Night of the Long Knives facts for kids

SA leader Ernst Röhm in Bavaria in 1934

The Night of the Long Knives (German: ) or "Operation Hummingbird" (Kolibri), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between 30 June and 2 July 1934, when the Nazi regime executed at least 90 people for political reasons. Most of those killed were members of the "Storm Troopers" (SA) (German: Sturmabteilung).

Adolf Hitler moved against the SA and its leader, Ernst Röhm, because he saw the independence of the SA and the penchant of its members for street violence as a direct threat to his power. Hitler also wanted to forestall any move by leaders of the Reichswehr, the German military, who both feared and despised the SA, to curtail his rule, especially since Röhm made no secret of his ambition to absorb the Reichswehr with himself at its head. Finally, Hitler used the purge to go against conservative critics of his regime, especially those loyal to Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen, and to settle scores with old enemies, such as Kurt von Schleicher.

Images for kids

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  Hitler poses in Nuremberg with SA members in 1928. To his left is Julius Streicher, and standing beneath him is Hermann Göring.

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  Franz von Papen, the conservative vice-chancellor who ran afoul of Hitler after denouncing the regime's failure to rein in the SA in his Marburg speech. The photo was taken in 1946 at the Nuremberg trial.

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  SS-Brigadeführer Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Bavarian police and SD, in Munich, 1934

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  SA-Obergruppenführer August Schneidhuber  [de], chief of the Munich police, 1930

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  Hotel Lederer am See (former Kurheim Hanselbauer) in Bad Wiessee before its planned demolition in 2017.

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  General Kurt von Schleicher, Hitler's predecessor as Chancellor, in uniform, 1932

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  Gregor Strasser in 1928

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  Gustav Ritter von Kahr in 1920

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  Hitler is triumphant as the Führer, reviewing the SA in 1935. In the car with him is the Blutfahne, behind the car SS-man Jakob Grimminger.

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  Law Relating to National Emergency Defense Measures July 3, 1934.

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  Election poster for Hindenburg in 1932 (translation: "With him")

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  Werner von Blomberg in 1934

See also

In Spanish: Noche de los cuchillos largos para niños