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87-730: The rank of Obergruppenführer was created in 1932 by Ernst Röhm and was intended as a seniormost rank of the Nazi stormtroopers for use by Röhm and his top SA generals. In its initial concept, the rank was intended to be held by members of the Oberste SA-Führung (Supreme SA Command) and also by veteran commanders of certain SA-Gruppen (SA groups). Some of the early promotions to the rank included Ernst Röhm , Viktor Lutze , Edmund Heines , August Schneidhuber , and Fritz Ritter von Kraußer . The rank of SA- Obergruppenführer

174-779: A Reichsleiter , the second highest political rank in the Nazi Party. He was made a member of the Prussian State Council on 14 September and a member of the Academy for German Law on 3 October, advancing to its Leadership Council ( Führerrat ) in November. On 12 November, Röhm was elected to the Reichstag . Finally, on 2 December 1933, he was named to the Reich cabinet as a Reichsminister without portfolio by

261-562: A close associate of Adolf Hitler. Using his military connections, he helped build up several paramilitary groups in service of Hitler, one of which became the SA. In 1923, he took part in Hitler's failed Beer Hall Putsch to seize governmental power in Munich and was given a suspended prison sentence. After a stint as a Reichstag deputy, Röhm broke with Hitler in 1925 over the future direction of

348-401: A compromise in which "only" a few thousand SA leaders would be taken into the army, but the army promptly rejected that idea. On 11 April 1934, Hitler met with German military leaders on the ship Deutschland . By that time, he knew President Paul von Hindenburg would likely die before the end of the year. Hitler informed the army hierarchy of Hindenburg's declining health and proposed that

435-570: A consequence of the Stennes Revolt in Berlin, Hitler assumed supreme command of the SA as its new Oberster SA-Führer . He sent a personal request to Röhm, asking him to return to serve as the SA's Chief of Staff . Röhm accepted this offer and began his new assignment on 5 January 1931. He brought radical new ideas to the SA and appointed several close friends to its senior leadership. Previously,

522-804: A contract with a term of service from January 1, 1929 to December 31, 1930, and the German-born Bolivian Chief of General Staff Hans Kundt assured Röhm the rank of lieutenant colonel and a monthly salary of 1,000 Bolivianos, which would give him a high standard of living given the low cost of living in Bolivia. Röhm arrived in La Paz in January 1929 and began work as a professor at the Bolivian military college so that he could first "learn Spanish." From June to September 1929, Röhm served as

609-758: A leading member of the Nazi Party . Initially a close friend and early ally of Adolf Hitler , Röhm was the co-founder and leader of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the Nazi Party's original paramilitary wing, which played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power . He served as chief of the SA from 1931 until his murder in 1934 during the Night of the Long Knives . Born in Munich , Röhm joined

696-520: A member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) as a Personal Press Referent. Here he was able to introduce Hitler to numerous important officials within different sects of the mining industry to help secure funding for the Nazi Party. On 1 August 1931 he was appointed Press Chief of the NSDAP, and the following year joined the SS. On 2 June 1933 Hitler appointed Dietrich a Reichsleiter , the second highest political rank in

783-400: A non-issue after a common ground was found amongst SS leaders in their general hatred of the SA. Udo von Woyrsch and Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger were promoted to SS- Obergruppenführer in 1935 while Josias, Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont , and Max Amann received the rank a year later along with Karl von Eberstein and Philipp Bouhler . The year 1936 saw several promotions to

870-710: A provision in the Law to Secure the Unity of Party and State aimed at interlocking the leadership of the Party and the government. At the same time, he also was made a member of the Reich Defense Council. Along with other members of the more radical faction within the Nazi Party, Röhm advocated a "second revolution" that was overtly anti-capitalist in its general disposition. These radicals rejected capitalism and they intended to take steps to curb monopolies and promoted

957-507: A radical transformation of German society. They were disappointed by the new regime's lack of socialistic direction and its failure to provide the lavish patronage they had expected. Furthermore, Röhm and his SA colleagues thought of their force as the core of the future German Army, and saw themselves as replacing the Reichswehr and its established professional officer corps. By then, the SA had swollen to over three million men, dwarfing

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1044-483: A railway official, as strict, but once Julius realized that his son responded better without exhortation, he allowed him significant freedom to pursue his interests. In 1906, Röhm entered the 10th Bavarian Infantry Division "King Ludwig" at Ingolstadt as a cadet, even though his family had no military tradition. He was commissioned as a lieutenant on 12 March 1908. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, he

1131-576: A rival and liability, and made the decision to eliminate him with the assistance of SS leaders Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich . On 30 June 1934, the entire SA leadership were purged by the SS during an event known as the Night of the Long Knives. Röhm was taken to Stadelheim Prison and shot on 1 July. Ernst Röhm was born in 1887 in Munich , Bavaria , German Empire as the youngest of three children—he had an elder sister and brother—of Emilie and Julius Röhm. Ernst Röhm described his father Julius,

1218-586: A signed article in Völkischer Beobachter by Blomberg appeared in which Blomberg stated with great fervour that the Reichswehr stood behind Hitler. On 30 June 1934, Hitler and a large group of SS and regular police flew to Munich and arrived between 06:00 and 07:00 at Hanselbauer Hotel in Bad Wiessee, where Röhm and his followers were staying. With Hitler's early arrival, the SA leadership, still in bed, were taken by surprise. SS men stormed

1305-534: A step that historian Robin Cross contended in 2009 was done by Hitler to cover his own tracks. The Law declared, "The measures taken on 30 June, 1 and 2 July to suppress treasonous assaults are legal as acts of self-defence by the State." At the time no public reference was made to the alleged SA rebellion, but only generalised references to misconduct, perversion and some sort of plot. In a nationally broadcast speech to

1392-560: A troop inspector, then until August 1930 he was chief of staff of the division command of the Bolivian Army headquartered in Oruro . While some historians claim Röhm played a prominent role in Bolivia in this period, more recent research suggests his role during this period of Bolivian history was relatively minor. In the autumn of 1930, Röhm received a telephone call from Hitler requesting his return to Germany. In September 1930, as

1479-576: A year later. All five promotions were honorary SS ranks with the first promotion of an active SS officer occurring in September 1941 when the rank was granted to Reinhard Heydrich . The Waffen-SS commander, Paul Hausser was promoted to the rank of SS- Obergruppenführer on 1 October 1941. Waffen-SS commander Theodor Eicke was promoted to SS- Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS on 20 April 1942. Sepp Dietrich remained senior, having served as General der SS-VT ( SS-Verfügungstruppe ) upon

1566-517: The Reichswehr headquarters, Röhm awaited news, barricaded inside. The subsequent march into the city center led by Hitler, Hermann Göring , and General Erich Ludendorff with banners flying high, was ostensibly undertaken to "free" Röhm and his forces. While crowds cheered, egged on by Gregor Strasser shouting "Heil" , Hitler's armed assembly, wearing red swastika armbands, encountered Bavarian State Policemen, who were prepared to counter

1653-560: The Reichswehr . Additionally, it was Röhm who persuaded his former army commander, Franz Ritter von Epp, to join the Nazis, an important development, since Epp helped raise the sixty-thousand marks needed to purchase the Nazi periodical, the Völkischer Beobachter . In early 1923, he took part in the establishment of a federation of paramilitary organizations that was titled Arbeitsgemeinschaft and aimed at strengthening

1740-466: The Berlin Police . While holding SA membership, Helldorff was never actually an SS member although for administrative purposes he held SS rank and was ranked as the 15th most senior SS officer. A total of 107 men would eventually hold the rank of SS- Obergruppenführer with 97 such officers listed on the SS seniority list in 1944. Several men with the rank would die during World War II; some of

1827-547: The Bolivian Army . The Bolivians were looking for a capable German officer with war experience who, as a military instructor, would play a leading role in the reorganization of the Bolivian army. In addition to army reform, ongoing tensions between Bolivia and Paraguay, which later erupted in the Chaco War , were probably also a reason why the Bolivian government was interested in recruiting German experts. Röhm signed

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1914-728: The Imperial German Army in 1906 and fought in the First World War . He was wounded in action three times and received the Iron Cross First Class . After the war, he continued his military career as a captain in the Reichswehr and provided assistance to Franz Ritter von Epp 's Freikorps . In 1919, Röhm joined the German Workers' Party , the precursor of the Nazi Party, and became

2001-625: The Munich Soviet Republic by force of arms on 3 May 1919. In 1919 he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), which the following year became the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP). His membership number was 623. Not long afterward he met Adolf Hitler, and they became political allies and close friends. Throughout the early 1920s, Röhm remained an important intermediary between Germany's right-wing paramilitary organizations and

2088-668: The Night of the Long Knives in July 1934, Sepp Dietrich was promoted to the rank. On 9 September 1934, so as to prevent a power struggle within the SS, Hitler further promoted Kurt Daluege who commanded most of the SS in the Berlin region. Daluege's promotion was to avoid the SS splitting into two separate entities, one based in Northern Germany under Daluege and the other in Bavaria under Himmler. This early SS disunity became

2175-616: The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda . On April 20, 1941 he had risen to the rank of SS- Obergruppenführer . In the decree from Hitler on February 28, 1934 the role of the Reich Press Chief was loosely explained: "He directs in my name the guiding principles for the entire editorial work of the Party Press. In addition, as my Press Chief he is the highest authority for all press publications of

2262-555: The Reichswehr on the highest level of alert. On 27 June, Hitler moved to secure the army's cooperation. Blomberg and General Walter von Reichenau , the army's liaison to the party, gave it to him by expelling Röhm from the German Officers' League. On 28 June, Hitler went to Essen to attend Josef Terboven 's wedding celebration and reception; from there he called Röhm's adjutant at Bad Wiessee and ordered SA leaders to meet with him on 30 June at 11:00 a.m. On 29 June,

2349-428: The Reichswehr support him as Hindenburg's successor. In exchange, he offered to reduce the SA, suppress Röhm's ambitions, and guarantee the Reichswehr would be Germany's only military force. According to war correspondent William L. Shirer , Hitler also promised to expand the army and navy. Although determined to curb the power of the SA, Hitler put off doing away with his long-time ally. A political struggle within

2436-472: The Reichswehr , which was limited to 100,000 men by the Treaty of Versailles . Although Röhm had been a member of the officer corps, he viewed them as "old fogies" who lacked "revolutionary spirit". He believed that the Reichswehr should be merged into the SA to form a true "people's army" under his command, a pronouncement that caused significant consternation within the army's hierarchy and convinced them that

2523-482: The Waffen-SS , the rank of SS- Gruppenführer was equivalent to a Generalleutnant , and an SS- Obergruppenführer came to be considered the equivalent of a General ; holders were titled in full SS- Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS . Ernst R%C3%B6hm Ernst Julius Günther Röhm ( German: [ɛʁnst ˈʁøːm] ; 28 November 1887 – 1 July 1934) was a German military officer and

2610-563: The 1933 propaganda film The Victory of Faith ( Der Sieg des Glaubens )—in which Röhm appeared—were destroyed in 1934, probably on Hitler's order; however, at least one copy has survived destruction. A new film called Triumph of the Will ( Triumph des Willens ) was shot in its place in 1935, with Victor Lutze replacing Röhm and the SA playing a much lesser role. Informational notes Citations Bibliography Otto Dietrich Jacob Otto Dietrich (31 August 1897 – 22 November 1952)

2697-523: The German people in the war effort." "Their clear and expressed purpose was to enrage Germans against the Jews, to justify the measures taken and to be taken against them, and to subdue any doubts which might arise as to the justice of measures of racial persecution to which Jews were to be subjected." "By them Dietrich consciously implemented, and by furnishing the excuses and justifications, participated in,

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2784-530: The Nazi Party. On 1 November, he was named Vice-President of the Reich Press Chamber ( Reichspressekammer ) under Max Amann . On February 28, 1934, Hitler raised Dietrich to the position of Reich Press Chief of the Nazi Party. In March 1936 he was elected as a Nazi member of the Reichstag . On 26 November 1937, Dietrich became the Reich Press Chief of the Government and a State Secretary in

2871-446: The Nazi Party. He resigned from all positions and emigrated to Bolivia , where he served as an advisor to the Bolivian Army . In 1930, at Hitler's request, Röhm returned to Germany and was officially appointed chief of staff of the SA in 1931. He reorganised the SA, which numbered over a million members, and continued its campaign of political violence against communists, rival political parties, Jews and other groups deemed hostile to

2958-466: The Nazi agenda. At the same time, opposition to Röhm intensified as his homosexuality gradually became public knowledge . Nevertheless, he retained the trust of Hitler for a time. After Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Röhm was named a Reichsleiter , the second highest political rank in the Nazi Party, and appointed to the Reich cabinet as a Reichsminister without portfolio . As

3045-437: The Nazi government began to consolidate its rule, the tension between Röhm and Hitler escalated. Throughout 1933 and 1934, Röhm's rhetoric became increasingly radical as he called for a "second revolution" that would transform German society, alarming Hitler's powerful industrial allies. He also demanded more power for the SA, which the Reichswehr saw as a growing threat to its position. Hitler came to see his long-time ally as

3132-749: The Party and all its agencies." Dietrich, as the Press Chief of the Nazi Party and later as the Reich Press Chief of the Government, had control over the Nazi party's publications and newspapers. This included anything disseminated to the SS , SA , Hitler Youth , and the German Labor Front . The work done by Dietrich helped to secure the Nazis foothold in Germany. He aided party members to acquire positions of power and general acceptance within different communities and helped to spread Nazi ideology to

3219-635: The Press Department. Dietrich had a close relationship with Hitler. In some testimony from Hans Fritzsche , the head of the German Press Division from December 1938 to November 1942, who worked under Dietrich, he noted that: "For years he (Dietrich) also summarized the press telegrams, which constituted one of the most important sources of information for Hitler. Finally I could see for myself that he elaborated Hitler's speeches for publication. Thus Dr. Dietrich also functioned as

3306-595: The Putsch. Around the time the marchers reached the Feldherrnhalle near the city center, shots were fired, scattering the participants. By the end of the gunfire, fourteen Nazis and four policemen had been killed; the putsch had failed and the Nazis' first bid for power had lasted less than twenty-four hours. In February 1924, following the failed putsch, Röhm, Hitler, Ludendorff, Lieutenant Colonel Hermann Kriebel and six others were tried for high treason . Röhm

3393-600: The Reichstag on 13 July, Hitler justified the purge as a defence against treason. Before the events of the Night of the Long Knives concluded, not only was Röhm dead, but more than 200 additional people had been killed, including Nazi official Gregor Strasser, former chancellor General Kurt von Schleicher , and Franz von Papen 's secretary, Edgar Jung . Most of those murdered had little to no affiliation with Röhm but were killed for political reasons. In an attempt to erase Röhm from German history, almost all known copies of

3480-415: The SA formations were subordinate to the Nazi Party leadership of each Gau . Röhm established new Gruppe , which had no regional Nazi Party oversight. Each Gruppe extended over several regions and was commanded by an SA- Gruppenführer who answered only to Röhm or Hitler. The SA by this time numbered over a million members. Their initial assignment of protecting Nazi leaders at rallies and assemblies

3567-455: The SA was a serious threat. At a February 1934 cabinet meeting, Röhm then demanded that the merger be made, under his leadership as Minister of Defence . This horrified the army, with its traditions going back to Frederick the Great . The army officer corps viewed the SA as an "undisciplined mob" of "brawling" street thugs, and was also concerned by the pervasiveness of "corrupt morals" within

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3654-420: The SA, to which the SS was still subordinated. Although Himmler usually referred to himself as Reichsführer-SS , before the summer of 1934, this was simply a title for the SS commander, and not yet an actual rank. Shortly after Himmler's promotion, Hitler further promoted Franz Xaver Schwarz , with Himmler's date of rank backdated to 1 January 1933 in order to confirm his seniority as the top officer within

3741-477: The SA. Arriving back at party headquarters in Munich, Hitler addressed the assembled crowd. Consumed with rage, Hitler denounced "the worst treachery in world history". Hitler told the crowd that "undisciplined and disobedient characters and asocial or diseased elements" would be annihilated. The crowd, which included party members and many SA members fortunate enough to escape arrest, shouted its approval. Joseph Goebbels, who had been with Hitler at Bad Wiessee, set

3828-475: The SS. Shortly after Rudolf Hess was appointed as his deputy in April 1933, Hitler promoted him to SS- Obergruppenführer . However, in September, Hitler decreed that Hess should no longer use the title of Obergruppenführer but only use the title of Deputy Führer. A number of men were promoted to SS- Obergruppenführer in 1934, these being Fritz Weitzel , Richard Walther Darré and Walter Buch . After

3915-640: The Second World War, there were 88 promotions to the rank, of which 22 were considered regular officers of the Waffen-SS and the rest members of the Allgemeine SS . The first wartime promotions to SS- Obergruppenführer occurred in April 1940 when the rank was granted to Joachim von Ribbentrop , Martin Bormann and Hans Lammers ; Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Otto Dietrich were promoted

4002-413: The allotted time, Eicke and Lippert returned to Röhm's cell at 14:50 to find him standing, with his bare chest puffed out in a gesture of defiance. Eicke and Lippert then shot and killed Röhm. SA- Obergruppenführer Viktor Lutze , who had been spying on Röhm, was named as the new Stabschef (SA). While some Germans were shocked by the killings of 30 June to 2 July 1934, many others saw Hitler as

4089-574: The army and combating Marxist influences. During early September 1923, when the Nazi Party held its "German Day" celebration at Nuremberg, it was Röhm who helped bring together some 100,000 participants drawn from right-wing militant groups, veterans' associations, and other paramilitary formations—which included the Bund Oberland , Reichskriegsflagge , the SA, and the Kampfbund —all of them subordinate to Hitler as "political leader" of

4176-447: The book contains assessments by Dietrich about his character, his reflections on Hitler as a politician and as a soldier, and his critique of his leadership. The second part ( Scenes from Hitler's Life ) describes Dietrich's first-hand oberservations of Hitler's daily activities before and during the war. The book translated by Richard and Clara Winston was published by Methuen in 1957, and republished in 2010 by Skyhorse Publishing , with

4263-682: The collective alliance. Röhm resigned or retired from the Reichswehr on 26 September 1923. In November 1923, Röhm led the Reichskriegsflagge militia at the time of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch . He rented the cavernous main hall of the Löwenbräukeller , supposedly for a reunion and festive comradeship. Meanwhile, Hitler and his entourage were at the Bürgerbräukeller. Röhm planned to start

4350-410: The conservative business community continued to complain to Hindenburg about the SA. In early June, defence minister Werner von Blomberg issued an ultimatum to Hitler from Hindenburg: unless Hitler took immediate steps to end the growing tension in Germany, Hindenburg would declare martial law and turn over control of the country to the army. The threat of a declaration of martial law from Hindenburg,

4437-592: The crimes against humanity regarding Jews charged in count five." Dietrich was released from prison in August 1950. He died in November 1952 in Düsseldorf . In captivity in Landsberg Prison , Dietrich wrote The Hitler I Knew. Memoirs of the Third Reich's Press Chief , a book sharply critical of Hitler personally and strongly denouncing the crimes committed in the name of Nazism . The first part of

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4524-641: The deadly Spanish influenza and was not expected to live, but recovered after a lengthy convalescence. Following the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that ended the war, Röhm continued his military career as a captain in the Reichswehr . He was one of the senior members in Franz Ritter von Epp 's Bayerisches Freikorps für den Grenzschutz Ost ("Bavarian Free Corps for Border Patrol East"), formed in Ohrdruf in April 1919, which finally overturned

4611-449: The established professional military forces. In February 1934, Hitler told British diplomat Anthony Eden of his plan to reduce the SA by two-thirds. That same month, Hitler announced that the SA would be left with only a few minor military functions. Röhm responded with complaints, and began expanding the armed elements of the SA. Speculation that the SA was planning a coup against Hitler became widespread in Berlin. In March, Röhm offered

4698-616: The execution of an important lieutenant; he eventually did so, and agreed that Röhm should have the option of suicide . On 1 July 1934, SS- Brigadeführer Theodor Eicke (later commandant of the Dachau concentration camp ) and SS- Obersturmbannführer Michael Lippert visited Röhm. Once inside Röhm's cell, they handed him a Browning pistol loaded with a single cartridge and told him he had ten minutes to kill himself or they would do it for him. Röhm demurred, telling them, "If I am to be killed, let Adolf do it himself." Having heard nothing in

4785-701: The familiar German du (the German familiar form of "you" ) when conversing with Hitler. Röhm was the only Nazi leader who dared to address Hitler by his first name "Adolf" or his nickname "Adi" rather than " mein Führer ". Their close association led to rumors that Hitler himself was homosexual . Unlike many in the Nazi hierarchy, Röhm never fell victim to Hitler's "arresting personality" nor did he come fully under his spell, which made him unique. As Hitler rose to national power with his appointment as chancellor in January 1933, SA members were appointed auxiliary police and ordered by Göring to sweep aside "all enemies of

4872-454: The final phase of the plan in motion. Upon returning to Berlin, Goebbels telephoned Göring at 10:00 with the codeword kolibri ("hummingbird") to let loose the execution squads on the rest of their unsuspecting victims. Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler commander Sepp Dietrich received orders from Hitler to form an "execution squad" and go to Stadelheim Prison in Munich where Röhm and other SA leaders were being held under arrest. There in

4959-481: The government of France to overthrow Hitler. Leading officers in the SS were shown falsified evidence on 24 June that Röhm planned to use the SA to launch a plot against the government ( Röhm-Putsch ). At Hitler's direction, Göring, Himmler, Heydrich, and Victor Lutze drew up lists of people in and outside the SA to be killed. One of the men Göring recruited to assist him was Willi Lehmann , a Gestapo official and NKVD spy. On 25 June, General Werner von Fritsch placed

5046-410: The hotel and Hitler personally placed Röhm and other high-ranking SA leaders under arrest. According to Erich Kempka , Hitler turned Röhm over to "two detectives holding pistols with the safety catch off". The SS found Breslau SA leader Edmund Heines in bed with an unidentified eighteen-year-old male SA senior troop leader . Goebbels emphasised this aspect in subsequent Nazi propaganda , justifying

5133-426: The last days of the war. Approximately fifteen SS generals were ranked as SS- Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei und Waffen-SS . SS- Obergruppenführer was considered the highest rank of the Allgemeine SS until April 1942; equivalent to a lieutenant general (three-star general) in the American and British armies. It was only outranked by Himmler's special rank of Reichsführer-SS . However, within

5220-399: The more notable being Heydrich, Eicke, and Artur Phleps . The last promotion was made in March 1945 to Hans Kammler . The rank of Obergruppenführer was used by four major paramilitary groups of the Nazi Party, these being the SA, SS, National Socialist Motor Corps , and National Socialist Flyers Corps . The rank would remain the highest SS general officer rank until April 1942, when

5307-487: The nationalization of land and industry. Such plans were threatening to the business community in general, and to Hitler's corporate financial backers in particular—including many German industrial leaders he would rely upon for arms production. In order to keep from alienating them, Hitler swiftly reassured his powerful industrial allies that there would be no such revolution as espoused by these Party radicals. Many SA "storm troopers" had working-class origins and longed for

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5394-417: The one who restored "order" to the country. Goebbels's propaganda highlighted the "Röhm-Putsch" in the days that followed. The homosexuality of Röhm and other SA leaders was made public to add "shock value" , even though it had been known to Hitler and other Nazi leaders for years. On 3 July 1934 the purge of the SA was legalised with a one-paragraph decree: the Law Regarding Measures of State Self-Defence ,

5481-456: The only person in Germany with the authority to potentially depose the Nazi regime, put Hitler under pressure to act. Hitler decided the time had come both to destroy Röhm and to settle scores with old enemies. Both Himmler and Göring welcomed Hitler's decision, since both had much to gain by Röhm's downfall—the independence of the SS for Himmler, and the removal of a rival for Göring. Röhm was known to be homosexual , which Hitler tolerated. Röhm

5568-491: The outbreak of World War II in 1939. Two SS officers would be demoted from the rank of SS- Obergruppenführer : Rudolf Hess and Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorff . Hess was stripped of his rank and expelled from both the SS and Nazi Party after his abortive flight to Scotland in 1941. Helldorff was stricken from the SS rolls in 1944 after the 20 July plot against Hitler. Helldorff was a unique case, in that his SS rank had been bestowed for technical reasons in order to command

5655-406: The paper obtained and published some private letters of his in which Röhm described himself as "same-sex oriented" ( gleichgeschlechtlich ). These letters had been confiscated by the Berlin police back in 1931 and subsequently passed along to the journalist Helmuth Klotz. Hitler was aware of Röhm's homosexuality. Their friendship shows in that Röhm remained one of the few intimates allowed to use

5742-418: The party grew, with those closest to Hitler, including Prussian premier Hermann Göring, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels , and Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler , positioning themselves against Röhm. To isolate Röhm, on 20 April 1934, Göring transferred control of the Prussian political police ( Gestapo ) to Himmler, who he believed could be counted on to move against Röhm. Both the Reichswehr and

5829-408: The prison courtyard, the Leibstandarte firing squad shot five SA generals and an SA colonel. Several of those not immediately executed were taken back to the Leibstandarte barracks at Lichterfelde , given one-minute "trials", and shot by a firing squad. Röhm himself, however, was kept prisoner. Hitler was hesitant in authorising Röhm's execution, perhaps because of loyalty or embarrassment about

5916-410: The public. His job as Press Chief overlapped with Joseph Goebbels 's Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda , and thus many anecdotes exist of their feuds. They were infamous for their disagreements, and both often felt obliged to "repair" the mistakes of the other. Dietrich believed himself to be the supreme commander over the German press and so sought to lessen Goebbels's influence within

6003-412: The purge as a crackdown on moral turpitude . Kempka said in a 1946 interview that Hitler ordered both Heines and his partner taken outside of the hotel and shot. Meanwhile, the SS arrested the other SA leaders as they left their train for the planned meeting with Röhm and Hitler. Although Hitler presented no evidence of a plot by Röhm to overthrow the regime, he nevertheless denounced the leadership of

6090-451: The rank of SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer was created. Standard practice for SS generals serving as an SS and police leader , as well as those senior SS personnel of the RSHA , was to hold dual police rank as SS- Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei . SS- Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS was the equivalent in the armed SS; in 1944, most active SS generals received this designation in order to command military troops during

6177-426: The rank, including Friedrich Jeckeln who would become one of the most infamous SS and police leaders on the Eastern Front during World War II . The last pre-war promotion to the rank of SS- Obergruppenführer was in April 1939 for Friedrich Graf von der Schulenburg who died the following month. Upon the outbreak of World War II, there were seventeen men who held the rank of SS- Obergruppenführer . During

6264-437: The ranks of the SA. Reports of a huge cache of weapons in the hands of SA members caused additional concern to the army leadership. Unsurprisingly, the officer corps opposed Röhm's proposal. They insisted that discipline and honor would vanish if the SA gained control, but Röhm and the SA would settle for nothing less. In addition the army leadership was eager to co-operate with Hitler given his plan of re-armament and expansion of

6351-585: The release of Kriebel. In the December 1924 election the seats won by his party were much reduced, and his name was too far down the list to return him to the Reichstag . While Hitler was in prison, Röhm helped to create the Frontbann as a legal alternative to the then-outlawed Sturmabteilung (SA). Hitler did not fully support Röhm's ambitious plans for this organization, which proved problematic. Hitler

6438-468: The remainder of the war in France and Romania as a staff officer. He was awarded the Iron Cross First Class before being wounded at Verdun, and was promoted to captain ( Hauptmann ) in April 1917. Among his comrades, Röhm was considered a "fanatical, simple-minded swashbuckler" who frequently displayed contempt for danger. In his memoirs, Röhm reported that during the autumn of 1918, he contracted

6525-646: The revolution and use the units at his disposal to obtain weapons from secret caches with which to occupy crucial points in the centre of the city. When the call came, he announced to those assembled in the Löwenbräukeller that the Kahr government had been deposed and Hitler had declared a "national revolution" which elicited wild cheering. Röhm then led his force of nearly 2,000 men to the War Ministry, which they occupied for sixteen hours. Once in control of

6612-548: The rise of the Nazis and the violent suppression of rival parties during electoral campaigns, but its reputation for street violence and heavy drinking was a hindrance, as was the rumored homosexuality of Röhm and other SA leaders such as his deputy Edmund Heines . In June 1931, the Münchener Post , a Social Democratic newspaper, began attacking Röhm and the SA regarding homosexuality in its ranks and then in March 1932,

6699-436: The state". Röhm and the SA regarded themselves as the vanguard of the "National Socialist revolution". After Hitler's national takeover they expected radical changes in Germany, including power and rewards for themselves, unaware that, as Chancellor, Hitler no longer needed their street-fighting capabilities. Nevertheless, Hitler did name Röhm to numerous important Party and State positions. On 2 June 1933, Hitler named him

6786-467: The transmitter of Hitler's current directives to Dr. Goebbels." However, in the secrecy mandated by war, Dietrich, who was not in Hitler's "inner circle," often did not truly know of Hitler's whereabouts. Dietrich retained the confidence of the Führer throughout the regime until Hitler accused him of defeatism and placed him on indefinite leave after an argument on 30 March 1945. After the war ended, he

6873-455: Was adjutant of the 1st Battalion, 10th Infantry Regiment König. The following month, he was seriously wounded in the face at Chanot Wood in Lorraine and carried the scars for the rest of his life. He was promoted to first lieutenant ( Oberleutnant ) in April 1915. During an attack on the fortification at Thiaumont, Verdun , on 23 June 1916, he sustained a serious chest wound and spent

6960-707: Was a German SS officer during the Nazi era , who served as the Press Chief of the Nazi regime and was a confidant of Adolf Hitler . Otto Dietrich was born in Essen , he served as a soldier during World War I and was awarded the Iron Cross (First Class). Afterwards he studied at the universities of Munich, Frankfurt am Main and Freiburg, from which he graduated with a doctorate in political science in 1921. Dietrich worked for newspapers in Essen and Munich. In 1929 he became

7047-631: Was also known for being a good organizer, a strong leader and having a brutal, unscrupulous manner; all of which served Hitler well politically, before the Nazis obtained national power in 1933 . In June 1934, in preparation for the purge known as the Night of the Long Knives , both Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich , chief of the SS Security Service, assembled a dossier of manufactured evidence to suggest that Röhm had been paid 12 million  ℛ︁ℳ︁ (equivalent to €57 million 2021) by

7134-659: Was arrested by the British. In 1949, he was tried at the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials , where he was convicted of crimes against humanity and being a member of a criminal organization, namely the SS, and was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. Dietrich's conviction for crimes against humanity stemmed from anti-Semitic propaganda which he broadcast. "These press and periodical directives were not mere political polemics, they were not aimless expressions of anti-Semitism, and they were not designed only to unite

7221-601: Was distrustful of these paramilitary organizations because competing groups like the Bund Wiking , the Bund Bayern und Reich , and the Blücherbund were all vying for membership and he realized from the failed putsch that these groups could not be legitimated so long as the police and Reichswehr stayed loyal to the government. When in April 1925 Hitler and Ludendorff disapproved of the proposals under which Röhm

7308-444: Was found guilty and sentenced to fifteen months in prison, but the sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation. Hitler was found guilty and sentenced to five years' imprisonment, but served only nine months at Landsberg Prison (under permissively lenient conditions). In April 1924, Röhm became a Reichstag deputy for the völkisch (racial-national) National Socialist Freedom Party . He made only one speech, urging

7395-464: Was prepared to integrate the 30,000-strong Frontbann into the SA, Röhm resigned from all political groups and military brigades on 1 May 1925. He felt great contempt for the "legalistic" path the party leaders wanted to follow and sought seclusion from public life. In 1928, Röhm was recruited by Wilhelm Kaiser, nominally the Bolivian military attaché in the Netherlands, to serve as an advisor to

7482-494: Was taken over by the Schutzstaffel (SS) in relation to the top leaders. The SA did continue its street battles against the communists, forces of rival political parties and violent actions against Jews and others deemed hostile to the Nazi agenda. Under Röhm, the SA often took the side of workers in strikes and other labor disputes, attacking strikebreakers and supporting picket lines . SA intimidation contributed to

7569-472: Was the most senior rank of the Sturmabteilung until the spring of 1933, when Röhm made the title position of Stabschef (SA Chief of Staff) into a rank and promoted himself accordingly. Also in the summer of 1933, Heinrich Himmler was promoted by Adolf Hitler to the newly created rank of SS- Obergruppenführer with the intent being to make Himmler the equivalent of the senior commanders of

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