“They salute with both hands now” Cartoon by David LowLondon Evening Standard, 3 July 1934

Language support:Speer – spear; kauern – to cower/crouch down

Depicted personalities from left to right:Hitler – Göbbels – Göring

The Night of the Long Knives (German: Röhm-Putsch)

SA (Sturmabteilung, stormtroopers / Storm Battalion, brownshirts) under Ernst Röhm (who had participated in the 1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch) wanted to be more than Hitler’s propaganda instrument

more members than German army; high-ranking generals warned Hitler about potential danger

night of 30 June 1934: Röhm and other major leaders of SA shot by SS (Schutzstaffel, Defence Unit: originally created as Hitler’s bodyguards in 1925)

all in all: 400 people murdered

Hitler claimed he had responded to a treason plot & was thanked by his Cabinet for his “courageous and determined action” (cf. German term)

SA ceased to be a serious military presence, became a propaganda showpiece