Rommel link to Holocaust examined

STUTTGART, Germany, May 23 (UPI) -- A German documentary argues that battlefield genius Erwin Rommel and the North African campaign he waged were connected to the Holocaust.

The television documentary is based on recently published research papers by Stuttgart historians Klaus-Michael Mallmann and Martin Cuppers, who claim Adolf Hitler developed plans to extend the Holocaust to the Middle East, Der Spiegel reported Wednesday.

Their separate research indicated the Nazis were allied with Arab nationalists who wanted to drive Jewish refugees out of Palestine.

Jews living in the Middle East were petrified by Rommel's victories, the researchers said. After seizing Tobruk in Libya in June 1942, Rommel looked to the Suez Canal, Palestine and the oil fields of the Middle East.

Behind the Desert Fox's front line, a special unit was created to map out the elimination of Jews in the region. The unit was headed by Lt. Col. Walther Rauff, who helped develop the mobile gassing vehicles Germany used in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Allied forces stopped the German advance in Egypt, forcing Rommel to flee to Tunisia, where more than 2,500 Tunisian Jews died in six months of German rule.