All language subtitles for Infamous Assassinations s01e01 Ernst Roehm

July the 1st, 1934.

Stadelheim prison, Munich, Germany.

Three black uniformed men enter a cell.

Three shots ring out. It is the climax
of an orgy of killing.

An assassination which clears the way
for Adolf Hitler to achieve absolute

power.

June 29th, 1934.

Hotel Wiesen, Bad Godesberg, near Bonn.

The final countdown to the assassination
begins two days earlier at a luxury

hotel on the banks of the River Rhine.

Adolf Hitler, Fuhrer of Nazi Germany,
cut short an inspection tour of work

and arrived here for crisis meetings.

For Hitler is receiving news that a coup
is about to be staged against his

regime.

A coup led by a man he believed to be
one of his oldest and most loyal

Hitler has been Chancellor of Germany
for 18 months, and on the surface his

regime seems secure.

Political opponents have been outlawed.

arrested and imprisoned in concentration
camps.

A massive program of public works and
secret rearmament is eliminating

unemployment.

But there are still forces which could
bring the regime crashing down.

The elderly President Paul von
Hindenburg, the war hero who distrusts

a jumped -up corporal.

The army and the traditional Prussian
officer corps, which is threatened by

power of the paramilitary Nazi
stormtroops, the F .A., and the

traditional industrialists and
financiers, who still control the

shocked by the rabble -rousing street
tactics of the F .A.

It all comes back to one man, one of
Hitler's oldest comrades.

Ernst Röhm.

He has built up the SA from a gang of
street fighters to a mass movement of

than three million men.

Röhm has become the focus of hostility
from traditional nationalist forces

could derail Hitler's regime.

Hitler's other henchmen are telling him
that Röhm and his SA must be muzzled if

his regime is to be secured.

Now they are telling him that the SA is
about to lead a putsch.

It is decision time.

Born in 1887 in Munich, Bavaria, Ernst
Röhm becomes a professional soldier.

During World War I, he is severely
wounded during fighting near Verdun.

After Germany's surrender, Captain Röhm
returns to Munich and hopes to arm the

right -wing nationalist Freikorps.

which play a key role in putting down a
communist riser.

Röhm's life takes a new turn in 1920,
when the army instructs him to

a small right -wing party, the German
Workers, or DAP.

He swiftly falls under the spell of one
of the party's most accomplished

orators, a fellow war veteran, Adolf
Hitler.

who, ironically, has also joined it as
an army spy.

Born in 1889 in Austria, Hitler had
failed to make it as an artist in Vienna

then Munich.

In 1914, he joins a Bavarian regiment as
a volunteer and serves in France as

runner for regimental HQ.

He wins the Iron Cross and is wounded
twice.

in the leg in 1916 and temporarily
blinded by gas in 1980.

After the armistice, Hitler also returns
to Munich and works for army

intelligence. In June 1919, he is
assigned to infiltrate the DAP.

He quickly realizes that this can be the
vehicle for his political ambitions.

In 1920, Hitler leaves the army and
begins to work for the DAP full -time.

By July 1921, Hitler has been elected
leader of the party, and on the 29th, he

is first referred to as Führer of what
he renames the National Socialist German

Workers' Party, or Nazis.

A few days later, Hitler selects Ernst
Röhm to organize an assault section, or

Sturmabteilung, the SA, to guard party
meetings and disrupt those of opponents.

But in 1922, Röhm's ambitions suffer a
blow.

The aristocratic flying ace Hermann
Göring, commander of the Richthofen

after the Red Baron's death, joins the
Nazis.

As a popular war hero, Goering is put in
over Röhm's head to command the SA.

A feud begins between the two men, which
will have fatal consequences.

But both of them are with Hitler on
November 9th, 1923, when he attempts a

in Munich.

Goering is shot and severely wounded in
the thigh.

He and his Swedish wife have to flee to
her homeland.

Röhm is arrested and imprisoned with
Hitler.

They become close friends.

But the effect of the failure of the
Munich Putsch is to divide the Nazi

into those like Röhm and Josef Goebbels,
who believe it must seize power by

force and direct action, and Hitler.

who believes in winning power through
legitimate means.

By 1925, Hitler has imposed his
authority.

Goebbels falls into line.

Disillusioned, Röhm leaves to become an
instructor in the Bolivian army.

By the time he returns, the situation
has changed dramatically.

The fortunes of the Nazi Party are
transformed by the Great Depression

follows the 1929 Wall Street crash.

There is mass unemployment in Germany
and support for extremist parties such

the Communists and the Nazis explodes.

In 1930 the Nazis become the second
largest party in the Reichstag with 18 %

the vote.

In 1931, Hitler asks Rome to return from
Bolivia and take charge again of the

SA.

This time he will be in full command.

But during his absence, a new rival has
appeared.

In 1923, as the SA began to grow, a new
personal protection squad for Hitler had

been formed.

The Schutzstaffel, or SS.

In 1929, this was put under the control
of Heinrich Himmler, an ambitious and

devious former chicken farmer.

And in October 1931, just as Röhm gets
back from Bolivia, Himmler selects 27

-year -old Reinhard Heydrich to start an
intelligence and security service for

the SS, the Sicherheitsdienst, or SD.

Heydrich is, if anything, even more
ambitious than Himmler to turn the SS

the most powerful force in the Nazi
state.

While professing loyalty to Röhm, both
men begin to plot his overthrow, with

Heydrich collecting information to be
used against the SA.

This is not difficult, since Röhm has
never abandoned his belief that the SA

should be a mass revolutionary force to
overthrow the traditional powers which

control Germany.

But as Hitler gets closer to his aim of
achieving power by constitutional means,

these are the very people whose support
he needs.

Also, Röhm is homosexual, and as he
builds up the essay, he promotes many

and condones their extreme behavior.

January, 1933.

As head of the largest party in the
Reichstag, Hitler is invited to become

Chancellor by President Hindenburg.

Just a month later, the burning of the
Reichstag, which is blamed on the

Communists, gives Hitler the excuse to
begin ruling by emergency decree.

Nevertheless, he is still trying to
persuade the armed forces and President

Hindenburg that he can be trusted.

And as Rome expands the SA from 300 ,000
men to nearly 3 million during 1933,

and unleashes it against the Nazis'
opponents, he seems to be increasingly

undermining this.

Goering, now Interior Minister of
Prussia, has set up a secret police

Gestapo. This clashes with the local SA
leadership.

Soon, Goering has joined Himmler and
Heydrich in plotting Röhm's downfall.

They warn Hitler that Röhm is becoming a
major threat to the regime and that the

SA must be calm.

By early 1934, Röhm is making no secret
of his belief that the SA should be the

leading force in Nazi Germany.

During February, he proposes that the
army should be integrated into the SA,

this idea is rejected by President
Hindenburg.

An attempt by Hitler to reconcile the
leaderships of the SA and the army

Then, in March 1934, the SA commander in
Hanover, Victor Lutzer, secretly

denounces Rome to Hitler for openly
criticizing the Fuhrer and suggesting

he should be sent on a long holiday.

Hitler replies,

We must let this matter ripen.

April 10th, 1934.

Wilhelmshaven.

Hitler holds a secret meeting on board
the pocket battleship Deutschland with

Minister of War, General Wernher von
Blomberg, Head of the Army, General

von Fritsch, and Head of the Navy,
Admiral Erich Raeder.

Hitler agrees to curb Röhm and the SA in
return for army support to make him

president when Hindenburg dies.

And on April 20th, there is an
announcement that the SA will go on

during July.

Heydrich is now sending regular reports
to Hitler warning that Röhm and the SA

are planning his overthrow.

With Himmler and Goering...

Heydrich prepares detailed plans for
eliminating the leadership of the SA.

How much Hitler is aware of this is
uncertain, but he does nothing to defend

Rome and seems happy to let matters
develop.

June 16th, 1934, Venice.

The pressure on Hitler mounts.

During his first state visit to Italy,
Mussolini urges him to act against the

SA.

The next day, as Hitler returns, his non
-Nazi vice -chancellor, Franz von

Papen, makes a speech criticizing SA
excesses.

Hitler responds publicly, vowing to
crush any resistance, whether from right

left.

The SS is now sending ever more lurid
details of an SA plot.

But Hitler still hesitates.

June the 21st, 1934.

Hitler sees Hindenburg.

The aged president states that he
expects Hitler to act against the SA,

otherwise he will declare martial law
and use the army to crush it.

So as not to arouse suspicion, Goering
accompanies Rome to the wedding of his

archenemy, Berlin SA commander Karl
Ernst, whose name he has already put on

death list.

Then, Röhm and the other SA commanders
depart for Bad Wiese near Munich to

their holiday.

Himmler and Heydrich send a secret
mobilization order to all SS units.

And as the SA relaxes, the army general
staff puts all military districts on

alert.

The pressure on Hitler is now intense,
and the opportunity to act while the SA

is off guard is becoming too good to
miss.

June 29th, 1934.

The Rhineland.

During the afternoon, Hitler cuts short
his visit to work camps and goes to the

Hotel Driesen near Bonn.

At nine that evening, Goebbels arrives
from Berlin to warn him that an SA coup

is imminent.

Almost simultaneously, Goering
telephones to say that Karl Ernst has

in Berlin on alert.

It appears that their coup is beginning.

At 9 .30, Victor Lutzer arrives and
assures Hitler of the loyalty of the

the SA.

Shortly afterwards, Sepp Dietrich, the
commander of Hitler's personal

squad, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf
Hitler, arrives.

He is instructed to fly to Munich and
take command of SS forces there.

June 30th, 1934.

Shortly after midnight, Himmler phones
to tell Hitler that Karl Ernst has

ordered a general mobilization of the
Berlin SA for four in the morning.

Goebbels knows that, in fact, Ernst is
about to begin a honeymoon cruise to

Tenerife, but he chooses not to tell
Hitler.

A few minutes later, Hitler is phoned
from Munich.

and told that SA men are now marching
through the streets, shouting slogans.

In fact, a few SA demonstrators had been
dispersed earlier by their officers.

All is now quiet, with Röhm and most of
the top SA leadership sleeping

peacefully in the Pension Hanselbauer at
Bad Wiese.

Whether this steady drumbeat of
accusations against Röhm and the SA are

a plot encouraged by Hitler, or whether
they have been orchestrated by Goering,

Himmler and Heydrich to put pressure on
him, has never been made clear.

But now the Führer takes a momentous
decision.

Sunday, June 30th, 1934.

Hotel Driesen, Bad Godesberg.

At one in the morning...

Hitler decides to fly immediately to
Munich to confront Röhm.

In Munich, Dietrich is instructed to
proceed to Bad Wiese and await Hitler's

arrival.

At Bonn airport, Hitler's personal
aircraft is prepared for immediate take

Hitler, Goebbels and Victor Lützer leave
the hotel.

After a half -hour drive, the cars reach
Bonn airport.

and Hitler, Lützer and Goebbels board
the plane.

June 30, 1934.

At 1 .50, the plane takes off for
Munich.

In Berlin, Himmler and Heydrich go to
the Gestapo HQ at Prinz -Albrecht

after a warning that Hitler is on the
move.

Goering is also alerted.

As Hitler's plane flies south, the SS
convoy leaves for Bad Wiessee.

At the Pension Hankelbauer, the SA
leadership sleeps on.

June 30th. At four in the morning,
Hitler's plane lands at Munich Airport.

Hitler goes first to the Bavarian
Ministry of the Interior, where local SA

commanders have been told to gather.

They are arrested and taken to
Stadelheim prison.

Police and SS men surround the SAHQ, the
brown house.

The telephone lines are cut.

At six o 'clock, Hitler gets back in his
car and sets off for Bad Wiese.

In Berlin, Himmler and Heydrich are
warned that he is now left for the final

confrontation.

SS murder squads are alerted to leave
for chosen victims' homes.

At 6 .30, the SS cars reach Bad Wiese,
picking up the SS trucks waiting at the

outskirts. They race to the Pension
Hanselbach.

A few minutes later, they reach the
hotel.

There are no guards and the SA leaders
are still asleep.

The first SS men burst in and begin
rounding them up.

Hitler, with a revolver, goes up to the
first floor and hammers on Röhm's door.

When Röhm opens it, Hitler rushes in
screaming insults and tells him that he

under arrest.

Then the prisoners are herded down into
the cellar.

By 8, it is all over.

Hitler, Goebbels and Lützer drive back
to Munich, taking Röhm and other top SA

commanders with them.

They take another route, south of the
lake, in case SA fanatics loyal to Röhm

try to intercept them.

June 30, 1934.

By 9 o 'clock, the prisoners are being
locked up in Stadelheim prison.

Hitler and Goebbels go to the SA HQ.

At 10 o 'clock, Goebbels phones Göring's
HQ in Berlin and says the code word

Kolibri, hummingbird.

Heydrich and the Gestapo receive the
message which is relayed to the murder

squad.

Then the killings begin.

11 .30.

General Kurt von Schleicher...

The former chancellor is gunned down in
his study.

His young wife is also shot.

His is one of the first of more than 90
murders which take place all over

Germany.

In some cases, it is old scores that are
being settled, such as Gregor Strasser,

the former leader of the party who fell
out with Hitler.

Or Ritter von Kahn.

the man who put down in 1923 Munich
Putsch.

The Brown House, Munich, three in the
afternoon.

Hitler puts Lützer in command of the SA.

He then instructs Sepp Dietrich to go to
Stadelheim and execute the five top SA

commanders. Only Rome is to be kept
alive.

At five in the afternoon, Sepp Dietrich
and the firing squad reach Stadelheim.

The five SA leaders are brought out and
shot.

That evening, Hitler returns by air to
Berlin.

After his arrival, he is told of the
killings which have already taken place.

He must now confront the decision of
what to do about Röhr.

Sunday, July 1st, 1934, Berlin.

In the Reich Chancellery, during the
morning, Hitler is persuaded by Goering

Himmler that Roe must die.

At one o 'clock, the countdown begins.

Hitler telephones Munich and instructs
SS General Theodor Eicher, the first

commandant of the first concentration
camp at Dachau, to kill Roe.

Eicher takes two other SS officers with
him.

Stadelheim, Munich.

At half past two, the three SS officers
reach the prison and demand to see Röhm.

At the Reich's Chancellery in Berlin,
Hitler is giving a reception and

with his guests.

Back at Stadelheim prison, at 2 .35, the
SS men enter Röhm's cell.

He is sitting naked to the waist and
sweating heavily.

They slap a newspaper with blazing
headlines about his treachery down in

of him.

Then a gun with just one bullet in it.

The SS men leave Rome alone.

The implication is clear.

He will not leave the cell alive.

The Reich's Chancellery, Berlin.

By 2 .45, a crowd has gathered after
news of an attempted coup.

Hitler goes out onto the balcony to
acknowledge its cheer.

Stadelheim Prison, Munich.

At 2 .50, the SS men go back into the
cell.

Röhm is still sitting motionless,
staring at the pistol.

They shoot him three times.

A few minutes later, at the Reich
Chancellery, as Hitler steps off the

he is given a message.

Ernst Röhm, one of his oldest
colleagues,

and the man who had become the greatest
threat to the Nazi regime is dead.

August 2nd, 1934.

Just a month later, Hitler gets his
payback.

President von Hindenburg dies, and the
German army stands by its agreement to

support him for the presidency.

On that same day, all officers and men
start taking an oath, pledging absolute

loyalty to Adolf Hitler.

as supreme commander of the Wehrmacht.

August 5th.

Hindenburg is buried, and with him the
last chance of opposition to Hitler.

For Ernst Röhm, there is no pomp, just a
simple grave in a local cemetery.

But his assassination was the key which
gave Hitler absolute power.