"But nothing can change the fact that he fought on the side of a despicable regime and any victory he brought on their behalf inescapably resulted in an increase in net human misery."

Yeah, robomatic, I already said the very same thing in slightly different words in my own post above, but I guess you didn't notice???

I said: "Any German general who succeeded in occupying new areas of land in a military campaign would necessarily, inevitably bring in his wake the Nazi administration with all its vicious abuses of Jews and other targeted populations. That's a given."

You also said of my statement "The fact that they may be serving an evil administration does not necessarily make them evil people.".........."What's the difference? "

You will find out exactly what the difference is after you yourself have someday been horribly misled and horribly misused by the government of your own country which you trusted and you end up on the losing side in a great and decisive war. Then you will know the difference, and you won't be too pleased if people on the winning side label you as an "evil person" simply for having served your country and having done it effectively.

American Vietnam vets weren't too pleased either when protestors labelled them as "babykillers". Remember? No soldier imagines that he is on "the wrong side" when he willingly marches off to war for his country or his people, and no soldier consciously decides that he is going to enlist and serve so that he can go forth and do "evil" things. Not one of them. They all go forth to do what they think is something good, and what they think will defend their own nation, given their best understanding at the time.

They may later change their minds (as some American soldiers did over their own country's policies in Vietnam). Rommel may have changed his mind by 1944, and he may have been in the plot to assassinate Hitler...or he may have just known of it and hoped it would succeed. We'll never know for sure. The Nazis thought he was in on it, and forced him to choose between (trial and) execution (along with his whole family)... or suicide. He chose suicide, clearly to protect his family.

To write articles now that try to prove that Rommel was "evil" strikes me as a very self-serving and pointless exercise for someone with a big chip on his shoulder. It is endless unforgiveness, endless blame, and endless labelling of certain other people as "evil" that is truly evil. It is that kind of judgement of others that is evil.

That's why I object to it. I have no wish to glorify Nazis. I detest their entire philosophy.