Night of the Long Knives

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J. Duncan
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Night of the Long Knives

#1

Post by J. Duncan » 24 Jun 2014, 11:10

June 30 will mark 80 years since this historical weekend of Nazi bloodletting, a turning point in the history of the Nazi dictatorship.
The event shocked journalists around the world at the time. Hitler had made himself "supreme judge of the German people".
Another dictator, Joseph Stalin, watched with keen interest how Hitler handled his enemies within his own camp, thereby precipitating his murder of Kirov and the Communist Party purges of the 1930's (or so historians have speculated).
Hitler was seen as a cold blooded murderer by the world's press, a man who would stop at nothing in order to maintain his power.
In Nazi terminology, this event was called the Röhm Putsch or Blood Purge, as they believed he was planning a coup de tat. The more common name of the event was "Night of Long Knives" which was a phrase used within the rebellious SA to denote a "Second Revolution".
The common histories say that the SA was upset at their subordinate role in the regime, that Rohm wanted to create a revolutionary "People's Army" which would supplant the regular armed forces...much was made of Rohm's homosexuality at that time by both liberals and Nazis alike. There was a lot of dramatic scenes depicted by the press concerning this event such as the arrest of Edmund Heines at the Hanselbauer hotel (found in bed with a young stormtrooper buddy).
There are a number of books written about this event:

Max Gallo : "Night of the Long Knives"
Paul Maracin: same title as above
Nikolai Tolstoy: same title as above
Heinz Höhne: "The Order of the Death's Head" (a book about SS but has chapters dealing with NOLK and the buildup to it)
Kurt G. W. Ludecke: "I Knew Hitler: The Story of a Nazi Who Escaped the Blood Purge"

Are there any other recent books that have better and more balanced information on this chapter of German history?

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Erich S
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Re: Night of the Long Knives

#2

Post by Erich S » 26 Jun 2014, 00:49

It would be interesting to see many Coburg Badge holders lost their lives during the Night of the Long Knives.


J. Duncan
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Re: Night of the Long Knives

#3

Post by J. Duncan » 26 Jun 2014, 10:15

I guess you would have to track individuals who you know were awarded that badge of distinction and find out if they survived or not.

In my book listing, I forgot to mention Shirer, who wrote a detailed chapter of the episode.
What I find interesting about Shirer and other liberal minded journalists of the time (such as H. R. Knickerbocker, Edgar Mowrer and John Gunther) are their views of homosexuality in relation to the Nazis, Storm Troops, and the Röhm killings. Röhm and Heines were labeled as "perverts" by Shirer in his books and the others implied that part of the reason Nazis were inclined to brutality and criminality was because there were so many homosexuals in their ranks. H. R. Knickerbocker discusses this point in his book "Is Tomorrow Hitler's?: 200 Questions on the Battle of Mankind". On this issue, they seem inclined to accept theories of inborn criminality, while condemning Hitler for his prejudices at the same time. Their writings in some cases have been used to reinforce an anti-homosexual standpoint. The pictures painted of the arrests of Röhm and his cohorts were designed to create a certain kind of revulsion in their readerships. It seems a point upon which both they and the purging National Socialists both agree. Goebbels wrote in his diary at the time "a scene so foul it made me sick to my stomach" (John Toland "Adolf Hitler")
The discussion of homosexuality, homosexuals, and their relations to the Nazi dictatorship are woven into the dramatic story of the Night of the Long knives. Richard Plant, author of the good book "The Pink Triangle' wades into this connection, for he sees that the event led to the persecution of homosexuals as a group (although Germany already had laws criminalizing homosexuality - "Paragraph 175" - I don't know if this was repealed during the Weimar years).

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Georges JEROME
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Re: Night of the Long Knives

#4

Post by Georges JEROME » 27 Jun 2014, 00:57

an interesting book (in french)

Jean Philippon LA NUIT DES LONGS COUTEAUX histoire d'un intox.
very detailled.
Armand Collin 1992

based upon his Phil Dr thesis

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mty
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Re: Night of the Long Knives

#5

Post by mty » 21 Aug 2014, 20:02

From the point of view of someone who had studied the subject intensively for couple of years, the aforementioned Jean Philippon's book "La Nuit des Longs Couteaux" is definitely the most detailed and thorough presentation and analysis of events both preceding and following the purge. For those generally interested in the background and factors of the purge, besides Höhne, I would also recommend Robert Koehl's "Black Corps" and Bruce Campbell's "SA Generals and Rise of Nazism".

Also a quite recent study by a German scholar Rainer Orth, "Der SD-Mann Johannes Schmidt" is excellent in its in-depth tracking of certain SS/SD activities regarding their role in the purge.

- Mikko

J. Duncan
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Re: Night of the Long Knives

#6

Post by J. Duncan » 21 Aug 2014, 21:39

I saw that one on amazon but alas, it's in French. Max Gallo was a Frenchman too, but his book got translated into English.
Hopefully, this newer study will merit a translation. It sounds like a more thorough study than Gallo (Gallo's book reads more like a novel).

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