Erwin Rommel was not a Nazi - Rommel's driver in the North Africa
Rudolf Schneider celebrated his 86th birthday in 2009, but his memories of Erwin Rommel the Desert Fox, the commander of German troops in North Africa, are still fresh, "The Independent" wrote on June 17, 2009.
In a conversation with journalist Kajal Milmo, the former driver of the famous military leader describes episodes that sometimes demonstrate humanity, but sometimes the brutality of fighting in North Africa. For example, he talks about the case when a group of lost German soldiers, having met in the desert with British soldiers, exchanged cigarettes with them, and after each went his own way to look for his own forces.
But he also describes another case "Once we came across 14 of our soldiers, who it seemed to us were asleep. Coming closer, we saw that each of them had a throat cut. Nearby we found the Kukri, a knife of the British Gurkha soldiers. I still keep this knife."
Once again, Rommel's non-involvement in Nazi ideas was also proved by Schneider. Despite close ties with the Supreme Nazi command and the admiration of Hitler, Rommel managed to avoid the label of a convinced fascist. "When propaganda photos were made in our unit, we hung flags with swastikas on cars. When the photographers left, Rommel ordered the swastikas to be removed. He did not like Nazi symbols and shot it. He said "I am a German soldier!"" says Schneider.
Schneider himself spent 6 years in prisoner-of-war camps and returned to East Germany in 1949. He became an expert in agricultural research, married, he has 3 children.