SA

  • NAZIS BET BIG, WIN BIG AT BALLOT BOX

    ByNorm Haskett Reading Time: 7 minutes

    Berlin, Germany • September 14, 1930 On this date in 1930 German voters went to the polls to elect a new Reichs­tag, and the results were shocking. The National Socialist German Workers’ Party (National­sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter­partei, or NSDAP) was the ninth and smallest of Germany’s poli­tical parties, with but 12 mem­bers in the national parlia­ment. In…

  • GERMAN CAPITAL, OTHER CITIES SCENES OF CARNAGE

    ByNorm Haskett Reading Time: 6 minutes

    Berlin, Germany • June 29, 1934 Late on this date in 1934 German Chancellor Adolf Hitler unleashed an extraor­di­nary mur­der spree known as the “Night of the Long Knives” (“Nacht der Langen Messer”). Presi­dent Paul von Hinden­burg’s doctors had leaked news that the 86‑year-old German military hero had only months to live. Hitler feared that…

  • CRISIS DECREE SUSPENDS KEY CIVIL RIGHTS

    ByNorm Haskett Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Berlin, Germany • February 28, 1933 On this date in 1933, with the Reichstag (German parliament building) still smol­dering following the fire allegedly set by 24‑year-old Dutch Com­munist Marinus van der Lubbe the day before, German Chan­cellor Adolf Hitler per­suaded 87‑year-old Presi­dent Paul von Hinden­burg to sign the Reichs­tag Fire Edict. The emer­gency decree sus­pended…

  • GERMAN ARMY BACKS HITLER

    ByNorm Haskett Reading Time: 7 minutes

    Berlin, Germany • April 11, 1934 On this date in 1934 German Chan­cellor Adolf Hitler sec­retly met with Ger­man War Minis­ter Gen. Wer­ner von Blom­berg, the un­offi­cial repre­sen­ta­tive of the officer corps of the Reichs­wehr (Ger­man armed forces), and reached an agree­ment that sealed the fate of the post-World War I Wei­mar Republic. Behind titu­lar Presi­dent…

  • Stormtroopers: A New History of Hitler’s Brownshirts

    ByNorm Haskett Reading Time: 1 minute

    The first full history of the Nazi Stormtroopers whose muscle brought Hitler to power, with revelations concerning their longevity and their contributions to the Holocaust

    Germany’s Stormtroopers engaged in a vicious siege of violence that propelled the National Socialists to power in the 1930s. Known also as the SA or Brownshirts, these “ordinary” men waged a loosely structured campaign of intimidation and savagery across the nation from the 1920s to the “Night of the Long Knives” in 1934, when Chief of Staff Ernst Röhm and many other SA leaders were assassinated on Hitler’s orders.
     
    In this deeply researched history, Daniel Siemens explores not only the roots of the SA and its swift decapitation but also its previously unrecognized transformation into a million-member Nazi organization, its activities in German-occupied territories during World War II, and its particular contributions to the Holocaust. The author provides portraits of individual members and their victims and examines their milieu, culture, and ideology. His book tells the long-overdue story of the SA and its devastating impact on German citizens and the fate of their country.

  • NAZIS WIN BIG AT BALLOT BOX

    ByNorm Haskett Reading Time: 6 minutes

    Berlin, Germany · September 14, 1930 On this date in 1930 German voters went to the polls to elect a new Reichs­tag, and the results were shocking. The National Socialist Ger­man Workers’ Party (National­sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter­partei, or NSDAP) was the ninth and smallest of Germany’s poli­tical parties, with but twelve mem­bers in the national parlia­ment….

  • BLOODBATH IN GERMAN CAPITAL, OTHER CITIES

    ByNorm Haskett Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Berlin, Germany · June 29, 1934 Late on this date in 1934 German Chancellor Adolf Hitler unleashed an extraor­di­nary mur­der spree known as the “Night of the Long Knives” (“Nacht der Langen Messer”). Presi­dent Paul von Hinden­burg’s doctors had leaked the news that the 86-year-old Ger­man military hero had only months to live. Hitler feared…

  • ARMY THROWS ITS SUPPORT TO HITLER

    ByNorm Haskett Reading Time: 6 minutes

    Berlin, Germany · April 11, 1934 On this date in 1934 German Chan­cellor Adolf Hitler sec­retly met with Ger­man War Minis­ter Gen. Wer­ner von Blom­berg, the un­offi­cial repre­sen­ta­tive of the officer corps of the Reichs­wehr (Ger­man armed forces), and reached an agree­ment that sealed the fate of the post-World War I Wei­mar Republic. Behind titu­lar Presi­dent…