'Ernst Julius Röhm', also known as 'Ernst Roehm' in English (Munich
November 28,
1887 –
july 2,
1934) was a
German military officer, and the commander and co-founder of the
Nazi Sturmabteilung — the SA.
History
Early years
Röhm was one of three children of Julius Röhm and his wife Emilie (née Baltheiser). A native of
Munich, Röhm served as a career officer with the
Bavarian Army during
World War I. He held the rank of
Oberleutnant with the Bavarian 13th Infantry Regiment, and was severely wounded in the face in September of
1914, in
Lorraine,
France. He was later promoted to
Hauptmann.
Following the end of the war in
1918, he joined the
Freikorps, one of the many private
militias that had formed in
Munich to combat Communist insurrection. In
1920, he became a member of the
National Socialist German Worker's Party, or
Nazi Party and helped to organize the
Sturmabteilung (SA). In
1923, after the failed
Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, Röhm spent fifteen months in prison, during which time he strengthened his friendship with
Adolf Hitler.
After Röhm was released from prison in
1924, he worked with Hitler to rebuild the Nazis, but several intense differences developed between the two. In April
1924 he helped create the
Frontbann as a legal alternative to the temporarily defunct and outlawed SA. He then served in the
Reichstag as part of the renamed National Socialist Freedom Party before resigning in
1925. He went to
Bolivia to serve as a military advisor.
During this time,
Reichswehr maintained Röhm on its rolls, where he was eventually promoted to the rank of
Oberst.
Röhm's return to Germany
In
1930, Hitler personally assumed command of the SA as the new
Oberster SA-Führer. Hitler sent a personal request to Röhm to return to Germany, offering him the position of
Stabschef (or "chief of staff") of the SA. Röhm accepted the offer in
1931, introducing radical new ideas to the SA and staffing the senior leadership with several of his close friends . Röhm's
homosexuality, and that of other SA leaders, such as
Edmund Heines, combined with the stormtroopers' penchant for heavy drinking and street violence, added to the SA's notoriety among the German public.
The main function of the SA during the formative years of the Nazi Party had been that of a '"political army." It was charged with protecting the party leadership and terrorizing political opponents such as the
Communist Red Front. Their violence and intimidation of opposition political parties contributed to the rise of the Nazis, first in Munich, and later throughout Germany.
Downfall
Following the Nazis' ascent to power in
1933, the socialist faction of the Nazi Party — led by Röhm — continued to believe in the
socialism inherent to the party's name. This faction of the party insisted on
nationalization of large firms,
profit sharing for employees, and cuts in the
interest rates; all of these measures were anathema to the business community that had supported Hitler's rise to power. Röhm himself spoke of a "second revolution," and vowed to act against the "
reactionaries", much as the Nazis had acted against the Communists during the consolidation of power earlier that year. (During their ascent to power, "reactionary" was the label the Nazis applied to their enemies on the Right.)
Hitler moved swiftly to reassure the German business community. In so doing, a breach was opened between Hitler and the SA. The storm troopers, whose ranks were largely composed of dispossessed members of the
working class, were
anti-capitalist in tendency, and they hoped to gain from the "revolution" they had helped win by their fighting in the streets. Hitler was of the opinion that the storm troopers were a political force who, once the Nazis had gained power, were no longer needed. Röhm, on the other hand, believed the SA was destined to be the germ of a "revolutionary" army for Hitler. While Röhm showed contempt for the Prussian military leadership, Hitler was well aware that he could not have come to power without the support of the Army, nor could he remain in leadership were the Army to withdraw its backing. Furthermore, Hitler realized he needed the Army's support to succeed the 86-year-old
Paul von Hindenburg as
President and Commander-in-Chief when von Hindenburg died.
In
1934, as it became clear that the President was weakening and approaching death, many factions in Germany devised schemes to position their own favorite candidates as von Hindenburg's successor. Shirer writes that a group of
conservatives — including many within the armed forces — sought the return of
Crown Prince Wilhelm, the son of
Kaiser Wilhelm II, to Germany either as
President or as head of a re-established
German monarchy.
Germany's military leadership was incensed by Röhm's proposal in February 1934 that Germany's armed forces (the Reichswehr) be absorbed into a single organization wherein the SA would have a clear numerical superiority and, thereby, become dominant. The Army viewed the SA as a brawling mob of undisciplined street fighters, and the tales of homosexuality and "corrupt morals" were well known within the Army; the officer corps unanimously rejected Röhm's proposal, citing the destruction of German military honor and discipline were Röhm's brawling storm troopers to gain control of the armed forces.
Hitler was presented with the opportunity to meet with the leaders of Germany's armed services on
April 11 on board the
pocket battleship ''Deutschland'' while reviewing the military's spring maneuvers in East Prussia. In the company of Defense Minister
Werner von Blomberg, Hitler met with the army commander-in-chief — General
Werner von Fritsch — and the head of the navy — Admiral
Erich Raeder. Hitler advised the commanders of the deterioration of Hindenburg's health and proposed that the Reichswehr support Hitler's succession to the presidency. In exchange, Hitler offered to reduce the size of the SA, suppress Röhm's ambitions, and guarantee that the Reichswehr would become Germany's sole bearer-of-arms. Shirer's account states that it was quite likely that Hitler also seduced the military leaders with a promise to expand both the army and the navy in exchange for their support.
The tension within the Nazis worsened after further calls from Röhm for the "second revolution," (this time against the conservative power structure) and after a showdown between Röhm and Hitler in early June.
Similarly, the conservative
industrialists who had supported Hitler's rise to the chancellorship in 1933 continued to voice unease over the socialist leanings Röhm shared with the
Strasser brothers, in particular their calls for the "second revolution." Through their close relationship with President von Hindenburg, both conservative groups — the officer corps and the industrialists — made their displeasure known to him.
In early June of
1934, von Hindenburg, though ailing, conveyed an ultimatum to Hitler that, unless the tension in Germany was ended, he was considering a declaration of
martial law. Knowing that such a step would take power out of his hands — possibly forever — Hitler decided he could no longer forestall honoring his pact with the Reichswehr to suppress the SA and end its plans for the "second revolution."
Death
In spite of the pressure applied to him, Hitler postponed the decision to do away with his long-time comrade to the very end. However, once Hitler knew he had to act, he did so relentlessly. Himmler, Heydrich, and
Göring, based on Röhms anti-Hitler rhetoric, contrived a plot of the SA that was to overthrow Hitler.
Röhm was executed without
trial during the purge of the SA — the "
Night of the Long Knives" in June 1934. Following his arrest by Hitler himself at the resort of
Bad Wiessee on
June 30, Röhm was held briefly at
Stadelheim Prison in
Munich. There, on
July 2, he was visited by SS-Brigadeführer
Theodor Eicke (then the Kommandant of Dachau) and SS-Sturmbannführer Michel Lippert. Lippert shot Röhm at
point-blank range after he refused to commit
suicide with a pistol given to him. Röhm may not have realized who had ordered his execution; it has been unverifiably reported that his last words were reported as being "mein Führer, mein Führer". Eicke's response to the dying Röhm was said to have been, "You should have thought of that before. It is too late now." The measures taken by Hitler's followers during that weekend were made legal after the fact by a decree in the
Law Regarding Measures of State Self-Defense on
July 3. Ernst Röhm was buried in Westfriedhof (
German for "west cemetery") in
Munich.
Röhm's sexual orientation
Röhm was in fact a homosexual, as was his deputy in the SA,
Edmund Heines. Much was made of this in Nazi accounts of the purge, as a way of justifying his execution. Having been outed in 1925, however, Röhm made little attempt to hide his sexuality. Despite Hitler's pretense of shock upon discovering his deputy's sexual orientation, he had in fact long known that Röhm was homosexual.
During Röhm's tenure at the head of the SA, it has been suggested that a number of homosexual men (notably
Karl Ernst, a former bouncer at a gay nightclub, and
Edmund Heines) were appointed to and promoted within the SA as a result of high-level liaisons with powerful SA figures. This was despite the openly anti-gay policies of the Nazis, exemplified by their strengthening of
Paragraph 175 (criminalising homosexual acts) of the
German Criminal Code of 1871.
Popular culture
★ Röhm is portrayed in the 2003 film '' by
Peter Stormare.
★ Röhm is cited in the song "
The Last Day of June 1934" by
Al Stewart, from the album ''
Past, Present and Future'', (
1973).
★ Röhm is a major character in
Michael Moorcock's novel, ''The Vengeance of Rome''.
See also
★
Nazi Germany
★
History of Germany
★
Allegations about Rudolf Hess
References
★ ''
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'' -
William L. Shirer (1960)
Simon & Schuster, Inc. ISBN 0671728695 (1990 30th Anniversary edition)
★ ''
The Hidden Hitler'' -
Lothar Machtan (2002) ISBN 0465043089
External links
★
''Why the SA'' a 1933 speech outlining his vision for the SA in the Nazi state. In English at archive.org
★ ''Die geschichte eines hochverraters'' "The Story of a High Traitor" by Ernst Roehm, In German at archive.org
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