miditek wrote:
You know, now that you mention it, Ed Harris really does like a lot like Rommel- it is almost uncanny. And yes, Rommel was a fascinating person, and unquestionably a truly great general.
Yeah their similarity is really stunning, I've realized that while watching "Duel - Enemy at the gates", where Harris is playing a German general.
Rommels whole story is really interesting, also the part of his family. His son, Manfred, became lateron mayor of Stuttgart and is still (though he is retired) one of the most popular politicians here. He has a great sense of humour, I read books from him, and he is not losing this though he is plagued by the parkinson desease, like Muhammed Ali e.g.
miditek wrote:
I'll have to check this out, it sounds like he was almost like a Schindler to the Chinese. Was Rabe executed by the State?
The Chinese and some (American or British) historians really call him something like "Schindler of China". His actions saved more than 200.000 Chinese civilians.
He was not executed but imprisoned by the Gestapo after his return. But because he was an important business man from Siemens (he worked for Siemens in Nanking), due to the influence of the company he was released. Still, after the war, Rabe was denounced for being member of Hitler's party and arrested by the allies. After being released he lived in poverty, died in 1950 and was totally ignored by the German public (just like active resistance fighters like Georg Elsner). Now in the 90s his story was rediscovered.