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The time is 1941,
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a month before Pearl Harbor.
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At 11:00 on a November night...
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a British submarine surfaced
in the Mediterranean...
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off the coast of Libya in North Africa...
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behind the German lines.
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Are you sure the light carries that far?
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It should.
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There they are.
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00:00:46,295 --> 00:00:49,492
- What's he saying?
- He says they're all set, sir.
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Tell him we're coming in.
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These were British commandos...
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and the purpose of this
carefully plotted raid...
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was the death of one man.
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Aaaah!
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Cover me.
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It's no use.
Go on without me.
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- Get hold of my arm!
- It's no use, I tell you. Get out of here!
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Did we... Did we get him?
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Are you serious, Englishman?
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Gentlemen, the following order
from General Auchinleck...
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is to all commanders and chiefs of staff
of the Middle East forces.
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"There exists a real danger
that our friend Rommel...
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"is becoming a kind of magician
or bogeyman to our troops...
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"who are talking far too much about him.
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"He is by no means a superman...
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"although he is undoubtedly
very energetic and able.
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"Even if he were a superman,
it would still be highly undesirable...
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"that our men should credit him
with supernatural powers.
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"I wish you to dispel
by all possible means...
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"the idea that Rommel
represents something more...
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"than an ordinary German general.
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"Please ensure that this order
is put into immediate effect...
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"and impress upon all commanders...
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"that from a psychological
point of view...
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it is a matter
of the highest importance."
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Signed C.J. Auchinleck, General...
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Commander-in-Chief, M.E.F.
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This is the North African
desert in June of 1942...
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and these are British soldiers
taken prisoner the night before...
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by units of the German Afrika Korps.
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Run, you fool, run!
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You! Come on, get out of there!
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Get over with the other prisoners!
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Who is the senior officer here?
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- I am, I suppose.
- Come with me.
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- What's your rank?
- Lieutenant colonel.
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Colonel, I want you to go along with
these two officers on a flag of truce.
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And tell that battery to stop firing.
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- Tell them they're... killing
their own men. - I can't do that.
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Don't tell me what you can or can't do.
I'm giving you an order.
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Here, tie this on that rifle.
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Listen, Major, I'm a prisoner of war.
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You can't give me any such order.
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You know that as well as I do.
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I'm not going to argue
the point with you.
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Either you do as I tell you,
or we'll soon find a way to make you.
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Are you going or not?
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Major! Major!
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What's the row?
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The field marshal said you're right.
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Field marshal?
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So this, then, was Rommel...
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Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel...
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commander-in-chief of the enemy army...
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and the most celebrated
German soldier since World War I.
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Already a legend in the desert,
he was a fox...
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who had chased his hunters back
and forth across North Africa...
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about as often as they had chased him...
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and his tricks and turns
had made even the Tommies chuckle...
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which is scarcely the proper
reflex to the enemy in time of war.
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In spite of which he was still,
of course, my enemy...
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the enemy not only of my country
and the army in which I served...
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but of all life as I knew it...
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not only of democracy
as free men had fashioned it...
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but of civilization itself.
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My name is Desmond Young.
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At the time of my capture, I was
a lieutenant colonel in the Indian army.
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This was my first and only sight...
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of the cool, hard,
professional soldier...
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whose scrupulous regard for the rules
of warfare had been exercised...
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in this instance,
so fortunately for myself.
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Two years and four months later...
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while the British and Americans
were fighting their way across Europe...
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Erwin Rommel was dead.
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He was dead, the Nazis reported...
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of wounds gallantly received
on the field of honor.
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But the Nazis were great liars,
of course.
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Many people wondered.
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For already there were mysterious
rumors floating across the battle lines.
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So, when the war was over
and my military life behind me...
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I gave myself a mission.
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I set out to discover
what actually had happened to him.
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What was the truth about his death...
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and on what field of honor had he died?
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In a modest home in
the tiny village of
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Herrlingen by Ulm in
Wurttemberg, Germany...
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I talked long and often
with Rommel's son and widow...
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and examined his letters,
reports and other papers.
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In Germany,
I talked to soldiers...
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who had served with him,
over him and under him;
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In England,
with men who had fought against him...
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from field marshals to desert rats.
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And in both countries, of course...
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I went to the official records.
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Based on these facts...
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what now follows
is the true story of Erwin Rommel.
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The beginning of the end
for this single-minded soldier...
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came at 9:30 on the evening
of October 23, 1942...
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when at El Alamein
six miles of British guns...
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Fire!
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I discovered that actually
Rommel was not in Africa...
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when the storm of battle broke.
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Suffering from
a chronic diphtheria of the nose...
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he had been relieved of his command
a month before...
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and flown back to a hospital in Germany.
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But when the telephone rang
at his bedside...
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and a familiar voice from Berlin
called on him once more...
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he rose and was in a plane on the way
back to the desert within hours.
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- Thank you, Bayerlein. Still a
dandy, I see. - Just luck, sir.
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- Welcome back.
- Good to see you, sir.
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- Shall we take a look at those maps?
- Over here.
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- How've you been, Bayerlein?
- Oh, very well, I suppose.
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- Did you see Frau Rommel? - Yes, she
came to stay a week, she and Manfred.
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- Well, I hope...
- How does it look today?
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Oh, looks like
they've got too much for us.
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If they keep this up, I've no idea
how we're going to get out of it.
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- Not with the amount of petrol we've got.
- But we've got petrol?
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- Some, but not enough.
- You mean it's still on the way.
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- Neither on the way nor any
prospect of it. - Who told you that?
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I've talked to Rome three times. There's no
petrol on the way nor any committed to us.
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Schultz. Aldinger.
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- What about the tanks? Did they come?
- None.
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- None since I left?
- No. None since August.
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- What about the guns?
- Nothing, I tell you.
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- And no petrol at all?
- Not a pint.
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This is correct from the hour.
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Get me a stool, will you?
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Here's where it's worst. 15th's in
a bad way, barely hanging together.
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- What's this?
- A trailer division. They came in here.
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- Yes, I see. How far's this armor?
- No further.
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- They're doing pretty well there.
- Where are my maps?
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Bring the 21st north through here.
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- Move the 90th forward here.
- They'll hook up.
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That's right.
Now tell me this.
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- Is Montgomery sending his
infantry in first? - Naturally.
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Then let's give him a surprise.
Let's send our
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tanks and blow a hole
through that infantry.
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If it works, we'll be on top of his
tanks before he knows what hit him.
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- Very good, sir. - If it doesn't work,
we'll know better than to try it next time.
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- Come on, Aldinger.
- You're not going up now, are you?
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Don't you think you oughta
turn in for an hour or so?
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- After three weeks of being turned in?
- We're away, sir?
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Let's head north
and go in with the 21st.
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But there was now another fox
in the desert...
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an even craftier one, perhaps.
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And if the battle boiled into confusion
during the next few days...
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it was a confusion that was clearly
more and more in Montgomery's favor.
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Have you found the field marshal yet?
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No, sir.
He's out at the front again.
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I don't know how the men
on line feel about it...
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but so far as the staff is concerned, I'd
just as soon have a commander-in-chief...
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with a little bit
of cowardice about him.
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Just enough to come back at headquarters
every now and then.
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Keep after him, will you?
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By the tenth day of the battle...
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not even Rommel could have
any doubt as to its outcome.
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There's a limit to this sort of thing.
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You can't just go on indefinitely
until the last man's dead.
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It's all very gallant and all that,
but it's also pretty idiotic.
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Von Thoma wants to pull back to Djerba.
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- What about Müller?
- No answer as yet, sir.
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- Where're you from, son?
- Goslar, sir.
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Really? I was stationed in Goslar once
with a mountain battalion.
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- We did a lot of skiing there. Do
you know that run? - Very well, sir.
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- Are you any good?
- Well, sir, two years ago...
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- Are you sure you understood?
- Yes. I had him repeat it back to me.
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- Are you keeping after Müller?
- Yes, sir.
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- Have you tried Berlin?
- Call if you can.
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- Nothing yet, though. - Nobody knows the
situation. I sent him the whole story.
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- If there's anything he can do, he will.
- No matter what you say...
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to Berlin we're only a side show
and you know it.
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00:20:38,646 --> 00:20:41,297
- Well, what?
- Müller's in a bad way.
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- How bad?
- Very, I'm afraid.
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If he doesn't pull back soon,
he won't have anything to pull back.
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00:20:46,198 --> 00:20:49,165
- Well, where is he? - His command car
is gone. He's working in a carrier.
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And if he's got more than 40 tanks left,
I'd be greatly surprised.
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00:20:52,278 --> 00:20:55,890
- How about the Italians? - Müller thinks
they've had as much as they can take.
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00:20:55,991 --> 00:20:57,813
Rome calling, sir.
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00:21:00,631 --> 00:21:03,664
- Well?
- Field Marshal Kesselring regrets.
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00:21:03,767 --> 00:21:06,581
Well, that eliminates
any further speculation anyway.
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00:21:09,014 --> 00:21:11,764
It's now a simple matter
of mathematics.
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00:21:11,862 --> 00:21:14,545
With the petrol we've got left,
we have two choices:
194
00:21:14,646 --> 00:21:17,068
We can remain here
and be destroyed...
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00:21:17,174 --> 00:21:20,207
or we can pull out tonight and
dig in somewhere for the next round.
196
00:21:20,310 --> 00:21:22,551
- You think we still can?
- Pull out? Of course. Why not?
197
00:21:22,582 --> 00:21:24,404
Montgomery's got no petrol shortage.
198
00:21:24,502 --> 00:21:26,574
But Montgomery's
a very deliberate fellow.
199
00:21:26,678 --> 00:21:29,460
He wouldn't dream of leaping after me
the way I'd leap after him.
200
00:21:29,558 --> 00:21:32,275
- He'd have to think about it. - I don't
see what else there is to be done.
201
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There's nothing else.
Let's have plan "C."
202
00:21:34,294 --> 00:21:36,945
Notify all commanding officers
to stand by for important orders.
203
00:21:37,046 --> 00:21:39,599
- If we can move quickly enough...
- Berlin calling, sir.
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00:21:39,702 --> 00:21:41,873
- Who in Berlin?
- The führer.
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00:21:58,166 --> 00:21:59,988
Signed Adolf Hitler.
206
00:22:00,086 --> 00:22:03,981
"The situation requires that the El
Alamein position be held to the last man.
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00:22:04,086 --> 00:22:06,860
There is to be no retreat, not
so much as one millimeter.
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00:22:06,886 --> 00:22:08,367
It must be victory or death."
209
00:22:08,439 --> 00:22:10,740
- I can't believe it.
- Have you still got Berlin?
210
00:22:10,838 --> 00:22:13,042
- Yes, sir.
- Ask him to repeat that message.
211
00:22:13,143 --> 00:22:16,404
- Yes, sir. - I know, but it's not
him. It's those hoodlums again...
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00:22:16,502 --> 00:22:19,601
those thieves and crooks and murderers,
those toy soldiers...
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00:22:19,702 --> 00:22:23,980
those dummy generals with their books
and charts and maps and pointers!
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00:22:24,118 --> 00:22:26,289
How can he listen to such nonentities?
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00:22:26,422 --> 00:22:28,757
How can he even stand
the smell of such filth?
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00:22:28,855 --> 00:22:31,440
- Why doesn't he use his own intelligence?
- I have your repeat, sir.
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00:22:31,542 --> 00:22:33,364
Well, go ahead, read it.
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00:22:33,494 --> 00:22:37,389
"The situation requires that the El
Alamein position be held to the last man.
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00:22:37,526 --> 00:22:40,079
"There is to be no retreat,
not so much as one millimeter.
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00:22:40,214 --> 00:22:43,182
It must be victory or death. "
Signed, Adolf Hitler."
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00:22:44,823 --> 00:22:47,757
- It's incredible. - You're not going
to pay attention to such nonsense?
222
00:22:47,894 --> 00:22:50,862
It's an order, Bayerlein, a military
order from general headquarters...
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00:22:50,998 --> 00:22:54,642
a clear, straight, stupid, criminal
military order from general headquarters.
224
00:22:54,775 --> 00:22:58,222
And what are you going to do,
double the insanity by obeying it?
225
00:22:58,358 --> 00:23:00,780
We've got the best soldiers
in the German army here.
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00:23:00,918 --> 00:23:04,017
They may be just hanging on now,
but they're still a force, they're still fighting.
227
00:23:04,150 --> 00:23:06,736
If we take them out now,
they can fight again tomorrow.
228
00:23:06,870 --> 00:23:09,739
But this... this is shear madness.
It's out of the Middle Ages.
229
00:23:09,878 --> 00:23:13,621
Nobody has said "victory or death" since
people fought with bows and arrows.
230
00:23:13,718 --> 00:23:16,271
Why, this is an order
to throw away an entire army.
231
00:23:16,406 --> 00:23:20,148
If I may remind you, sir, here in the
field these men are yours, not his.
232
00:23:20,246 --> 00:23:22,384
- I just can't understand it.
- I can. He's insane.
233
00:23:22,519 --> 00:23:26,796
He's not insane. He's...
But neither am I.
234
00:23:34,614 --> 00:23:38,356
Pull them out, Bayerlein.
I'll argue with him about it later.
235
00:24:14,262 --> 00:24:17,677
The end came in Tunis when
the Axis forces were caught...
236
00:24:17,814 --> 00:24:19,985
between the British, the Free French...
237
00:24:20,086 --> 00:24:21,995
and the Americans under Eisenhower...
238
00:24:22,134 --> 00:24:25,517
and surrendered unconditionally.
239
00:24:27,606 --> 00:24:31,151
But the Afrika Korps
went into captivity without its leader.
240
00:24:31,254 --> 00:24:35,247
For, a month before the end,
Rommel had again fallen ill...
241
00:24:35,350 --> 00:24:37,968
and been invalided back
to the hospital in Germany.
242
00:24:46,870 --> 00:24:49,620
- Good morning, Sergeant.
- Good morning, Frau Rommel, Manfred.
243
00:24:49,718 --> 00:24:53,035
- Morning.
- Dr. Strolin.
244
00:24:53,142 --> 00:24:57,168
- Karl Strolin, Stuttgart. - Dr. Strolin
is an old friend of the field marshal's.
245
00:24:57,270 --> 00:24:59,691
I understand you'll find him
much better this morning.
246
00:24:59,798 --> 00:25:01,685
All he needed was a little rest.
247
00:25:09,270 --> 00:25:12,499
Frau Rommel...
248
00:25:12,598 --> 00:25:15,664
Manfred Rommel...
249
00:25:18,230 --> 00:25:21,645
and Dr. Karl Strolin.
250
00:25:21,750 --> 00:25:23,660
From Stuttgart?
251
00:25:23,766 --> 00:25:26,483
Not only from,
but lord mayor of.
252
00:25:28,598 --> 00:25:30,965
Don't tell me he's on the list.
253
00:25:34,902 --> 00:25:37,749
"Dr. Karl Strolin,
lord mayor of Stuttgart."
254
00:25:39,542 --> 00:25:42,193
She says he's an old friend
of the field marshal.
255
00:25:42,294 --> 00:25:44,116
Nevertheless, here he is.
256
00:25:44,214 --> 00:25:46,254
"To be kept under
the closest observation...
257
00:25:46,358 --> 00:25:49,392
whenever discovered
beyond the precincts of Stuttgart."
258
00:25:51,542 --> 00:25:54,477
Not that it could really
be described as an argument.
259
00:25:54,582 --> 00:25:57,233
It's impossible to have
an argument with him...
260
00:25:57,334 --> 00:25:59,984
in the sense that you and I
could have an argument.
261
00:26:00,086 --> 00:26:02,803
He raves, he screams,
he goes into such hysterics...
262
00:26:02,902 --> 00:26:06,163
that it's like trying to make sense
with a panic-stricken woman.
263
00:26:06,262 --> 00:26:08,651
He called him a coward.
264
00:26:08,758 --> 00:26:11,627
Did he really use that word to you?
265
00:26:11,734 --> 00:26:13,839
Not once, but several times.
266
00:26:13,942 --> 00:26:18,764
In Russia, he said, officers like me
have been put against the wall and shot.
267
00:26:18,870 --> 00:26:21,488
Now must I think it couldn't
happen to me too.
268
00:26:21,590 --> 00:26:26,096
That was his thanks, that was his gratitude
for all that Erwin has done for him.
269
00:26:26,198 --> 00:26:28,980
On the other hand, you mustn't
hold people too accountable...
270
00:26:29,078 --> 00:26:31,925
for everything they say
when they're emotionally upset.
271
00:26:32,022 --> 00:26:35,950
The war is not going well,
and he's naturally worried.
272
00:26:36,054 --> 00:26:38,290
But I'm afraid it will be a long time...
273
00:26:38,390 --> 00:26:41,172
before I forget what he did
to the Afrika Korps.
274
00:26:41,270 --> 00:26:43,277
What was that?
275
00:26:43,382 --> 00:26:47,124
When the end was near
and I asked him to get them out...
276
00:26:47,222 --> 00:26:50,866
he said he had no further
interest or concern...
277
00:26:50,966 --> 00:26:52,722
in the Afrika Korps.
278
00:26:52,822 --> 00:26:55,407
And that was their thanks.
279
00:26:56,853 --> 00:27:00,847
Rommel...
I should like to ask you a question.
280
00:27:00,950 --> 00:27:03,884
Of course, if you don't care to answer,
I quite understand.
281
00:27:03,990 --> 00:27:07,372
But with your permission,
I should like to ask it nevertheless.
282
00:27:07,478 --> 00:27:09,300
What is it?
283
00:27:09,398 --> 00:27:11,765
Do you really believe that we can win?
284
00:27:16,982 --> 00:27:19,884
- I'll tell you what he believes.
- Yes?
285
00:27:21,686 --> 00:27:23,890
He doesn't think so.
286
00:27:23,990 --> 00:27:26,062
He told you that himself?
287
00:27:26,166 --> 00:27:27,988
He did.
288
00:27:28,086 --> 00:27:30,955
And he understands
what that'll mean this time?
289
00:27:31,061 --> 00:27:32,884
Apparently.
290
00:27:32,981 --> 00:27:34,891
Then why do we go on?
291
00:27:34,998 --> 00:27:38,927
We have no choice,
because no country we're fighting...
292
00:27:39,030 --> 00:27:42,772
England, America or Russia...
will make peace with him.
293
00:27:42,870 --> 00:27:45,041
He admitted that?
294
00:27:45,142 --> 00:27:48,142
And it's the truth, of course.
295
00:27:48,246 --> 00:27:51,693
In other words,
while he remains as leader of Germany...
296
00:27:51,798 --> 00:27:54,449
we must fight on until we're destroyed.
297
00:27:54,550 --> 00:27:57,300
Victory or death, as ever.
298
00:27:57,398 --> 00:28:02,100
I take it he didn't mention
the obvious solution to the situation.
299
00:28:02,198 --> 00:28:05,547
- What do you mean?
- Abdication.
300
00:28:07,862 --> 00:28:10,283
Now, my dear Strolin...
301
00:28:12,534 --> 00:28:15,404
- I'm afraid we must go, dear.
- Must you already?
302
00:28:15,510 --> 00:28:17,998
- I have a train to catch.
- We'll come back after supper.
303
00:28:18,101 --> 00:28:21,680
Let's have coffee together. Good-bye,
Strolin. 'T was good to see you again.
304
00:28:21,782 --> 00:28:23,855
We won't let it be so long next time.
305
00:28:23,958 --> 00:28:26,609
- Do you think they really would, Father?
- Would what, son?
306
00:28:26,710 --> 00:28:29,099
- Shoot you?
- No, no, of course not.
307
00:28:29,206 --> 00:28:32,305
That's just his wild way of talking.
You mustn't pay any attention to that.
308
00:28:32,406 --> 00:28:35,754
- Shoot his greatest general? - You
shouldn't have said that in front of him.
309
00:28:35,862 --> 00:28:38,229
Come along
and stop talking nonsense.
310
00:28:39,542 --> 00:28:42,542
- Until this evening, dear?
- Come early, will you?
311
00:28:45,110 --> 00:28:47,630
He's a good-looking boy, isn't he?
312
00:28:47,734 --> 00:28:51,890
A very nice boy too.
But were you entirely truthful with him?
313
00:28:51,990 --> 00:28:53,812
About what?
314
00:28:53,910 --> 00:28:57,488
- When you told him he would never put
you up against a wall. - But of course.
315
00:28:57,590 --> 00:29:00,939
Has the possibility ever occurred to you
that he might turn on you?
316
00:29:01,045 --> 00:29:03,828
- But why should he?
- He's turned on others.
317
00:29:03,925 --> 00:29:06,194
He'll never turn on me.
318
00:29:06,294 --> 00:29:08,242
What about some of those
fellows around him that
319
00:29:08,268 --> 00:29:10,214
don't like you? Himmler,
Bormann and that crowd.
320
00:29:10,293 --> 00:29:13,359
- Don't they ever influence him?
- Very often, indeed.
321
00:29:13,462 --> 00:29:16,877
You don't think it's possible they might
influence him against you someday?
322
00:29:16,982 --> 00:29:21,237
It's possible, yes,
but I don't see that it's very likely.
323
00:29:21,334 --> 00:29:24,400
But in the remote possibility
that they did...
324
00:29:24,502 --> 00:29:28,276
have you ever considered what might
become of Lucie and Manfred?
325
00:29:28,406 --> 00:29:32,628
I've never thought about it. But what
on Earth are you getting at, anyway?
326
00:29:32,758 --> 00:29:35,605
I think you should, that's all.
327
00:29:35,734 --> 00:29:38,549
You haven't changed a bit, Doctor.
328
00:29:38,678 --> 00:29:41,329
You always were
something of an odd fish.
329
00:29:41,462 --> 00:29:43,829
But there's no need
for you to worry this time.
330
00:29:43,958 --> 00:29:45,845
We're in no danger, none of us.
331
00:29:45,973 --> 00:29:48,395
If you'll take a word of advice
from an old friend...
332
00:29:48,534 --> 00:29:50,389
you'd better not talk like that
to everybody.
333
00:29:50,517 --> 00:29:52,306
I don't.
334
00:29:52,437 --> 00:29:56,114
Only to those I know very well
and am very fond of.
335
00:29:56,246 --> 00:29:59,312
- Good-bye, Rommel.
- Good-bye, Strolin.
336
00:29:59,446 --> 00:30:02,228
- Come again if you can.
- I'll try.
337
00:32:12,853 --> 00:32:15,374
An invasion of Hitler's
European fortress...
338
00:32:15,477 --> 00:32:17,899
was now clearly but a matter of time.
339
00:32:18,005 --> 00:32:20,394
And in November of 1943...
340
00:32:20,502 --> 00:32:23,633
Rommel made a tour of inspection
of the Atlantic defenses...
341
00:32:23,734 --> 00:32:26,963
preparatory of taking command
of the Nazi forces...
342
00:32:27,062 --> 00:32:29,745
that were gathering
to resist the assault.
343
00:33:35,126 --> 00:33:39,184
A month later, Rommel reported
to Field Marshal von Rundstedt...
344
00:33:39,286 --> 00:33:42,385
supreme commander in the West,
at the latter's headquarters...
345
00:33:42,485 --> 00:33:46,511
in the Pompadour's Palace
at Fontainebleau outside Paris.
346
00:33:56,310 --> 00:33:59,310
Field Marshal von Rundstedt,
gentlemen.
347
00:34:04,950 --> 00:34:07,088
- Ruge.
- Field Marshal.
348
00:34:07,189 --> 00:34:09,044
Gentlemen.
349
00:34:14,485 --> 00:34:16,787
- Good to see you, Rommel.
- Field Marshal.
350
00:34:16,885 --> 00:34:20,463
Well, now that you have had
an opportunity to examine it closely...
351
00:34:20,566 --> 00:34:23,054
what do you think of our Atlantic wall?
352
00:34:23,157 --> 00:34:25,524
I'm afraid I haven't quite
completed my report yet, but...
353
00:34:25,622 --> 00:34:27,956
We'll discuss it later,
whenever you're ready.
354
00:34:28,053 --> 00:34:32,144
I don't imagine the mighty Eisenhower
will be on us for another day or so.
355
00:34:32,245 --> 00:34:34,612
It wasn't too much a tax
on your strength, I hope.
356
00:34:34,710 --> 00:34:37,099
Not in the least.
I'm entirely recovered now.
357
00:34:37,205 --> 00:34:39,922
I'm delighted. You're being
well taken care of, gentlemen?
358
00:34:40,022 --> 00:34:41,909
Yes, indeed, sir.
359
00:34:42,005 --> 00:34:44,242
Would you be so good
as to divert our friends...
360
00:34:44,341 --> 00:34:47,473
while Field Marshal Rommel and I have
a few moments of private meditation?
361
00:34:47,573 --> 00:34:49,396
Yes, sir.
362
00:35:15,765 --> 00:35:19,027
Appalling, wasn't it?
363
00:35:21,013 --> 00:35:23,435
I can't even see why it's called a wall.
364
00:35:23,574 --> 00:35:27,119
The big ports like Havre and Ostend and
Cherbourg are protected well enough...
365
00:35:27,254 --> 00:35:29,774
but the enemy's not coming in
on the Queen Mary.
366
00:35:29,909 --> 00:35:32,178
Nothing at all
is being done about the beaches.
367
00:35:32,310 --> 00:35:35,605
Why, I saw 50 places where
an army of children could come ashore.
368
00:35:35,733 --> 00:35:37,669
The trouble is labor.
We have the plans for
369
00:35:37,695 --> 00:35:39,981
fortifications the devil
himself couldn't breach...
370
00:35:40,053 --> 00:35:42,639
solid steel and concrete
from Denmark to Spain...
371
00:35:42,774 --> 00:35:47,346
but I'm afraid our French friends aren't
being as cooperative as they might be.
372
00:35:47,478 --> 00:35:50,260
Even when driven to the job,
they move like snails.
373
00:35:50,358 --> 00:35:54,286
Either we break it up while they're
still wading ashore or we're in trouble.
374
00:35:54,421 --> 00:35:57,171
- Is that the way you'd meet it?
- Stop them on the beaches.
375
00:35:57,270 --> 00:35:59,725
Crowd the water with mines
and traps and tricks...
376
00:35:59,861 --> 00:36:02,828
and hit 'em while they're busy
trying to keep themselves from drowning.
377
00:36:02,965 --> 00:36:06,610
Here, down here... and here.
378
00:36:06,709 --> 00:36:08,979
I don't agree with you...
379
00:36:09,077 --> 00:36:12,306
but the difference of opinion
will probably remain academic.
380
00:36:12,405 --> 00:36:17,107
As it happens, neither you nor I will
determine the tactics in this operation.
381
00:36:17,205 --> 00:36:19,572
Not above the regimental level, anyway.
382
00:36:19,702 --> 00:36:21,774
You mean... Berlin?
383
00:36:21,909 --> 00:36:24,593
I mean the Bohemian corporal himself...
384
00:36:24,693 --> 00:36:27,989
is assuming sole and total command
of this operation.
385
00:36:28,117 --> 00:36:32,819
You and I will function simply as instruments
of his astrological inspirations.
386
00:36:32,917 --> 00:36:36,878
And in case you're afflicted with an
understandable skepticism, this is official.
387
00:36:37,013 --> 00:36:39,468
But that's an utterly
impossible situation.
388
00:36:39,606 --> 00:36:41,907
Then you should, by all means,
explain that to him.
389
00:36:42,005 --> 00:36:43,914
You've made no protests yourself?
390
00:36:44,054 --> 00:36:46,355
After you've interfered
a dozen times or so...
391
00:36:46,453 --> 00:36:50,348
with a man's rather enthusiastic
determination to cut his own throat...
392
00:36:50,485 --> 00:36:53,202
there comes a moment
when you're inclined to stand back...
393
00:36:53,302 --> 00:36:55,505
and view the whole matter
with a certain detachment.
394
00:36:55,605 --> 00:36:58,704
- You've no objection to my... pointing
this out to him? - On the contrary.
395
00:36:58,805 --> 00:37:01,740
I bestow my blessings
on your courage and optimism.
396
00:37:11,765 --> 00:37:14,187
I'm told you once
referred to me as a clown...
397
00:37:14,326 --> 00:37:16,627
the clown of Hitler's circus.
398
00:37:16,725 --> 00:37:18,547
Oh, did I?
399
00:37:18,645 --> 00:37:21,725
If so, I think you should know I've been
a great deal more explicit about you.
400
00:37:21,781 --> 00:37:24,203
That's quite all right, Field Marshal.
401
00:37:24,341 --> 00:37:28,203
I find it almost impossible to keep my
mind on anything harsh said about me.
402
00:37:28,341 --> 00:37:30,196
Did you say it?
403
00:37:30,294 --> 00:37:34,003
Whoever said it, you've given them ample
reason to regret such a foolish remark.
404
00:37:36,021 --> 00:37:38,639
- Thank you, Field Marshal.
- Not at all.
405
00:37:38,741 --> 00:37:40,650
Is there anything else?
406
00:37:40,789 --> 00:37:43,277
I don't believe so at the moment.
407
00:37:45,781 --> 00:37:47,603
One suggestion, perhaps...
408
00:37:47,701 --> 00:37:50,701
in view of our cordiality.
409
00:37:50,806 --> 00:37:54,002
If I were you,
I wouldn't be altogether unguarded...
410
00:37:54,101 --> 00:37:57,167
about what I had to say about
this new strategic arrangement.
411
00:37:57,270 --> 00:37:59,506
I think you should know
that from now on...
412
00:37:59,605 --> 00:38:02,420
you'll be under more or less
constant observation here.
413
00:38:02,517 --> 00:38:06,379
- From Berlin?
- Friends of the management, I believe.
414
00:38:06,485 --> 00:38:09,747
Have you any information as to why I
should be singled out for such attention?
415
00:38:09,845 --> 00:38:12,595
Oh, but you're not.
We all are.
416
00:38:12,693 --> 00:38:15,344
Apparently
you didn't have it in Africa...
417
00:38:15,445 --> 00:38:19,340
but here on the continent
it's an honor that goes with staff rank.
418
00:38:19,445 --> 00:38:21,104
You too?
419
00:38:21,205 --> 00:38:24,817
My dear fellow,
I'm the commander-in-chief.
420
00:38:33,589 --> 00:38:35,629
Two months after that...
421
00:38:35,733 --> 00:38:38,733
in February of 1944,
during one of Rommel's...
422
00:38:38,837 --> 00:38:41,041
rare absences
from the Atlantic frontier...
423
00:38:41,141 --> 00:38:45,297
his old friend Dr. Karl Strolin
sought him out again.
424
00:38:58,709 --> 00:39:01,295
- Good afternoon, sir.
- Good afternoon.
425
00:39:01,398 --> 00:39:04,081
Dr. Strolin to see the field marshal
and Frau Rommel.
426
00:39:04,181 --> 00:39:06,003
Come in, sir.
427
00:39:16,917 --> 00:39:19,884
Eisenhower won't try it
until spring, of course.
428
00:39:19,990 --> 00:39:22,226
I doubt if I'll get home again
before then.
429
00:39:22,325 --> 00:39:24,147
Are we ready for him?
430
00:39:24,245 --> 00:39:26,317
We will be, I hope.
431
00:39:31,254 --> 00:39:33,261
To your very good health, Doctor.
432
00:39:33,365 --> 00:39:35,373
To yours, my dear Rommel.
433
00:39:38,069 --> 00:39:40,590
How do you know this room isn't wired?
434
00:39:40,693 --> 00:39:43,377
Wired?
Why should it be wired?
435
00:39:43,477 --> 00:39:46,347
Does our friend Himmler
have to have a reason for wiring a room?
436
00:39:46,453 --> 00:39:48,276
No, I don't suppose he does.
437
00:39:48,373 --> 00:39:51,156
But I don't think you have
to worry about this one.
438
00:39:51,253 --> 00:39:53,076
Why?
439
00:40:03,573 --> 00:40:06,737
'Cause I want to talk to you
without being overheard.
440
00:40:06,837 --> 00:40:09,684
- About what?
- About the Hitler situation.
441
00:40:11,125 --> 00:40:14,223
If this is politics, Strolin,
I don't want to hear it.
442
00:40:14,325 --> 00:40:16,430
Had you rather see Germany destroyed?
443
00:40:16,533 --> 00:40:19,216
It's not a matter I want to discuss,
I tell you.
444
00:40:19,317 --> 00:40:22,415
And I'm surprised at you.
That's a communist position.
445
00:40:22,517 --> 00:40:24,786
Oh? Is it?
446
00:40:24,885 --> 00:40:28,365
Defeat, against him, all that
sort of thing. You know it is.
447
00:40:28,469 --> 00:40:30,673
Would you call General Beck
a communist?
448
00:40:30,773 --> 00:40:34,319
- Of course not. - Or Karl Goerdeler,
the lord mayor of Leipzig?
449
00:40:34,421 --> 00:40:37,203
- I've never heard that he was.
- What about Falkenhausen?
450
00:40:37,301 --> 00:40:40,617
- No, but...
- What about Heinrich von Stulpnagel?
451
00:40:40,725 --> 00:40:43,409
And von Urach and von Haslov?
Are they communists?
452
00:40:43,510 --> 00:40:48,779
Are you trying to tell me seriously that men
like that are questioning his leadership?
453
00:40:48,885 --> 00:40:53,140
Not just questioning it.
They intend to end it.
454
00:40:53,237 --> 00:40:55,888
You mean, you've talked
to those fellows yourself?
455
00:40:55,990 --> 00:40:58,378
To them and to many others.
Not only soldiers, either.
456
00:40:58,485 --> 00:41:01,747
Church men, labor leaders,
lawyers, doctors.
457
00:41:01,845 --> 00:41:06,515
Members of the government, even. Not too
many of them, but sound men, every one.
458
00:41:06,613 --> 00:41:09,580
How long has this been going on?
459
00:41:09,685 --> 00:41:11,856
Since '38.
460
00:41:13,525 --> 00:41:16,012
And what exactly are you after?
461
00:41:16,117 --> 00:41:19,729
One, we want to get rid of Hitler
and his gang.
462
00:41:19,829 --> 00:41:22,415
If we are to be defeated,
then we prefer to be defeated...
463
00:41:22,518 --> 00:41:25,420
as human beings, not as barbarians.
464
00:41:25,525 --> 00:41:28,525
Two, whether we win or lose...
465
00:41:28,629 --> 00:41:32,524
we want to live again
like decent people, without fear.
466
00:41:32,629 --> 00:41:36,819
Look, Strolin, I don't want to
get mixed up in this thing.
467
00:41:36,918 --> 00:41:39,405
What they do in Berlin
is their business, not mine.
468
00:41:39,509 --> 00:41:41,713
I'm a soldier, not a politician.
469
00:41:41,813 --> 00:41:44,115
You still think you're perfectly safe?
470
00:41:44,213 --> 00:41:46,318
Who knows who's safe
and who's not?
471
00:41:46,421 --> 00:41:48,308
Under a sane man, you'd know.
472
00:41:48,405 --> 00:41:50,674
That's a lot of rubbish,
and you know it.
473
00:41:50,773 --> 00:41:53,194
Well, I hope you're right,
and perhaps you are.
474
00:41:53,301 --> 00:41:57,195
After all, you are his favorite, and I can
think of no one who's ever questioned...
475
00:41:57,301 --> 00:42:01,676
the deep and enduring gratitude he's always
shown to those who've served him well.
476
00:42:01,781 --> 00:42:05,937
- No one's in any danger here who does his
job properly. - You have nothing to fear.
477
00:42:06,037 --> 00:42:09,233
And if something did happen
unpredictably...
478
00:42:09,333 --> 00:42:12,203
you'd still have the comfort of knowing
that the lives of Lucie and Manfred...
479
00:42:12,309 --> 00:42:15,309
would be safe and snug
in the soft, gentle, tender hands...
480
00:42:15,413 --> 00:42:18,283
of that brave little band of patriots
he's gathered around him.
481
00:42:18,389 --> 00:42:21,389
I'm afraid that kind of talk
doesn't amuse me.
482
00:42:21,493 --> 00:42:26,162
I'm not trying to amuse you. I'm merely
reflecting on your extraordinary good fortune.
483
00:42:26,261 --> 00:42:29,076
I wish you'd think
about that too sometime...
484
00:42:29,173 --> 00:42:33,810
not the blood on his mouth, but what
a godsend he is to you personally...
485
00:42:33,909 --> 00:42:37,008
not only in your home,
but in the field as a soldier.
486
00:42:37,109 --> 00:42:40,404
How many other generals can boast
the favor and support of a leader...
487
00:42:40,501 --> 00:42:43,054
so gifted in the arts of war?
488
00:42:43,157 --> 00:42:44,980
That's enough, Strolin.
489
00:42:45,077 --> 00:42:47,860
Surely you haven't forgotten
how brilliantly he refused...
490
00:42:47,957 --> 00:42:52,081
to be seduced into an invasion of
undefended England right after Dunkirk.
491
00:42:52,181 --> 00:42:54,320
Or how brave he was at Stalingrad...
492
00:42:54,421 --> 00:42:57,040
when von Forest
wanted to withdraw from the trap.
493
00:42:57,141 --> 00:42:59,563
What other man on Earth
would have had the courage...
494
00:42:59,669 --> 00:43:02,451
to send that brief, simple,
thrilling command:
495
00:43:02,549 --> 00:43:05,713
"Don't retreat so much as a millimeter.
Victory or death"?
496
00:43:05,813 --> 00:43:09,009
- Would Napoleon himself have dared...
- That's enough, I tell you!
497
00:43:09,109 --> 00:43:11,662
Afraid even to think about it.
498
00:43:11,765 --> 00:43:14,896
Stop talking to me as if I were a child
and you a schoolmaster!
499
00:43:14,997 --> 00:43:17,899
Don't you think I know what you mean?
But what of it?
500
00:43:18,005 --> 00:43:20,755
Who asked me for my opinion?
And suppose I told them...
501
00:43:20,853 --> 00:43:23,787
that what they're doing is stupid
to the point of imbecility!
502
00:43:23,893 --> 00:43:26,097
- Who do you think would listen?
- Have you ever tried?
503
00:43:26,197 --> 00:43:28,466
Of course! I've been told
to mind my own business.
504
00:43:28,565 --> 00:43:30,605
And who's to say they're not right?
505
00:43:30,709 --> 00:43:33,075
Surely you aren't naive enough
to think that a soldier...
506
00:43:33,173 --> 00:43:36,239
must approve of every detail of his
government before he can fight for it.
507
00:43:36,341 --> 00:43:40,651
What army could exist like that, with every
man free to decide what he will or won't do?
508
00:43:40,757 --> 00:43:45,613
The truth is that a soldier has but one function
in life, one lone excuse for existence...
509
00:43:45,717 --> 00:43:48,783
and that is to carry out
the order of his superiors.
510
00:43:48,885 --> 00:43:51,667
The rest, including government,
is politics.
511
00:43:51,765 --> 00:43:55,595
And if I must remind you again,
I'm a soldier, not a politician.
512
00:43:55,701 --> 00:43:59,443
- What the government does... - Oh, stop
hiding behind that bloody uniform of yours!
513
00:43:59,541 --> 00:44:01,930
What do I care about
your philosophy of the soldier?
514
00:44:02,037 --> 00:44:04,306
All it means to me
is that you're terrified...
515
00:44:04,404 --> 00:44:07,634
hiding under a lot of rubbish
about the functions of a robot.
516
00:44:07,733 --> 00:44:10,832
Have you forgotten
that I've known you for 20 years?
517
00:44:10,933 --> 00:44:14,544
Why, I know exactly how you feel
about that abomination in Berlin.
518
00:44:14,645 --> 00:44:17,362
What I can't understand
is this chickenhearted willingness...
519
00:44:17,461 --> 00:44:21,138
to go marching right down into hell
with a beast you loathe and despise.
520
00:44:21,237 --> 00:44:25,939
Where is all the sense and courage you have
in the field? Haven't you any of it here?
521
00:44:26,037 --> 00:44:29,135
I think you'd better
get out of this house, now.
522
00:44:31,509 --> 00:44:35,437
Not until you've shown an old friend
the decency of honesty with him.
523
00:44:35,541 --> 00:44:38,956
If reason won't work,
very well, I'm prepared to go further.
524
00:44:39,061 --> 00:44:43,284
I have no intention of stirring from this
room until the truth has passed between us.
525
00:44:43,381 --> 00:44:46,926
- Had you rather I call the guard and
charge you? - That you will never do.
526
00:44:47,029 --> 00:44:50,345
And may I ask why you know so well
what I will or won't do?
527
00:44:50,453 --> 00:44:52,908
Because Lucie told me that you wouldn't.
528
00:44:54,645 --> 00:44:58,671
You... You've already
talked to Lucie about this?
529
00:44:58,772 --> 00:45:01,936
- Of course.
- And she sent you to me?
530
00:45:02,037 --> 00:45:03,859
Not at all.
531
00:45:03,957 --> 00:45:06,804
She merely told me
how you really feel...
532
00:45:06,901 --> 00:45:11,887
about our sainted leader
and his glorious reign over Germany.
533
00:45:21,525 --> 00:45:24,721
Father!
Father, the car is here!
534
00:45:24,821 --> 00:45:27,690
We saw it.
Will you please not shout?
535
00:45:27,797 --> 00:45:30,131
I've told you that a dozen times.
536
00:45:30,229 --> 00:45:33,262
- He's just excited.
- I know, but I'm tired of telling him...
537
00:45:33,365 --> 00:45:37,326
He's all right. He's still only a boy,
remember, in spite of that uniform.
538
00:45:37,428 --> 00:45:40,178
- Of course.
- You take care of yourself, dear.
539
00:45:41,717 --> 00:45:43,856
You're not cross with me, are you?
540
00:45:43,957 --> 00:45:46,826
- For what?
- For speaking to Dr. Strolin.
541
00:45:49,652 --> 00:45:51,692
No, of course not.
542
00:45:54,261 --> 00:45:56,464
Is he right?
543
00:45:58,485 --> 00:46:00,689
I don't know.
544
00:46:03,765 --> 00:46:06,383
I can't make up my mind.
545
00:46:06,484 --> 00:46:09,234
But that's a dreadful thing
he proposes...
546
00:46:09,333 --> 00:46:12,148
a great, tremendous, dreadful thing.
547
00:46:12,244 --> 00:46:15,027
I don't know that I can
go along that far with him.
548
00:46:15,124 --> 00:46:17,426
Then you shouldn't
if you don't think he's right.
549
00:46:17,557 --> 00:46:20,852
I didn't say he wasn't right,
but even so...
550
00:46:20,949 --> 00:46:25,651
is that the only way to handle it:
Treason?
551
00:46:25,749 --> 00:46:29,010
That's what it comes down to,
no matter how right you think you are.
552
00:46:29,141 --> 00:46:32,523
You think it will be better
to let things go along as they are?
553
00:46:32,661 --> 00:46:36,435
No, no, I don't. But there must be
some better way of handling it.
554
00:46:36,565 --> 00:46:41,267
I mean, if I could see him alone again
and explain the situation to him.
555
00:46:41,365 --> 00:46:45,456
Can you tell me how a man can
fight a war under such conditions?
556
00:46:45,588 --> 00:46:48,403
Isn't it enough
that we're facing an invasion without...
557
00:46:48,533 --> 00:46:52,275
No, never mind now.
You don't have to decide this minute.
558
00:46:52,373 --> 00:46:55,023
It'll come to you when it's time.
559
00:46:56,437 --> 00:46:58,804
What do you think, really?
560
00:46:58,932 --> 00:47:03,024
I can't tell you, dear.
I don't know.
561
00:47:03,157 --> 00:47:06,954
But never mind now. When the time
comes, something will tell you.
562
00:47:07,093 --> 00:47:09,329
You better go along now.
You're late already.
563
00:47:13,172 --> 00:47:15,725
- Write to me every day, will you?
- I will.
564
00:47:15,860 --> 00:47:19,057
- A little something for the journey.
- Thank you, darling.
565
00:47:21,173 --> 00:47:23,955
Good-bye, sweetheart.
Don't worry about me.
566
00:47:24,053 --> 00:47:26,060
I'll try not to.
567
00:47:42,773 --> 00:47:44,595
That's all, please.
568
00:47:49,397 --> 00:47:53,009
Good-bye, son. Take care of your
mother and be a good soldier.
569
00:47:53,109 --> 00:47:54,931
Make me proud of you.
570
00:47:55,029 --> 00:47:58,476
I'll try, Father. Are you going to
bring us back Montgomery?
571
00:47:58,613 --> 00:48:00,882
The minute he steps ashore.
572
00:48:01,940 --> 00:48:04,046
Good-bye, darling.
573
00:48:04,149 --> 00:48:05,971
Good-bye, darling.
574
00:48:17,556 --> 00:48:21,747
And then, finally, after
four long years of preparation...
575
00:48:21,844 --> 00:48:24,211
it came... D day.
576
00:48:24,309 --> 00:48:27,059
And the greatest armada
and the vastest movement...
577
00:48:27,156 --> 00:48:30,833
of men and arms in the history of
the world, rose from England...
578
00:48:30,932 --> 00:48:33,932
and set out for the assault
on the beaches of Normandy...
579
00:48:34,037 --> 00:48:36,819
and the German fortress of Europe.
580
00:51:32,501 --> 00:51:34,867
From the moment
the Bohemian corporal...
581
00:51:34,997 --> 00:51:37,844
promoted himself
to the supreme command of our forces...
582
00:51:37,973 --> 00:51:41,770
the German army has been the victim
of a unique situation.
583
00:51:41,909 --> 00:51:44,494
Not only too many of the enemy...
584
00:51:44,629 --> 00:51:48,819
but one too many Germans.
585
00:51:48,916 --> 00:51:51,535
You don't think he's ready
to give us the 15th Army yet?
586
00:51:51,636 --> 00:51:54,222
I don't see how he can,
under the circumstances.
587
00:51:54,324 --> 00:51:57,041
His astrologers have informed him
that this is only a feint...
588
00:51:57,140 --> 00:52:00,075
that the real invasion is yet to come,
north of Calais.
589
00:52:00,212 --> 00:52:03,954
The 15th Army is sitting
on those cold beaches up there...
590
00:52:04,085 --> 00:52:06,703
waiting for an invasion
that has already taken place...
591
00:52:06,804 --> 00:52:09,739
is an excellent example
of war by horoscope.
592
00:52:09,876 --> 00:52:12,211
We've got to have those troops.
593
00:52:12,308 --> 00:52:15,756
If we're not allowed to maneuver,
we've got to support these positions.
594
00:52:15,892 --> 00:52:18,926
We've got to see him again about it.
595
00:52:19,028 --> 00:52:21,581
I tell you this in confidence, Rommel.
596
00:52:21,684 --> 00:52:25,907
I don't think anything we can do
would be of the slightest use.
597
00:52:27,092 --> 00:52:30,354
The pattern for defeat
has already been set.
598
00:52:30,452 --> 00:52:34,675
"Hold fast.
Don't give up a millimeter of ground.
599
00:52:34,772 --> 00:52:37,968
Victory or death."
Wars simply can't be won...
600
00:52:38,068 --> 00:52:42,640
by men whose knowledge of tactics
is based on copybook maxims.
601
00:52:42,741 --> 00:52:46,385
It may stir schoolchildren,
but they don't stop troops.
602
00:52:46,485 --> 00:52:50,063
Give me a free hand for a few months,
and I'd make them pay for it.
603
00:52:50,165 --> 00:52:52,685
I'd make them pay
such a price in blood...
604
00:52:52,788 --> 00:52:55,472
they'd wish
they'd never heard of Germany.
605
00:52:55,573 --> 00:52:59,118
I might not be able to stop them all,
but they'd know they'd fought an army...
606
00:52:59,221 --> 00:53:03,629
not a series of stationary targets.
607
00:53:03,732 --> 00:53:05,587
And he'll never let us, of course.
608
00:53:05,716 --> 00:53:08,466
You know how firm corporals are.
609
00:53:35,028 --> 00:53:37,811
Do you happen to know Karl Strolin?
610
00:53:39,412 --> 00:53:42,674
- Strolin?
- The lord mayor of Stuttgart.
611
00:53:44,660 --> 00:53:46,962
I remember that name from somewhere.
612
00:53:47,061 --> 00:53:51,054
Or Doctor Goerdeler of Leipzig?
613
00:53:52,596 --> 00:53:54,418
You too?
614
00:53:56,020 --> 00:53:59,151
Every day that passes,
every minute of the day...
615
00:53:59,252 --> 00:54:03,311
convinces me more and more that
theirs is the only possible solution.
616
00:54:03,412 --> 00:54:06,030
Your words, you must understand,
mystify me.
617
00:54:06,132 --> 00:54:08,849
They propose to arrest him,
take over the government...
618
00:54:08,949 --> 00:54:12,462
and move immediately
to make peace with Eisenhower.
619
00:54:12,564 --> 00:54:15,663
I shall, of course, deny
that this conversation ever took place.
620
00:54:15,765 --> 00:54:18,285
But that's a particularly childish idea.
621
00:54:18,389 --> 00:54:20,778
Eisenhower's not going to
make a separate peace.
622
00:54:20,884 --> 00:54:23,731
And why should he,
with things going as well as they are?
623
00:54:23,828 --> 00:54:26,195
That part of your plan
is doomed from the start.
624
00:54:26,292 --> 00:54:29,587
But you don't disagree
with the basic proposal.
625
00:54:29,684 --> 00:54:32,270
I'm sorry, but I don't believe
I heard the question.
626
00:54:32,372 --> 00:54:34,761
In any case, if they came to you
for counsel or advice...
627
00:54:34,869 --> 00:54:36,691
would you receive them?
628
00:54:36,789 --> 00:54:38,611
Oh, no.
629
00:54:38,709 --> 00:54:40,978
No.
630
00:54:41,077 --> 00:54:43,532
No, I'm afraid not, Rommel.
631
00:54:43,636 --> 00:54:47,597
It's too late...
much too late.
632
00:54:47,701 --> 00:54:49,267
Even if they moved immediately?
633
00:54:49,300 --> 00:54:50,833
Even if they moved immediately?
634
00:54:50,933 --> 00:54:52,972
You misunderstand.
635
00:54:53,109 --> 00:54:55,116
Not too late for that.
636
00:54:56,437 --> 00:54:58,291
Too late for me.
637
00:54:59,348 --> 00:55:01,999
I'm 70 now.
638
00:55:02,101 --> 00:55:05,297
Too old to revolt.
639
00:55:05,396 --> 00:55:08,527
Too old to challenge authority...
640
00:55:08,628 --> 00:55:10,995
however evil.
641
00:55:20,597 --> 00:55:22,931
Berlin calling, sir.
Marshal Keitel.
642
00:55:30,997 --> 00:55:33,713
- Keitel?
- Von Rundstedt.
643
00:55:33,812 --> 00:55:36,529
- Here.
- Is this true about Cherbourg?
644
00:55:36,628 --> 00:55:38,799
- I'm afraid so.
- This is dreadful.
645
00:55:38,900 --> 00:55:41,169
How can I give such news to the führer?
646
00:55:41,268 --> 00:55:43,123
You've reported misfortune
to him before.
647
00:55:43,220 --> 00:55:45,043
Why should this one
present such a problem?
648
00:55:45,140 --> 00:55:48,785
But that's just it. We've had nothing
but bad news for weeks.
649
00:55:48,885 --> 00:55:51,568
Isn't there any good news
I can give him at the same time?
650
00:55:51,669 --> 00:55:53,669
Have you checked on the Russian Front
this morning?
651
00:55:53,748 --> 00:55:55,853
We're not discussing
the Russian Front.
652
00:55:55,956 --> 00:55:57,779
We're discussing yours.
653
00:55:57,876 --> 00:56:00,527
This situation in the West
becomes worse with every report.
654
00:56:00,628 --> 00:56:04,851
L- I'm actually embarrassed to give him
another disappointment like this.
655
00:56:04,948 --> 00:56:06,803
Can't you think of anything
we can do about it?
656
00:56:06,900 --> 00:56:09,966
Certainly. Give us those 90 divisions
of the 15th Army...
657
00:56:10,068 --> 00:56:11,923
who are sitting around
Calais playing cards.
658
00:56:12,020 --> 00:56:13,843
You know that's impossible.
659
00:56:13,940 --> 00:56:16,559
The führer has already explained
the necessity for leaving them there.
660
00:56:16,660 --> 00:56:19,213
Very well then. Give us permission
to pull out of Normandy...
661
00:56:19,316 --> 00:56:21,290
and set up a line
that we can defend properly.
662
00:56:21,396 --> 00:56:25,258
Your orders are to fight where you are,
and that's what he expects you to do.
663
00:56:25,364 --> 00:56:27,525
Is it possible you have no better
suggestion than that?
664
00:56:27,541 --> 00:56:30,988
One very much better, in fact.
665
00:56:31,092 --> 00:56:33,296
Make peace, you idiot.
666
00:56:54,036 --> 00:56:57,036
- Good-bye again, Rommel.
- He'll never report that.
667
00:56:57,140 --> 00:56:59,507
This very instant,
he's knocking at the corporal's door...
668
00:56:59,604 --> 00:57:01,514
whimpering with happiness.
669
00:57:01,620 --> 00:57:04,075
You must never forget this,
my dear fellow.
670
00:57:04,180 --> 00:57:07,475
Victory has a hundred fathers.
Defeat is an orphan.
671
00:57:08,660 --> 00:57:11,443
Within 24 hours,
you'll be named my successor.
672
00:57:11,540 --> 00:57:13,712
And I extend to you my deepest sympathy.
673
00:57:13,812 --> 00:57:16,463
That's nonsense.
He'll never let you go.
674
00:57:24,020 --> 00:57:26,508
But not too old, I might add...
675
00:57:26,612 --> 00:57:29,262
to wish your friends the best of luck...
676
00:57:29,364 --> 00:57:32,593
in their extremely interesting project.
677
00:57:36,148 --> 00:57:40,458
Meanwhile, with their beachheads
irretrievably secured...
678
00:57:40,564 --> 00:57:44,361
Allied tanks and men
had fanned out across France...
679
00:57:44,468 --> 00:57:47,021
and begun their race for the Rhine.
680
00:58:21,172 --> 00:58:23,212
Put these where
you can get to them quickly.
681
00:58:23,316 --> 00:58:25,171
Also those files there.
682
00:58:25,268 --> 00:58:28,498
- Keep the key, and use your... own
judgment about the rest. - Very good, sir.
683
00:58:30,004 --> 00:58:31,826
Field Marshal.
684
00:58:58,676 --> 00:59:01,490
- Where is he?
- In the small room.
685
00:59:02,740 --> 00:59:05,162
- Aldinger.
- Yes, sir.
686
00:59:13,396 --> 00:59:17,225
- Colonel.
- I'll try to be as brief as possible.
687
00:59:17,332 --> 00:59:19,812
- Perhaps you'd better keep an
eye on the corridor. - Yes, sir.
688
00:59:27,540 --> 00:59:31,337
- Well? - We are faced with
an immediate decision, sir.
689
00:59:31,444 --> 00:59:33,778
Three of our men
were arrested in Berlin yesterday.
690
00:59:33,876 --> 00:59:35,818
They'll been made to talk, of course.
691
00:59:35,924 --> 00:59:39,240
But fortunately their knowledge
of the people involved is... limited.
692
00:59:39,348 --> 00:59:42,577
Nevertheless, in the opinion of
everyone, there's no time to be lost.
693
00:59:42,676 --> 00:59:45,065
We must act at once.
694
00:59:45,172 --> 00:59:49,449
- And it's all set. Definitely.
- So I understand, sir.
695
00:59:49,556 --> 00:59:51,825
The general's extremely anxious
to know...
696
00:59:51,923 --> 00:59:54,509
if you're in a position to speak for
the commanders you mentioned to him.
697
00:59:54,612 --> 00:59:58,125
At my word from this instant,
they're prepared to follow my lead.
698
00:59:58,228 --> 01:00:01,294
Then I have the field marshal's
permission to inform General Stulpnagel...
699
01:00:01,396 --> 01:00:04,495
we may now act at will
and without further consultation?
700
01:00:08,243 --> 01:00:11,659
Wait here, Colonel.
Come with me, Ruge.
701
01:00:14,868 --> 01:00:17,137
- Clear this room, Aldinger.
- Yes, sir.
702
01:00:19,060 --> 01:00:22,289
Outside. Never mind about that.
Outside.
703
01:00:24,148 --> 01:00:26,450
Field Marshal Rommel speaking.
704
01:00:26,548 --> 01:00:28,784
Put me through to Field Marshal Keitel.
705
01:00:31,124 --> 01:00:34,954
I've got to be certain,
absolutely certain.
706
01:00:35,060 --> 01:00:38,181
We can't go through with this if there's
even the remotest sign of sense there.
707
01:00:42,516 --> 01:00:45,614
- Keitel.
- Rommel.
708
01:00:45,716 --> 01:00:47,538
Now listen very carefully,
Keitel.
709
01:00:47,636 --> 01:00:49,840
I've got to see the führer at once.
710
01:00:49,940 --> 01:00:52,787
Somewhere in France.
I can't explain on the telephone...
711
01:00:52,884 --> 01:00:56,233
but you must make him understand that
it's a matter of the greatest urgency.
712
01:00:56,340 --> 01:00:58,675
I suggest tomorrow morning.
713
01:00:58,771 --> 01:01:00,811
On June 17...
714
01:01:00,916 --> 01:01:05,389
they met in Hitler's underground stronghold
at Margival near Soissons.
715
01:01:05,491 --> 01:01:08,426
This is an extremely difficult duty,
my Fuhrer.
716
01:01:08,532 --> 01:01:11,019
But circumstances
leave me with no choice.
717
01:01:11,124 --> 01:01:14,288
We've reached a crisis that calls for
a decision on the highest level.
718
01:01:14,387 --> 01:01:17,868
But you've said that!
You've said that before!
719
01:01:17,971 --> 01:01:19,881
Every time I talk to you
we're facing another crisis.
720
01:01:19,988 --> 01:01:24,047
When the enemy has overwhelming superiority
on land, at sea and in the air...
721
01:01:24,148 --> 01:01:26,515
and continues to grow stronger
with every hour...
722
01:01:26,611 --> 01:01:28,750
while we grow weaker
at the same rate...
723
01:01:28,852 --> 01:01:30,543
that to me is a crisis
by any standards that I understand.
724
01:01:30,612 --> 01:01:32,579
A crisis that should be examined
promptly and realistically.
725
01:01:32,612 --> 01:01:34,547
A crisis that should be examined
promptly and realistically.
726
01:01:34,676 --> 01:01:37,971
That's you!
That's you! Like always!
727
01:01:38,100 --> 01:01:40,555
When everything's going well,
you're willing enough.
728
01:01:40,692 --> 01:01:42,896
But at the first sign of a difficulty...
729
01:01:42,996 --> 01:01:44,818
you become a defeatist,
a complete defeatist.
730
01:01:44,916 --> 01:01:48,658
Are you perhaps interested
why you didn't succeed von Rundstedt?
731
01:01:48,788 --> 01:01:52,301
This is why!
732
01:01:52,435 --> 01:01:55,752
It maybe had been better
if I'd replaced you altogether!
733
01:01:57,331 --> 01:02:00,201
Have you at least
a little confidence in me?
734
01:02:00,340 --> 01:02:03,788
More it would seem than the
führer has in me. May I continue?
735
01:02:03,924 --> 01:02:06,990
And what my V-bombs are doing
to London, has no one told you?
736
01:02:07,124 --> 01:02:09,906
Yes, sir. But why not
to the beachheads?
737
01:02:10,004 --> 01:02:12,444
Because that's not their purpose.
They have not that accuracy.
738
01:02:12,564 --> 01:02:14,931
They need a whole city for a target.
Then they cannot miss.
739
01:02:15,060 --> 01:02:18,802
Then why not the embarkation ports...
Plymouth, Southampton. Portsmouth?
740
01:02:18,900 --> 01:02:21,748
No, no, no, no!
That's...
741
01:02:21,876 --> 01:02:26,895
That's exactly what I mean when I say you're
no good at thinking above the battlefield.
742
01:02:26,995 --> 01:02:29,384
The British don't care
for those villages.
743
01:02:29,523 --> 01:02:31,378
It's their London that they love.
744
01:02:31,508 --> 01:02:34,475
They don't want to see it destroyed
the way I'm going to destroy it.
745
01:02:34,612 --> 01:02:36,816
In two more weeks,
remember my words.
746
01:02:36,916 --> 01:02:39,916
They'll be screaming for surrender.
Just wait. You'll see.
747
01:02:40,020 --> 01:02:42,027
To continue, sir.
748
01:02:42,164 --> 01:02:44,749
The struggle is over on this front.
749
01:02:44,852 --> 01:02:47,721
Within these two weeks,
you must be prepared to see the enemy...
750
01:02:47,859 --> 01:02:50,761
break through our lines and
push out into the interior of France.
751
01:02:50,900 --> 01:02:52,754
Militarily, the end is already in sight.
752
01:02:52,884 --> 01:02:56,429
- We have nothing more to throw in.
- Hmph.
753
01:02:56,532 --> 01:02:58,419
What is it you're proposing?
754
01:02:58,548 --> 01:03:02,028
- That we surrender?
- I give you the facts, sir.
755
01:03:02,132 --> 01:03:04,652
I only ask that you
draw the proper conclusions.
756
01:03:04,756 --> 01:03:07,887
Proper to whom?
To you!
757
01:03:13,779 --> 01:03:17,740
I suggest to you, Rommel, that you
confine your genius to fighting...
758
01:03:17,844 --> 01:03:21,902
and leave the conduct of the war
to those who are responsible for it!
759
01:03:22,004 --> 01:03:23,859
My apologies, sir.
760
01:03:23,987 --> 01:03:26,573
Now, if the führer
will honor me with his advice...
761
01:03:26,676 --> 01:03:29,905
The V-weapon, for your information,
happens to be only the first...
762
01:03:30,003 --> 01:03:34,543
in a whole series of weapons that will
completely revolutionize all warfare!
763
01:03:34,643 --> 01:03:37,992
I've a second a hundred times
as powerful and a third in mind...
764
01:03:38,100 --> 01:03:40,140
a thousand times
more destructive than the second!
765
01:03:40,244 --> 01:03:42,153
But the crisis is now, sir.
766
01:03:42,260 --> 01:03:46,319
I've a dozen others, all of them capable
of turning the whole course of the war!
767
01:03:46,419 --> 01:03:49,453
But what about now, sir?
What are we to do tomorrow morning?
768
01:03:49,555 --> 01:03:52,425
While you've been deciding
that all is lost...
769
01:03:52,531 --> 01:03:54,920
we've been working,
working miracles...
770
01:03:55,028 --> 01:03:58,094
determining the course of history
for centuries to come!
771
01:03:58,195 --> 01:04:00,530
In the workshops,
in the laboratories...
772
01:04:00,627 --> 01:04:02,929
we've been turning out
machines of destruction such as...
773
01:04:03,028 --> 01:04:05,516
the enemy has never dreamed of!
774
01:04:05,619 --> 01:04:09,361
I have one in mind...
I have a weapon in mind...
775
01:04:13,972 --> 01:04:17,681
Now, definitely committed to
the plot to assassinate his führer...
776
01:04:17,780 --> 01:04:21,228
Rommel was still trying to
whip fight into his crumbling front...
777
01:04:21,331 --> 01:04:25,073
when on June 17
on a country road near a village...
778
01:04:25,171 --> 01:04:28,684
with the ominous name
of Montgomery...
779
01:04:29,684 --> 01:04:32,400
Aircraft.
780
01:05:17,523 --> 01:05:20,011
Three days later, on July 20...
781
01:05:20,116 --> 01:05:23,694
while Rommel still lay unconscious
in a hospital in France...
782
01:05:23,795 --> 01:05:27,341
Adolf Hitler and his staff
gathered for their fateful conference...
783
01:05:27,444 --> 01:05:31,634
in a fortified barracks
at his headquarters in East Prussia.
784
01:06:13,459 --> 01:06:16,623
The führer, gentlemen.
785
01:06:18,548 --> 01:06:21,647
He handles his panzers
like a cavalry officer.
786
01:06:21,747 --> 01:06:23,886
Thank you, gentlemen.
787
01:06:28,788 --> 01:06:31,243
- My führer.
- Yes.
788
01:06:31,347 --> 01:06:33,202
- Stauffenberg, sir.
- Yes! Yes, yes.
789
01:06:33,300 --> 01:06:35,886
- Stauffenberg, of course, from
General Fromm. - Yes, sir.
790
01:06:35,987 --> 01:06:37,994
- Good to see you again.
- Thank you, my führer.
791
01:06:38,100 --> 01:06:43,086
Uh... Gentlemen.
Your attention, please.
792
01:06:43,188 --> 01:06:47,246
Excuse me, please.
I have a report from General Fromm.
793
01:06:56,403 --> 01:06:59,818
- Where's Goering?
- On his way now, sir.
794
01:06:59,924 --> 01:07:03,219
Well, when you are fat,
you don't move so fast.
795
01:07:07,315 --> 01:07:09,257
- Colonel-Count von Stauffenberg?
- Yes.
796
01:07:09,364 --> 01:07:11,186
- Telephone, sir.
- Thank you.
797
01:07:16,275 --> 01:07:18,512
Excuse me.
798
01:07:35,219 --> 01:07:39,726
All right. Suppose we
start with the Russian Front.
799
01:08:04,788 --> 01:08:08,301
Führer. Führer!
800
01:08:30,451 --> 01:08:33,168
Are you all right, my führer?
801
01:08:34,452 --> 01:08:38,161
Yeah. I'm all right.
802
01:08:40,372 --> 01:08:44,528
For that failure, 5,000 suspects
paid with their lives...
803
01:08:44,627 --> 01:08:48,075
during the few days
that Hitler spent in hospital.
804
01:08:48,179 --> 01:08:52,173
As for Rommel, recuperating at Herrlingen
from injuries that would have destroyed...
805
01:08:52,275 --> 01:08:54,098
any but the toughest of men...
806
01:08:54,195 --> 01:08:57,163
all public mention
of his name suddenly stopped...
807
01:08:57,267 --> 01:08:59,122
and the complete and official silence...
808
01:08:59,220 --> 01:09:02,668
settled over the subject
of the nation's most-celebrated soldier.
809
01:09:02,771 --> 01:09:06,943
For three months, he remained
in this sinister isolation...
810
01:09:06,977 --> 01:09:11,115
until the afternoon
of October 13 in 1944.
811
01:09:11,219 --> 01:09:13,772
- Keitel?
- How are you, Rommel?
812
01:09:13,876 --> 01:09:17,421
- Getting along, thank you.
- Well enough yet to come up to Berlin?
813
01:09:17,523 --> 01:09:21,614
I'm afraid not yet.
In another week or two, perhaps. Why?
814
01:09:21,715 --> 01:09:24,366
I could send a special train for you.
815
01:09:24,467 --> 01:09:27,883
That's very good of you, but I
really don't feel up to it yet.
816
01:09:28,020 --> 01:09:30,092
Is there some particular urgency
about it?
817
01:09:30,196 --> 01:09:32,978
How soon do you think
you'll be ready for another command?
818
01:09:33,107 --> 01:09:36,784
Another two weeks, I suppose.
Three at the most.
819
01:09:36,916 --> 01:09:40,877
If we send someone there, would you be
able to discuss the situation with him?
820
01:09:41,011 --> 01:09:42,953
Of course.
821
01:09:43,091 --> 01:09:45,458
Very well, I'll send Burgdorf.
You know him, don't you?
822
01:09:45,587 --> 01:09:49,482
- I've met him. - Suppose I have
him drive down tomorrow morning?
823
01:09:49,619 --> 01:09:52,140
- Would that be convenient for you?
- Perfectly.
824
01:09:52,276 --> 01:09:55,145
He'll have full information
and instructions.
825
01:09:55,283 --> 01:09:58,218
- Will you give my best regards
to Frau Rommel? - I will.
826
01:09:58,355 --> 01:10:00,973
- And thank you very much.
- Good-bye, then.
827
01:10:01,108 --> 01:10:03,409
Good-bye.
828
01:10:20,595 --> 01:10:24,938
Keitel. He's talking about
another command again.
829
01:10:25,075 --> 01:10:29,036
- When?
- When I feel like it, I suppose.
830
01:10:44,243 --> 01:10:48,105
Eh, he sends his best regards to you.
831
01:11:34,195 --> 01:11:37,064
- We're here to see Field Marshal Rommel.
- I'll tell him, sir.
832
01:11:37,203 --> 01:11:39,822
- Would you tell him that...
- Come in, Burgdorf.
833
01:11:47,155 --> 01:11:51,116
- Field Marshal. - It's good to
see you again. And you, General.
834
01:11:51,219 --> 01:11:54,285
- I don't believe you've met my wife.
- I haven't had the pleasure, sir.
835
01:11:54,387 --> 01:11:56,657
My dear, will you allow me to present
General Burgdorf and General...
836
01:11:56,755 --> 01:11:58,578
- Maisel, sir.
- General Maisel.
837
01:11:58,675 --> 01:12:00,530
This is my son Manfred
and Captain Aldinger.
838
01:12:00,627 --> 01:12:02,961
- I hope you're not too tired
from your journey. - Not at all.
839
01:12:03,059 --> 01:12:05,547
- Thank you, Frau Rommel. - Have you
time for a luncheon and a glass of wine?
840
01:12:05,651 --> 01:12:08,913
Thank you, sir. We're due back in Berlin
as quickly as we can make it.
841
01:12:09,044 --> 01:12:11,597
Very well, then. If you'll excuse
us, dear. This way, gentlemen.
842
01:12:11,699 --> 01:12:14,928
- Our apologies, Frau Rommel.
- Of course, but I'm disappointed.
843
01:12:15,027 --> 01:12:17,296
- Another time, perhaps.
- I hope so.
844
01:12:31,636 --> 01:12:34,570
I hope it's the Russian Front,
don't you?
845
01:12:38,035 --> 01:12:40,304
Make yourselves comfortable.
846
01:12:40,403 --> 01:12:42,410
Smoke, if you wish.
847
01:12:42,515 --> 01:12:45,898
I'm not like Montgomery.
Smoke doesn't make me unhappy.
848
01:12:49,395 --> 01:12:51,370
At your service, gentlemen.
849
01:12:52,819 --> 01:12:55,153
We come directly from the führer,
Field Marshal.
850
01:12:55,283 --> 01:12:57,836
- Yes.
- And what we have to say to you...
851
01:12:57,939 --> 01:13:00,111
comes directly from his lips.
852
01:13:00,211 --> 01:13:04,586
- Yes.
- Our instructions are to tell you first...
853
01:13:04,691 --> 01:13:06,600
of his deep appreciation...
854
01:13:06,707 --> 01:13:10,601
of your many heroic services
to the state.
855
01:13:11,603 --> 01:13:13,425
Go on.
856
01:13:13,523 --> 01:13:16,272
And his regrets over
your unfortunate accident.
857
01:13:16,371 --> 01:13:20,528
I was sure his silence meant only that there
were more important matters on his mind.
858
01:13:21,843 --> 01:13:24,625
It's a pity that after such a record...
859
01:13:24,723 --> 01:13:26,992
If you'll forgive me,
may we skip your reflections...
860
01:13:27,091 --> 01:13:28,913
and get to the message
you have for me?
861
01:13:29,011 --> 01:13:31,248
Of course, sir.
862
01:13:56,083 --> 01:13:58,319
You'll observe
that the charges are supported...
863
01:13:58,419 --> 01:14:00,907
by an overwhelming body of testimony.
864
01:14:01,011 --> 01:14:03,248
I can read, thank you.
865
01:14:12,883 --> 01:14:16,429
You've been uncommonly fortunate
in deathbed confessions.
866
01:14:16,531 --> 01:14:19,946
It's all perfectly legal,
I assure you, sir.
867
01:14:31,731 --> 01:14:36,466
You may inform the führer that I look
forward to answering these charges in court.
868
01:14:36,563 --> 01:14:39,530
You... You don't intend
to deny them, do you?
869
01:14:39,635 --> 01:14:42,701
I said, you may inform the führer
that I look forward...
870
01:14:42,803 --> 01:14:45,356
to answering the charges in court.
871
01:14:45,459 --> 01:14:48,775
The führer is extremely hopeful
that this matter can be settled...
872
01:14:48,883 --> 01:14:52,461
without exposing it to the inevitable
publicity of a court trial.
873
01:14:52,563 --> 01:14:55,727
Very well, then.
Let him withdraw the charges.
874
01:14:55,827 --> 01:14:58,667
His view is that nothing but harm
for everyone could come from a trial.
875
01:14:58,707 --> 01:15:01,297
My orders are to remind you
in the strongest terms...
876
01:15:01,330 --> 01:15:03,886
My orders are to remind you
in the strongest terms...
877
01:15:03,987 --> 01:15:08,264
of the damage testimony like this
could do to your name and reputation.
878
01:15:08,371 --> 01:15:11,305
And what does he expect me to do?
Plead guilty to you?
879
01:15:11,411 --> 01:15:14,128
Well, naturally, not that, of course.
880
01:15:14,227 --> 01:15:17,675
I know what he wants.
He wants me to keep my mouth shut.
881
01:15:17,779 --> 01:15:20,910
He doesn't want me to tell what happened
where it can be heard.
882
01:15:21,011 --> 01:15:24,327
Well, you may tell him for me
that's very thoughtful of him...
883
01:15:24,435 --> 01:15:28,778
but that I'm quite capable of taking care of
my own name and reputation in my own way...
884
01:15:28,883 --> 01:15:31,304
which will be in a proper court of law.
885
01:15:31,411 --> 01:15:33,298
But to what end, sir?
886
01:15:33,395 --> 01:15:35,664
The verdict is already indicated.
887
01:15:39,187 --> 01:15:41,675
He told you to tell me that too?
888
01:15:41,779 --> 01:15:43,601
The evidence is there.
889
01:15:43,699 --> 01:15:45,804
What defense is possible?
890
01:15:45,907 --> 01:15:50,250
Then, what does he suggest?
891
01:15:50,355 --> 01:15:53,258
Before we go further,
the field marshal should be warned...
892
01:15:53,363 --> 01:15:55,599
that this house is entirely surrounded.
893
01:15:55,699 --> 01:15:57,870
My orders, sir.
I'm sure you understand.
894
01:15:57,971 --> 01:16:01,484
- And the both of us are armed.
- What does he want done?
895
01:16:03,219 --> 01:16:06,514
His belief is that it would be to
the best interests of all concerned...
896
01:16:06,611 --> 01:16:10,506
if you should see fit
to relieve the situation yourself...
897
01:16:10,611 --> 01:16:13,295
quietly and without delay.
898
01:16:13,395 --> 01:16:17,257
- Go on.
- The advantages of a solution like that...
899
01:16:17,363 --> 01:16:20,527
over an ugly exchange
of recriminations in an open court...
900
01:16:20,627 --> 01:16:23,943
are, in his opinion,
several and obvious.
901
01:16:24,051 --> 01:16:26,506
Most important to him,
of course...
902
01:16:26,611 --> 01:16:29,426
would be the preservation
of your name and fame.
903
01:16:29,523 --> 01:16:32,173
And he would see to it himself
not the slightest suspicion...
904
01:16:32,275 --> 01:16:34,162
would be attached
to the way of your going.
905
01:16:34,259 --> 01:16:37,772
As far as the rest of the nation
would know, you'd succumbed...
906
01:16:37,875 --> 01:16:40,177
finally to your war wounds.
907
01:16:40,275 --> 01:16:42,731
That would be
the official announcement.
908
01:16:42,835 --> 01:16:47,145
And the state would then honor your memory
and your family as well...
909
01:16:47,250 --> 01:16:49,323
with a generosity
that would be historic.
910
01:16:49,427 --> 01:16:52,077
That was his word, "historic."
911
01:16:52,179 --> 01:16:56,205
Your name would live on
in the glory it once deserved...
912
01:16:56,307 --> 01:17:00,529
while your wife and son would never
want for either safety or comfort...
913
01:17:00,627 --> 01:17:02,864
as long as they live.
914
01:17:04,595 --> 01:17:08,272
- I have a choice?
- In a sense, yes.
915
01:17:09,330 --> 01:17:12,560
The choice to die now...
or later.
916
01:17:13,715 --> 01:17:15,886
It amounts to that, I'm afraid.
917
01:17:17,362 --> 01:17:19,850
How long have I
to make this choice?
918
01:17:19,955 --> 01:17:23,566
We're due back in Berlin
as early this evening as we can make it.
919
01:17:23,667 --> 01:17:27,442
The penalty in this case, I'm told...
920
01:17:27,539 --> 01:17:30,855
would be the garrote...
death by strangulation.
921
01:17:30,963 --> 01:17:35,469
The drug I've brought with me
is effective in three seconds...
922
01:17:35,571 --> 01:17:37,938
and painless.
923
01:17:53,555 --> 01:17:55,976
Tell him for me...
924
01:17:56,083 --> 01:17:59,563
that in spite of the disadvantages
you've been kind enough to point out...
925
01:17:59,667 --> 01:18:02,384
I'll take the trial.
926
01:18:02,482 --> 01:18:04,305
It may be, as you say,
a futile defense...
927
01:18:04,402 --> 01:18:06,344
but I think it should be heard
nevertheless.
928
01:18:06,451 --> 01:18:10,313
There might be some value
in it for those who hear it.
929
01:18:10,418 --> 01:18:14,347
It might even move some to stop
and think for a moment or two...
930
01:18:14,451 --> 01:18:17,069
as finally I did...
931
01:18:17,171 --> 01:18:19,822
though, unfortunately, too late.
932
01:18:19,923 --> 01:18:23,086
In any case, it's my life,
and that's my choice.
933
01:18:24,499 --> 01:18:27,401
I confess my disappointment
with your choice, sir.
934
01:18:27,507 --> 01:18:31,020
My heart, of course, bleeds for you.
935
01:18:31,123 --> 01:18:34,636
The unfortunate part of it
is that if you insist on a trial...
936
01:18:34,739 --> 01:18:37,456
I have no authority
to offer any guarantees...
937
01:18:37,554 --> 01:18:39,758
for the safety and comfort
of your son...
938
01:18:39,859 --> 01:18:42,794
and widow.
939
01:18:55,603 --> 01:18:57,904
They're coming out now.
940
01:19:04,307 --> 01:19:07,503
- All over, sir?
- I believe so.
941
01:19:10,546 --> 01:19:13,842
- We'll wait outside, sir.
- I won't be long.
942
01:19:15,090 --> 01:19:17,457
Well, we hardly expected such a...
943
01:19:21,651 --> 01:19:23,822
- Over already?
- Wait there, please.
944
01:19:23,923 --> 01:19:26,127
I'll be down in a few moments.
945
01:19:34,419 --> 01:19:36,590
What is it, Erwin?
946
01:19:36,691 --> 01:19:39,724
I want you to be strong, darling.
947
01:19:39,859 --> 01:19:43,601
I want you to be very strong
and very brave.
948
01:19:43,699 --> 01:19:47,889
- Do you understand?
- Yes.
949
01:19:47,986 --> 01:19:50,507
I've got to go away now...
950
01:19:50,610 --> 01:19:53,578
and I won't be back.
951
01:19:53,683 --> 01:19:56,050
Do you want me to tell you any more?
952
01:19:56,147 --> 01:19:58,002
There's no way out?
953
01:19:58,098 --> 01:20:01,743
No. But it won't be too terrible, uh...
954
01:20:01,843 --> 01:20:05,225
They're giving me a drug.
It's painless and effective immediately.
955
01:20:05,331 --> 01:20:09,771
We're leaving now,
and I'll do it as quickly as possible.
956
01:20:09,875 --> 01:20:12,428
We've got guns, sir.
Can't we make a break for it?
957
01:20:12,531 --> 01:20:14,418
No, there's nothing
that can be done.
958
01:20:14,514 --> 01:20:17,165
They've thought of everything.
959
01:20:20,051 --> 01:20:21,873
But at least we could get them.
960
01:20:21,971 --> 01:20:24,906
There's nothing to be done, I tell you.
961
01:20:25,011 --> 01:20:28,208
I've got to do exactly as they say.
962
01:20:30,482 --> 01:20:32,305
Yes, sir.
963
01:20:36,498 --> 01:20:40,689
- Are you going to be brave now?
- I don't know.
964
01:20:40,786 --> 01:20:43,721
You and Manfred will be all right.
They've assured me of that.
965
01:20:43,826 --> 01:20:46,958
And nobody's to know about this but us.
966
01:20:47,058 --> 01:20:52,590
- Are you sure there's no other way?
- No other, darling.
967
01:20:54,003 --> 01:20:57,319
- Have you told Manfred yet?
- I'll tell him when I go down.
968
01:20:57,427 --> 01:20:59,499
No. Let me tell him.
969
01:21:00,690 --> 01:21:02,698
I can tell him so much better.
970
01:21:04,563 --> 01:21:07,018
If you wish.
971
01:21:18,834 --> 01:21:21,103
I'll get my coat now.
972
01:21:21,235 --> 01:21:24,333
It's cold, and I don't want to shiver.
973
01:21:39,858 --> 01:21:42,608
The field marshal's coming out now.
974
01:21:53,298 --> 01:21:56,298
- You're going now?
- Why not?
975
01:21:58,611 --> 01:22:00,433
But are you well enough?
976
01:22:00,531 --> 01:22:03,913
Of course, I've just been taking it easy
on you and your mother.
977
01:22:04,019 --> 01:22:06,801
Is it Russia?
978
01:22:10,195 --> 01:22:13,708
Good-bye, Aldinger,
old dear friend.
979
01:22:13,810 --> 01:22:16,112
Good-bye, sir.
980
01:22:16,211 --> 01:22:20,040
- Take care of them.
- Yes, sir.
981
01:22:20,147 --> 01:22:22,514
Can't you tell me?
982
01:22:22,610 --> 01:22:24,520
Don't ask so many questions.
983
01:22:24,626 --> 01:22:26,798
You know better than to talk like that
to a field marshal.
984
01:22:26,898 --> 01:22:29,037
But when will we know?
985
01:22:29,139 --> 01:22:31,757
Before very long.
986
01:22:33,235 --> 01:22:35,722
- Good-bye, son. Be a good boy.
- Good-bye, Father.
987
01:22:35,827 --> 01:22:38,609
You'll stop them, won't you?
988
01:22:38,707 --> 01:22:40,616
We'll see.
989
01:22:52,627 --> 01:22:54,569
Good-bye, dear.
990
01:23:07,187 --> 01:23:09,194
During that last short ride...
991
01:23:09,298 --> 01:23:11,371
what may Rommel's thoughts have been?
992
01:23:11,475 --> 01:23:16,144
Were they bitter that he had
learned too slowly and struck too late?
993
01:23:16,243 --> 01:23:19,472
Or did they go back to the desert,
where his military genius...
994
01:23:19,571 --> 01:23:21,807
had first electrified the world?
995
01:23:21,907 --> 01:23:24,558
First, at Mikkeli.
996
01:23:27,091 --> 01:23:29,229
Then Tobruk.
997
01:23:31,378 --> 01:23:33,866
Yes, and even El Alamein.
998
01:23:37,619 --> 01:23:40,935
In any case, his life and fate
have best been summed up...
999
01:23:41,043 --> 01:23:45,647
ironically enough, in the words
of Nazi Germany's sternest enemy...
1000
01:23:45,747 --> 01:23:48,496
the honorable Winston Churchill.
1001
01:23:48,594 --> 01:23:53,744
His ardor and daring inflicted
grievous disasters upon us...
1002
01:23:53,842 --> 01:23:57,225
but he deserves the salute
which I made him...
1003
01:23:57,330 --> 01:24:02,186
in the House of Commons
in January 1942.
1004
01:24:02,290 --> 01:24:05,040
He also deserves our respect...
1005
01:24:05,139 --> 01:24:09,165
because, although
a loyal German soldier...
1006
01:24:09,266 --> 01:24:12,812
he came to hate Hitler
and all his works...
1007
01:24:12,914 --> 01:24:17,105
and took part
in the conspiracy to rescue Germany...
1008
01:24:17,202 --> 01:24:21,992
by displacing
the maniac and tyrant.
1009
01:24:22,098 --> 01:24:26,954
For this,
he paid the forfeit of his life.
1010
01:24:27,058 --> 01:24:30,255
In the somber wars
of modern democracy...
1011
01:24:30,355 --> 01:24:34,097
there is little place for chivalry.