Ernst Roehm
| Ernst Röhm | |
|---|---|
Röhm in uniform, 1933
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| Born |
Ernst Julius Günther Röhm November 28, 1887 Munich, Bavaria, German Empire |
| Died | July 1, 1934 (aged 46) Stadelheim Prison, Munich, Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation |
Stabschef,  Sturmabteilung (SA) |
| Political party | National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) |
| Parent(s) | Julius and Emilie Röhm |
Ernst Julius Günther Röhm (German pronunciation: [ˈɛɐ̯nst ˈʁøːm]; 28 November 1887 – 1 July 1934) was a German military officer and an early member of the Nazi Party. As one of the members of its predecessor, the German Workers' Party, he was a close friend and early ally of Adolf Hitler and a co-founder of the Sturmabteilung (SA, "Storm Battalion"), the Nazi Party's militia, and later was its commander. By 1934, the German Army feared the SA's influence and Hitler had come to see Röhm as a potential rival, so he was executed during the Night of the Long Knives.
Ernst Röhm was born in Munich, the youngest of three children (he had an older sister and brother) of Emilie and Julius Röhm. His father Julius, a railway official, was described as a "harsh man". Although the family had no military tradition, Röhm entered the Royal Bavarian 10th Infantry Regiment Prinz Ludwig at Ingolstadt as a cadet on 23 July 1906 and was commissioned on 12 March 1908. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, he 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 the remainder of the war in France and Romania as a staff officer. He had been awarded the Iron Cross First Class on 20 June 1916, three days before being wounded at Verdun, and was promoted to captain (Hauptmann) in April 1917. In October 1918, while serving on the Staff of the Gardekorps, he contracted the deadly Spanish influenza and was not expected to live, but survived and recovered after a lengthy convalescence.
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