Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (15 November 1891 â 14 October 1944) was a German general and a propaganda icon during World War II. He served as field marshal in the Wehrmacht (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as serving in the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic, and the army of Imperial Germany.
Rommel was a highly respected German military officer who was respected by both his allies and his adversaries. Nicknamed the Desert Fox, his command of the Afrika Korps during the North African Campaign garnered him a reputation as one of the most able tank commanders of the war, as well as giving him a reputation among his adversaries for chivalry and honor.
Later in the war he led Germany’s forces opposing the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944. During that same year, he was implicated in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, though the level of his participation is debated by historians. As Rommel was a national hero, Hitler did not wish to make his downfall public, and he was offered the chance to take his own life to avoid repercussions against his family. In public Rommel’s death was announced to be the result of a strafing attack by an Allied aircraft in Normandy.
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