Editing Erwin Rommel (section)

===Treatment of Jews and other civilians in North Africa===

Giordana Terracina writes that: "On April 3, the Italians recaptured Benghazi and a few months later the Afrika Korps led by Rommel was sent to Libya and began the deportation of the Jews of Cyrenaica in the [[Giado concentration camp]] and other smaller towns in Tripolitania. This measure was accompanied by shooting, also in Benghazi, of some Jews guilty of having welcomed the British troops, on their arrival, treating them as liberators."<ref>"Hidden responsibilities. The deportation of Libyan Jews in the concentration camp of Civitella del Tronto and the confinement town of Camerino Giordana Terracina Trauma and Memory", 2016, Volume 4, no. 3, pp. 9–31. p. 12</ref> Gershom states that Italian authorities were responsible for bringing Jews into their concentration camps, which were "not built to exterminate its inmates", yet as the water and food supply was meagre, were not built to keep humans alive either. Also according to Gershom, the German consul in Tripoli knew about the process and trucks used to transport supplies to Rommel were sometimes used to transport Jews, despite all the problems the German forces were having.{{sfn|Gershom|2021|p=251}} The ''Jerusalem Post'''s review of Gershom Gorenberg's ''War of shadows'' writes that: "The Italians were far more brutal with civilians, including Libyan Jews, than Rommel’s Afrika Korps, which by all accounts abided by the laws of war. But nobody worried that the Italians who sent Jews to concentration camps in Libya, would invade British-held Egypt, let alone Mandatory Palestine."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Immanuel |first1=Jon |title=Book review: Gorenberg demythologizes the 'Desert Fox' |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/book-review-gorenberg-demythologizes-the-desert-fox-674020 |access-date=3 January 2022 |agency=The Jerusalem Post |date=2021 |archive-date=3 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103134058/https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/book-review-gorenberg-demythologizes-the-desert-fox-674020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to German historian {{interlanguage link|Wolfgang Proske|de|Wolfgang Proske}}, Rommel forbade his soldiers from buying anything from the Jewish population of Tripoli, used Jewish slave labour and commanded Jews to clear out minefields by walking on them ahead of his forces.<ref>{{citation |first=Tony |last=Paterson |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/was-the-desert-fox-an-honest-soldier-or-just-another-nazi-6272076.html |title=Was the Desert Fox an honest soldier or just another Nazi? |newspaper=The Independent |date=4 December 2011 |access-date=27 August 2017 |archive-date=8 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108123554/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/was-the-desert-fox-an-honest-soldier-or-just-another-nazi-6272076.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Proske, some of the Libyan Jews were eventually sent to concentration camps.<ref name="nrw.dfg-vk.de">{{citation |first=Joachim |last=Schramm |chapter-url=https://nrw.dfg-vk.de/files/nrw.dfg-vk.de/dokumente/Doku_Rommel18.pdf |title=Konferenz Rommel und das Traditionsverständnis der Bundeswehr Bielefeld, 17 November 2018 |chapter=Zum Traditionsverständnis der Bundeswehr Zurück auf dem Weg zurück in altes militärisches Denken und Handel |publisher=[[German Peace Society|DFG-VK]] |language=de |access-date=29 May 2020 |archive-date=8 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608094051/https://nrw.dfg-vk.de/files/nrw.dfg-vk.de/dokumente/Doku_Rommel18.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Historians Christian Schweizer and [[Peter Lieb]] note that: "Over the last few years, even though the social science teacher Wolfgang Proske has sought to participate in the discussion [on Rommel] with very strong opinions, his biased submissions are not scientifically received."<ref name="LiebandSchweizer">{{cite encyclopedia |last1= Schweizer  |first1= Christian |last2= Lieb |first2= Peter|contribution=Rudolf Hartmann und der militärische Widerstand in Frankreich |title=20 Juli 1944: Neue Forschungen und Überlegungen in der Geschichtswissenschaft|page=71 |publisher=Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt|year=2019|isbn= 978-3-941571-35-8 }} "In den letzten Jahren hat der Sozialkundelehrer Wolfgang Proske sehr meinungsstark versucht, sich an der Diskussion zu beteiligen, doch fanden seine einseitigen Einlassungen wissenschaftlich keine Resonanz."</ref> The ''Heidenheimer Zeitung'' notes that Proske was the publisher of his main work ''Täter, Helfer, Trittbrettfahrer – NS-Belastete von der Ostalb'', after failing to have it published by another publisher.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kummer |first1=Silja |title=Gerstetter NS-Forscher Proske legt Täter-Buch neu auf |url=https://www.hz.de/meinort/heidenheim/gerstetter-ns-forscher-proske-legt-taeter-buch-neu-auf-31172295.html |work=Heidenheimer Zeitung |date=15 October 2016 |access-date=2 July 2020 |archive-date=2 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702050936/https://www.hz.de/meinort/heidenheim/gerstetter-ns-forscher-proske-legt-taeter-buch-neu-auf-31172295.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

According to historian [[Michael Wolffsohn]], during the Africa campaign, preparations for committing genocide against the North African Jews were in full swing and a thousand of them were transported to East European concentration camps.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wolffsohn |first1=Michael |title=Echte Integration braucht Holocaust-Aufarbeitung |url=https://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/holocaust/und-die-arabisch-islamische-welt-54653352.bild.html |access-date=5 May 2021 |agency=BILD |date=31 January 2018 |archive-date=5 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505024907/https://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/holocaust/und-die-arabisch-islamische-welt-54653352.bild.html |url-status=live }}</ref> At the same time, he recommends the Bundeswehr to keep the names and traditions associated with Rommel (although Wolffsohn opines that focus should be put on the politically thoughtful soldier he became at the end of his life, rather than the swashbuckler and the humane rogue).<ref>{{cite news|last1=MDR|title=Wolffsohn: Entscheidung für Rommel-Kaserne richtig|url=http://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/politik/inland/rommel-kaserne-keine-umbenennung-100.html|access-date=20 August 2017 |publisher=Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Aktuell |date=12 June 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170618230304/http://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/politik/inland/rommel-kaserne-keine-umbenennung-100.html |archive-date=18 June 2017 }}</ref>

[[Robert Satloff]] writes in his book ''Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach into Arab Lands'' that as the German and Italian forces retreated across Libya towards Tunisia, the Jewish population became victim upon which they released their anger and frustration. According to Satloff Afrika Korps soldiers plundered Jewish property all along the Libyan coast. This violence and persecution only came to an end with the arrival of General Montgomery in Tripoli on 23 January 1943.<ref>Robert Satloff ''Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach into Arab Lands'' 2006 p. 44</ref> According to Maurice Remy, although there were antisemitic individuals in the Afrika Korps, actual cases of abuse are not known, even against the Jewish soldiers of the Eighth Army. Remy quotes Isaac Levy, the Senior Jewish Chaplain of the Eighth Army, as saying that he had never seen "any sign or hint that the soldiers [of the Afrika Korps] are antisemitic.".{{sfn|Remy|2002|p=95}} ''The Telegraph'' comments: "Accounts suggest that it was not Field Marshal Erwin Rommel but the ruthless SS colonel [[Walter Rauff]] who stripped Tunisian Jews of their wealth."<ref name="Sunkengold">{{cite news |last1=Samuel |first1=Henry |title=Search Results Web results Rommel's sunken gold 'found' by British expert |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1557807/Rommels-sunken-gold-found-by-British-expert.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1557807/Rommels-sunken-gold-found-by-British-expert.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=The Telegraph |date=18 July 2007}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Commenting on Rommel's conquest of Tunisia, Marvin Perry writes that: "The bridgehead Rommel established in Tunisia enabled the SS to herd Jews into slave labor camps."<ref>Marvin Perry ''World War II in Europe: A Concise History'',  p. 165 {{ISBN?}}</ref>

Jan Friedmann writes that: "The SS had established a network of labor camps in Tunisia. More than 2,500 Tunisian Jews died in six months of German rule, and the regular army was also involved in executions."{{sfn|Friedmann|2007}} Caron writes in ''Der Spiegel'' that the camps were organised in early December 1942 by Nehring, the commander in Tunisia, and Rauff, while Rommel was retreating.<ref name=Caron2007/> As commander of the German Afrika Korps, Nehring would continue to use Tunisian forced labour.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Longerich |first1=Peter |last2=Pohl |authorlink2 = Dieter Pohl| first2=Dieter |title=Die Ermordung der europäischen Juden |date=1989 |publisher=Piper |isbn=978-3-492-11060-0 |page=255 |language=de}}</ref> According to Caddick-Adams, no Waffen-SS served under Rommel in Africa at any time and most of the activities of Rauff's detachment happened after Rommel's departure.{{sfn|Caddick-Adams|2012|p=271}} Shepherd notes that during this time Rommel was retreating and there is no evidence that he had contact with the ''[[Einsatzkommando]]''.{{sfn|Shepherd|2016|p=357}} Addressing the call of some authors to contextualise Rommel's actions in Italy and North Africa, Wolfgang Mährle argues that while it is undeniable that Rommel played the role of a ''Generalfeldmarschall'' in a criminal war, this only illustrates in a limited way his personal attitude and the actions resulted from that.<ref name="Mährle">{{cite book |last1=Mährle |first1=Wolfgang |title=review of: Daniel Sternal, Ein Mythos wankt. Neue Kontroverse um den "Wüstenfuchs" Erwin Rommel |website=recensio-regio.net |year=2017 |publisher=Bavarian State Library |isbn=9783945893074 |url=https://www.recensio-regio.net/rezensionen/zeitschriften/zwlg/77-2018/ReviewMonograph692884789 |archive-date=10 December 2021 |access-date=12 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211210152122/https://www.recensio-regio.net/rezensionen/zeitschriften/zwlg/77-2018/ReviewMonograph692884789 |url-status=live }}</ref>