# In the summer of 1934 Hitler instructed the SS to kill Ernst Röhm and other leaders of the Nazi party's SA, former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and several aides to former Chancellor Franz von Papen in the so-called Night of the Long Knives ( June 30, 1934 / July 1, 1934 ).

Hitler had long been at odds with Röhm and felt increasingly threatened by these plans and in the " Night of the Long Knives " in 1934 killed Röhm and the top SA leaders using their notorious homosexuality as an excuse.

In early 1934, Hitler and other Nazi leaders became concerned that Röhm was planning a coup d ' état.

Hitler decided on 21 June that Röhm and the SA leadership had to be eliminated.

Hitler took charge in Munich, where Röhm was arrested ; he gave Röhm the choice to commit suicide or be shot.

Hitler visited Gustav just before the Röhm purge in 1934, which among other things eliminated many of those who actually believed in the " socialism " of " National Socialism.

All the characters and groups in the play had direct counterparts in real life, with Ui representing Hitler, his henchman Ernesto Roma representing Ernst Röhm, Dogsborough representing Paul von Hindenburg ( a pun on the German Hund and Burg ), Emanuele Giri representing Hermann Göring, Giuseppe Givola representing Joseph Goebbels, the Cauliflower Trust representing the Prussian Junkers, the fate of the town of Cicero standing for the Anschluss in Austria and so on.

Hitler initially protected Röhm from other elements of the Nazi Party which held his homosexuality to be a violation of the party's strong anti-gay policy.

However, Hitler later changed course when he perceived Röhm to be a potential threat to his power.

During the Night of the Long Knives in 1934, a purge of those whom Hitler deemed threats to his power took place, he had Röhm murdered and used Röhm's homosexuality as a justification to suppress outrage within the ranks of the SA.

He manufactured evidence that suggested that Röhm had been paid 12 million marks by the French to overthrow Hitler.

Hitler liked Ernst Röhm and initially refused to believe the dossier provided by Heydrich.

However, Adolf Hitler had his own reasons for wanting Röhm removed.

Powerful supporters of Hitler had been complaining about Röhm for some time.

Adolf Hitler was also concerned that Röhm and the SA had the power to remove him as leader.

On 30 June 1934, Hitler, accompanied by the Schutzstaffel ( SS ), arrived at Bad Wiessee where he personally placed Ernst Röhm and other high-ranking SA leaders under arrest.

Many were shot as soon as they were captured but Hitler decided to pardon Röhm because of his past services to the movement.

On 1 July after much pressure from Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, Hitler agreed that Röhm should die.

Hitler insisted that Röhm should first be allowed to commit suicide.

The homosexuality of Röhm and other SA leaders was made public to add " shock value " even though the sexuality of Röhm and other named SA leaders had actually been known by Hitler and other Nazi leaders for years.

From left to right: Pernet, Weber, Frick, Kiebel, Ludendorff, Hitler, Bruckner, Röhm, and Wagner.

Beginning in April 1934, and at Hitler's request, Heydrich and Himmler began building a dossier on Sturmabteilung ( SA ) leader Ernst Röhm in an effort to remove him as a rival for party leadership.

Himmler had initially been a supporter of Röhm, arguing that the charges of homosexuality against him were manufactured by Jews.

On 28 June Hitler phoned Röhm and asked him to gather all the SA leaders at Bad Wiessee on June 30 for a conference.

Röhm had his bare chest puffed out in a gesture of defiance as Lippert shot him in the chest at point blank range.

This may have contributed to theories that Lutze has been killed just as Röhm had been, or that partisans assassinated him ).

After Röhm was arrested, Hitler gave him the choice to commit suicide or be shot.

He was never enticed to join the far right in Germany, despite Hitler's attempts to win him over through Ernst Röhm and promises of royal restoration.

While Hitler thought that this would bind the SA more firmly to him, Röhm had other ambitions, including the conversion of the paramilitary Sturmabteilung into an army.

Fluent in German, he became friendly with Ernst Röhm who arranged for him to interview Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.

Whilst in Germany, he became friendly with Ernst Röhm, who arranged for him to become the first British journalist to interview Adolf Hitler.

Otto Wagener held the office under Oberste SA-Führer Franz Pfeffer von Salomon from 1928-1930, and effectively headed the SA from Hitler's assumption of the title Oberste SA-Führer in August until Ernst Röhm replaced him in January 1931.

" In February 1934, Röhm demanded that the Reichswehr ( which under the Treaty of Versailles was limited to 100, 000 men ) be absorbed into the SA under his leadership as Minister of Defence.

A political struggle within the party grew, with those closest to Hitler, including Prussian premier Hermann Göring, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and SS Chief Heinrich Himmler positioning themselves against Röhm.

Röhm wanted to be made Minister of Defense.

Schleicher criticized the current Hitler cabinet, while some of Schleicher ′ s followers — such as General Ferdinand von Bredow and Werner von Alvensleben — started passing along lists of a new Hitler Cabinet in which Schleicher would become Vice-Chancellor, Röhm Minister of Defence, Brüning Foreign Minister and Strasser Minister of National Economy.

Ernst Röhm had been given a seat on the National Defence Council and began to demand more say over military matters.

The initial unit, the SA-Standarte Feldherrnhalle ( a Standarte was an organization of regimental size ) was formed after the death of Ernst Röhm on Night of the Long Knives, when the SA's position as the major paramilitary formation of the NSDAP was taken over by the SS.

After 1931, it is those who held the rank of Stabschef, such as Ernst Röhm, were accepted as the commanders of the SA.

When Röhm refused to kill himself, he was shot dead by two SS officers.

However, when Röhm refused, he was killed by two SS officers, Theodor Eicke and Michael Lippert.

A telephone call was made from the kitchen by Hermann Kriebel to Ernst Röhm, who was waiting with his Reichskriegsflagge in the Löwenbräukeller, another beer hall, and he was ordered to seize key buildings throughout the city.

At Landsberg prison in April 1924, Röhm had also been given full powers by Hitler to rebuild the SA in any way he saw fit.

Himmler and his deputy Heydrich, chief of the SS Security Service ( the SD ), assembled a dossier of manufactured evidence to suggest that Röhm had been paid twelve million marks by France to overthrow Hitler.

On July 2, Röhm was visited by SS-Brigadeführer Theodor Eicke ( then Kommandant of the Dachau concentration camp ) and SS-Obersturmbannführer Michael Lippert, who laid a pistol on the table, told Röhm he had ten minutes to use it and left.

In 1931, he became an Oberführer ( a rank equivalent to senior Colonel ) in the Sturmabteilung ( SA ), which was then commanded by Ernst Röhm: that year, Todt also completed his doctorate ( on " Fehlerquellen beim Bau von Landstraßendecken aus Teer und Asphalt " – " Sources of defects in the construction of tarmac and asphalt road surfaces ").

It is indeed possible that Stalin was pleased by how Hitler treated his bosom buddy Ernst Röhm and the entire SA leadership in 1934.

At the Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg in September 1934, William L. Shirer observed Hitler speaking to the SA for the first time since the purge ( Hitler absolved the SA from crimes committed by Röhm ).

Both groupings were not unaffected by Hitler's self-portrayal as a moderate seeking cooperation as opposed to the more revolutionary SA led by Ernst Röhm.

When Röhm refused to kill himself, he was shot dead by Eicke ( together with his adjutant, Michael Lippert ) on 1 July 1934.

It was led by Ernst Röhm.

The Reichskriegsflagge ( Reich's Battle Flag ) shortened to RKF society, was another private army of combat hardened veterans led by Captain Röhm who was a staff officer of Lt. General Otto von Lossow commander of the Seventh Division headquartered in Munich.

* Röhm-Putsch-name used by the Nazis for the Night of the Long Knives, which they characterized as a foiled coup attempt by Ernst Röhm and the SA.