Editing Erwin Rommel (section)

== Death ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J30704, Ulm, Beisetzung Rommel.jpg|thumb|right|Rommel's funeral procession]]
[[File:BZT 1944 10 16 1 Rommel (2).png|thumb|The official announcement of Erwin Rommel's death by the Nazi newspaper ''Bozner Tagblatt'', 16 October 1944]]
[[File:Erwin Rommel Memorial, place of suicide, Herrlingen (2019).jpg|thumb|Erwin Rommel Memorial, place of his suicide with a cyanide pill, [[Blaustein#Herrlingen|Herrlingen]] (2019)]]
Rommel's case was turned over to the "Court of Military Honour"—a [[drumhead court-martial]] convened to decide the fate of officers involved in the conspiracy. The court included Generalfeldmarschall [[Wilhelm Keitel]], Generalfeldmarschall [[Gerd von Rundstedt]], Generaloberst [[Heinz Guderian]], General der Infanterie [[Walther Schroth]] and Generalleutnant [[Karl-Wilhelm Specht]], with General der Infanterie [[Karl Kriebel]] and Generalleutnant [[Heinrich Kirchheim]] (whom Rommel had fired after Tobruk in 1941){{sfn|Mitcham|2007|pp=28, 175}} as deputy members and Generalmajor [[Ernst Maisel]] as protocol officer. The Court acquired information from Speidel, Hofacker and others that implicated Rommel, with Keitel and [[Ernst Kaltenbrunner]] assuming that he had taken part in the subversion. Keitel and Guderian then made the decision that favoured Speidel's case and at the same time shifted the blame to Rommel.{{sfn|Remy|2002|p=335}}{{sfn|Reuth|2005|p=194}}{{sfn|Hansen|2014|p=70}} By normal procedure, this would lead to Rommel's being brought to [[Roland Freisler]]'s [[People's Court (German)|People's Court]], a [[kangaroo court]] that always decided in favour of the prosecution. However, Hitler knew that having Rommel branded and executed as a traitor would severely damage morale on the home front.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Nigel|title=Countdown to Valkyrie: The July Plot to Assassinate Hitler|date=2008|publisher=Casemate Publishers|isbn=978-1-84832-508-1|page=261|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wgj8EWapQYgC&pg=Pu261}}</ref>{{sfn|Butler|2015|p=538}} He thus decided to offer Rommel the chance to [[suicide|take his own life]].{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=967}}

Two generals from Hitler's headquarters, [[Wilhelm Burgdorf]] and [[Ernst Maisel]], visited Rommel at his home on 14 October 1944. Burgdorf informed him of the charges against him and offered him three options: (a.) he could choose to defend himself personally in front of Hitler in Berlin,{{refn|"Burgdorf had with him copies of the interrogations of Hofacker, Stülpnagel and Speidel, along with a letter written by Keitel ostensibly dictated by Hitler himself. In the letter, the Führer gave Rommel an impossible choice: if he believed himself innocent of the allegations against him, then Rommel must report to Hitler in person in Berlin; refusal to do so would be considered an admission of guilt&nbsp;... There was no mention of Rommel's case first being put to the Wehrmacht's Court of Honor, a curious omission if Rommel were indeed being brought to book as part of Stauffenberg's conspiracy."{{sfn|Butler|2015|pp=540–541}}|group=N}} or he could refuse to do so (but, having done so, would be taken as an [[Nolo contendere|admission of guilt]]); (b.) he could face the People's Court (which would have been tantamount to a death sentence); or (c.) choose death by suicide. In the former case (b.), [[Sippenhaft|his family would have suffered]] even before the all-but-certain conviction and execution, and his staff would have been arrested and executed as well. In the latter case (c.), the government would claim that he died a hero and bury him with full military honours, and his family would receive full pension payments. In support of the suicide option, Burgdorf had brought a [[Cyanide poisoning|cyanide]] capsule.{{sfn|Evans|2009|p=642}}

Rommel chose suicide, and explained his decision to his wife and son.{{sfn|Evans|2009|pp=642–643}} Wearing his Afrika Korps jacket and carrying his field marshal's baton, he got into Burgdorf's car, driven by SS-Stabsscharführer Heinrich Doose, and was driven out of the village. After stopping, Doose and Maisel walked away from the car leaving Rommel with Burgdorf. Five minutes later Burgdorf gestured to the two men to return to the car, and Doose noticed that Rommel was slumped over, having taken the cyanide. He died before being taken to the Wagner-Schule field hospital. Ten minutes later, the group telephoned Rommel's wife to inform her of his death.<ref>[[Manfred Rommel]], Nuremberg testimony</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/10439408/Manfred-Rommel.html "Manfred Rommel, son of the Desert Fox, forged a great friendship with Monty's son which became a symbol of post-war reconciliation"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207202659/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/10439408/Manfred-Rommel.html |date=7 December 2021 }}. ''The Daily Telegraph''. 10 November 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-desert-fox-commits-suicide "'The Desert Fox' commits suicide"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207202659/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-desert-fox-commits-suicide |date=7 December 2021 }}. [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History]]. Retrieved 23 August 2014.</ref>{{sfn|Butler|2015|p=543}}

[[File:Tomb of Erwin Rommel in Herrlingen (2019).jpg|thumb|Tomb of Erwin Rommel in [[Herrlingen]] (2019)]]
The official notice of Rommel's death as reported to the public stated that he had died of either a heart attack or a cerebral [[embolism]]—a complication of the skull fractures he had suffered in the earlier strafing of his staff car.{{sfn|Rommel|1982|p=505|loc=Letter from Goering to Frau Rommel, 26 October 1944: "The fact that your husband, Field Marshal Rommel, has died a hero's death as a result of his wounds, after we had all hoped he would remain for the German people, has deeply touched me."}}{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1078}}{{sfn|Marshall|1994|p=173}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Baxter|first1=Ian|title=Wolf's Lair: Inside Hitler's East Prussian HQ|date=2016|publisher=The History Press|isbn=978-0-7509-7933-7|page=42|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AfbADAAAQBAJ&pg=PR42}}</ref> To strengthen the story, Hitler ordered an official day of mourning in commemoration of his death. As promised, Rommel was given a [[state funeral]], but it was held in Ulm instead of Berlin as had been requested by Rommel.<ref>Manfred Rommel: ''Trotz allem heiter.'' Stuttgart 1998, 3rd ed., p. 69.</ref> Hitler sent Field Marshal Rundstedt (who was unaware that Rommel had died as a result of Hitler's orders) as his representative to the funeral.{{sfn|Mellenthin|1956|p=321}}

The truth behind Rommel's death became known to the Allies when intelligence officer Charles Marshall interviewed Rommel's widow, Lucia Rommel,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=Charles |title=A Ramble Through My War: Anzio and Other Joys |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |year=1998 |isbn=0807122823 |edition=1st |pages=230–232}}</ref> as well as from a letter by Rommel's son [[Manfred Rommel|Manfred]] in April 1945.

Rommel's grave is located in Herrlingen, a short distance west of [[Ulm]]. For decades after the war on the anniversary of his death, veterans of the Africa campaign, including former opponents, would gather at his tomb in Herrlingen.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.zeit.de/1989/43/stramm-am-grab|work=Die Zeit|title=Stramm am Grab|first=Philipp|last=Mausshardt|date=20 October 1989|archive-date=8 December 2021|access-date=7 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208122313/https://www.zeit.de/1989/43/stramm-am-grab|url-status=live}}</ref>