Some light began to appear at the end of the tunnel when Robertson agreed to have the rules on Wehrmacht pensions amended so that von Rundstedt could become entitled to one.25 But then the German authorities refused to pay it unless the ‘no sanctions’ clause in von Rundstedt’s release terms was confirmed by the British Military Government as making this payment legally permissible.26 The question of his denazification category was more difficult and one that the Foreign Office continued to wrestle with. The nub of the problem was that if the British released him from Category 1 it was tantamount to acquitting him of war crimes charges upon which a prima facie case existed. In addition, another stumbling block towards getting his funds released from the United States Zone was now discovered. In spite of General Hays’ assurances that clearance by the British would be recognised in the United States Zone, the denazification regulations specified that the process could only be applied in the subject’s normal zone of residence, which was the American Zone for von Rundstedt, since he had all his assets there. The German authorities in the United States Zone therefore had every right to insist on denazifying him and, as General Hays had warned, were unlikely to grant him a low enough category to enable his funds to be unfrozen. There was also the question of von Rundstedt’s accommodation in the British Zone, since it was now increasingly clear to him that he could not return to Solz. Ditha wrote to and then saw the Regional Commissioner of Lower Saxony. She took the line that since the British had suggested that her father-in-law remain in the British Zone, then they should help him find accommodation. She asked whether he and his wife could not make use of some houses at Gehrden, near Hannover, which were partly inhabited by the Army Kinema Corporation. Gehrden did hold attraction for von Rundstedt since Irtel, his former driver, came from this town, was now resettled there and could perhaps give him some help. Indeed, Irtel, who was a butcher by trade, was already giving Ditha and her children material help and Eberhard von Rundstedt remembers to this day the food that he managed to obtain for them.27 Needham’s reply was that housing was a German responsibility, but he undertook to put in a good word with the Ministerpräsident of Lower Saxony. Needham also proposed that von Rundstedt would be happier if he was termed an ‘alleged war criminal’ rather than ‘war criminal’ per se.28 General Robertson supported this idea, but considered that von Rundstedt should still remain in Category 1, although his letter to Needham of 7 July indicated that he appeared ‘to have objected even to that milder form of status’.29 It was now the turn of the Foreign Office’s Legal Adviser, J L Simpson, to suggest a possible solution. Studying British Military Government Ordinance No 179, the instrument which gave Control Council Directive No 38 legal clout in the British Zone, he noted that Category 1 was divided into five sub-categories. The fifth, entitled ‘miscellaneous’, applied to von Rundstedt. This covered ‘any individual already held in or later taken into custody who is alleged and later proved to have committed a war crime, a crime against peace or a crime against humanity’. Hence, Simpson argued, since von Rundstedt had not been tried he had not been proved to have committed such crimes and hence should not be in Category 1.30 This solution was transmitted by letter to Sir Brian Robertson on 16 August,31 but the question of the category into which von Rundstedt should now be placed remained unanswered. Within the British Control Commission, the feeling was that the Military Government’s retention of the right under Ordinance 110 to review Category 1 and 2 cases should be invoked. Von Rundstedt could then be given Category 5 status, for if he was given 3 or 4 the German authorities would then have the right to review his case, whereas they could not touch him once he was exonerated. The only problem was that this might prejudice the prosecution case against von Manstein. Nevertheless, Needham was now able to reply to von Rundstedt’s letter of 7 July. He informed him that he was no longer Category 1, but his new status had not yet been decided. Once again, he confirmed that von Rundstedt would not be subject to denazification in the British Zone, but if he left it it was at his own risk.32 Von Rundstedt, in spite of the two months’ delay in receiving an answer, was pleased with the news. ‘I am most grateful to you for all you have done’, he replied to Needham, and also confirmed that he intended to settle in the British Zone and asked Needham whether he could find him suitable accommodation. He also mentioned that he was still not in receipt of any pension and that he had offered himself as a defence witness in the von Manstein trial.33 There the matter rested for the next six weeks. Von Rundstedt remained in his Hannover hospital and Bila in her two rooms in Solz.
On 23 August 1949 the trial of von Manstein opened in the Curio Haus, Hamburg. The President of the Court was General Sir Frank Simpson, GOC Western Command, and the prosecution led by Sir Arthur Comyns Clark, assisted by Gerald Draper. Paget led the defence, supported by Sam Silkin (also, later, a Labour MP and now Lord Silkin) and Dr Laternser. It lasted, with frequent adjournments, until the middle of December. Von Rundstedt was not called as a witness and von Manstein himself was eventually found guilty on nine of the seventeen charges he faced and sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment, later reduced to twelve years on appeal. He was interned in the British military prison at Werl, but was medically parolled in August 1952. It is difficult not to conclude that, bearing in mind the Generals’ trial held by the Americans and the inevitability that von Manstein would, in some respects, be regarded as standing trial on behalf of the other MARCO defendants as well, a guilty verdict was virtually preordained. It does give an indication of what would have happened if von Rundstedt had stood trial.
As far as he was concerned, the next development came in mid-October. By this time the Field Marshal was about to be discharged from hospital and there was still neither accommodation nor maintenance allowance for him. This brought about a cri de coeur from Needham at Hannover to the British High Commissioner:
‘Although some co-operation on both these points was offered by the Minister President at the outset the Minister responsible both for housing matters and subsistence grants has now decided to take a strong line. In the first place he refuses to give Rundstedt any priority for accommodation. Secondly he points out that the Niedersachsen Law on the granting of maintenance allowances to ex-members of the Wehrmacht lays down clearly that these grants may not be paid to persons categorised or likely to be categorised 1, 2 or 3. He goes on to point out that he can therefore only pay a maintenance allowance if the Control Commission makes an official statement announcing that he is eligible for such a grant and makes it clear that this statement takes the place of the decision of the competent court or denazification court. He hints that such a statement might be inconsistent with the Occupation Statute.’
If the British agreed to house him and his wife temporarily in requisitioned property, the Germans might well react unfavourably. Needham also assumed that no action would be taken on von Rundstedt’s categorisation until after the von Manstein trial was completed.34 The High Commissioner, in turn, passed the matter to the Foreign Office, although not until 5 November. The matter was causing him ‘embarrassment’. He therefore proposed to use his authority to place von Rundstedt in Category 4. Once the von Manstein case was completed he would then move him to Category 5.
‘I do not think that the suggested course of action is likely to bring forth criticism since Ordinance 110 provided that the categorisation of former members of the German armed forces and the imposition of sanctions on them for the purposes of demilitarisation was reserved to Military Government.’35
The Foreign Office did not see the matter in these simple terms. Their reply, which was not sent until 25 November, disagreed with the High Commissioner’s interpretation of Ordinance 110. Demilitarisation was an entirely separate issue from denazification. Furthermore, the right of the British finally to determine Category 1 and 2 cases had led to German protests and all that they could realistically do was to categorise provisionally and leave the final decision to the Germans. Furthermore, as Needham had warned, the Occupation Statute had mo
re or less superseded Ordinance 110 and demilitarisation was not a ‘reserved subject’ in the former. These were ‘assumptions’, but if correct, denazification should preferably be carried out by the Germans themselves. This, of course, ran entirely contrary to all British undertakings given to von Rundstedt. The High Commissioner was therefore advised to tell the Field Marshal that this was the only way to get his maintenance grant paid and his funds in the United States Zone unfrozen. This was ‘entirely a matter for von Rundstedt himself. In view of the importance he has hitherto attached to clearing his name, it is unlikely that he would object to such a course.’ This did not provide any guarantee that he would be placed in a category low enough to entitle him to his maintenance grant, but ‘I do not, however, think that this need concern us, since his maintenance is a matter for the German authorities …’ Even if he was placed higher than Category 4, it ‘will probably cause no undue hardship in Lower Saxony, as I understand that the denazification procedure in force there now provides for automatic down-grading after a short interval.’ The author of this lengthy Foreign Office reply, M L Priss, was presumably referring to the fact that on 30 June 1949 the Lower Saxony Parliament had passed a law that Category 3 former Nazi Party members and officials would automatically have their property unblocked after one year and be placed in a lower category after a further year unless the Public Prosecutor objected. This had produced 100,000 new applications for denazification over three months in Lower Saxony and an outcry from those in Categories 3 and 4 who had had their property blocked for two years or more.36 Priss’s telegram concluded:
‘If von Rundstedt’s denazification leads to renewed criticism of the decision that he should not stand trial for war crimes, this would be easier to counter than the criticisms which might be made if we appeared to be affording him special protection and exceptional treatment. Moreover, with the lapse of time between the decision not to try von Rundstedt and his appearance before a denazification panel the importance of this point would decrease.’
He asked the High Commissioner to comment and to find out whether the German view tallied with that which Priss believed that they would take.37
Von Rundstedt had been discharged from hospital on 28 October38 and was staying once more with his brother in Ratzeburg until he could find accommodation for Bila and himself. The Ministerpräsident of Lower Saxony, Heinrich Kopf, had, however, made it clear to Ditha that no one could force him to lift a finger for a war criminal.39 All that she could find were two rooms in a Red Cross home for impoverished old people at Oppershausen, near Celle, a small town north of Hannover. The von Rundstedts moved here in November. Virtually destitute and still in the dark about his status, it is not surprising that von Rundstedt should comment on 1 December, when answering an American questionnaire on the command structure in the West in 1944: ‘… I’m old physically and mentally played out cripple. The final straw was the mean treatment I was exposed to after my release [sic] from England last year.’40 In the midst of his gloom, though, the Field Marshal’s attention was drawn to an unlikely quarter.
Early in 1950, Desmond Young’s biography of Rommel was published. It quickly proved a best seller. 20th Century Fox bought the film rights and managed to get James Mason to play the part of Rommel. They wanted to portray von Rundstedt in the film and so Desmond Young wrote to Liddell Hart to ask him to obtain von Rundstedt’s permission for this. Liddell Hart accordingly wrote to him and received a reply at the beginning of June. The von Rundstedts were still at the old people’s home at Oppershausen. Von Rundstedt apologised for writing in German, but he was ‘feeling far from well’. Thinking that he himself might be invited to appear in the film, he wrote that he was most unwilling to do so ‘as you know I do not like to appear in public’. He assumed, though, that the film would be made without him since as a ‘war criminal I can and may not [sic] leave Germany or even the British zone!’ Liddell Hart had said in his letter that 20th Century Fox would pay von Rundstedt money for his permission for an actor to portray him, but the Field Marshal would not accept any fee. He finished his letter by apologising again for not writing in English, ‘but I am such an old, miserable, mental cripple that I can hardly write German properly’.41 The film itself was released in 1951 as The Desert Fox in the United States and Rommel – Desert Fox in Britain. Von Rundstedt was clearly intrigued by it. ‘I am very interested to see what the film will bring for the western part of the world’, as he wrote to Liddell Hart on 12 January. When it did appear, with Leo G. Carrol’s playing the part of von Rundstedt, that autumn, Liddell Hart was able to assure the Field Marshal that he had been portrayed in a ‘very dignified and sympathetic manner’.42 Indeed, although the film script mistakenly implied that von Rundstedt had been sacked as C-in-C West before the Margival Conference and its chronology for June 1944 was otherwise awry, it did get something across of his cynical humour and showed his relationship with Rommel as courteous. Significantly, too, Rommel’s argument for not actively joining the movement against Hitler for so long, was that actually used by von Rundstedt, namely that it was treasonable. Once Rommel had seen the light, Leo G. Carrol’s von Rundstedt would notjoin him on the grounds that he was too old. What was especially significant about Rommel – Desert Fox was that it was probably the first postwar film to show that some Germans did not agree with Hitler.
There was also British literary interest in von Rundstedt. Early in 1950, the London publishing house of Odhams contacted a Professor Doktor Kurt Hesse and indicated an interest in a biography of von Rundstedt. He, in turn, mentioned it to Blumentritt, who, apart from doing some work for the United States Army Historical Division, for which he had been working prior to his release from captivity, had not been able to find a job. Blumentritt broached the idea to his former commander, but von Rundstedt was not interested. Odhams continued to press the matter and the Field Marshal eventually relented and agreed that the faithful Blumentritt was to receive £500 advances, half of which he gave to von Rundstedt. Unfortunately, the payments were taxed not only by the British, but by the Germans as well and hence only a fraction eventually found its way into Blumentritt ‘s and von Rundstedt’s threadbare pockets. By the end of 1950, Blumentritt had completed half the book. He finished it, in German, at the beginning of June 1951. As Blumentritt wrote to Liddell Hart, the book was written ‘in a sense of reconciliation’ and von Rundstedt had insisted that it should not be used as a vehicle ‘to charge any person, country or any government’.43
In early August 1951, the von Rundstedts at last managed to escape from Oppershausen. Ditha, after much struggling, had managed to find them a three room third floor flat above a shoe shop in Hannover. The fact that von Rundstedt had at last been granted his pension enabled them to install themselves. Life now became a little more pleasant. Lieutenant Colonel Nawrocky of the United States Historical Division wrote to Blumentritt in early November about a visit he had recently made to von Rundstedt and commented that there was little change in his attitude and bearing. He also reported that another member of the Historical Division had also been to see von Rundstedt, and found him cheerful if a little tired after a party with ‘his British friends’. Blumentritt commented to Liddell Hart that they must have had some ‘good English whisky’.44 He himself had visited his old chief at the beginning of October. He told Liddell Hart that von Rundstedt had met him at the railway station and said how content he and Bila were in their new home. They had gone for a walk in a nearby park and Blumen tritt noted that ‘his spirit is very active and his judgement of all events and situation [sic] in the whole world is very clear and sharp’.45 Yet the Field Marshal was now beginning to fade. Doktor Freiherr von Siegler of the Munich Institut für Zeitgeschichte (Contemporary History Institute) came to the von Rundstedt’s flat and interviewed the Field Marshal at the end of November:
‘He has severe problems with his circulation and can only leave the house with two crutches. It is impossible to trouble him with more than a few specific questions
at a time. Neither is it possible to obtain a more lengthy and complete description from him as he emphasises that his memory is considerably weakened.’
Von Siegler asked von Rundstedt about the von Fritsch crisis and his various dismissals, but the Field Marshal revealed little that was new. Von Siegler recommended in his report on the interview that von Rundstedt not be asked to sign it for accuracy.46
Von Rundstedt’s misfortunes were not, however, at an end. At the beginning of 1952, just before their golden wedding anniversary, Bila had a stroke and was rushed to hospital, with the whole of her right side paralysed. The doctors were not hopeful as von Rundstedt wrote to Liddell Hart, and his small pension was not enough to engage the services of a nurse. In the same letter, von Rundstedt expressed his heartfelt sympathy over the death of King George VI, recalling that he had attended his father’s funeral as a member of the German military delegation. He wondered also whether Blumentritt’s book would be a success. ‘It seems doubtful.’47 Worse, left on his own and trying to grapple with the housework, he had a fall which badly bruised his ribs and put him in hospital as well. By the beginning of April 1952, however, both were back in their apartment and being cared for by a nurse. Blumentritt did his best to try and obtain financial help for his old and much revered chief. Von Rundstedt himself was particularly concerned to give his grandchildren all the financial help he could and used part of his pension to this effect. Blumentritt was, however, able to obtain a grant of DM 1,000 for him for this purpose from the Order of St John of Jerusalem, but even so the von Rundstedts continued to have a hard struggle.48 The narrow stairs up to the flat, which are still etched in grandson Gerd von Rundstedt’s memory from carrying coal up them,49 allied to the Field Marshal’s crippled state of health, was only one of the many burdens they had to bear. In compensation, Ditha and the grandchildren lived close by and there was the pleasure of seeing Blumentritt and others from time to time. One who befriended him was an American journalist, Daniel de Luce, who worked in Germany for the Associated Press Agency. He later claimed that he was the only journalist to secure an interview with the Field Marshal after his release from captivity. During this von Rundstedt related the following tale:
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