Ernst Röhm was one of the key architects behind the rise of the Nazi
Party. From 1919 until 1923, following the defeat of Germany in the
First World War, Röhm served in the Freikorps and then NSDAP – the Nazi Party.
He served as the party’s patron, promoter and watchdog, and helped found the SA,
the thuggish workforce behind Nazi political activity leading up to 1933. It has
been stated that the rise to power of both Hitler and the Nazi Party would not
have happened without Röhm’s organisational skill, authority and
influence.
He took part in the Beer hall putsch in 1923, but was sufficiently
disillusioned by 1925 with the prospects for Nazism that he stood for the
Reichstag instead. Röhm wrote and published his memoirs in 1928 – entitled A
Traitor’s Story – the year he both resumed working for the Nazis and left to
serve in the Bolivian army for two years. Röhm proved to be an eloquent writer
and he was candid about his experiences and his relationship with the Führer. He
wrote, ‘Hitler and were linked by ties of sincere friendship.’ Little did Röhm
know where that ‘friendship’ would end.
