Erwin Rommel came up in a bar conversation last night. We both wondered how he died, and went to Wikipedia for answers. We were surprised to find that he was forced to kill himself for participating in a plot. The article wasn't clear on that part, and I am curious if it was a case of a tyrant being paranoid or if there was a plot in which the Desert Fox played a role.
Thanks!
Those involved with the July 20 plot spoke to many especially in the military. Not all were enthusiastic supporters of the plot, but many instead chose to turn a blind eye, rather than take action to prevent it.
Others expressed approval, without committing themselves to active participation.
Rommel was somewhere between these two, and so when the Gestapo started interrogating participants about who was involved in, or knew about the plot before it happened, his name came up.
With distance in time, dubious interrogation techniques, and even more dubious investigators, it is difficult to determine his exact level of involvement/approval.
Because of his hero status within the Reich, his disloyalty could be seen as evidence of the internal rot within the army and the state, so when he was arrested, he was given the option to suicide, spare his family any reprisals, and save the regime embarrassment.
The nobility and honour with which he faced his end no doubt contributed to his status both in Germany at the time, and since.
After Erwin Rommel's death and the end of WW2, his son, Manfred Rommel, gave a firsthand account of his father's arrest and murder by the Gestapo published with The Rommel Papers in 1953. I highly suggest you give it a read to understand both Rommel's last living hours and what compliance he claimed to have in the plot itself.
In short, Rommel claimed to have known about the plot but had done nothing to support or stop it. Therefore, he seems to at least have been a collaborator through his failure to report those individuals conducting the plot.