Peter Heining
The Secret of Rommels gold
Pages: 134/221

Rommel was born on 1891. He finished military school and became enthusiastic and dedicated soldier. During the World War One, he served mainly in France where he showed great bravery and natural bent for leadership, and earned an Iron Cross.

In a later posting in Italy, he demonstrated the use of speed, surprise, bluff and carriage. He showed tactical ability that he would later use in North Africa. In 1937 he wrote a book of hand to hand fighting and methods of outwitting the enemy and killing him, as well as its innovated approach to military techniques.

The book became an immediate best seller. It brought him to the attention of Adolf Hitler, The Nazi Party Head which came to power in 1933 with promises to solve unemployment and restore national pride and military strength. Rommel was a great admirer of the man who promised a new era for Germany, and in 1939 he came to Berlin to become commander of the Fuhrer’s headquarters. The attack on Poland was set in motion and he was in charge, which was great recognition for him. Thanks to his success in Poland, he was sent to lead the invasion of France. He carried out his famous tactics of Blitz krieg, across Belgium and France, right up to the English boarder. The speed of their arrival caught many of the defending troops unprepared, and thousands of people where taken as prisoners almost before they had time to fire a single shot. Because of that he was awarded a Nights Cross. He became a public hero and his pictures where in many magazines and movies like “Victory in the West” thanks to The Nazi Propaganda Minister, Josef Goebbels.

 In February 1941 he was sent to Tripoli in Libya, to lead the North Africa Corps. Within weeks of his arrivals with 20,000 troops he had forced the British 600 miles back across the Libyan Desert, and soon threatened the Suez Canal. During that time he got nicknamed “The Desert Fox” because he used all kinds of different tricks like making dust with vehicles and make an impression of a huge army approaching. He used the Mammoth, originally British command Vehicle, truck the size of a small bus that runs on oversized tires and was ideal for all forms of desert travel. This became part of the legend as well. Rommel was recognizable by his pair of large goggles, and leather great coat with his medals always visible. After Rommel defeated the British at Gazala, a great achievement, Hitler awarded him the Swords to his Knight’s Cross. In June after almost a month of intense conflict, Rommel stored into the Tobruck, and he got the highest honor any German solider could attain, the rank of General Field Marshal, one he would hold for life.

Then, the wheel of luck changes. Africa Corps where being inhibited in their progress due to lack of supply in fuel and ammunition from Tripoli. As well, the British also called up their best General, Montgomery, who sensed the challenge of a lifetime, to stop and destroy the Desert Fox. Rommel’s defeat at El Alamein in 1942 is one of the defining moments of the World War Two, as Winston Churchill said. Rommel suffered massive casualties, now seriously outnumbered by the British, both in terms of men and equipment, he was forced into retrieving. Because of all of that he was sent back to Germany, seriously ill, and was replaced by another general. At the same time there have been an attempt to assassinate Hitler by a group of his officers, and Rommel was accused for this. He was offered to commit suicide, to spare his family from humiliation, and it was the last gift from Fuhrer. That is how the life of the most famous Nazi general ended.

During his stay in Africa, he was occupied with his war strategy, but he had his devoted and confident officers who were a crucial part in creation of the Rommel legend. One of them was Walter Rauff, a dedicated Nazi with a terrible mission, to resolve the Jewish problem in Tunisia. The Jewish community was wealthy and they were involved in trading jewelry and precious stones. In 1943 Rauff offered them a deal: he would give them a chance to buy their freedom. They only had 48 hours to collect 6 containers full of valuables: gold, silver, currency, precious stones and art pieces, which were loaded on to a ship, and was sent to Italy.