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101-420: The Sturmabteilung (SA) was organized into several large regional groups ( Gruppen ). Each Gruppe had subordinate brigades ( Brigaden ). From 1934 until 1945, subordinate to each brigade were 3 to 9 smaller regiment-sized units called Standarten . SA-Standarten operated in every major German city and were split into even smaller units, known as Sturmbanne (3 to 5 Sturmbanne per Standarte) and Stürme . After

202-779: 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

303-401: 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

404-618: 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,

505-804: 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

606-598: A motorcycle company and a mortar company. The unit was officially designated SS-Verfügungstruppe ("Dispositional troops", i.e. troops at the personal disposal of the Führer). The men were to be volunteers who had completed their service in the Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD; Reich Labour Service). The existence of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) was publicly declared on 16 March 1935 by Hitler in

707-710: 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

808-507: 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

909-483: 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

1010-736: 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,

1111-633: A seventh battalion was established in Vienna . In September 1936 the SA-Standarte was given the honorary title “ Feldherrnhalle ” to commemorate the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch . On Hermann Göring's birthday on 12 January 1937, Lutze made Göring honorary commander of the SA-Standarte " Feldherrnhalle ", who transferred control of the unit to the Luftwaffe . Members were now required to undergo military training as well as instruction as parachutists. In 1938

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1212-586: 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

1313-700: A speech at the Reichstag . The SS-VT had to depend on the German Army for its supply of weapons and military training, and the army also retained control of the recruiting system through local draft boards responsible for assigning conscripts to the different branches of the Wehrmacht to meet quotas set by the German High Command ( Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or OKW in German). As a consequence,

1414-534: 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

1515-560: 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

1616-590: A unit from the Totenkopf , the 4 Company, committed the Le Paradis massacre ; 97 captured men of the 2nd Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment were machine gunned after surrendering, with survivors finished off with bayonets . Two men survived. By 28 May the SS-Leibstandarte had taken the village of Wormhout , 10 miles (16 km) from Dunkirk. There, soldiers of the 2nd Battalion were responsible for

1717-517: 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

1818-611: 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

1919-734: The SS-Verfügungs-Division with Paul Hausser as commander. The SS-Standarte " Deutschland " was formed in 1934 as SS-Standarte 2/VT from formation units Politischen Bereitschaften " Munich " (based in Ellwangen) and " Württemberg " (based in Jagst) and Austrian volunteers. When Hitler excluded the LSSAH from the numbering sequence, the unit was renamed SS-Standarte 1/VT and, in 1935, it was renamed SS-Standarte " Deutschland " and it also received its Deutschland Erwache standard. In

2020-750: The SS-Verfügungs-Division with Paul Hausser as commander. The LSSAH was expanded into a motorized regiment. In addition, the armed but ill-trained Totenkopfstandarten , together with SS Heimwehr Danzig , were organized into the Totenkopf-Division under Eicke's command in October 1939. A further division, the Polizei-Division , was created from the Ordnungspolizei . These formations took part in combat training while under army commands in preparation for Fall Gelb against

2121-542: The 6th SS-Standarte of Berlin was named " Graham Kämmer ". There were 127 SS-Standarten . The standard rank for the Standarte leader was that of Standartenführer (colonel). The SS-Standarte was usually led an SS- Standartenführer , it included 3–4 Sturmbanne and had a normal personnel strength of 1,000–3,000 men. The SS-Standarte corresponded to the Army Regiment . The Sturmbanne I-III were formed from

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2222-547: 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

2323-688: 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

2424-555: 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,

2525-428: 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

2626-472: 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

2727-601: The SS- Stabswache and SS-Sonderkommando Berlin . The LSSAH, under the command of Josef "Sepp" Dietrich , continued to serve exclusively as a personal protection unit for Hitler and an honor guard during this timeframe. By 1937 the SS was divided into three branches: the Allgemeine-SS (General SS), the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), and the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) which administered

2828-831: The SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV). In 1937, the Wachsturmbanne were in turn organized into three main SS-Totenkopfstandarten (regiments). The first for service at Dachau, the second at Sachsenhausen, and the third at Buchenwald. Then during the autumn of 1938, a fourth unit was created for the latest concentration camp at Mauthausen. By April 1938, the SS-TV had four Standarten of three battalions with three infantry companies, one machine gun company and medical, communication and transportation units. On 17 August 1938 Hitler decreed, at Himmler's request,

2929-775: The Wormhoudt massacre , where 80 British and French soldiers were murdered after they surrendered. After the close of the Battle of France, the SS-VT was officially renamed the Waffen-SS, in a speech made by Adolf Hitler on 19 July 1940. Himmler also gained approval for the Waffen-SS to form its own high command, the Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS (Waffen-SS Command Office) within the SS-Führungshauptamt (FHA), which

3030-428: The concentration camps . On 17 August 1938 Hitler decreed that the SS military formations were to be placed at the "disposal" of the army in time of war. Hitler stated, at Himmler's request, that service in the SS-VT qualified to fulfill military service obligations. Further, during wartime, units of the SS-TV would be used as reserves for the SS-VT. Over the course of the war this led to a constant flux of men between

3131-519: The invasion of Poland . It fought alongside army units at Rozan , Modlin , Łomża and Kmiczyn . The division was disbanded near the Polish city of Nidzica on 7 October 1939. In spite of the swift military victory over Poland in September 1939, events during the invasion of Poland raised doubts over the combat effectiveness of the SS-VT. The OKW or Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of

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3232-606: 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 SS-Verf%C3%BCgungstruppe SS-Verfügungstruppe ( SS-VT , lit.   ' SS Dispositional Troops ' )

3333-655: The Armed Forces) reported that the SS-VT units took unnecessary risks and had a higher casualty rate than the army. They also stated that the SS-VT was poorly trained and its officers unsuitable for combat command. As an example, OKW noted that the Leibstandarte had to be rescued by an army regiment after becoming surrounded at Pabianice by the Poles. In its defence, the SS insisted that it had been hampered by having to fight piecemeal instead of as one formation, and

3434-671: The Long Knives . Born in Munich , Röhm joined 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 ,

3535-629: The Low Countries and France in 1940. Elements of both the SS-VT and the LSSAH participated in the ground invasion of the Battle of the Netherlands . In the five-day campaign, the LSSAH linked up with army units and airborne troops after a number of clashes with Dutch defenders. After the surrender of Rotterdam, the LSSAH left for The Hague , which they reached on 15 May, after capturing 3,500 Dutch soldiers as prisoners of war . On 16 May

3636-466: 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

3737-437: 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

3838-595: 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

3939-615: The Regiment was mobilized for use in the occupation of Sudetenland. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939 , members of the SA-Standarte were transferred to the newly formed Fallschirmjäger -Regiment 2, while other members were transferred to the Infantry Battalion “ Feldherrnhalle ”, which was part of the German Army 's Infantry Regiment 271. A detachment of SA-Standarte " Feldherrnhalle " members continued to serve under

4040-600: 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

4141-415: 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

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4242-412: The SA until May 1945. Similarly to the SA, each NSKK Motorbrigade included 3–5 Motorstandarten . A NSKK Transportstandarte Speer existed from May 1940 to June 1941 (later upgraded to a Transportbrigade ), while a NSKK Transportstandarte Todt existed from September 1939 to May 1940 (later elevated to a Transportbrigade ). The SS-Standarte was the primary unit of the Allgemeine-SS , named after

4343-455: 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

4444-477: 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

4545-403: The SS Totenkopf Division was ordered to France and was attached to army divisions which formed the northern "spearhead" of attack. In France, the SS Totenkopf was involved in the only Allied tank attack in the Battle of France . On 21 May units of the British 1st Army Tank Brigade , supported by the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division , took part in the Battle of Arras . The SS Totenkopf

4646-458: The SS was given the lowest priority for recruits, thereby limiting its size. In 1936, Himmler selected former Lieutenant General Paul Hausser to be Inspector of the SS-VT with the rank of Brigadefuhrer . Hausser worked to transform the SS-VT into a credible military force that was a match for the regular army. The SS-VT trained alongside Hitler's personal bodyguard, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH), which had also been formed from

4747-411: The SS-Standarte " Deutschland " and the SS-Standarte " Germania " were established. In Berlin, the SS-Sonderkommando Zossen and SS-Sonderkommando Jüterbog were merged into the SS-Sonderkommando Berlin under Sepp Dietrich 's command. Then in November 1933, on the 10th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch, the Sonderkommando was given the name, Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (LAH). The following year,

4848-620: The SS-TV to be the official reserve for the SS-VT. By October 1939, a new SS military division the SS-Totenkopf was formed. The Totenkopf was initially formed from concentration camp guards of the Standarten of the SS-TV, police and SS reservists and soldiers from the SS-Heimwehr "Danzig . Members of other SS militias were also transferred into the division in early 1940; all these units were involved in multiple massacres of civilians, political leaders and prisoners of war. Ernst R%C3%B6hm Ernst Julius Günther Röhm ( German: [ɛʁnst ˈʁøːm] ; 28 November 1887 – 1 July 1934)

4949-421: The Waffen-SS and the Nazi concentration camps . The military formations under Himmler's command on 1 September 1939 consisted of several subgroups: Elements of the SS-VT served with the Wehrmacht during the occupation of the Sudetenland , Austria , and Czechoslovakia . For those operations, the SS-VT was under the command of the army. The SS-VT also formed an Artillery Regiment during this time-frame which

5050-438: The active members, while the Sturmbann IV was considered a reserve unit. All SS organizations – such as the Allegemeine-SS and the Reiter-SS , but also the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) and the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) were divided into Standarten . From 1935 onwards, much to the displeasure of Heinrich Himmler , this designation was replaced by the corresponding military term, Regiment. After World War II began,

5151-413: 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

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5252-461: 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

5353-409: 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

5454-410: 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,

5555-471: 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

5656-427: The death of Ernst Röhm in 1934, new SA- Stabschef Viktor Lutze reorganized the SA to include the creation of an SA-Standarte, consisting of six battalions of volunteers that were headquartered in different locations throughout Germany: it guarded sensitive SA, state and NSDAP offices in Berlin , Hannover , Hattingen , Krefeld , Munich , Ruhr , Stetten and Stuttgart . After the annexation of Austria in 1938,

5757-449: 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

5858-564: 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

5959-648: 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

6060-454: 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

6161-470: The future direction of 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

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6262-481: 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

6363-410: 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

6464-428: The invasion of Poland attached to the 14th Army On 26 June 1933, Himmler appointed then SS- Oberführer Theodor Eicke the Kommandant of the Dachau concentration camp . Eicke requested a permanent unit that would be subordinate only to him and the SS-Wachverbände was formed. Following the Night of the Long Knives in the summer of 1934, Eicke – who played a role in the affair by shooting SA chief Ernst Röhm –

6565-453: The invasion of Poland, "[t]heir...capabilities were employed instead in terrorizing the civilian population through acts that included hunting down straggling Polish soldiers, confiscating agricultural produce and livestock, and torturing and murdering large numbers of Polish political leaders, aristocrats, businessmen, priests, intellectuals, and Jews." Further, members of the Leibstandarte also committed atrocities in numerous towns, including

6666-435: The murder of 50 Polish Jews in Błonie and the massacre in Złoczew, where 200 civilians were machine gunned. Złoczew's children also suffered; SS men beat and murdered them, sometimes with rifle butts, crushing the skulls of toddlers. Shootings also took place in Bolesławiec , Torzeniec , Goworowo , Mława , and Włocławek . In October 1939 the SS-VT regiments Deutschland , Germania , and Der Führer were organized into

6767-431: The name was changed by Himmler to Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler " (LSSAH). After the annexation of Austria, the new SS-Standarte " Der Führer " arose from the merger of the Austro-German SS and parts of the SS-Standarten " Deutschland " and the LSSAH. The term "SS-Standarte" replaced that of "Regiment" within the SS-VT. Then in October 1939 the SS-VT regiments, Deutschland , Germania and Der Führer , were organized into

6868-487: 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

6969-432: The nucleus of the Waffen-SS . The SS-VT was formed on 24 September 1934 from a merger of various Nazi and paramilitary formations such as the SS Special Detachments ( SS-Sonderkommandos ) and the Headquarters Guard ( SS- Stabswache ) units. The SS-VT consisted of three regiments, modelled on the infantry regiments of the German Army ( Heer ) and regulations; each regiment consisting of three infantry battalions,

7070-417: 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 ,

7171-456: 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

7272-406: 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

7373-539: The paramilitary Standarten began to shrink in size, some becoming the size of small companies . As of 1945, the foot Standarten of the Allegemeine-SS formally comprised 127 Standarten, most of which, however, only existed on paper and had not even reached the nominal strength prescribed by Himmler. The SS-Standarten of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-St./VT) emerged in the autumn of 1934, when

7474-474: 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

7575-534: The precursor of the Nazi Party, and became 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

7676-408: 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

7777-412: 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

7878-437: 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

7979-529: 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

8080-520: 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

8181-646: 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

8282-548: 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,

8383-468: The start of 1941, Germania was renamed Wiking , with command given to then Brigadeführer Felix Steiner , the former commander of the SS-VT regiment Deutschland . The Verfügungs-Division was also renamed Reich (in 1942 Das Reich ). In addition, the Polizei division was brought under Waffen-SS administration. The Leibstandarte was also expanded to a division for Operation Barbarossa . When

8484-491: 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

8585-492: The summer of 1937 the unit became the first to be fully equipped with modern military camouflage clothing. The first model SS-Tarnjacke was designed by Wilhelm Brandt . The SS-Standarte " Germania " was established in 1934 as SS-Standarte 3/VT around from the formation unit Politische Bereitschaft " Hamburg ". When Hitler excluded the SS-LSSAH from the numbering sequence, the unit was renamed SS-Standarte 2/VT and, in 1935, it

8686-458: The term for a "Regimental Standard ", or flag. The Standarten were organized into regimental-sized formations each with its own number, but also were referred to by other names, such as location, a popular name, or an honorary title; generally SS or NSDAP members killed before the Nazis obtained national power. For example, the 18th SS-Standarte in Königsberg was named " Ostpreußen " while

8787-455: 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

8888-630: Was a German military officer and 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

8989-631: 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

9090-434: Was created in August 1940 under Gruppenführer Hans Jüttner . The Totenkopf Division, together with the independent Totenkopf-Standarten , were transferred to FHA control. Further that same month, SS chief-of-staff Gottlob Berger approached Himmler with a plan to recruit volunteers in the conquered territories from the ethnic German and Germanic populations. At first Hitler had doubts about recruiting foreigners, but he

9191-601: 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

9292-688: Was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the Nazi Party (NSDAP). On 17 August 1938 Adolf Hitler decreed that the SS-VT was neither a part of the Ordnungspolizei (order police) nor the Wehrmacht , but military-trained men at the disposal of the Führer . In time of war, the SS-VT were to be placed at the disposal of the army. The SS-VT were involved in the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. By 1940 these military SS units had become

9393-444: 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

9494-536: Was improperly equipped by the army to carry out its objectives. Himmler insisted that the SS-VT should be allowed to fight in its own formations under its own commanders, while the OKW tried to have the SS-VT disbanded altogether. Hitler was unwilling to upset either the army or Himmler, and chose a third path. He ordered that the SS-VT form its own divisions but that the divisions would be under army command. In addition, Eicke's SS-TV field forces were not military, and during

9595-542: Was overrun, finding their standard anti-tank gun , the 3.7 cm PaK 36 , no match for the British Matilda tank . After the Dutch surrender, the LSSAH was moved south to France. On 24 May the LSSAH, along with the SS-VT division, were positioned to hold the perimeter around Dunkirk , assisting in reduction of the size of the pocket containing the encircled British Expeditionary Force and French forces. On 27 May,

9696-541: Was persuaded by Himmler and Berger. He gave approval for a new division to be formed from foreign nationals with German officers. In December 1940 the Germania Regiment was removed from the Verfügungs -Division and used to form the cadre of a new division, SS-Division Germania . It was made up of mostly "Nordic" volunteers from the newly conquered territories, Danes, Norwegians, Dutch and Flemings. By

9797-404: 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

9898-459: Was promoted and officially appointed Inspector of Concentration Camps and Commander of SS-guard formations. In 1935, as the concentration camp system within Germany expanded, groups of camps were organized into Wachsturmbanne (battalions) under the office of the Inspector of Concentration Camps. On 29 March 1936, concentration camp guards and administration units were officially designated as

9999-548: Was renamed SS-Standarte " Germania ". It was renamed SS-Standarte " Germania " in 1936 and it also received its Deutschland Erwache standard. The unit took part in the annexation of Austria and was responsible for the security during the Benito Mussolini 's visit to Germany. It took part in the annexation of Sudetenland attached to army units. It later served as a guard regiment in Prague until July 1939. It took part in

10100-494: 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

10201-523: Was used to fill the gaps in a number of army units for those events. The SS-VT regiments Deutschland and Germania along with the Leibstandarte participated in the invasion of Poland , with Der Führer (recruited in Austria after the Anschluss ) in reserve at Prague. In September 1939, a combined unit of SS-VT and Heer (army) troops conducted operations jointly as Panzer Division Kempf during

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