1 00:00:17,150 --> 00:00:19,448 [Man Narrating] The time is 1941... 2 00:00:19,552 --> 00:00:22,146 a month before Pearl Harbor. 3 00:00:22,255 --> 00:00:24,849 At 11:00 on a November night... 4 00:00:24,958 --> 00:00:27,518 a British submarine surfaced in the Mediterranean... 5 00:00:27,627 --> 00:00:30,289 off the coast of Libya in North Africa... 6 00:00:30,397 --> 00:00:32,422 behind the German lines. 7 00:00:37,170 --> 00:00:39,434 Are you sure the light carries that far? 8 00:00:39,539 --> 00:00:41,439 It should. 9 00:00:43,610 --> 00:00:45,840 There they are. 10 00:00:49,315 --> 00:00:52,648 - What's he saying? - He says they're all set, sir. 11 00:00:52,752 --> 00:00:55,152 Tell him we're coming in. 12 00:01:31,491 --> 00:01:33,982 [Narrator] These were British commandos... 13 00:01:34,094 --> 00:01:36,961 and the purpose of this carefully plotted raid... 14 00:01:37,063 --> 00:01:39,531 was the death of one man. 15 00:04:03,309 --> 00:04:05,573 Aaaah! 16 00:04:18,491 --> 00:04:21,051 [Gunfire Continues] 17 00:04:54,527 --> 00:04:56,927 [Gunfire Continues] 18 00:05:22,188 --> 00:05:24,088 Cover me. 19 00:06:02,662 --> 00:06:05,062 It's no use. Go on without me. 20 00:06:05,198 --> 00:06:08,031 - Get hold of my arm! - It's no use, I tell you. Get out of here! 21 00:06:08,134 --> 00:06:10,034 [Gunfire] 22 00:06:16,609 --> 00:06:18,509 [Gunfire] 23 00:06:27,153 --> 00:06:30,468 Did we... Did we get him? 24 00:06:30,503 --> 00:06:33,783 Are you serious, Englishman? 25 00:07:50,002 --> 00:07:52,835 Gentlemen, the following order from General Auchinleck... 26 00:07:52,939 --> 00:07:56,636 is to all commanders and chiefs of staff of the Middle East forces. 27 00:07:56,742 --> 00:07:59,711 "There exists a real danger that our friend Rommel... 28 00:07:59,812 --> 00:08:03,646 "is becoming a kind of magician or bogeyman to our troops... 29 00:08:03,749 --> 00:08:06,309 "who are talking far too much about him. 30 00:08:06,419 --> 00:08:08,580 "He is by no means a superman... 31 00:08:08,688 --> 00:08:11,885 "although he is undoubtedly very energetic and able. 32 00:08:11,991 --> 00:08:16,018 "Even if he were a superman, it would still be highly undesirable... 33 00:08:16,128 --> 00:08:19,757 "that our men should credit him with supernatural powers. 34 00:08:19,866 --> 00:08:23,165 "I wish you to dispel by all possible means... 35 00:08:23,269 --> 00:08:26,102 "the idea that Rommel represents something more... 36 00:08:26,205 --> 00:08:28,765 "than an ordinary German general. 37 00:08:28,875 --> 00:08:31,673 "Please ensure that this order is put into immediate effect... 38 00:08:31,777 --> 00:08:34,177 "and impress upon all commanders... 39 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:36,771 "that from a psychological point of view... 40 00:08:36,883 --> 00:08:38,908 it is a matter of the highest importance. " 41 00:08:39,018 --> 00:08:41,680 Signed C.J. Auchinleck, General... 42 00:08:41,787 --> 00:08:44,915 Commander-in-Chief, M.E.F. 43 00:08:45,024 --> 00:08:49,358 [Narrator] This is the North African desert in June of 1942... 44 00:08:49,462 --> 00:08:53,125 and these are British soldiers taken prisoner the night before... 45 00:08:53,232 --> 00:08:55,928 by units of the German Afrika Korps. 46 00:09:12,018 --> 00:09:13,918 Run, you fool, run! 47 00:09:37,376 --> 00:09:40,038 You! Come on, get out of there! 48 00:09:42,715 --> 00:09:45,183 Get over with the other prisoners! 49 00:09:57,496 --> 00:09:59,987 Who is the senior officer here? 50 00:10:02,501 --> 00:10:04,833 - I am, I suppose. - Come with me. 51 00:10:13,879 --> 00:10:15,938 - What's your rank? - Lieutenant colonel. 52 00:10:16,048 --> 00:10:19,040 Colonel, I want you to go along with these two officers on a flag of truce. 53 00:10:19,151 --> 00:10:21,278 And tell that battery to stop firing. 54 00:10:21,387 --> 00:10:24,117 - Tell them they're... killing their own men. - I can't do that. 55 00:10:24,223 --> 00:10:27,090 Don't tell me what you can or can't do. I'm giving you an order. 56 00:10:27,193 --> 00:10:29,093 Here, tie this on that rifle. 57 00:10:29,195 --> 00:10:31,095 Listen, Major, I'm a prisoner of war. 58 00:10:31,197 --> 00:10:33,097 You can't give me any such order. 59 00:10:33,199 --> 00:10:35,099 You know that as well as I do. 60 00:10:35,201 --> 00:10:37,601 I'm not going to argue the point with you. 61 00:10:37,703 --> 00:10:41,139 Either you do as I tell you, or we'll soon find a way to make you. 62 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:43,231 Are you going or not? 63 00:10:43,342 --> 00:10:46,743 Major.! Major.! 64 00:10:46,846 --> 00:10:48,746 What's the row? 65 00:10:50,549 --> 00:10:53,450 [Bombing Continues In Distance] 66 00:11:15,541 --> 00:11:17,771 The field marshal said you're right. 67 00:11:17,910 --> 00:11:19,775 Field marshal? 68 00:11:23,382 --> 00:11:25,748 [Narrator] So this, then, was Rommel... 69 00:11:25,851 --> 00:11:28,979 Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel... 70 00:11:29,121 --> 00:11:31,715 commander-in-chief of the enemy army... 71 00:11:31,857 --> 00:11:35,623 and the most celebrated German soldier since World War I. 72 00:11:38,397 --> 00:11:41,798 Already a legend in the desert, he was a fox... 73 00:11:41,901 --> 00:11:45,359 who had chased his hunters back and forth across North Africa... 74 00:11:45,504 --> 00:11:48,234 about as often as they had chased him... 75 00:11:48,374 --> 00:11:51,832 and his tricks and turns had made even the Tommies chuckle... 76 00:11:51,977 --> 00:11:56,778 which is scarcely the proper reflex to the enemy in time of war. 77 00:11:56,916 --> 00:12:00,545 In spite of which he was still, of course, my enemy... 78 00:12:00,686 --> 00:12:04,588 the enemy not only of my country and the army in which I served... 79 00:12:04,724 --> 00:12:07,124 but of all life as I knew it... 80 00:12:07,226 --> 00:12:10,787 not only of democracy as free men had fashioned it... 81 00:12:10,930 --> 00:12:13,694 but of civilization itself. 82 00:12:13,833 --> 00:12:16,802 My name is Desmond Young. 83 00:12:16,936 --> 00:12:20,838 At the time of my capture, I was a lieutenant colonel in the Indian army. 84 00:12:20,940 --> 00:12:23,272 This was my first and only sight... 85 00:12:23,375 --> 00:12:26,367 of the cool, hard, professional soldier... 86 00:12:26,512 --> 00:12:30,141 whose scrupulous regard for the rules of warfare had been exercised... 87 00:12:30,282 --> 00:12:33,445 in this instance, so fortunately for myself. 88 00:12:35,654 --> 00:12:38,054 Two years and four months later... 89 00:12:38,157 --> 00:12:42,059 while the British and Americans were fighting their way across Europe... 90 00:12:42,161 --> 00:12:44,459 Erwin Rommel was dead. 91 00:12:44,563 --> 00:12:47,430 He was dead, the Nazis reported... 92 00:12:47,533 --> 00:12:50,866 of wounds gallantly received on the field of honor. 93 00:12:50,970 --> 00:12:53,939 But the Nazis were great liars, of course. 94 00:12:54,073 --> 00:12:56,268 Many people wondered. 95 00:12:56,375 --> 00:13:00,505 For already there were mysterious rumors floating across the battle lines. 96 00:13:02,882 --> 00:13:06,909 So, when the war was over and my military life behind me... 97 00:13:07,052 --> 00:13:09,316 I gave myself a mission. 98 00:13:09,421 --> 00:13:13,050 I set out to discover what actually had happened to him. 99 00:13:13,192 --> 00:13:15,387 What was the truth about his death... 100 00:13:15,494 --> 00:13:18,691 and on what field of honor had he died? 101 00:13:18,798 --> 00:13:23,701 In a modest home in the tiny village of Herrlingen by Ulm in Wurttemberg, Germany... 102 00:13:23,803 --> 00:13:27,864 I talked long and often with Rommel's son and widow... 103 00:13:28,007 --> 00:13:31,841 and examined his letters, reports and other papers. 104 00:13:31,944 --> 00:13:34,674 In Germany, I talked to soldiers... 105 00:13:34,780 --> 00:13:38,181 who had served with him, over him and under him,: 106 00:13:38,284 --> 00:13:41,685 In England, with men who had fought against him... 107 00:13:41,821 --> 00:13:44,312 from field marshals to desert rats. 108 00:13:44,456 --> 00:13:46,617 And in both countries, of course... 109 00:13:46,725 --> 00:13:49,159 I went to the official records. 110 00:13:49,295 --> 00:13:51,490 Based on these facts... 111 00:13:51,597 --> 00:13:56,296 what now follows is the true story of Erwin Rommel. 112 00:13:58,504 --> 00:14:01,735 The beginning of the end for this single-minded soldier... 113 00:14:01,841 --> 00:14:07,006 came at 9:30 on the evening of October 23, 1942... 114 00:14:07,112 --> 00:14:09,603 when at El Alamein six miles of British guns... 115 00:14:09,715 --> 00:14:11,615 Fire! 116 00:14:49,922 --> 00:14:52,482 I discovered that actually Rommel was not in Africa... 117 00:14:52,625 --> 00:14:54,889 when the storm of battle broke. 118 00:14:55,027 --> 00:14:57,723 Suffering from a chronic diphtheria of the nose... 119 00:14:57,863 --> 00:15:00,661 he had been relieved of his command a month before... 120 00:15:00,799 --> 00:15:03,233 and flown back to a hospital in Germany. 121 00:15:03,335 --> 00:15:06,771 But when the telephone rang at his bedside... 122 00:15:06,906 --> 00:15:10,398 and a familiar voice from Berlin called on him once more... 123 00:15:10,542 --> 00:15:14,535 he rose and was in a plane on the way back to the desert within hours. 124 00:15:21,754 --> 00:15:23,654 [Coughing] 125 00:15:40,773 --> 00:15:44,072 - Thank you, Bayerlein. Still a dandy, I see. - Just luck, sir. 126 00:15:44,176 --> 00:15:46,235 - Welcome back. - Good to see you, sir. 127 00:15:46,378 --> 00:15:49,176 - Shall we take a look at those maps? - Over here. 128 00:15:49,281 --> 00:15:52,682 - How've you been, Bayerlein? - Oh, very well, I suppose. 129 00:15:52,818 --> 00:15:55,309 - Did you see Frau Rommel? - Yes, she came to stay a week, she and Manfred. 130 00:15:55,454 --> 00:15:57,581 - Well, I hope... - How does it look today? 131 00:15:57,723 --> 00:16:00,453 Oh, looks like they've got too much for us. 132 00:16:00,559 --> 00:16:03,392 If they keep this up, I've no idea how we're going to get out of it. 133 00:16:03,495 --> 00:16:05,895 - Not with the amount of petrol we've got. - But we've got petrol? 134 00:16:05,998 --> 00:16:08,398 - Some, but not enough. - You mean it's still on the way. 135 00:16:08,500 --> 00:16:11,401 - Neither on the way nor any prospect of it. - Who told you that? 136 00:16:11,503 --> 00:16:15,940 I've talked to Rome three times. There's no petrol on the way nor any committed to us. 137 00:16:16,075 --> 00:16:18,908 Schultz. Aldinger. 138 00:16:25,050 --> 00:16:27,814 - What about the tanks? Did they come? - None. 139 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,286 - None since I left? - No. None since August. 140 00:16:30,389 --> 00:16:32,584 - What about the guns? - Nothing, I tell you. 141 00:16:32,691 --> 00:16:34,659 - And no petrol at all? - Not a pint. 142 00:16:36,862 --> 00:16:39,262 [Sighs] 143 00:16:48,807 --> 00:16:50,968 This is correct from the hour. 144 00:16:51,076 --> 00:16:53,510 Get me a stool, will you? 145 00:16:58,217 --> 00:17:01,448 Here's where it's worst. 15th's in a bad way, barely hanging together. 146 00:17:01,553 --> 00:17:04,454 - What's this? - A trailer division. They came in here. 147 00:17:04,556 --> 00:17:07,525 - Yes, I see. How far's this armor? - No further. 148 00:17:07,659 --> 00:17:10,560 - They're doing pretty well there. - Where are my maps? 149 00:17:15,234 --> 00:17:18,135 Bring the 21st north through here. 150 00:17:18,237 --> 00:17:21,365 - Move the 90th forward here. - They'll hook up. 151 00:17:21,473 --> 00:17:23,373 That's right. Now tell me this. 152 00:17:23,475 --> 00:17:25,875 - Is Montgomery sending his infantry in first? - Naturally. 153 00:17:25,978 --> 00:17:29,880 Then let's give him a surprise. Let's send our tanks and blow a hole through that infantry. 154 00:17:29,982 --> 00:17:33,884 If it works, we'll be on top of his tanks before he knows what hit him. 155 00:17:34,019 --> 00:17:37,978 - Very good, sir. - If it doesn't work, we'll know better than to try it next time. 156 00:17:38,090 --> 00:17:41,651 - Come on, Aldinger. - You're not going up now, are you? 157 00:17:43,195 --> 00:17:45,755 Don't you think you oughta turn in for an hour or so? 158 00:17:45,864 --> 00:17:48,594 - After three weeks of being turned in? - We're away, sir? 159 00:17:48,700 --> 00:17:51,601 Let's head north and go in with the 21st. 160 00:17:58,043 --> 00:18:00,705 [Young Narrating] But there was now another fox in the desert... 161 00:18:00,813 --> 00:18:03,077 an even craftier one, perhaps. 162 00:18:03,182 --> 00:18:06,549 And if the battle boiled into confusion during the next few days... 163 00:18:06,652 --> 00:18:11,487 it was a confusion that was clearly more and more in Montgomery's favor. 164 00:19:55,694 --> 00:19:57,924 Have you found the field marshal yet? 165 00:19:58,030 --> 00:20:00,464 No, sir. He's out at the front again. 166 00:20:03,702 --> 00:20:05,932 I don't know how the men on line feel about it... 167 00:20:06,038 --> 00:20:09,098 but so far as the staff is concerned, I'd just as soon have a commander-in-chief... 168 00:20:09,208 --> 00:20:11,267 with a little bit of cowardice about him. 169 00:20:11,376 --> 00:20:14,277 Just enough to come back at headquarters every now and then. 170 00:20:14,379 --> 00:20:16,711 Keep after him, will you? 171 00:20:28,727 --> 00:20:30,957 [Young Narrating] By the tenth day of the battle... 172 00:20:31,063 --> 00:20:34,157 not even Rommel could have any doubt as to its outcome. 173 00:20:34,266 --> 00:20:36,734 There's a limit to this sort of thing. 174 00:20:36,835 --> 00:20:40,635 You can't just go on indefinitely until the last man's dead. 175 00:20:40,739 --> 00:20:43,833 It's all very gallant and all that, but it's also pretty idiotic. 176 00:20:43,942 --> 00:20:49,213 Von Thoma wants to pull back to Djerba. 177 00:20:49,248 --> 00:20:52,308 - What about Müller? - No answer as yet, sir. 178 00:20:55,254 --> 00:20:58,018 - Where're you from, son? - Goslar, sir. 179 00:20:58,123 --> 00:21:01,320 Really? I was stationed in Goslar once with a mountain battalion. 180 00:21:01,426 --> 00:21:04,418 - We did a lot of skiing there. Do you know that run? - Very well, sir. 181 00:21:04,529 --> 00:21:07,259 - Are you any good? - Well, sir, two years ago... 182 00:21:07,366 --> 00:21:10,335 - Are you sure you understood? - Yes. I had him repeat it back to me. 183 00:21:10,435 --> 00:21:12,869 - Are you keeping after Müller? - Yes, sir. 184 00:21:14,439 --> 00:21:16,930 - Have you tried Berlin? - Call if you can. 185 00:21:17,042 --> 00:21:20,341 - Nothing yet, though. - Nobody knows the situation. I sent him the whole story. 186 00:21:20,445 --> 00:21:23,346 - If there's anything he can do, he will. - No matter what you say... 187 00:21:23,448 --> 00:21:25,575 to Berlin we're only a side show and you know it. 188 00:21:32,591 --> 00:21:35,355 - Well, what? - Müller's in a bad way. 189 00:21:35,460 --> 00:21:37,360 - How bad? - Very, I'm afraid. 190 00:21:37,462 --> 00:21:40,363 If he doesn't pull back soon, he won't have anything to pull back. 191 00:21:40,465 --> 00:21:43,559 - Well, where is he? - His command car is gone. He's working in a carrier. 192 00:21:43,669 --> 00:21:46,695 And if he's got more than 40 tanks left, I'd be greatly surprised. 193 00:21:46,805 --> 00:21:50,571 - How about the Italians? - Müller thinks they've had as much as they can take. 194 00:21:50,676 --> 00:21:52,576 Rome calling, sir. 195 00:21:55,514 --> 00:21:58,677 - Well? - Field Marshal Kesselring regrets. 196 00:21:58,784 --> 00:22:01,719 Well, that eliminates any further speculation anyway. 197 00:22:04,256 --> 00:22:07,123 It's now a simple matter of mathematics. 198 00:22:07,225 --> 00:22:10,023 With the petrol we've got left, we have two choices: 199 00:22:10,128 --> 00:22:12,653 We can remain here and be destroyed... 200 00:22:12,764 --> 00:22:15,927 or we can pull out tonight and dig in somewhere for the next round. 201 00:22:16,034 --> 00:22:18,298 - You think we still can? - Pull out? Of course. Why not? 202 00:22:18,403 --> 00:22:20,303 Montgomery's got no petrol shortage. 203 00:22:20,405 --> 00:22:22,566 But Montgomery's a very deliberate fellow. 204 00:22:22,674 --> 00:22:25,575 He wouldn't dream of leaping after me the way I'd leap after him. 205 00:22:25,677 --> 00:22:28,510 - He'd have to think about it. - I don't see what else there is to be done. 206 00:22:28,613 --> 00:22:30,513 There's nothing else. Let's have plan "C." 207 00:22:30,615 --> 00:22:33,379 Notify all commanding officers to stand by for important orders. 208 00:22:33,485 --> 00:22:36,147 - If we can move quickly enough... - Berlin calling, sir. 209 00:22:36,254 --> 00:22:38,518 - Who in Berlin? - The führer. 210 00:22:55,507 --> 00:22:57,407 Signed Adolf Hitler. 211 00:22:57,509 --> 00:23:01,570 "The situation requires that the El Alamein position be held to the last man. 212 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:06,117 There is to be no retreat, not so much as one millimeter. It must be victory or death. " 213 00:23:06,218 --> 00:23:08,618 - I can't believe it. - Have you still got Berlin? 214 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,018 - Yes, sir. - Ask him to repeat that message. 215 00:23:11,123 --> 00:23:14,524 - Yes, sir. - I know, but it's not him. It's those hoodlums again... 216 00:23:14,626 --> 00:23:17,857 those thieves and crooks and murderers, those toy soldiers... 217 00:23:17,963 --> 00:23:22,423 those dummy generals with their books and charts and maps and pointers! 218 00:23:22,567 --> 00:23:24,831 How can he listen to such nonentities? 219 00:23:24,970 --> 00:23:27,404 How can he even stand the smell of such filth? 220 00:23:27,506 --> 00:23:30,202 - Why doesn't he use his own intelligence? - I have your repeat, sir. 221 00:23:30,308 --> 00:23:32,208 Well, go ahead, read it. 222 00:23:32,344 --> 00:23:36,405 "The situation requires that the El Alamein position be held to the last man. 223 00:23:36,548 --> 00:23:39,210 "There is to be no retreat, not so much as one millimeter. 224 00:23:39,351 --> 00:23:42,445 It must be victory or death. " Signed, Adolf Hitler. 225 00:23:44,156 --> 00:23:47,216 - It's incredible. - You're not going to pay attention to such nonsense? 226 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:50,453 It's an order, Bayerlein, a military order from general headquarters... 227 00:23:50,595 --> 00:23:54,395 a clear, straight, stupid, criminal military order from general headquarters. 228 00:23:54,533 --> 00:23:58,128 And what are you going to do, double the insanity by obeying it? 229 00:23:58,270 --> 00:24:00,795 We've got the best soldiers in the German army here. 230 00:24:00,939 --> 00:24:04,170 They may be just hanging on now, but they're still a force, they're still fighting. 231 00:24:04,309 --> 00:24:07,005 If we take them out now, they can fight again tomorrow. 232 00:24:07,145 --> 00:24:10,137 But this... this is shear madness. It's out of the Middle Ages. 233 00:24:10,282 --> 00:24:14,184 Nobody has said "victory or death" since people fought with bows and arrows. 234 00:24:14,286 --> 00:24:16,948 Why, this is an order to throw away an entire army. 235 00:24:17,088 --> 00:24:20,990 If I may remind you, sir, here in the field these men are yours, not his. 236 00:24:21,092 --> 00:24:23,322 - I just can't understand it. - I can. He's insane. 237 00:24:23,462 --> 00:24:27,922 He's not insane. He's... But neither am I. 238 00:24:36,074 --> 00:24:39,976 Pull them out, Bayerlein. I'll argue with him about it later. 239 00:24:55,060 --> 00:24:58,427 [Bombing, Gunfire] 240 00:25:17,415 --> 00:25:20,976 [Young Narrating] The end came in Tunis when the Axis forces were caught... 241 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:23,383 between the British, the Free French... 242 00:25:23,488 --> 00:25:25,479 and the Americans under Eisenhower... 243 00:25:25,624 --> 00:25:29,151 and surrendered unconditionally. 244 00:25:31,329 --> 00:25:35,026 But the Afrika Korps went into captivity without its leader. 245 00:25:35,133 --> 00:25:39,297 For, a month before the end, Rommel had again fallen ill... 246 00:25:39,404 --> 00:25:42,134 and been invalided back to the hospital in Germany. 247 00:25:51,416 --> 00:25:54,283 - Good morning, Sergeant. - Good morning, Frau Rommel, Manfred. 248 00:25:54,386 --> 00:25:57,844 - Morning. - Dr. Strolin. 249 00:25:57,956 --> 00:26:02,154 - Karl Strolin, Stuttgart. - Dr. Strolin is an old friend of the field marshal's. 250 00:26:02,260 --> 00:26:04,785 I understand you'll find him much better this morning. 251 00:26:04,896 --> 00:26:06,864 All he needed was a little rest. 252 00:26:14,773 --> 00:26:18,140 Frau Rommel... 253 00:26:18,243 --> 00:26:21,440 Manfred Rommel... 254 00:26:24,115 --> 00:26:27,676 and Dr. Karl Strolin. 255 00:26:27,786 --> 00:26:29,777 From Stuttgart? 256 00:26:29,888 --> 00:26:32,721 Not only from, but lord mayor of. 257 00:26:34,926 --> 00:26:37,394 Don't tell me he's on the list. 258 00:26:41,499 --> 00:26:44,468 "Dr. Karl Strolin, lord mayor of Stuttgart. " 259 00:26:46,338 --> 00:26:49,102 She says he's an old friend of the field marshal. 260 00:26:49,207 --> 00:26:51,107 Nevertheless, here he is. 261 00:26:51,209 --> 00:26:53,336 "To be kept under the closest observation... 262 00:26:53,445 --> 00:26:56,608 whenever discovered beyond the precincts of Stuttgart. " 263 00:26:58,850 --> 00:27:01,910 Not that it could really be described as an argument. 264 00:27:02,020 --> 00:27:04,784 It's impossible to have an argument with him... 265 00:27:04,889 --> 00:27:07,653 in the sense that you and I could have an argument. 266 00:27:07,759 --> 00:27:10,592 He raves, he screams, he goes into such hysterics... 267 00:27:10,695 --> 00:27:14,096 that it's like trying to make sense with a panic-stricken woman. 268 00:27:14,199 --> 00:27:16,690 He called him a coward. 269 00:27:16,801 --> 00:27:19,793 Did he really use that word to you? 270 00:27:19,904 --> 00:27:22,099 Not once, but several times. 271 00:27:22,207 --> 00:27:27,235 In Russia, he said, officers like me have been put against the wall and shot. 272 00:27:27,345 --> 00:27:30,075 Now must I think it couldn't happen to me too. 273 00:27:30,181 --> 00:27:34,880 That was his thanks, that was his gratitude for all that Erwin has done for him. 274 00:27:34,986 --> 00:27:37,887 On the other hand, you mustn't hold people too accountable... 275 00:27:37,989 --> 00:27:40,958 for everything they say when they're emotionally upset. 276 00:27:41,059 --> 00:27:45,155 The war is not going well, and he's naturally worried. 277 00:27:45,263 --> 00:27:47,595 But I'm afraid it will be a long time... 278 00:27:47,699 --> 00:27:50,600 before I forget what he did to the Afrika Korps. 279 00:27:50,702 --> 00:27:52,795 What was that? 280 00:27:52,904 --> 00:27:56,806 When the end was near and I asked him to get them out... 281 00:27:56,908 --> 00:28:00,708 he said he had no further interest or concern... 282 00:28:00,812 --> 00:28:02,643 in the Afrika Korps. 283 00:28:02,747 --> 00:28:05,443 And that was their thanks. 284 00:28:06,951 --> 00:28:11,115 Rommel... I should like to ask you a question. 285 00:28:11,222 --> 00:28:14,282 Of course, if you don't care to answer, I quite understand. 286 00:28:14,392 --> 00:28:17,919 But with your permission, I should like to ask it nevertheless. 287 00:28:18,029 --> 00:28:19,929 What is it? 288 00:28:20,031 --> 00:28:22,499 Do you really believe that we can win? 289 00:28:27,939 --> 00:28:30,965 - I'll tell you what he believes. - Yes? 290 00:28:32,844 --> 00:28:35,142 He doesn't think so. 291 00:28:35,246 --> 00:28:37,407 He told you that himself? 292 00:28:37,515 --> 00:28:39,415 He did. 293 00:28:39,517 --> 00:28:42,509 And he understands what that'll mean this time? 294 00:28:42,620 --> 00:28:44,520 Apparently. 295 00:28:44,622 --> 00:28:46,613 Then why do we go on? 296 00:28:46,725 --> 00:28:50,821 We have no choice, because no country we're fighting... 297 00:28:50,929 --> 00:28:54,831 England, America or Russia... will make peace with him. 298 00:28:54,933 --> 00:28:57,197 He admitted that? 299 00:28:57,302 --> 00:29:00,430 And it's the truth, of course. 300 00:29:00,538 --> 00:29:04,133 In other words, while he remains as leader of Germany... 301 00:29:04,242 --> 00:29:07,006 we must fight on until we're destroyed. 302 00:29:07,112 --> 00:29:09,979 Victory or death, as ever. 303 00:29:10,081 --> 00:29:14,984 I take it he didn't mention the obvious solution to the situation. 304 00:29:15,086 --> 00:29:18,578 - What do you mean? - Abdication. 305 00:29:20,992 --> 00:29:23,517 Now, my dear Strolin... 306 00:29:25,864 --> 00:29:28,856 - I'm afraid we must go, dear. - Must you already? 307 00:29:28,967 --> 00:29:31,561 - I have a train to catch. - We'll come back after supper. 308 00:29:31,669 --> 00:29:35,400 Let's have coffee together. Good-bye, Strolin. 'T was good to see you again. 309 00:29:35,507 --> 00:29:37,668 We won't let it be so long next time. 310 00:29:37,776 --> 00:29:40,540 - Do you think they really would, Father? - Would what, son? 311 00:29:40,645 --> 00:29:43,136 - Shoot you? - No, no, of course not. 312 00:29:43,248 --> 00:29:46,479 That's just his wild way of talking. You mustn't pay any attention to that. 313 00:29:46,584 --> 00:29:50,076 - Shoot his greatest general? - You shouldn't have said that in front of him. 314 00:29:50,188 --> 00:29:52,656 Come along and stop talking nonsense. 315 00:29:54,025 --> 00:29:57,153 - Until this evening, dear? - Come early, will you? 316 00:29:59,831 --> 00:30:02,459 He's a good-looking boy, isn't he? 317 00:30:02,567 --> 00:30:06,901 A very nice boy too. But were you entirely truthful with him? 318 00:30:07,005 --> 00:30:08,905 About what? 319 00:30:09,007 --> 00:30:12,738 - When you told him he would never put you up against a wall. - But of course. 320 00:30:12,844 --> 00:30:16,336 Has the possibility ever occurred to you that he might turn on you? 321 00:30:16,447 --> 00:30:19,348 - But why should he? - He's turned on others. 322 00:30:19,450 --> 00:30:21,816 He'll never turn on me. 323 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:25,981 What about some of those fellows around him that don't like you? Himmler, Bormann and that crowd. 324 00:30:26,090 --> 00:30:29,287 - Don't they ever influence him? - Very often, indeed. 325 00:30:29,394 --> 00:30:32,955 You don't think it's possible they might influence him against you someday? 326 00:30:33,064 --> 00:30:37,501 It's possible, yes, but I don't see that it's very likely. 327 00:30:37,602 --> 00:30:40,799 But in the remote possibility that they did... 328 00:30:40,905 --> 00:30:44,841 have you ever considered what might become of Lucie and Manfred? 329 00:30:44,976 --> 00:30:49,379 I've never thought about it. But what on Earth are you getting at, anyway? 330 00:30:49,514 --> 00:30:52,483 I think you should, that's all. 331 00:30:52,617 --> 00:30:55,552 You haven't changed a bit, Doctor. 332 00:30:55,687 --> 00:30:58,451 You always were something of an odd fish. 333 00:30:58,590 --> 00:31:01,058 But there's no need for you to worry this time. 334 00:31:01,192 --> 00:31:03,160 We're in no danger, none of us. 335 00:31:03,294 --> 00:31:05,819 If you'll take a word of advice from an old friend... 336 00:31:05,964 --> 00:31:07,898 you'd better not talk like that to everybody. 337 00:31:08,032 --> 00:31:09,897 I don't. 338 00:31:10,034 --> 00:31:13,868 Only to those I know very well and am very fond of. 339 00:31:14,005 --> 00:31:17,202 - Good-bye, Rommel. - Good-bye, Strolin. 340 00:31:17,342 --> 00:31:20,243 - Come again if you can. - I'll try. 341 00:31:24,883 --> 00:31:27,113 [Door Closes] 342 00:32:43,895 --> 00:32:45,795 [Conductor Whistles] 343 00:32:45,897 --> 00:32:47,956 [Train Whistle Blows] 344 00:33:36,447 --> 00:33:39,075 [Young Narrating] An invasion of Hitler's European fortress... 345 00:33:39,183 --> 00:33:41,708 was now clearly but a matter of time. 346 00:33:41,819 --> 00:33:44,310 And in November of 1943... 347 00:33:44,422 --> 00:33:47,687 Rommel made a tour of inspection of the Atlantic defenses... 348 00:33:47,792 --> 00:33:51,159 preparatory of taking command of the Nazi forces... 349 00:33:51,262 --> 00:33:54,060 that were gathering to resist the assault. 350 00:34:36,274 --> 00:34:39,175 [Bell Buzzing] 351 00:35:02,233 --> 00:35:06,465 A month later, Rommel reported to Field Marshal von Rundstedt... 352 00:35:06,571 --> 00:35:09,802 supreme commander in the West, at the latter's headquarters... 353 00:35:09,907 --> 00:35:14,105 in the Pompadour's Palace at Fontainebleau outside Paris. 354 00:35:24,322 --> 00:35:27,450 Field Marshal von Rundstedt, gentlemen. 355 00:35:33,331 --> 00:35:35,561 - Ruge. - Field Marshal. 356 00:35:35,666 --> 00:35:37,600 Gentlemen. 357 00:35:43,274 --> 00:35:45,674 - Good to see you, Rommel. - Field Marshal. 358 00:35:45,776 --> 00:35:49,507 Well, now that you have had an opportunity to examine it closely... 359 00:35:49,614 --> 00:35:52,208 what do you think of our Atlantic wall? 360 00:35:52,316 --> 00:35:54,784 I'm afraid I haven't quite completed my report yet, but... 361 00:35:54,886 --> 00:35:57,320 We'll discuss it later, whenever you're ready. 362 00:35:57,421 --> 00:36:01,687 I don't imagine the mighty Eisenhower will be on us for another day or so. 363 00:36:01,792 --> 00:36:04,260 It wasn't too much a tax on your strength, I hope. 364 00:36:04,362 --> 00:36:06,853 Not in the least. I'm entirely recovered now. 365 00:36:06,964 --> 00:36:09,797 I'm delighted. You're being well taken care of, gentlemen? 366 00:36:09,901 --> 00:36:11,869 [Together] Yes, indeed, sir. 367 00:36:11,969 --> 00:36:14,301 Would you be so good as to divert our friends... 368 00:36:14,405 --> 00:36:17,670 while Field Marshal Rommel and I have a few moments of private meditation? 369 00:36:17,775 --> 00:36:19,675 Yes, sir. 370 00:36:47,171 --> 00:36:50,572 [Sighs] Appalling, wasn't it? 371 00:36:52,643 --> 00:36:55,168 I can't even see why it's called a wall. 372 00:36:55,313 --> 00:36:59,010 The big ports like Havre and Ostend and Cherbourg are protected well enough... 373 00:36:59,150 --> 00:37:01,778 but the enemy's not coming in on the Queen Mary. 374 00:37:01,919 --> 00:37:04,285 Nothing at all is being done about the beaches. 375 00:37:04,422 --> 00:37:07,858 Why, I saw 50 places where an army of children could come ashore. 376 00:37:07,992 --> 00:37:12,395 The trouble is labor. We have the plans for fortifications the devil himself couldn't breach... 377 00:37:12,496 --> 00:37:15,192 solid steel and concrete from Denmark to Spain... 378 00:37:15,333 --> 00:37:20,100 but I'm afraid our French friends aren't being as cooperative as they might be. 379 00:37:20,238 --> 00:37:23,139 Even when driven to the job, they move like snails. 380 00:37:23,241 --> 00:37:27,337 Either we break it up while they're still wading ashore or we're in trouble. 381 00:37:27,478 --> 00:37:30,345 - Is that the way you'd meet it? - Stop them on the beaches. 382 00:37:30,448 --> 00:37:33,008 Crowd the water with mines and traps and tricks... 383 00:37:33,150 --> 00:37:36,244 and hit 'em while they're busy trying to keep themselves from drowning. 384 00:37:36,387 --> 00:37:40,187 Here, down here... and here. 385 00:37:40,291 --> 00:37:42,657 I don't agree with you... 386 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:46,127 but the difference of opinion will probably remain academic. 387 00:37:46,230 --> 00:37:51,133 As it happens, neither you nor I will determine the tactics in this operation. 388 00:37:51,235 --> 00:37:53,703 Not above the regimental level, anyway. 389 00:37:53,838 --> 00:37:55,999 You mean... Berlin? 390 00:37:56,140 --> 00:37:58,938 I mean the Bohemian corporal himself... 391 00:37:59,043 --> 00:38:02,479 is assuming sole and total command of this operation. 392 00:38:02,613 --> 00:38:07,516 You and I will function simply as instruments of his astrological inspirations. 393 00:38:07,618 --> 00:38:11,748 And in case you're afflicted with an understandable skepticism, this is official. 394 00:38:11,889 --> 00:38:14,449 But that's an utterly impossible situation. 395 00:38:14,592 --> 00:38:16,992 Then you should, by all means, explain that to him. 396 00:38:17,094 --> 00:38:19,085 You've made no protests yourself? 397 00:38:19,230 --> 00:38:21,630 After you've interfered a dozen times or so... 398 00:38:21,732 --> 00:38:25,793 with a man's rather enthusiastic determination to cut his own throat... 399 00:38:25,936 --> 00:38:28,769 there comes a moment when you're inclined to stand back... 400 00:38:28,873 --> 00:38:31,171 and view the whole matter with a certain detachment. 401 00:38:31,275 --> 00:38:34,506 - You've no objection to my... pointing this out to him? - On the contrary. 402 00:38:34,612 --> 00:38:37,672 I bestow my blessings on your courage and optimism. 403 00:38:48,125 --> 00:38:50,650 I'm told you once referred to me as a clown... 404 00:38:50,795 --> 00:38:53,195 the clown of Hitler's circus. 405 00:38:53,297 --> 00:38:55,197 Oh, did I? 406 00:38:55,299 --> 00:38:58,462 If so, I think you should know I've been a great deal more explicit about you. 407 00:38:58,569 --> 00:39:01,094 That's quite all right, Field Marshal. 408 00:39:01,238 --> 00:39:05,265 I find it almost impossible to keep my mind on anything harsh said about me. 409 00:39:05,409 --> 00:39:07,343 Did you say it? 410 00:39:07,445 --> 00:39:11,313 Whoever said it, you've given them ample reason to regret such a foolish remark. 411 00:39:13,417 --> 00:39:16,147 - Thank you, Field Marshal. - Not at all. 412 00:39:16,253 --> 00:39:18,244 Is there anything else? 413 00:39:18,389 --> 00:39:20,983 I don't believe so at the moment. 414 00:39:23,594 --> 00:39:25,494 One suggestion, perhaps... 415 00:39:25,596 --> 00:39:28,724 in view of our cordiality. 416 00:39:28,833 --> 00:39:32,166 If I were you, I wouldn't be altogether unguarded... 417 00:39:32,269 --> 00:39:35,466 about what I had to say about this new strategic arrangement. 418 00:39:35,573 --> 00:39:37,905 I think you should know that from now on... 419 00:39:38,008 --> 00:39:40,943 you'll be under more or less constant observation here. 420 00:39:41,045 --> 00:39:45,072 - From Berlin? - Friends of the management, I believe. 421 00:39:45,182 --> 00:39:48,583 Have you any information as to why I should be singled out for such attention? 422 00:39:48,686 --> 00:39:51,553 Oh, but you're not. We all are. 423 00:39:51,655 --> 00:39:54,419 Apparently you didn't have it in Africa... 424 00:39:54,525 --> 00:39:58,586 but here on the continent it's an honor that goes with staff rank. 425 00:39:58,696 --> 00:40:00,425 You too? 426 00:40:00,531 --> 00:40:04,297 My dear fellow, I'm the commander-in-chief. 427 00:40:13,444 --> 00:40:15,571 [Young Narrating] Two months after that... 428 00:40:15,679 --> 00:40:18,807 in February of 1944, during one of Rommel's... 429 00:40:18,916 --> 00:40:21,214 rare absences from the Atlantic frontier... 430 00:40:21,318 --> 00:40:25,652 his old friend Dr. Karl Strolin sought him out again. 431 00:40:28,726 --> 00:40:30,921 [Doorbell Buzzing] 432 00:40:39,637 --> 00:40:42,333 - Good afternoon, sir. - Good afternoon. 433 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:45,238 Dr. Strolin to see the field marshal and Frau Rommel. 434 00:40:45,342 --> 00:40:47,242 Come in, sir. 435 00:40:58,622 --> 00:41:01,716 Eisenhower won't try it until spring, of course. 436 00:41:01,826 --> 00:41:04,158 I doubt if I'll get home again before then. 437 00:41:04,261 --> 00:41:06,161 Are we ready for him? 438 00:41:06,263 --> 00:41:08,424 We will be, I hope. 439 00:41:13,571 --> 00:41:15,664 To your very good health, Doctor. 440 00:41:15,773 --> 00:41:17,866 To yours, my dear Rommel. 441 00:41:20,678 --> 00:41:23,306 How do you know this room isn't wired? 442 00:41:23,414 --> 00:41:26,212 Wired? Why should it be wired? 443 00:41:26,317 --> 00:41:29,309 Does our friend Himmler have to have a reason for wiring a room? 444 00:41:29,420 --> 00:41:31,320 No, I don't suppose he does. 445 00:41:31,422 --> 00:41:34,323 But I don't think you have to worry about this one. 446 00:41:34,425 --> 00:41:36,325 Why? 447 00:41:47,271 --> 00:41:50,570 'Cause I want to talk to you without being overheard. 448 00:41:50,674 --> 00:41:53,643 - About what? - About the Hitler situation. 449 00:41:55,145 --> 00:41:58,376 If this is politics, Strolin, I don't want to hear it. 450 00:41:58,482 --> 00:42:00,677 Had you rather see Germany destroyed? 451 00:42:00,784 --> 00:42:03,582 It's not a matter I want to discuss, I tell you. 452 00:42:03,687 --> 00:42:06,918 And I'm surprised at you. That's a communist position. 453 00:42:07,024 --> 00:42:09,390 Oh? Is it? 454 00:42:09,493 --> 00:42:13,122 Defeat, against him, all that sort of thing. You know it is. 455 00:42:13,230 --> 00:42:15,528 Would you call General Beck a communist? 456 00:42:15,633 --> 00:42:19,330 - Of course not. - Or Karl Goerdeler, the lord mayor of Leipzig? 457 00:42:19,436 --> 00:42:22,337 - I've never heard that he was. - What about Falkenhausen? 458 00:42:22,439 --> 00:42:25,897 - No, but... - What about Heinrich von Stulpnagel? 459 00:42:26,010 --> 00:42:28,808 And von Urach and von Haslov? Are they communists? 460 00:42:28,913 --> 00:42:34,408 Are you trying to tell me seriously that men like that are questioning his leadership? 461 00:42:34,518 --> 00:42:38,955 Not just questioning it. They intend to end it. 462 00:42:39,056 --> 00:42:41,820 You mean, you've talked to those fellows yourself? 463 00:42:41,926 --> 00:42:44,417 To them and to many others. Not only soldiers, either. 464 00:42:44,528 --> 00:42:47,929 Church men, labor leaders, lawyers, doctors. 465 00:42:48,032 --> 00:42:52,901 Members of the government, even. Not too many of them, but sound men, every one. 466 00:42:53,003 --> 00:42:56,097 How long has this been going on? 467 00:42:56,206 --> 00:42:58,470 Since '38. 468 00:43:00,210 --> 00:43:02,804 And what exactly are you after? 469 00:43:02,913 --> 00:43:06,679 One, we want to get rid of Hitler and his gang. 470 00:43:06,784 --> 00:43:09,480 If we are to be defeated, then we prefer to be defeated... 471 00:43:09,587 --> 00:43:12,613 as human beings, not as barbarians. 472 00:43:12,723 --> 00:43:15,851 Two, whether we win or lose... 473 00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:20,021 we want to live again like decent people, without fear. 474 00:43:20,130 --> 00:43:24,499 Look, Strolin, I don't want to get mixed up in this thing. 475 00:43:24,602 --> 00:43:27,196 What they do in Berlin is their business, not mine. 476 00:43:27,304 --> 00:43:29,602 I'm a soldier, not a politician. 477 00:43:29,707 --> 00:43:32,107 You still think you're perfectly safe? 478 00:43:32,209 --> 00:43:34,404 Who knows who's safe and who's not? 479 00:43:34,511 --> 00:43:36,479 Under a sane man, you'd know. 480 00:43:36,580 --> 00:43:38,946 That's a lot of rubbish, and you know it. 481 00:43:39,049 --> 00:43:41,574 Well, I hope you're right, and perhaps you are. 482 00:43:41,685 --> 00:43:45,746 After all, you are his favorite, and I can think of no one who's ever questioned... 483 00:43:45,856 --> 00:43:50,418 the deep and enduring gratitude he's always shown to those who've served him well. 484 00:43:50,527 --> 00:43:54,861 - No one's in any danger here who does his job properly. - You have nothing to fear. 485 00:43:54,965 --> 00:43:58,298 And if something did happen unpredictably... 486 00:43:58,402 --> 00:44:01,394 you'd still have the comfort of knowing that the lives of Lucie and Manfred... 487 00:44:01,505 --> 00:44:04,633 would be safe and snug in the soft, gentle, tender hands... 488 00:44:04,742 --> 00:44:07,734 of that brave little band of patriots he's gathered around him. 489 00:44:07,845 --> 00:44:10,973 I'm afraid that kind of talk doesn't amuse me. 490 00:44:11,081 --> 00:44:15,950 I'm not trying to amuse you. I'm merely reflecting on your extraordinary good fortune. 491 00:44:16,053 --> 00:44:18,988 I wish you'd think about that too sometime... 492 00:44:19,089 --> 00:44:23,924 not the blood on his mouth, but what a godsend he is to you personally... 493 00:44:24,028 --> 00:44:27,259 not only in your home, but in the field as a soldier. 494 00:44:27,364 --> 00:44:30,800 How many other generals can boast the favor and support of a leader... 495 00:44:30,901 --> 00:44:33,563 so gifted in the arts of war? 496 00:44:33,671 --> 00:44:35,571 That's enough, Strolin. 497 00:44:35,673 --> 00:44:38,574 Surely you haven't forgotten how brilliantly he refused... 498 00:44:38,676 --> 00:44:42,976 to be seduced into an invasion of undefended England right after Dunkirk. 499 00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:45,310 Or how brave he was at Stalingrad... 500 00:44:45,416 --> 00:44:48,146 when von Forest wanted to withdraw from the trap. 501 00:44:48,252 --> 00:44:50,777 What other man on Earth would have had the courage... 502 00:44:50,888 --> 00:44:53,789 to send that brief, simple, thrilling command: 503 00:44:53,891 --> 00:44:57,190 "Don't retreat so much as a millimeter. Victory or death"? 504 00:44:57,294 --> 00:45:00,627 - Would Napoleon himself have dared... - That's enough, I tell you! 505 00:45:00,731 --> 00:45:03,393 Afraid even to think about it. 506 00:45:03,500 --> 00:45:06,765 Stop talking to me as if I were a child and you a schoolmaster! 507 00:45:06,870 --> 00:45:09,896 Don't you think I know what you mean? But what of it? 508 00:45:10,007 --> 00:45:12,874 Who asked me for my opinion? And suppose I told them... 509 00:45:12,976 --> 00:45:16,036 that what they're doing is stupid to the point of imbecility! 510 00:45:16,146 --> 00:45:18,444 - Who do you think would listen? - Have you ever tried? 511 00:45:18,549 --> 00:45:20,915 Of course! I've been told to mind my own business. 512 00:45:21,018 --> 00:45:23,145 And who's to say they're not right? 513 00:45:23,253 --> 00:45:25,721 Surely you aren't naive enough to think that a soldier... 514 00:45:25,823 --> 00:45:29,020 must approve of every detail of his government before he can fight for it. 515 00:45:29,126 --> 00:45:33,620 What army could exist like that, with every man free to decide what he will or won't do? 516 00:45:33,731 --> 00:45:38,794 The truth is that a soldier has but one function in life, one lone excuse for existence... 517 00:45:38,902 --> 00:45:42,099 and that is to carry out the order of his superiors. 518 00:45:42,206 --> 00:45:45,107 The rest, including government, is politics. 519 00:45:45,209 --> 00:45:49,202 And if I must remind you again, I'm a soldier, not a politician. 520 00:45:49,313 --> 00:45:53,215 - What the government does... - Oh, stop hiding behind that bloody uniform of yours! 521 00:45:53,317 --> 00:45:55,808 What do I care about your philosophy of the soldier? 522 00:45:55,919 --> 00:45:58,285 All it means to me is that you're terrified... 523 00:45:58,388 --> 00:46:01,755 hiding under a lot of rubbish about the functions of a robot. 524 00:46:01,859 --> 00:46:05,090 Have you forgotten that I've known you for 20 years? 525 00:46:05,195 --> 00:46:08,961 Why, I know exactly how you feel about that abomination in Berlin. 526 00:46:09,066 --> 00:46:11,899 What I can't understand is this chickenhearted willingness... 527 00:46:12,002 --> 00:46:15,836 to go marching right down into hell with a beast you loathe and despise. 528 00:46:15,939 --> 00:46:20,842 Where is all the sense and courage you have in the field? Haven't you any of it here? 529 00:46:20,944 --> 00:46:24,175 I think you'd better get out of this house, now. 530 00:46:26,650 --> 00:46:30,746 Not until you've shown an old friend the decency of honesty with him. 531 00:46:30,854 --> 00:46:34,415 If reason won't work, very well, I'm prepared to go further. 532 00:46:34,525 --> 00:46:38,928 I have no intention of stirring from this room until the truth has passed between us. 533 00:46:39,029 --> 00:46:42,726 - Had you rather I call the guard and charge you? - That you will never do. 534 00:46:42,833 --> 00:46:46,291 And may I ask why you know so well what I will or won't do? 535 00:46:46,403 --> 00:46:48,963 Because Lucie told me that you wouldn't. 536 00:46:50,774 --> 00:46:54,972 You... You've already talked to Lucie about this? 537 00:46:55,078 --> 00:46:58,377 - Of course. - And she sent you to me? 538 00:46:58,482 --> 00:47:00,382 Not at all. 539 00:47:00,484 --> 00:47:03,453 She merely told me how you really feel... 540 00:47:03,554 --> 00:47:08,753 about our sainted leader and his glorious reign over Germany. 541 00:47:18,802 --> 00:47:22,135 Father! Father, the car is here! 542 00:47:22,239 --> 00:47:25,231 We saw it. Will you please not shout? 543 00:47:25,342 --> 00:47:27,776 I've told you that a dozen times. 544 00:47:27,878 --> 00:47:31,041 - He's just excited. - I know, but I'm tired of telling him... 545 00:47:31,148 --> 00:47:35,278 He's all right. He's still only a boy, remember, in spite of that uniform. 546 00:47:35,385 --> 00:47:38,252 - Of course. - You take care of yourself, dear. 547 00:47:39,857 --> 00:47:42,087 You're not cross with me, are you? 548 00:47:42,192 --> 00:47:45,184 - For what? - For speaking to Dr. Strolin. 549 00:47:48,131 --> 00:47:50,258 No, of course not. 550 00:47:52,936 --> 00:47:55,234 Is he right? 551 00:47:57,341 --> 00:47:59,639 I don't know. 552 00:48:02,846 --> 00:48:05,576 I can't make up my mind. 553 00:48:05,682 --> 00:48:08,549 But that's a dreadful thing he proposes... 554 00:48:08,652 --> 00:48:11,587 a great, tremendous, dreadful thing. 555 00:48:11,688 --> 00:48:14,589 I don't know that I can go along that far with him. 556 00:48:14,691 --> 00:48:17,091 Then you shouldn't if you don't think he's right. 557 00:48:17,227 --> 00:48:20,663 I didn't say he wasn't right, but even so... 558 00:48:20,764 --> 00:48:25,667 is that the only way to handle it: Treason? 559 00:48:25,769 --> 00:48:29,170 That's what it comes down to, no matter how right you think you are. 560 00:48:29,306 --> 00:48:32,833 You think it will be better to let things go along as they are? 561 00:48:32,976 --> 00:48:36,912 No, no, I don't. But there must be some better way of handling it. 562 00:48:37,047 --> 00:48:41,950 I mean, if I could see him alone again and explain the situation to him. 563 00:48:42,052 --> 00:48:46,318 Can you tell me how a man can fight a war under such conditions? 564 00:48:46,456 --> 00:48:49,391 Isn't it enough that we're facing an invasion without... 565 00:48:49,526 --> 00:48:53,428 No, never mind now. You don't have to decide this minute. 566 00:48:53,530 --> 00:48:56,294 It'll come to you when it's time. 567 00:48:57,768 --> 00:49:00,236 What do you think, really? 568 00:49:00,370 --> 00:49:04,636 I can't tell you, dear. I don't know. 569 00:49:04,775 --> 00:49:08,734 But never mind now. When the time comes, something will tell you. 570 00:49:08,879 --> 00:49:11,211 You better go along now. You're late already. 571 00:49:15,218 --> 00:49:17,880 - Write to me every day, will you? - I will. 572 00:49:18,021 --> 00:49:21,354 - A little something for the journey. - Thank you, darling. 573 00:49:23,560 --> 00:49:26,461 Good-bye, sweetheart. Don't worry about me. 574 00:49:26,563 --> 00:49:28,656 I'll try not to. 575 00:49:46,083 --> 00:49:47,983 That's all, please. 576 00:49:52,990 --> 00:49:56,756 Good-bye, son. Take care of your mother and be a good soldier. 577 00:49:56,860 --> 00:49:58,760 Make me proud of you. 578 00:49:58,862 --> 00:50:02,457 I'll try, Father. Are you going to bring us back Montgomery? 579 00:50:02,599 --> 00:50:04,965 The minute he steps ashore. 580 00:50:06,069 --> 00:50:08,264 [Whispering] Good-bye, darling. 581 00:50:08,372 --> 00:50:10,272 Good-bye, darling. 582 00:50:22,352 --> 00:50:26,721 [Young Narrating] And then, finally, after four long years of preparation... 583 00:50:26,823 --> 00:50:29,291 it came... D day. 584 00:50:29,393 --> 00:50:32,260 And the greatest armada and the vastest movement... 585 00:50:32,362 --> 00:50:36,196 of men and arms in the history of the world, rose from England... 586 00:50:36,299 --> 00:50:39,427 and set out for the assault on the beaches of Normandy... 587 00:50:39,536 --> 00:50:42,437 and the German fortress of Europe. 588 00:53:45,622 --> 00:53:48,090 From the moment the Bohemian corporal... 589 00:53:48,225 --> 00:53:51,194 promoted himself to the supreme command of our forces... 590 00:53:51,328 --> 00:53:55,287 the German army has been the victim of a unique situation. 591 00:53:55,432 --> 00:53:58,128 Not only too many of the enemy... 592 00:53:58,268 --> 00:54:02,637 but one too many Germans. 593 00:54:02,739 --> 00:54:05,469 You don't think he's ready to give us the 15th Army yet? 594 00:54:05,575 --> 00:54:08,271 I don't see how he can, under the circumstances. 595 00:54:08,378 --> 00:54:11,211 His astrologers have informed him that this is only a feint... 596 00:54:11,314 --> 00:54:14,374 that the real invasion is yet to come, north of Calais. 597 00:54:14,517 --> 00:54:18,419 The 15th Army is sitting on those cold beaches up there... 598 00:54:18,555 --> 00:54:21,285 waiting for an invasion that has already taken place... 599 00:54:21,391 --> 00:54:24,451 is an excellent example of war by horoscope. 600 00:54:24,594 --> 00:54:27,028 We've got to have those troops. 601 00:54:27,130 --> 00:54:30,725 If we're not allowed to maneuver, we've got to support these positions. 602 00:54:30,867 --> 00:54:34,030 We've got to see him again about it. 603 00:54:34,137 --> 00:54:36,799 I tell you this in confidence, Rommel. 604 00:54:36,906 --> 00:54:41,309 I don't think anything we can do would be of the slightest use. 605 00:54:42,545 --> 00:54:45,946 The pattern for defeat has already been set. 606 00:54:46,049 --> 00:54:50,452 "Hold fast. Don't give up a millimeter of ground. 607 00:54:50,553 --> 00:54:53,886 Victory or death. " Wars simply can't be won... 608 00:54:53,990 --> 00:54:58,757 by men whose knowledge of tactics is based on copybook maxims. 609 00:54:58,862 --> 00:55:02,662 It may stir schoolchildren, but they don't stop troops. 610 00:55:02,766 --> 00:55:06,497 Give me a free hand for a few months, and I'd make them pay for it. 611 00:55:06,603 --> 00:55:09,231 I'd make them pay such a price in blood... 612 00:55:09,339 --> 00:55:12,137 they'd wish they'd never heard of Germany. 613 00:55:12,242 --> 00:55:15,939 I might not be able to stop them all, but they'd know they'd fought an army... 614 00:55:16,046 --> 00:55:20,642 not a series of stationary targets. 615 00:55:20,750 --> 00:55:22,684 And he'll never let us, of course. 616 00:55:22,819 --> 00:55:25,686 You know how firm corporals are. 617 00:55:37,367 --> 00:55:39,995 [Clattering] 618 00:55:53,383 --> 00:55:56,284 Do you happen to know Karl Strolin? 619 00:55:57,954 --> 00:56:01,355 - Strolin? - The lord mayor of Stuttgart. 620 00:56:03,426 --> 00:56:05,826 I remember that name from somewhere. 621 00:56:05,929 --> 00:56:10,093 Or Doctor Goerdeler of Leipzig? 622 00:56:11,701 --> 00:56:13,601 You too? 623 00:56:15,271 --> 00:56:18,536 Every day that passes, every minute of the day... 624 00:56:18,641 --> 00:56:22,873 convinces me more and more that theirs is the only possible solution. 625 00:56:22,979 --> 00:56:25,709 Your words, you must understand, mystify me. 626 00:56:25,815 --> 00:56:28,648 They propose to arrest him, take over the government... 627 00:56:28,752 --> 00:56:32,415 and move immediately to make peace with Eisenhower. 628 00:56:32,522 --> 00:56:35,753 I shall, of course, deny that this conversation ever took place. 629 00:56:35,859 --> 00:56:38,487 But that's a particularly childish idea. 630 00:56:38,595 --> 00:56:41,086 Eisenhower's not going to make a separate peace. 631 00:56:41,197 --> 00:56:44,166 And why should he, with things going as well as they are? 632 00:56:44,267 --> 00:56:46,735 That part of your plan is doomed from the start. 633 00:56:46,836 --> 00:56:50,272 But you don't disagree with the basic proposal. 634 00:56:50,373 --> 00:56:53,069 I'm sorry, but I don't believe I heard the question. 635 00:56:53,176 --> 00:56:55,667 In any case, if they came to you for counsel or advice... 636 00:56:55,779 --> 00:56:57,679 would you receive them? 637 00:56:57,781 --> 00:56:59,681 Oh, no. 638 00:56:59,783 --> 00:57:02,149 No. 639 00:57:02,252 --> 00:57:04,812 No, I'm afraid not, Rommel. 640 00:57:04,921 --> 00:57:09,051 It's too late... much too late. 641 00:57:09,159 --> 00:57:10,792 Even if they moved immediately? 642 00:57:10,827 --> 00:57:12,425 Even if they moved immediately? 643 00:57:12,529 --> 00:57:14,656 You misunderstand. 644 00:57:14,798 --> 00:57:16,891 Not too late for that. 645 00:57:18,268 --> 00:57:20,202 Too late for me. 646 00:57:21,304 --> 00:57:24,068 I'm 70 now. 647 00:57:24,174 --> 00:57:27,507 Too old to revolt. 648 00:57:27,610 --> 00:57:30,875 Too old to challenge authority... 649 00:57:30,980 --> 00:57:33,448 - however evil. - [Tapping] 650 00:57:43,460 --> 00:57:45,894 Berlin calling, sir. Marshal Keitel. 651 00:57:54,304 --> 00:57:57,137 - Keitel? - Von Rundstedt. 652 00:57:57,240 --> 00:58:00,073 - Here. - Is this true about Cherbourg? 653 00:58:00,176 --> 00:58:02,440 - I'm afraid so. - This is dreadful. 654 00:58:02,545 --> 00:58:04,911 How can I give such news to the führer? 655 00:58:05,014 --> 00:58:06,948 You've reported misfortune to him before. 656 00:58:07,050 --> 00:58:08,950 Why should this one present such a problem? 657 00:58:09,052 --> 00:58:12,852 But that's just it. We've had nothing but bad news for weeks. 658 00:58:12,956 --> 00:58:15,754 Isn't there any good news I can give him at the same time? 659 00:58:15,859 --> 00:58:17,918 Have you checked on the Russian Front this morning? 660 00:58:18,027 --> 00:58:20,222 We're not discussing the Russian Front. 661 00:58:20,330 --> 00:58:22,230 We're discussing yours. 662 00:58:22,332 --> 00:58:25,096 This situation in the West becomes worse with every report. 663 00:58:25,201 --> 00:58:29,604 L- I'm actually embarrassed to give him another disappointment like this. 664 00:58:29,706 --> 00:58:31,640 Can't you think of anything we can do about it? 665 00:58:31,741 --> 00:58:34,938 Certainly. Give us those 90 divisions of the 15th Army... 666 00:58:35,044 --> 00:58:36,978 who are sitting around Calais playing cards. 667 00:58:37,080 --> 00:58:38,980 You know that's impossible. 668 00:58:39,082 --> 00:58:41,812 The führer has already explained the necessity for leaving them there. 669 00:58:41,918 --> 00:58:44,580 Very well then. Give us permission to pull out of Normandy... 670 00:58:44,687 --> 00:58:46,746 and set up a line that we can defend properly. 671 00:58:46,856 --> 00:58:50,883 Your orders are to fight where you are, and that's what he expects you to do. 672 00:58:50,994 --> 00:58:53,155 Is it possible you have no better suggestion than that? 673 00:58:53,263 --> 00:58:56,858 One very much better, in fact. 674 00:58:56,966 --> 00:58:59,264 Make peace, you idiot. 675 00:59:20,890 --> 00:59:24,018 - Good-bye again, Rommel. - He'll never report that. 676 00:59:24,127 --> 00:59:26,595 This very instant, he's knocking at the corporal's door... 677 00:59:26,696 --> 00:59:28,687 whimpering with happiness. 678 00:59:28,798 --> 00:59:31,358 You must never forget this, my dear fellow. 679 00:59:31,467 --> 00:59:34,903 Victory has a hundred fathers. Defeat is an orphan. 680 00:59:36,139 --> 00:59:39,040 Within 24 hours, you'll be named my successor. 681 00:59:39,142 --> 00:59:41,406 And I extend to you my deepest sympathy. 682 00:59:41,511 --> 00:59:44,275 That's nonsense. He'll never let you go. 683 00:59:52,155 --> 00:59:54,749 But not too old, I might add... 684 00:59:54,857 --> 00:59:57,621 to wish your friends the best of luck... 685 00:59:57,727 --> 01:00:01,094 in their extremely interesting project. 686 01:00:04,801 --> 01:00:09,295 [Young Narrating] Meanwhile, with their beachheads irretrievably secured... 687 01:00:09,405 --> 01:00:13,364 Allied tanks and men had fanned out across France... 688 01:00:13,476 --> 01:00:16,138 and begun their race for the Rhine. 689 01:00:51,748 --> 01:00:53,875 Put these where you can get to them quickly. 690 01:00:53,983 --> 01:00:55,917 Also those files there. 691 01:00:56,019 --> 01:00:59,386 - Keep the key, and use your... own judgment about the rest. - Very good, sir. 692 01:01:00,957 --> 01:01:02,857 Field Marshal. 693 01:01:30,853 --> 01:01:33,788 - Where is he? - In the small room. 694 01:01:35,091 --> 01:01:37,616 - Aldinger. - Yes, sir. 695 01:01:46,202 --> 01:01:50,195 - Colonel. - I'll try to be as brief as possible. 696 01:01:50,306 --> 01:01:52,797 - Perhaps you'd better keep an eye on the corridor. - Yes, sir. 697 01:02:00,950 --> 01:02:04,909 - Well? - We are faced with an immediate decision, sir. 698 01:02:05,021 --> 01:02:07,455 Three of our men were arrested in Berlin yesterday. 699 01:02:07,557 --> 01:02:09,582 They'll been made to talk, of course. 700 01:02:09,692 --> 01:02:13,150 But fortunately their knowledge of the people involved is... limited. 701 01:02:13,262 --> 01:02:16,629 Nevertheless, in the opinion of everyone, there's no time to be lost. 702 01:02:16,733 --> 01:02:19,224 We must act at once. 703 01:02:19,335 --> 01:02:23,795 - And it's all set. Definitely. - So I understand, sir. 704 01:02:23,906 --> 01:02:26,272 The general's extremely anxious to know... 705 01:02:26,375 --> 01:02:29,071 if you're in a position to speak for the commanders you mentioned to him. 706 01:02:29,178 --> 01:02:32,841 At my word from this instant, they're prepared to follow my lead. 707 01:02:32,949 --> 01:02:36,146 Then I have the field marshal's permission to inform General Stulpnagel... 708 01:02:36,252 --> 01:02:39,483 we may now act at will and without further consultation? 709 01:02:43,392 --> 01:02:46,953 Wait here, Colonel. Come with me, Ruge. 710 01:02:50,299 --> 01:02:52,665 - Clear this room, Aldinger. - Yes, sir. 711 01:02:54,670 --> 01:02:58,037 Outside. Never mind about that. Outside. 712 01:02:59,976 --> 01:03:02,376 Field Marshal Rommel speaking. 713 01:03:02,478 --> 01:03:04,810 Put me through to Field Marshal Keitel. 714 01:03:07,250 --> 01:03:11,243 I've got to be certain, absolutely certain. 715 01:03:11,354 --> 01:03:14,221 We can't go through with this if there's even the remotest sign of sense there. 716 01:03:14,323 --> 01:03:16,416 [Ringing] 717 01:03:19,128 --> 01:03:22,359 - Keitel. - Rommel. 718 01:03:22,465 --> 01:03:24,365 Now listen very carefully, Keitel. 719 01:03:24,467 --> 01:03:26,765 I've got to see the führer at once. 720 01:03:26,869 --> 01:03:29,838 Somewhere in France. I can't explain on the telephone... 721 01:03:29,939 --> 01:03:33,431 but you must make him understand that it's a matter of the greatest urgency. 722 01:03:33,543 --> 01:03:35,977 I suggest tomorrow morning. 723 01:03:36,078 --> 01:03:38,205 [Young Narrating] On June 17... 724 01:03:38,314 --> 01:03:42,978 they met in Hitler's underground stronghold at Margival near Soissons. 725 01:03:43,085 --> 01:03:46,145 This is an extremely difficult duty, my führer. 726 01:03:46,255 --> 01:03:48,849 But circumstances leave me with no choice. 727 01:03:48,958 --> 01:03:52,257 We've reached a crisis that calls for a decision on the highest level. 728 01:03:52,361 --> 01:03:55,990 But you've said that! You've said that before! 729 01:03:56,098 --> 01:03:58,089 Every time I talk to you we're facing another crisis. 730 01:03:58,201 --> 01:04:02,433 When the enemy has overwhelming superiority on land, at sea and in the air... 731 01:04:02,538 --> 01:04:05,006 and continues to grow stronger with every hour... 732 01:04:05,107 --> 01:04:07,337 while we grow weaker at the same rate... 733 01:04:07,443 --> 01:04:09,206 that to me is a crisis by any standards that I understand. 734 01:04:09,278 --> 01:04:11,329 A crisis that should be examined promptly and realistically. 735 01:04:11,364 --> 01:04:13,381 A crisis that should be examined promptly and realistically. 736 01:04:13,516 --> 01:04:16,952 That's you! That's you! Like always! 737 01:04:17,086 --> 01:04:19,646 When everything's going well, you're willing enough. 738 01:04:19,789 --> 01:04:22,087 But at the first sign of a difficulty... 739 01:04:22,191 --> 01:04:24,091 you become a defeatist, a complete defeatist. 740 01:04:24,193 --> 01:04:28,095 Are you perhaps interested why you didn't succeed von Rundstedt? 741 01:04:28,231 --> 01:04:31,894 This is why! 742 01:04:32,034 --> 01:04:35,492 It maybe had been better if I'd replaced you altogether! 743 01:04:37,139 --> 01:04:40,131 Have you at least a little confidence in me? 744 01:04:40,276 --> 01:04:43,871 More it would seem than the führer has in me. May I continue? 745 01:04:44,013 --> 01:04:47,210 And what my V-bombs are doing to London, has no one told you? 746 01:04:47,350 --> 01:04:50,251 Yes, sir. But why not to the beachheads? 747 01:04:50,353 --> 01:04:52,878 Because that's not their purpose. They have not that accuracy. 748 01:04:53,022 --> 01:04:55,490 They need a whole city for a target. Then they cannot miss. 749 01:04:55,625 --> 01:04:59,527 Then why not the embarkation ports... Plymouth, Southampton. Portsmouth? 750 01:04:59,629 --> 01:05:02,598 No, no, no, no! That's... 751 01:05:02,732 --> 01:05:07,965 That's exactly what I mean when I say you're no good at thinking above the battlefield. 752 01:05:08,070 --> 01:05:10,561 The British don't care for those villages. 753 01:05:10,706 --> 01:05:12,640 It's their London that they love. 754 01:05:12,775 --> 01:05:15,869 They don't want to see it destroyed the way I'm going to destroy it. 755 01:05:16,012 --> 01:05:18,310 In two more weeks, remember my words. 756 01:05:18,414 --> 01:05:21,542 They'll be screaming for surrender. Just wait. You'll see. 757 01:05:21,651 --> 01:05:23,744 To continue, sir. 758 01:05:23,886 --> 01:05:26,582 The struggle is over on this front. 759 01:05:26,689 --> 01:05:29,681 Within these two weeks, you must be prepared to see the enemy... 760 01:05:29,825 --> 01:05:32,851 break through our lines and push out into the interior of France. 761 01:05:32,995 --> 01:05:34,929 Militarily, the end is already in sight. 762 01:05:35,064 --> 01:05:38,761 - We have nothing more to throw in. - Hmph. 763 01:05:38,868 --> 01:05:40,836 What is it you're proposing? 764 01:05:40,970 --> 01:05:44,599 - That we surrender? - I give you the facts, sir. 765 01:05:44,707 --> 01:05:47,335 I only ask that you draw the proper conclusions. 766 01:05:47,443 --> 01:05:50,708 Proper to whom? To you! 767 01:05:56,852 --> 01:06:00,982 I suggest to you, Rommel, that you confine your genius to fighting... 768 01:06:01,090 --> 01:06:05,322 and leave the conduct of the war to those who are responsible for it! 769 01:06:05,428 --> 01:06:07,362 My apologies, sir. 770 01:06:07,496 --> 01:06:10,192 Now, if the führer will honor me with his advice... 771 01:06:10,299 --> 01:06:13,666 The V-weapon, for your information, happens to be only the first... 772 01:06:13,769 --> 01:06:18,502 in a whole series of weapons that will completely revolutionize all warfare! 773 01:06:18,607 --> 01:06:22,099 I've a second a hundred times as powerful and a third in mind... 774 01:06:22,211 --> 01:06:24,338 a thousand times more destructive than the second! 775 01:06:24,447 --> 01:06:26,438 But the crisis is now, sir. 776 01:06:26,549 --> 01:06:30,781 I've a dozen others, all of them capable of turning the whole course of the war! 777 01:06:30,886 --> 01:06:34,049 But what about now, sir? What are we to do tomorrow morning? 778 01:06:34,156 --> 01:06:37,148 While you've been deciding that all is lost... 779 01:06:37,259 --> 01:06:39,750 we've been working, working miracles... 780 01:06:39,862 --> 01:06:43,059 determining the course of history for centuries to come! 781 01:06:43,165 --> 01:06:45,599 In the workshops, in the laboratories... 782 01:06:45,701 --> 01:06:48,101 we've been turning out machines of destruction such as... 783 01:06:48,204 --> 01:06:50,798 the enemy has never dreamed of! 784 01:06:50,906 --> 01:06:54,808 I have one in mind... I have a weapon in mind... 785 01:06:59,615 --> 01:07:03,483 [Young Narrating] Now, definitely committed to the plot to assassinate his führer... 786 01:07:03,586 --> 01:07:07,181 Rommel was still trying to whip fight into his crumbling front... 787 01:07:07,289 --> 01:07:11,191 when on June 17 on a country road near a village... 788 01:07:11,293 --> 01:07:14,956 with the ominous name of Montgomery... 789 01:07:15,998 --> 01:07:18,831 - [Plane Diving] - Aircraft. 790 01:07:30,880 --> 01:07:33,508 [Machine Gun Firing] 791 01:07:35,117 --> 01:07:37,642 [Tires Screeching] 792 01:08:05,881 --> 01:08:08,475 Three days later, on July 20... 793 01:08:08,584 --> 01:08:12,315 while Rommel still lay unconscious in a hospital in France... 794 01:08:12,421 --> 01:08:16,118 Adolf Hitler and his staff gathered for their fateful conference... 795 01:08:16,225 --> 01:08:20,594 in a fortified barracks at his headquarters in East Prussia. 796 01:09:04,206 --> 01:09:07,505 The führer, gentlemen. 797 01:09:09,512 --> 01:09:12,743 He handles his panzers like a cavalry officer. 798 01:09:12,848 --> 01:09:15,078 Thank you, gentlemen. 799 01:09:20,189 --> 01:09:22,749 - My führer. - Yes. 800 01:09:22,858 --> 01:09:24,792 - Stauffenberg, sir. - Yes! Yes, yes. 801 01:09:24,894 --> 01:09:27,590 - Stauffenberg, of course, from General Fromm. - Yes, sir. 802 01:09:27,696 --> 01:09:29,789 - Good to see you again. - Thank you, my führer. 803 01:09:29,899 --> 01:09:35,098 Uh... Gentlemen. Your attention, please. 804 01:09:35,204 --> 01:09:39,436 Excuse me, please. I have a report from General Fromm. 805 01:09:48,984 --> 01:09:52,545 - Where's Goering? - On his way now, sir. 806 01:09:52,655 --> 01:09:56,091 - Well, when you are fat, you don't move so fast. - [Laughing] 807 01:10:00,362 --> 01:10:02,387 - Colonel-Count von Stauffenberg? - Yes. 808 01:10:02,498 --> 01:10:04,398 - Telephone, sir. - Thank you. 809 01:10:09,705 --> 01:10:12,037 Excuse me. 810 01:10:29,458 --> 01:10:34,157 [Hitler] All right. Suppose we start with the Russian Front. 811 01:11:00,289 --> 01:11:03,952 Führer. Führer! 812 01:11:22,911 --> 01:11:24,936 [Coughing] 813 01:11:27,049 --> 01:11:29,882 Are you all right, my führer? 814 01:11:31,220 --> 01:11:35,088 Yeah. I'm all right. 815 01:11:37,393 --> 01:11:41,727 [Young Narrating] For that failure, 5,000 suspects paid with their lives... 816 01:11:41,830 --> 01:11:45,425 during the few days that Hitler spent in hospital. 817 01:11:45,534 --> 01:11:49,698 As for Rommel, recuperating at Herrlingen from injuries that would have destroyed... 818 01:11:49,805 --> 01:11:51,705 any but the toughest of men... 819 01:11:51,807 --> 01:11:54,901 all public mention of his name suddenly stopped... 820 01:11:55,010 --> 01:11:56,944 and the complete and official silence... 821 01:11:57,046 --> 01:12:00,641 settled over the subject of the nation's most-celebrated soldier. 822 01:12:00,749 --> 01:12:05,099 For three months, he remained in this sinister isolation... 823 01:12:05,134 --> 01:12:09,449 - [Ringing] - until the afternoon of October 13 in 1944. 824 01:12:09,558 --> 01:12:12,220 - Keitel? - How are you, Rommel? 825 01:12:12,328 --> 01:12:16,025 - Getting along, thank you. - Well enough yet to come up to Berlin? 826 01:12:16,131 --> 01:12:20,397 I'm afraid not yet. In another week or two, perhaps. Why? 827 01:12:20,502 --> 01:12:23,266 I could send a special train for you. 828 01:12:23,372 --> 01:12:26,933 That's very good of you, but I really don't feel up to it yet. 829 01:12:27,076 --> 01:12:29,237 Is there some particular urgency about it? 830 01:12:29,345 --> 01:12:32,246 How soon do you think you'll be ready for another command? 831 01:12:32,381 --> 01:12:36,215 Another two weeks, I suppose. Three at the most. 832 01:12:36,352 --> 01:12:40,482 If we send someone there, would you be able to discuss the situation with him? 833 01:12:40,622 --> 01:12:42,647 Of course. 834 01:12:42,791 --> 01:12:45,259 Very well, I'll send Burgdorf. You know him, don't you? 835 01:12:45,394 --> 01:12:49,455 - I've met him. - Suppose I have him drive down tomorrow morning? 836 01:12:49,598 --> 01:12:52,226 - Would that be convenient for you? - Perfectly. 837 01:12:52,368 --> 01:12:55,360 He'll have full information and instructions. 838 01:12:55,504 --> 01:12:58,564 - Will you give my best regards to Frau Rommel? - I will. 839 01:12:58,707 --> 01:13:01,437 - And thank you very much. - Good-bye, then. 840 01:13:01,577 --> 01:13:03,977 Good-bye. 841 01:13:21,897 --> 01:13:26,425 Keitel. He's talking about another command again. 842 01:13:26,568 --> 01:13:30,698 - When? - When I feel like it, I suppose. 843 01:13:46,555 --> 01:13:50,582 Eh, he sends his best regards to you. 844 01:14:30,966 --> 01:14:33,332 [Rings Doorbell] 845 01:14:38,640 --> 01:14:41,632 - We're here to see Field Marshal Rommel. - I'll tell him, sir. 846 01:14:41,777 --> 01:14:44,507 - Would you tell him that... - Come in, Burgdorf. 847 01:14:52,154 --> 01:14:56,284 - Field Marshal. - It's good to see you again. And you, General. 848 01:14:56,391 --> 01:14:59,588 - I don't believe you've met my wife. - I haven't had the pleasure, sir. 849 01:14:59,695 --> 01:15:02,061 My dear, will you allow me to present General Burgdorf and General... 850 01:15:02,164 --> 01:15:04,064 - Maisel, sir. - General Maisel. 851 01:15:04,166 --> 01:15:06,100 This is my son Manfred and Captain Aldinger. 852 01:15:06,201 --> 01:15:08,635 - I hope you're not too tired from your journey. - Not at all. 853 01:15:08,737 --> 01:15:11,331 - Thank you, Frau Rommel. - Have you time for a luncheon and a glass of wine? 854 01:15:11,440 --> 01:15:14,841 Thank you, sir. We're due back in Berlin as quickly as we can make it. 855 01:15:14,977 --> 01:15:17,639 Very well, then. If you'll excuse us, dear. This way, gentlemen. 856 01:15:17,746 --> 01:15:21,113 - Our apologies, Frau Rommel. - Of course, but I'm disappointed. 857 01:15:21,216 --> 01:15:23,582 - Another time, perhaps. - I hope so. 858 01:15:38,534 --> 01:15:41,594 I hope it's the Russian Front, don't you? 859 01:15:45,207 --> 01:15:47,573 Make yourselves comfortable. 860 01:15:47,676 --> 01:15:49,769 Smoke, if you wish. 861 01:15:49,878 --> 01:15:53,405 I'm not like Montgomery. Smoke doesn't make me unhappy. 862 01:15:57,052 --> 01:15:59,111 At your service, gentlemen. 863 01:16:00,622 --> 01:16:03,056 We come directly from the führer, Field Marshal. 864 01:16:03,191 --> 01:16:05,853 - Yes. - And what we have to say to you... 865 01:16:05,961 --> 01:16:08,225 comes directly from his lips. 866 01:16:08,330 --> 01:16:12,892 - Yes. - Our instructions are to tell you first... 867 01:16:13,001 --> 01:16:14,992 of his deep appreciation... 868 01:16:15,103 --> 01:16:19,164 of your many heroic services to the state. 869 01:16:20,208 --> 01:16:22,108 Go on. 870 01:16:22,210 --> 01:16:25,077 And his regrets over your unfortunate accident. 871 01:16:25,180 --> 01:16:29,514 I was sure his silence meant only that there were more important matters on his mind. 872 01:16:30,886 --> 01:16:33,787 It's a pity that after such a record... 873 01:16:33,889 --> 01:16:36,255 If you'll forgive me, may we skip your reflections... 874 01:16:36,358 --> 01:16:38,258 and get to the message you have for me? 875 01:16:38,360 --> 01:16:40,692 Of course, sir. 876 01:17:06,588 --> 01:17:08,920 You'll observe that the charges are supported... 877 01:17:09,024 --> 01:17:11,618 by an overwhelming body of testimony. 878 01:17:11,727 --> 01:17:14,059 I can read, thank you. 879 01:17:24,106 --> 01:17:27,803 You've been uncommonly fortunate in deathbed confessions. 880 01:17:27,909 --> 01:17:31,470 It's all perfectly legal, I assure you, sir. 881 01:17:43,759 --> 01:17:48,696 You may inform the führer that I look forward to answering these charges in court. 882 01:17:48,797 --> 01:17:51,891 You... You don't intend to deny them, do you? 883 01:17:52,000 --> 01:17:55,197 I said, you may inform the führer that I look forward... 884 01:17:55,303 --> 01:17:57,965 to answering the charges in court. 885 01:17:58,073 --> 01:18:01,531 The führer is extremely hopeful that this matter can be settled... 886 01:18:01,643 --> 01:18:05,374 without exposing it to the inevitable publicity of a court trial. 887 01:18:05,480 --> 01:18:08,779 Very well, then. Let him withdraw the charges. 888 01:18:08,884 --> 01:18:11,819 His view is that nothing but harm for everyone could come from a trial. 889 01:18:11,887 --> 01:18:14,587 My orders are to remind you in the strongest terms... 890 01:18:14,622 --> 01:18:17,287 My orders are to remind you in the strongest terms... 891 01:18:17,392 --> 01:18:21,852 of the damage testimony like this could do to your name and reputation. 892 01:18:21,963 --> 01:18:25,023 And what does he expect me to do? Plead guilty to you? 893 01:18:25,133 --> 01:18:27,966 Well, naturally, not that, of course. 894 01:18:28,070 --> 01:18:31,665 I know what he wants. He wants me to keep my mouth shut. 895 01:18:31,773 --> 01:18:35,038 He doesn't want me to tell what happened where it can be heard. 896 01:18:35,143 --> 01:18:38,601 Well, you may tell him for me that's very thoughtful of him... 897 01:18:38,714 --> 01:18:43,242 but that I'm quite capable of taking care of my own name and reputation in my own way... 898 01:18:43,351 --> 01:18:45,876 which will be in a proper court of law. 899 01:18:45,987 --> 01:18:47,955 But to what end, sir? 900 01:18:48,056 --> 01:18:50,422 The verdict is already indicated. 901 01:18:54,096 --> 01:18:56,690 He told you to tell me that too? 902 01:18:56,798 --> 01:18:58,698 The evidence is there. 903 01:18:58,800 --> 01:19:00,995 What defense is possible? 904 01:19:01,103 --> 01:19:05,631 Then, what does he suggest? 905 01:19:05,741 --> 01:19:08,767 Before we go further, the field marshal should be warned... 906 01:19:08,877 --> 01:19:11,209 that this house is entirely surrounded. 907 01:19:11,313 --> 01:19:13,577 My orders, sir. I'm sure you understand. 908 01:19:13,682 --> 01:19:17,345 - And the both of us are armed. - What does he want done? 909 01:19:19,154 --> 01:19:22,590 His belief is that it would be to the best interests of all concerned... 910 01:19:22,691 --> 01:19:26,752 if you should see fit to relieve the situation yourself... 911 01:19:26,862 --> 01:19:29,660 quietly and without delay. 912 01:19:29,765 --> 01:19:33,792 - Go on. - The advantages of a solution like that... 913 01:19:33,902 --> 01:19:37,201 over an ugly exchange of recriminations in an open court... 914 01:19:37,305 --> 01:19:40,763 are, in his opinion, several and obvious. 915 01:19:40,876 --> 01:19:43,436 Most important to him, of course... 916 01:19:43,545 --> 01:19:46,480 would be the preservation of your name and fame. 917 01:19:46,581 --> 01:19:49,345 And he would see to it himself not the slightest suspicion... 918 01:19:49,451 --> 01:19:51,419 would be attached to the way of your going. 919 01:19:51,520 --> 01:19:55,183 As far as the rest of the nation would know, you'd succumbed... 920 01:19:55,290 --> 01:19:57,690 finally to your war wounds. 921 01:19:57,793 --> 01:20:00,353 That would be the official announcement. 922 01:20:00,462 --> 01:20:04,956 And the state would then honor your memory and your family as well... 923 01:20:05,066 --> 01:20:07,227 with a generosity that would be historic. 924 01:20:07,335 --> 01:20:10,099 That was his word, "historic. " 925 01:20:10,205 --> 01:20:14,403 Your name would live on in the glory it once deserved... 926 01:20:14,509 --> 01:20:18,912 while your wife and son would never want for either safety or comfort... 927 01:20:19,014 --> 01:20:21,346 as long as they live. 928 01:20:23,151 --> 01:20:26,985 - I have a choice? - In a sense, yes. 929 01:20:28,089 --> 01:20:31,456 The choice to die now... or later. 930 01:20:32,661 --> 01:20:34,925 It amounts to that, I'm afraid. 931 01:20:36,464 --> 01:20:39,058 How long have I to make this choice? 932 01:20:39,167 --> 01:20:42,933 We're due back in Berlin as early this evening as we can make it. 933 01:20:43,038 --> 01:20:46,974 The penalty in this case, I'm told... 934 01:20:47,075 --> 01:20:50,533 would be the garrote... death by strangulation. 935 01:20:50,645 --> 01:20:55,344 The drug I've brought with me is effective in three seconds... 936 01:20:55,450 --> 01:20:57,918 and painless. 937 01:21:14,202 --> 01:21:16,727 Tell him for me... 938 01:21:16,838 --> 01:21:20,467 that in spite of the disadvantages you've been kind enough to point out... 939 01:21:20,575 --> 01:21:23,408 I'll take the trial. 940 01:21:23,511 --> 01:21:25,411 It may be, as you say, a futile defense... 941 01:21:25,513 --> 01:21:27,538 but I think it should be heard nevertheless. 942 01:21:27,649 --> 01:21:31,676 There might be some value in it for those who hear it. 943 01:21:31,786 --> 01:21:35,882 It might even move some to stop and think for a moment or two... 944 01:21:35,991 --> 01:21:38,721 as finally I did... 945 01:21:38,827 --> 01:21:41,591 though, unfortunately, too late. 946 01:21:41,696 --> 01:21:44,995 In any case, it's my life, and that's my choice. 947 01:21:46,468 --> 01:21:49,494 I confess my disappointment with your choice, sir. 948 01:21:49,604 --> 01:21:53,267 My heart, of course, bleeds for you. 949 01:21:53,375 --> 01:21:57,038 The unfortunate part of it is that if you insist on a trial... 950 01:21:57,145 --> 01:21:59,978 I have no authority to offer any guarantees... 951 01:22:00,081 --> 01:22:02,379 for the safety and comfort of your son... 952 01:22:02,484 --> 01:22:05,544 and widow. 953 01:22:11,026 --> 01:22:12,024 [Door Opening] 954 01:22:12,059 --> 01:22:13,022 [Door Opening] 955 01:22:18,900 --> 01:22:21,300 They're coming out now. 956 01:22:27,976 --> 01:22:31,309 - All over, sir? - I believe so. 957 01:22:34,482 --> 01:22:37,918 - We'll wait outside, sir. - I won't be long. 958 01:22:39,220 --> 01:22:41,688 Well, we hardly expected such a... 959 01:22:46,061 --> 01:22:48,325 - Over already? - Wait there, please. 960 01:22:48,430 --> 01:22:50,728 I'll be down in a few moments. 961 01:22:59,374 --> 01:23:01,638 What is it, Erwin? 962 01:23:01,743 --> 01:23:04,906 I want you to be strong, darling. 963 01:23:05,046 --> 01:23:08,948 I want you to be very strong and very brave. 964 01:23:09,050 --> 01:23:13,419 - Do you understand? - Yes. 965 01:23:13,521 --> 01:23:16,149 I've got to go away now... 966 01:23:16,257 --> 01:23:19,351 and I won't be back. 967 01:23:19,461 --> 01:23:21,929 Do you want me to tell you any more? 968 01:23:22,030 --> 01:23:23,964 There's no way out? 969 01:23:24,065 --> 01:23:27,865 No. But it won't be too terrible, uh... 970 01:23:27,969 --> 01:23:31,496 They're giving me a drug. It's painless and effective immediately. 971 01:23:31,606 --> 01:23:36,236 We're leaving now, and I'll do it as quickly as possible. 972 01:23:36,344 --> 01:23:39,006 We've got guns, sir. Can't we make a break for it? 973 01:23:39,114 --> 01:23:41,082 No, there's nothing that can be done. 974 01:23:41,182 --> 01:23:43,946 They've thought of everything. 975 01:23:46,955 --> 01:23:48,855 But at least we could get them. 976 01:23:48,957 --> 01:23:52,017 There's nothing to be done, I tell you. 977 01:23:52,127 --> 01:23:55,460 I've got to do exactly as they say. 978 01:23:57,832 --> 01:23:59,732 Yes, sir. 979 01:24:04,105 --> 01:24:08,474 - Are you going to be brave now? - I don't know. 980 01:24:08,576 --> 01:24:11,636 You and Manfred will be all right. They've assured me of that. 981 01:24:11,746 --> 01:24:15,011 And nobody's to know about this but us. 982 01:24:15,116 --> 01:24:20,884 - Are you sure there's no other way? - No other, darling. 983 01:24:22,357 --> 01:24:25,815 - Have you told Manfred yet? - I'll tell him when I go down. 984 01:24:25,927 --> 01:24:28,088 No. Let me tell him. 985 01:24:29,330 --> 01:24:31,423 I can tell him so much better. 986 01:24:33,368 --> 01:24:35,928 If you wish. 987 01:24:48,249 --> 01:24:50,615 I'll get my coat now. 988 01:24:50,752 --> 01:24:53,983 It's cold, and I don't want to shiver. 989 01:25:10,171 --> 01:25:13,038 The field marshal's coming out now. 990 01:25:24,185 --> 01:25:27,313 - You're going now? - Why not? 991 01:25:29,724 --> 01:25:31,624 But are you well enough? 992 01:25:31,726 --> 01:25:35,253 Of course, I've just been taking it easy on you and your mother. 993 01:25:35,363 --> 01:25:38,264 Is it Russia? 994 01:25:41,803 --> 01:25:45,466 Good-bye, Aldinger, old dear friend. 995 01:25:45,573 --> 01:25:47,973 Good-bye, sir. 996 01:25:48,076 --> 01:25:52,069 - Take care of them. - Yes, sir. 997 01:25:52,180 --> 01:25:54,648 Can't you tell me? 998 01:25:54,749 --> 01:25:56,740 Don't ask so many questions. 999 01:25:56,851 --> 01:25:59,115 You know better than to talk like that to a field marshal. 1000 01:25:59,220 --> 01:26:01,450 But when will we know? 1001 01:26:01,556 --> 01:26:04,286 Before very long. 1002 01:26:05,827 --> 01:26:08,421 - Good-bye, son. Be a good boy. - Good-bye, Father. 1003 01:26:08,530 --> 01:26:11,431 You'll stop them, won't you? 1004 01:26:11,533 --> 01:26:13,524 We'll see. 1005 01:26:22,410 --> 01:26:24,310 [Mouths Words] 1006 01:26:26,047 --> 01:26:28,072 Good-bye, dear. 1007 01:26:29,551 --> 01:26:31,883 [Engine Starting] 1008 01:26:41,229 --> 01:26:43,322 [Young Narrating] During that last short ride... 1009 01:26:43,431 --> 01:26:45,592 what may Rommel's thoughts have been? 1010 01:26:45,700 --> 01:26:50,569 Were they bitter that he had learned too slowly and struck too late? 1011 01:26:50,672 --> 01:26:54,039 Or did they go back to the desert, where his military genius... 1012 01:26:54,142 --> 01:26:56,474 had first electrified the world? 1013 01:26:56,578 --> 01:26:59,342 First, at Mikkeli. 1014 01:27:01,983 --> 01:27:04,213 Then Tobruk. 1015 01:27:06,454 --> 01:27:09,048 Yes, and even El Alamein. 1016 01:27:12,961 --> 01:27:16,419 In any case, his life and fate have best been summed up... 1017 01:27:16,531 --> 01:27:21,332 ironically enough, in the words of Nazi Germany's sternest enemy... 1018 01:27:21,436 --> 01:27:24,303 the honorable Winston Churchill. 1019 01:27:24,405 --> 01:27:29,775 [Churchill] His ardor and daring inflicted grievous disasters upon us... 1020 01:27:29,877 --> 01:27:33,404 but he deserves the salute which I made him... 1021 01:27:33,514 --> 01:27:38,577 in the House of Commons in January 1942. 1022 01:27:38,686 --> 01:27:41,553 He also deserves our respect... 1023 01:27:41,656 --> 01:27:45,854 because, although a loyal German soldier... 1024 01:27:45,960 --> 01:27:49,657 he came to hate Hitler and all his works... 1025 01:27:49,764 --> 01:27:54,133 and took part in the conspiracy to rescue Germany... 1026 01:27:54,235 --> 01:27:59,229 by displacing the maniac and tyrant. 1027 01:27:59,340 --> 01:28:04,403 For this, he paid the forfeit of his life. 1028 01:28:04,512 --> 01:28:07,845 In the somber wars of modern democracy... 1029 01:28:07,949 --> 01:28:11,851 there is little place for chivalry. 1030 01:28:21,852 --> 01:28:24,652 Ripped by: SkyFury