The Night of the Long Knives Why did Ernst Röhm die? Ernst Röhm 28th November 1887 – 1st July 1934

At the beginning of 1934 Hitler wrote to Röhm My dear Chief of Staff, I feel compelled to thank you, my dear Ernst Röhm, for the imperishable services which you have rendered to the National Socialist [Nazi] Movement and the German people, and to assure you how very grateful I am to Fate that I am able to call such men as you my friends and fellow combatants.                       In true friendship and grateful regard,                                 Yours, ADOLF HITLER.

Röhm was the leader of the SA (Sturm-Abteilung) The SA were the private army of the Nazi party. In the party’s early days, they had protected Nazi meetings and attacked opponents However, as the party grew more successful, the SA grew into a force of over 4 million men, far bigger than the proper German Army The symbol of the SA A huge SA parade in 1931

As the SA became more powerful, other senior Nazis felt threatened by Röhm’s power Hermann Göering Heinrich Himmler Joeseph Goebbels

They persuaded Hitler that Röhm and the SA were a danger to him Now that Hitler was Chancellor, he didn’t need an unofficial army anymore He needed the support of the leaders of the regular army, who were unhappy about the power the SA seemed to have However, Röhm wanted the SA to remain a powerful force, and Himmler spread a rumour that the SA were plotting to overthrow Hitler Finally, Hitler gave the order for Röhm and other SA officers to be arrested. From dawn on Saturday 30th June to 4am Monday 1st July between 77 (the official figure) and 400 of them were seized and later executed.

On 30th June, Hitler and his henchmen arrived in Munich before dawn to start the killing Hitler himself charged into Röhm’s room with a pistol and arrested him Hitler ordered that Röhm be given a loaded pistol in order to commit suicide Röhm refused, demanding that Hitler himself execute him. In the end two SS agents shot him dead.

Hitler announced the purge of the SA in a speech on July 13th “In this hour, I was responsible for the fate of the German people, and thereby I became the supreme judge of the German people. I gave the order to shoot the ringleaders in this treason” It was in this speech that Hitler called the event “The Night of the Long Knives”

“They salute with both hands now” David Low, from the Evening Standard on 3rd July 1934 What has just happened in the picture? How can you tell? Who are the people on the floor meant to be? Can you explain the joke that the title is making? What do you think the cartoonist’s opinion of Hitler is? How can you tell? Do you think this is actually what the Night of the Long Knives looked like? Can the cartoon still be useful for telling us what happened?