommel over once again the persuasive Honecker was dispatched till our horseshoe yon to draw Rommel into the circle of conspirators the mission sealed the field marshals fate Huffaker returned to Paris convinced that he had won Rommel over Ronal however remained ignorant of the plan to kill Hitler a move he would never have supported but in Paris pas factor told his confederates that Rommel had placed himself entirely at their disposal nothing could have been further from the truth Huffaker then traveled to Berlin where he met his cousin Klaus von Stauffenberg the wounded veteran of the Eastern Front who had been chosen as Hitler's assassin on the 16th of July from Stauffenberg informed the plotters but the field marshals in the West were with them haunted by the specter of defeat in Normandy Rommel was torn between lingering loyalty to Hitler and his duty as a professional soldier on the 16th of July Rommel delivered an ultimatum to Hitler in the form of a report to Krueger everywhere our troops are fighting heroically but the unequal struggle is drawing to a close in my view the political consequences of this must be drawn as commander in chief of the army group I feel obliged to make myself plain [Music] time was running out for ramen the roads on which he drove 250 miles a day in his powerful staff car were regularly strafed by Allied fighters [Music] on the ground a team from the British Special Air Service the SAS were keeping a watch on Aris Kooyong and awaiting the arrival of a hit squad to assassinate Raoul [Music] one of the senior German officers in whom Rommel had confided was Sepp Dietrich the commander of the 1st ss-panzer Corps and one of Hitler's oldest associates on the 17th of July Rommel had asked D Trish if he would always obey his Rommels orders even if they contradicted those of the Fuhrer d Trish told Rommel that he would mean well the bloody battle for kin was moving towards its climax Rommels old adversary in the Western Desert Montgomery had finalized his plans for operation Goodwood an armored drive to smash through the stubborn defenders of camp which had defied allied bombardment and attack for over three weeks but Rommel was to play no further part in this battle after the meeting with septa Trish Ronald rose back to La Roche Goyo at 6:00 p.m. his staff car was attacked by two Spitfires Ronald's driver was killed and Ronald received serious head wounds one of the Spitfire pilots caught their target with his gun camera Rommels luck had run out the allied airpower he had feared had removed a vital piece from the Normandy chessboard Rommel regained consciousness in the Luftwaffe hospital in Bernay on the 18th of July the struggle for kin had been his last battle two days later at Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia von Stauffenberg placed a briefcase bomb under the table at which Otto fiddler was holding his daily conference the explosion ripped through the room killing three officers but sparing Hitler the next day the Fuhrer greeted Italian dictator Mussolini at Rastenburg [Music] the plot against Hitler had failed in Berlin troops loyal to Hitler moved quickly against the conspirators many of the ring leaders including von stauffenberg were summarily executed others faced torture and then trial in Berlin before the People's Court presided over by fanatical Nazi Roland Frei slur Chrysler's personal reign of terror ended when he was killed in an air raid as he was about to open the trial of Fabian von Schwab under the brave entrepreneur survived the war in France von Kluge who had hung back from joining the conspiracy was to commit suicide when relieved of his command and ordered back to Germany Rommel recovering from his wounds at home in Hurlingham also fell under suspicion two days after the bomb exploded at Rastenburg he had told spidel from his hospital bed that the incident would have undreamt of repercussions dread spread through the conspirators summoned to berlin von stroke Naugle botched a suicide attempt in his resulting delirium he was heard murmuring Ronald's name [Music] Huffaker who had been urged to fleas stayed put and in an attempt to save his own skin finger drama Huffaker was hanged in December [Music] Gestapo reports of the suicide attempts and subsequent interrogations were rushed to Hitler on the 12th of August Heinrich Himmler chief of the SS arrived to see the Fuhrer in his briefcase was a notepad on which was written item 6 West crew gay and Rommel the shadows were closing in on the desert fox and on general spidel who was interrogated by the Gestapo and then at the beginning of october called before an army court of Honor inevitably the trial of spidel was also the trial of his boss Irvin Rommel spidel the great survivor wriggled free Rommel who had no friends at Hitler's court was doomed at hurling it where he had been convalescing since the 7th of August Rommel knew that he had been placed under constant surveillance by the Gestapo on the 7th of October Rommel received a summons to Berlin from general title Hitler's chief of staff he declined pleading poor health plans were already being made for Rommels funeral on the 13th of October general vilhelm Burgdorf hitler's senior adjutant traveled to her noggin from berlin [Music] Bergdorf was accompanied by major-general Ernst myzel head of the legal section of the personnel branch of the German army Bergdorf and my soul arrived at Rommels house at noon on the 14th of October the field marshal received them in his Africa Corps uniform before Rommel left with the two generals he told Lucy and Manfred of his fate he had been given the alternative of trial or suicide he had chosen suicide death lay 200 yards down the road a cyanide capsule from the backseat of Bergdorf's limousine Hitler had many of the conspirators hanged on Kanno wire and then drooled over the film of their death Agony's Rommel who had never contemplated Hitler's death remained a hero to the German people and was given a funeral to match his status Manfred an auxiliary firefighter paid his last respects with his mother [Music] before he drove off with Bergdorf and myzel Rommel had told Lucy that he did not fear trial and was innocent of any involvement in the plot to assassinate Hitler [Music] but Rommel had been prepared to support the removal of Hitler as a preliminary to negotiating a surrender to the British and Americans and he had openly discussed these plans with a number of people Rommel knew only too well that this was an act of treason which he would have to pay the ultimate price [Music] rommel never feared death its wings had brushed him many times [Music] he was a patriot and above all the general in the Sun [Music] [Music]

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Channel: Analog Notations

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Rating: 4.6348076 out of 5

Keywords: WWII, World War II, Erwin, Rommel, BBC, Time Life, Reader's Digest, VHS, 60FPS, Documentary, Full Video, 1990s, 1998, 1940s

Id: tAdURFhx6I0

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Length: 52min 54sec (3174 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 04 2018

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