Although of Jewish decent, or a Miscaling under the Nürnberg laws, Romm enlisted in the Luftwaffe and served with distinction. He ended the war as a Hauptmann commanding IV/JG 3 after claiming a total of 92 abshusse, including ten on the Western Front. He received the Rittekreuz (Knight´s Cross) in on 29 February 1944 as an Oberfeldwebel.

However what is even more surprisingly is that he also received, considering his decent, the German Cross in Gold in 1943, a "Nazi party recognition for repeated acts of bravery in combat" instituted by no other than Adolf Hitler himself.

It is known that although a recipient of the Rittekreuz many servicemen did not previously received the Deutsches Kreuz due to dubious background, like the JG 52 ace, Hauptmann Alfred Grislawski (a Oak Leaves recipient) a son of a communist miner and with his own left leaning believes.