Ernst Roehm

Ernst Röhm (November 28, 1887 - July 1, 1934) was a German officer and NSDAP party member, who organized Hitler's Brownshirts - the Sturmabteilung (SA).

While Hitler had been personally rather fond of Röhm he came under pressure to reduce his influence. German military leaders were unhappy with the proposal of Röhm that the German army be absorbed into a larger SA, and the industrialists that supported Hitler were concerned over Röhm's socialist leanings. Members of the Nazi party also viewed Röhm and some other SA leaders with distaste because they were homosexuals.

This led to his execution without trial during the purge of the SA during the so called Night of the Long Knives (29-30 June, 1934), which was post-legalized in the Law Regarding Measures of State Self-Defense.

See also: Nazi Germany, History of Germany, Homosexuals in Nazi Germany