General Erwin Rommel Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Rommel (1891-1944) won the Iron Cross as a young German officer in WWI. Remaining in the army after the war, Rommel became an influential instructor, whose book on infantry tactics (1937) was admired by Hitler. As a division commander, Rommel played a key role in the conquest of France in 1940. Thereafter, he was assigned to lead the newly formed Afrika Korps, where his daring attacks earned his enduring nickname "the Desert Fox." Defeated by British General Montgomery at el-Alamein in late 1942 and driven from Africa by combined Allied forces the following year, Rommel was put in charge of defending occupied France against an expected Allied invasion in 1944. Implicated in plots against Adolf Hitler - he favored Hitler's removal from power but not his assassination - Rommel was confronted with evidence of his complicity and offered a choice between suicide (with a state funeral, immunity for his family and his involvement covered up) or being placed on trial for treason. He committed suicide by taking poison on October 14, 1944.