Re: Starting to build a tank [TANKS]

[Steve Edwards <sedwards-at-awger.net>]

Rick v100 wrote:

>No, Rommel knew of it and kept silence. Rather then
>face charges and executuion which would have caused
>problems for the German government he took the option
>to commit suicide.
>
>He was not an active participant in the plot. 
>  
>

No "smoking gun" document exists, but Rommel is reputed to have balked 
at the idea of assassinating Hitler. Not because he liked the man, but 
because he wanted Hitler to be arrested and tried in a German court. In 
Rommel's opinion, killing Hitler would have made him a martyr to be 
avenged; only by publicly discrediting and prosecuting Hitler and his 
cult of personality could the sway Hitler held over public opinion be 
turned against him.

Some have gone so far as to suggest that Rommel had his own plans for a 
coup, which were cut short by the RAF when they strafed his car 
(wounding Rommel and killing his driver). It was while Rommel was 
recouperating that the (final) failed coup was launched.

IMO his suicide was driven more by an implicit threat to his family than 
a public trial (even if by kangaroo court).

    - Steve