The Night of the Long Knives: Hitler's Purge of the SA

In June 1934, Adolf Hitler ordered the murder of his own paramilitary leaders, the SA, in a bloody purge that cemented his power and terrified the German establishment. This episode walks through the events leading up to that night: the rivalry between the SA's Ernst Röhm and the Reichswehr, the role of the SS under Heinrich Himmler, and the political maneuvering that turned Hitler against his oldest allies. We explore the victims — not just SA leaders but conservative critics like Kurt von Schleicher — and the aftermath: the army's oath of loyalty, the SS's rise, and the chilling message that no one was safe. Lucas and Luna discuss how this extrajudicial massacre was retroactively legalized and what it reveals about the nature of Nazi rule. #NightOfTheLongKnives #RöhmPutsch #ErnstRöhm #SA #SS #HeinrichHimmler #AdolfHitler #KurtVonSchleicher #Reichswehr #Gleichschaltung #NaziGermany #1934 #Purge #GermanHistory #ThirdReich #History #FexingoHistory #Europe Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo