Shortly after assuming the Presidency of Iraq in July 1979, Saddam Hussein convened a gathering of his Ba'ath Party leaders and publicly had 68 of them removed for alleged treason. Twenty-two of them were subsequently sentenced to death by firing squad.
Confined to cell No. 474 in Stadelheim prison, Röhm had survived the first bloody night. Hitler was minded to spare his life, but Darré witnessed Göring and Himmler arguing throughout Sunday July 1 for Röhm to be executed too. At one point Hitler demanded to be put through by phone to Röhm's deputy, Krausser. It was too late, Göring had ordered that man shot a few hours earlier. Eventually Hitler ordered that Röhm be 'offered' suicide, but when that offer was spurned, Hitler's old friend was shot out of hand on July 2 too.
The killers were SS Brigadeführer Theodor Eicke and his deputy Michael Lippert. Later trials threw light on the SA commander's end. Eicke ordered the cell door unlocked, and slapped a copy of that day's Völkischer Beobachter on the table in front of Röhm. The headlines RÖHM REVOLTS and SA LEADERS SHOT were thickly underlined as usual in red. The SS men put a pistol with one round in its chamber on top of the newspaper, and wordlessly left the cell. After a while Eicke had the jailer open the door and retrieve the loaded pistol. He and Lippert loaded their pistols and stood in the gangway. 'Time's up,' said Eicke. Röhm was ready for them. He had spent his last minutes writing something. It was on the table. He faced them, his chest bared. Eicke said: 'Take aim calmly and shoot.' Each fired one shot. Röhm dropped to the floor. Eicke stepped back and holstered his gun; Lippert stepped inside, put another bullet into the dying man's neck, and left. The jailer shut the cell door. Eicke turned him: 'Do not resuscitate,' he said.
The next morning, 30 June 1934, Hitler was still somewhat uncertain. After reviewing the evidence one last time, he finally told his crony Joseph Goebbels to telephone Goering in Berlin and give him the code word "Kolibri." This was the signal to begin the purge. Hitler had given Goering complete dictatorial powers to implement the plan using all of the resources of the state. After this, Hitler himself drove out with his boys that morning to Röhm's resort hotel, where (accounts vary) Hitler walked in, found Röhm in bed, confronted Röhm personally about his disloyalty, and ordered his arrest. Another SA man at the hotel, Obergruppenfuhrer for Silesia Heines, was reportedly found in bed with another man and was shot either on the spot or in Munich. About 200 SA men in Munich were sent to Stadelheim prison.
Hitler's following included people from across the political spectrum. The NSDAP was the "National Socialist" party, and some took the word "socialist" literally (in fact, it was sort of a euphemism for German nationalism). Leading figures of the left-wing "Strasserist" faction of the Party, along with its figurehead, Gregor Strasser, were murdered. So, too, however, were prominent people who could not even remotely be considered Left-wing or socialist. It was not a political purge except as related to people's attitudes towards Hitler - it was not, for instance, directed just at "liberals" or "conservatives" as we would understand those terms. Many of those killed were in the SA and extremely militaristic, with fervent hatred of the Soviet Union. Goering personally led an armed assault on the SA headquarters on Wilhelm Strasse.
RăspundețiȘtergereSaddam Hussein's Very Public Purge
Shortly after assuming the Presidency of Iraq in July 1979, Saddam Hussein convened a gathering of his Ba'ath Party leaders and publicly had 68 of them removed for alleged treason. Twenty-two of them were subsequently sentenced to death by firing squad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLUktJbp2Ug
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvNzUDvn7FA8YBJM9E6o1A
Confined to cell No. 474 in Stadelheim prison, Röhm had survived the first bloody night. Hitler was minded to spare his life, but Darré witnessed Göring and Himmler arguing throughout Sunday July 1 for Röhm to be executed too. At one point Hitler demanded to be put through by phone to Röhm's deputy, Krausser. It was too late, Göring had ordered that man shot a few hours earlier. Eventually Hitler ordered that Röhm be 'offered' suicide, but when that offer was spurned, Hitler's old friend was shot out of hand on July 2 too.
The killers were SS Brigadeführer Theodor Eicke and his deputy Michael Lippert. Later trials threw light on the SA commander's end. Eicke ordered the cell door unlocked, and slapped a copy of that day's Völkischer Beobachter on the table in front of Röhm. The headlines RÖHM REVOLTS and SA LEADERS SHOT were thickly underlined as usual in red. The SS men put a pistol with one round in its chamber on top of the newspaper, and wordlessly left the cell. After a while Eicke had the jailer open the door and retrieve the loaded pistol. He and Lippert loaded their pistols and stood in the gangway. 'Time's up,' said Eicke. Röhm was ready for them. He had spent his last minutes writing something. It was on the table. He faced them, his chest bared. Eicke said: 'Take aim calmly and shoot.' Each fired one shot. Röhm dropped to the floor. Eicke stepped back and holstered his gun; Lippert stepped inside, put another bullet into the dying man's neck, and left. The jailer shut the cell door. Eicke turned him: 'Do not resuscitate,' he said.
http://www.fpp.co.uk/docs/Irving/RadDi/2012/100412.html
The next morning, 30 June 1934, Hitler was still somewhat uncertain. After reviewing the evidence one last time, he finally told his crony Joseph Goebbels to telephone Goering in Berlin and give him the code word "Kolibri." This was the signal to begin the purge. Hitler had given Goering complete dictatorial powers to implement the plan using all of the resources of the state. After this, Hitler himself drove out with his boys that morning to Röhm's resort hotel, where (accounts vary) Hitler walked in, found Röhm in bed, confronted Röhm personally about his disloyalty, and ordered his arrest. Another SA man at the hotel, Obergruppenfuhrer for Silesia Heines, was reportedly found in bed with another man and was shot either on the spot or in Munich. About 200 SA men in Munich were sent to Stadelheim prison.
RăspundețiȘtergereHitler's following included people from across the political spectrum. The NSDAP was the "National Socialist" party, and some took the word "socialist" literally (in fact, it was sort of a euphemism for German nationalism). Leading figures of the left-wing "Strasserist" faction of the Party, along with its figurehead, Gregor Strasser, were murdered. So, too, however, were prominent people who could not even remotely be considered Left-wing or socialist. It was not a political purge except as related to people's attitudes towards Hitler - it was not, for instance, directed just at "liberals" or "conservatives" as we would understand those terms. Many of those killed were in the SA and extremely militaristic, with fervent hatred of the Soviet Union. Goering personally led an armed assault on the SA headquarters on Wilhelm Strasse.
http://worldwartwo.filminspector.com/2016/04/night-of-long-knives.html