Erwin "Desert Fox" Rommel

[Wiesty]

Ive done some studying on the famous Erwin Rommel, Do u think he is good or bad. Like yes he was a nazi but all armies, Axis or Allied respected him, He treated his prisoners with respect and so forth.

Whats ur opinion

[Wiesty]

oh i found this

[Comrade BNS]

Good as in a relative term...yes he was a 'good' person and a 'good' general compared to others from both sides at the time. He was a decent sort of character, fairly moderate but very loyal and nationalist minded, and he had the brains and decency as a soldier to stay out of politics for the most part. However if circumstances were diferent I think he would still be a fairly moderate conservative. I saw a documentary on him done by the BBC and he was quoted as saying to a british general he had captured "...If things were different and it were just us soldiers, you and us should unite against our common enemy." the british officer inquired as to who this enemy might be and Rommel replied "The Soviets".

But all in all, he was humane, moral and decent which is more then can be said of many of his peers and even contemporaries regardless of political orientation, so I guess we can't really hold that against him.

Comrade BNS

[mysticofthewest]

he was one hell of a general and a humane guy from what ive read i think he was good just on the wrong side

[Akasha]

Rommel wasn't about being good or bad. He was an old school militarist. He believed in the humane treatment of prisoners and his own troops. He was a strong strategist but, and I guess this is a good thing, there was not a focus on the war in Africa at the time. He could have been very successful. It was his actions against Hitler which eventually got him killed. He ignored orders to kill non-white prisoners and he participated in a plot to kill Hitler. He wasn't exactly a "good" guy but he had a strong character which he was unwilling to compromise for the party. A good book to read about Rommel is "The Trail of the Fox" by David Irving. (Don't jump on me I know Irving is a loony :blink: but this was actually a good book.)

[Reuben]

BAD!


he may have had - like many of those we oppose - personal qualities which seem attractive.

HE did however quite knowingly (even if like the other naxis calimed he was only following orders) extend the territory and military powwer of the Nazi regime.

Even if he could not predict the specifics of what would happen as a consequence of Nazi conquest having lived through six years of the Nazi regime - havingseen the terror broughtto jews, socialists gays etc - he would have known well the effects of extendinggermanys military power. He may have treated his prisners humanely yet as leader oif the German army in North Africa (if im not mistaken) he facilitated the decimation of, for example, the Lybian jewish community.

he was no good guy . he was a proponent of fascism who could have contributed to a nazi dominated world.

[MiniOswald]

he wasnt a good guy, and he wasnt really a bad guy. All he wanted to do was to be a great general. He wasnt actually a supporter or the nazi party but rather oddly the afrika korps was one of the only sections of the wehrmacht that wore the swastika on them, (on the helmets the symbol was a palm tree with a swastika for leaves, i beleive). He was a good military stratigist and respected his enemies, seeing them as noble adversarys. He probably could've beaten us in north africa considering monty was a fool, but he didnt always concentrate on the job at hand.

Perhaps if it had been him and not manstein at the tank battles of kursk in russia the war may have gone on for longer.
He was a good militarist but never the less fighting for the wrong side. I dont think he fought cos he was just following orders, he just wanted military glory, so i guess he is quite bad.

[Comrade Zeke]

I think he is a really good general and was loyal to his country....he makes Facism look desirable if it wasn&#39;t for the FUCKING DICTATORSHIp and no freedom along with the evils of hating anthor race. <_<

[Comrade BNS]

Even if he could not predict the specifics of what would happen as a consequence of Nazi conquest having lived through six years of the Nazi regime - havingseen the terror broughtto jews, socialists gays etc - he would have known well the effects of extendinggermanys military power. He may have treated his prisners humanely yet as leader oif the German army in North Africa (if im not mistaken) he facilitated the decimation of, for example, the Lybian jewish community.


Your quite entitled to your oppinion, however in this case you have little concept of what he actually believed or the events of his campaign in Nth Africa. When he was recalled to Germany, one of his under officers was getting married, and so a wedding gift, Rommel was organising his friend in the housing department to procure them a flat in Berlin. When Rommel went to check out the flat etc.. he was geniunely surprised and shocked that there was still a Jewish family living in it. He begged their pardon, and procured them part of his pay. He returned to his friend in the housing dpt. and told him there was still a family living their, and then ordered his friend to forbid the confiscation of Jewish or inhabited houses for army personnel. So in fact he was quite oblivious to the Jewish situation on the home front, and indeed one of his primary reasons for joining the assassination plot was that he opposed the extinction of an entire race.

And on the situation of Nth. Africa, he merely fought the allies there. He had no administrative role over any north african territories of peoples.

Comrade BNS

[kroony]

It was a good film -- the "desert fox". Richard Mason is in it.

I guess he wasn&#39;t a bad guy as WW2 German generals go. Which isn&#39;t saying much&#33;

[Comrade friend]

Rommel was a good Military Commander, the way he refused to follow Hitlers orders showed that he was quite something.

[Urban Rubble]

I think he is a really good general and was loyal to his country....he makes Facism look desirable if it wasn&#39;t for the FUCKING DICTATORSHIp and no freedom along with the evils of hating anthor race.

Wow Zeke, that&#39;s pretty ridiculous. He makes fascism look desireable ? How so ?

[Akasha]

I don&#39;t think it&#39;s so easy to say he was a bad guy because he fought for the Nazis. I think we have to look at the time period and what was happening in Germany. I&#39;m sure you all know about the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and what they meant for Germany. We have a very victorious Western point of view of the causes of WW2. But we have to remember the depression and economic chaos that Germany was faced with after signing the treaty. Also, the territories that were lost, and the Germans who found themselves now living outside of Germany. We are taught in school that German aggression and a war-mongering Hitler were the causes of WW2 but we have to look at the actions of the League of Nations as well. We also have to seperate the war and the Holocaust. Germany did not go to war to start the Holocaust and the allies certainly did not go to war to stop the Holocaust.

[MiniOswald]

the actions of the League of Nations

isnt this an oxymoron?

[Reuben]

We also have to seperate the war and the Holocaust. Germany did not go to war to start the Holocaust and the allies certainly did not go to war to stop the Holocaust.

you are right on your last two points about why the different parties went to war. However it is wrong to simply &#39;seperate&#39; the war from the holocaust given the German war-machine and its conquests facilitated the holocaust.

will respond more tmo

[Comrade Zeke]

To Urban Rubble...I mean look at I was making a sarcaist joke about making Facisam being desirable....but you have too look at Erwin Rommel a powerful intrestingman with a heart loyal to his country and look at the unifrom just perfect, then Facism betrayed him when he had fought so hard for it and his country....it prooves that Fasiscism even betrayes even the most loyal follwers....let that be a lesson to all you Neo-Nazis you get betrayed and backsabbed.
sorry about spelling
Zeke

[scrap metal]

The willing attachment of his name to a machine of torture and genocide in the name of hate and fascism far outweighs any "good" he may have done by not torturing prisoners, in my opinion.

[Salvador Allende]

Rommel was definitely good, he was a good, humane, intelligent person who found himself on the wrong end of a war (actually, two). He wasn&#39;t a Nazi and didn&#39;t like Hitler, he disobeyed command and went above command many times. He was a brilliant strategist also.

[konev]

think of him what you will but you got to love the uniform, well it could be im a sucker for parades and uniforms in general, by the way, did all the field marshals have the eagle on the uniform in gold? normaly they were in silver i think.

[Deathb4Dishonor]

Originally posted by [email protected] 3 2004, 01:18 AM
Ive done some studying on the famous Erwin Rommel, Do u think he is good or bad. Like yes he was a nazi but all armies, Axis or Allied respected him, He treated his prisoners with respect and so forth.

Whats ur opinion
Obviously you didnt do shit for studying because erwin rommel was never a nazi and infact frequently spoke out against the nazi party. Just because at one time he was hittlers body guard dosnt make him a nazi (assuming this is why people think that) because of how he spoke out against the nazi party it was easy to make it look like he personly made an attempt at hittlers life. so this made it only easier for the nazis to force him to kill him self

so i say good guy

[Sabocat]

The willing attachment of his name to a machine of torture and genocide in the name of hate and fascism far outweighs any "good" he may have done by not torturing prisoners, in my opinion.

Perfectly stated.


Let&#39;s be honest. This is a guy that was bent on imperialist expansion of the German empire. He killed people for this cause.

Put aside the hero worship and realize that whether he considered himself a Nazi or not, he fought for their cause.



so i say good guy

Idiot.

[Hate Is Art]

I think he is a really good general and was loyal to his country....he makes Facism look desirable if it wasn&#39;t for the FUCKING DICTATORSHIP and no freedom along with the evils of hating anthor race.

You really are an arse aren&#39;t you?

[Deathb4Dishonor]

Yeah hes evil because he fought for germany...i guess all thoughs poor soldiers who were forced to fight for germany were evil to right? after all they fought for germans expansion oh no wait&#33; they fought for there family just like rommel&#33; rommel is quoted as saying he fights so that the people of germany never have to bare whitness to defeat again

[<<-VoDKa->>]

U have a good point ,most of the nazis never wanted to go to war and most people
wouldnt go to war if they had the choice unless they where fighting for a great cause

Erwin Rommel was probly not a bad guy ,he was just doing his job ,he was born a leader and thats what type of people we need in this world

[Vladimir I. Kropotkin]

I cant believe some of the compañeros on this board have been so fooled by &#39;History&#39; Channel specials and western textbooks. You all remember the army is a reactionary institution right?