File:Adolf Hitler hands General Erwin Rommel his Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, Berlin, 20 February 1941 (41718920482).jpg

Adolf Hitler hands General Erwin Rommel his Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, Berlin, 20 February 1941. The excess of contemporary admiration torwards Rommel and his depiction as apolitical and critical to the III Reich is known as "Rommel myth". The myth is, however, not contemporary, as it was created as early as 1941, in order to justify the Allied faliure in North Africa, praising Rommel's role instead of accepting a defeat. After the war, the Allied Staff depicted Rommel as a good German but not Nazi soldier -'our friend Rommel'-, in an anticipation to the "Clean Wehrmacht myth". These falacies were used by West German in order to rearm during the Cold War. Nowadays, Rommel is still a hard figure to sort out, but his relations with National-Socialism are indisputable.

Orginial: Krakow-Warsaw Press Publishing / NAC Archive