The Night I Danced with Rommel

Description

“May I have this dance, Hilde?” asked Field Marshal Rommel, opening the Grande Ball held in his honor.

Did this dance save the life of Hilde’s Polish friends?

Hilde has come a long way since her dream of becoming a singer was shattered when her father made arrangements for her to work as a housekeeper in Berlin at the tender age of fourteen.

Until then, although poor, Hilde led a happy and protected life with her family on their small holding in East Prussia. But Hilde’s life is thrown into turmoil in Berlin during the late 1920’s early 1930’s. Having Polish friends meant it was becoming increasingly unsafe for her to stay there, and she finds a new life in the Harz Mountains, taking her still further away from her home and her beloved younger sister, Erika.

In Goslar, Hilde meets her husband, Karl, a young officer in the German Army. When he joins the 7th Panzer Brigade led by General Erwin Rommel at the beginning of World War II, Hilde is left to bring up their children in war-torn Germany.

After Rommel’s promotion to Field Marshal, Karl follows him to Africa and later Italy, and ultimately, Karl is posted to the Russian front.

Hilde’s story is based on facts and is told here by her youngest daughter, Elisabeth.