609301
Ernst Röhm
Official Nazi Party postcard photo signed by the SA Chief of Staff later executed by Hitler
Ernst Julius Röhm, 1887-1934. Co-founder and leader of the Nazi brownshirts, the Sturmabteilung (SA) or storm troopers. 3½" x 5" printed postcard photograph of Röhm by official Nazi party photographer Heinrich Hoffmann, signed Ernst Röhm.
One of Adolf Hitler's longtime friends and close associates, Röhm was executed without trial on Hitler's orders as part of the purge of Hitler's political rivals in the SA—the "Night of the Long Knives." Röhm was arrested by Hitler himself and later shot on July 2, 1934, after refusing to commit suicide.
The SA was originally a political army, protecting the Nazi leadership and attacking and terrorizing political opponents. After the Nazis gained power in 1933, the party's left wing, which Röhm led, continued to press for socialism rather than nationalism. Its views conflicted with those of the right wing business community that supported Hitler's rise to power. In addition, the German Army, whose support Hitler needed to remain in power, also feared that the SA would gain control of the armed forces. Finally, Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, seeking to increase their own power, presented Hitler with manufactured evidence that France had paid Röhm to overthrow him, fueling Hitler's suspicion that Röhm intended to use the SA to launch a coup.
Occurring over the weekend of June 30-July 1, 1934, the purge targeted SA leaders and members whom Hitler viewed as a threat to his continued support within the Army and the conservative business community. Hitler announced the purge on July 13, 1934, claiming 77 people had died: 61 executed, 13 shot while resisting arrest, and three committing suicide.
This postcard is an official Nazi Party publication. The back bears the printed notation that it is distributed by the "National Socialist Peoples Welfare" as part of the "Winter Assistance Work of the German People 1933/34." It notes that the photograph is of "Chief of Staff Röhm." Röhm served as SA Chief of Staff from 1931 until his death.
The card is in extra fine condition. Röhm has signed it in blue.
We reject Nazism and all that it represented. We nevertheless offered this photograph because of its rarity and because Nazism, although despised, played a large role in the history of the 20th Century.
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