Discovering the Rommel Murder by Marshall Charles F

Author:Marshall, Charles F. [Marshall, Charles F.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780811724722
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Published: 2002-06-28T04:00:00+00:00

The order left the four officers disgusted. They had expected Hitler to come to the front to see the scene for himself. Instead, after returning at 3:00 A.M. from a twenty-one hour tour of the front, Rommel had to immediately take off for the 140-mile trip to the rear.

It was at this meeting, as Jodi testified at Nuremberg, that Rommel had said, "My Fuhrer, have you actually imagined the continuation of this war?" Hitler grew very angry and said very shortly, "That is a question that is none of your business! That is a question that I will decide!"

The conference was held in an edifice that had been built in 1940 and was intended to serve as the command post for the invasion of Britain. The summoned officers found it sealed off by Hitler's SS escort troops. Inside, the Fi hrer's quarters contained a large conference room, a bedroom with bath and rooms for his adjutants, plus comfortable air raid shelters.

The reporting officers found the Fuhrer, who did not look well, hunched on a stool, fiddling nervously with his glasses and some colored pencils.

"Hitler greeted us curtly and coldly," Speidel told me, "and then in a loud voice berated us bitterly for our failure to halt the Allied landings. He went into a litany of recriminations. Rundstedt, after a few words, turned the discussion over to Rommel, who, with a ruthless honesty, pointed out that the struggle was hopeless against the overpowering Allied superiority in the air, at sea, and on land, ignoring several interruptions by Hitler.

"Particularly galling to Rommel was Hitler's refusal to acknowledge the decline in the relative strength of the German troops vis-a-vis those of the Allies, especially after Rommel's pointing out that Eisenhower had already landed twenty-two to twenty-five divisions and another two or three were debarking each week. A demand by Hitler that the 'fortress' of Cherbourg be held particularly exasperated Rommel, since this would tie down many men and further restrict his ability to maneuver.

"The Fi hrer doubted the shocking picture that Rommel painted of the enemy's destructive power," continued Speidel, "and this irritated Rommel, for he was a man given to the realistic appraisal of battlefield situations. He was particularly incensed by Hitler's expressions of disbelief in the demoralizing effect of yourcarpet bombings. Of the troops who survived, even among those who were not wounded, many were incapable of further fighting.

"The rate of psychoneurosis was very high," the general went on. "And for the others, those who could still fight, these bombardments by air, land, and sea, shattered morale among the best. The troops suffered tremendous trauma, and many were simply unfit for further combat, which Hitler, in spite of Rommel's repeated explanations, refused to believe. Some lost control of their bodily functions."

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