526001
Erwin Rommel
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Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel, 1891-1944. Brilliant German Field Marshal known as the “Desert Fox.” Rare, mint condition World War II-dated Autograph Letter Signed to his wife, from your Erwin, two pages (recto and verso), 8¼” x 11½”, Cantonment Area, January 6, 1940. In German, with translation.
In his book History Comes To Life, renowned autograph dealer Kenneth W. Rendell notes that Rommel’s letters “from almost any period are rare” but that “[o]ccasionally, a handwritten postcard to his wife will appear on the market.” While Rommel’s autographic material is otherwise available, generally Rommel is found in documents signed merely with his last name. This letter—which is much more than a postcard—is thus rare.
Rommel writes his wife an interesting mixture of family and military content. He says, in full: “Dearest Lu! I still have not received mail from you. But I really hope the first letter will arrive today. With every move it takes forever for the post office to get in step. / Enclosed is Gerhard’s letter. In addition he sends a certificate of indebtedness for the 300 marks in which he tenders his life insurance policy, which is still debt free, as a guarantee of repayment. In my opinion we should help Gerhard through his studies, especially since we have security for the loan. / We wouldn’t have those couple hundred marks anyway. I think it makes no difference whether they lie in the bank or we lend them to Gerhard. I have to remember that the family once helped us out in an emergency. / Helene wrote on December 31. Mother had a nice Christmas Day. She also has better and poorer days. / Here [in Berlin] there is a big flu epidemic. So yesterday I was already in bed by 6 p.m. Today I feel much better. Currently there is nobody at the Chancellery. Monday there will be a big winter maneuver in Rheden. There is a foot of snow and the trees are heavily frost covered. / How are you? How is the heating situation? / Within the next days I will send Lothar to get my camera, snow shoes and snow boots. / A part of F.M.9 will go to [unintelligible], and I want to go there as well, if there is no change in the situation. / That’s it for today, dear Lu. / My regards and kisses for you and Manfred from your Erwin.”
Writing just after the first of the year, Rommel accidentally misdated this letter 1939 rather than 1940. This is clear because in an earlier letter dated December 10, 1939, Rommel told his wife that he would honor an urgent request by Gerhard for a loan of 300 German marks. In this letter, Rommel shows that he has completed the loan: Gerhard has sent him “a certificate of indebtedness for the 300 marks.” Obviously this letter should have been dated after, not before, the letter of December 10, 1939. At the time Rommel wrote this letter, then, World War II had already begun: Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939.
Rommel wrote this letter while he was a member of Adolf Hitler’s staff. Hitler appointed Rommel to command his bodyguard as Germany annexed the Sudetenland, and Rommel remained on his staff during the invasion of Poland. Later Rommel commanded the 7th Panzer Division, which served with distinction in the battle for France, and thereafter commanded the Afrika Korps, opposing the British forces in North Africa. His brilliance in battle, driving Allied forces back hundreds of miles, earned him a promotion to Field Marshal and the nickname the “Desert Fox.” Eventually British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, with more and better equipped troops, forced Rommel out of Africa.
Rommel served briefly in Italy before going to France, where he strengthened the German defenses against the anticipated Allied invasion of Normandy. He planned to hold the Allies on the beach until he could counterattack. But when the time for the counterattack came, Rommel could not convince Hitler to release the forces with which to do it before it was too late.
Rommel became convinced that Germany needed a change in leadership. Although he did not intend to kill Hitler, he did hope to remove him from power. But on July 20, 1944, Hitler was nearly killed in an assassination attempt, the result of a conspiracy among many high-ranking German Army officers. Hitler, acting through the Gestapo, took revenge. Rommel was implicated in the plot, but the Nazis sought to avoid a public trial of a popular hero. So Rommel was given a choice: He could face a public trial, but if he would commit suicide his family would not be harmed. Rommel chose suicide and was given a state funeral.
This is a magnificent example of Rommel’s holograph, which he has boldly penned in jet black ink. The letter is in mint condition, with only two mailing folds, one horizontal and one vertical, neither of which affects the signature. While we reject Nazism and all that it represented, we offer this letter because it is an outstanding historical piece that belongs in the finest World War II collection.
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$2,695.00
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