The Night of the Long Knives
On June 30, 1934 one of the most historical events during the Nazi seizure of power happened. This event is known by many names, but the most well know is the Night of the Long Knives. Hitler gave the event this name himself, which is a phrase from a popular Nazi song at this time. This event is known as the purge of the SA (Strumabteilung), one of the groups that threatened Hitlers power. The SA had wanted a second revolution, thinking that their work was not yet done. When Hitler heard of this he made a plan, sent all of the leaders on a nice trip. Then he took care of those who threatened all he hard worked to achieve. On this night approximately 77 people were either executed, shot for resisting arrest, or committed suicide. While another almost 200 people were arrested for acts of treason on the state (The Night of the long knives, Web). Although the numbers vary from each telling there is a few names that never change. Ernest Rhöm the head of the SA, he was personally arrested by Hitler on this night calling him pig as he did so (pg 79 Spievolgel). In the next room Heines was found taking part of homosexual activities, he was also arrested (pg 79 Spievogel). Hitler was going to let Ernest live but was convinced against it by Heinrich Himmler the leader of the SS (Schutzstaffel). When Ernest would not commit suicide he was shot by two SS members.
All of the events on this night were kept a secret until July 13, 1934. When Hitler himself addressed the events, letting the people know that he alone is all he needs to make decisions. That he alone is judge and jury. With this act it let anyone who doubted Hitler or thought about revolting against the Nazis, that he was not a man to be messed with.
This brings me to my question, would you still have revolted? Would you still have spoken out aginst a man that would personally put you in your grave?
This picture is one of the many newspaper articles telling about the events:
Ashley, this is a really great post. I find it amazing how Hitler, with just a short amount of time, was able to control and unify the German people. Any political, racial, or any kind of uprising was shutdown immediately. Sometimes, such as your example, the end result was death for the revolters. Then Hitler had created fear among all those who would uprise against him.
Ashley,
I would have to agree with Scott, this is a well written post. It is hard to imagine a dictator such as Hitler could manipulate so many people during his six year rule. I believe that this is a great example of how Hitler manipulated people by stating that the SA was going to over power and he could not have that happen because he needed the respect from the military to support him. Interestingly Hitler used the SS to fight against the SA causing the riot of the Night of the Long Knives. To answer your question I believe that I wouldn’t be able to speak out against Hitler because of the fear that he caused so many people and women’s role during this time was not as strong as it is today. Great post and media! I enjoyed your post greatly!