Rommel was born in Stuttgart and entered service as a Luftwaffenhelfer (air force assistant) in 1943 at age 14, serving in an anti-aircraft battery. He considered joining the Waffen SS, but his father opposed it. On 14 October 1944, he was present at his parents' house when his father was led off to be forced to commit suicide for his alleged complicity in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, which was publicly portrayed by the Nazi leadership as a death resulting from a war injury. In February 1945, Rommel was dismissed from air force service and in March was conscripted into the paramilitary Reichsarbeitsdienst service. Stationed in Riedlingen at the end of April, he deserted just before the French First Army entered the town. He was taken prisoner of war, was interrogated by (among others) general Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, and disclosed the truth about his father's death.