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