- "There is no S.A., not after tonight. For you, this is the Night of the Long Knives. The only way the army would support Der Führer's regime was if your stormtroopers were eliminated. Herr Himmler shares my interest in the old ways. And the Schutzstaffel is more than happy to oblige."
- ―Johann Schmidt to Ernst Kaufmann[src]
The Night of the Long Knives was a series of executions to consolidate the power of the Schutzstaffel over the Sturmabteilung, which Johann Schmidt used to further his own agenda.
Background[]
To be added[1]
Night[]
Assassination of Ernst Kaufmann[]
At the time the Night of the Long Knives was instigated, Ernst Kaufmann was staying at the Sturmabteilung-reserved Hanselbauer Hotel. While relaxing in the hotel pool, however, he would call for one of his officers, Krupp, only to be answered instead by Johann Schmidt, who had already murdered Krupp and declared that Kaufmann was now without allies. Schmidt, who had nursed a grudge against Kaufmann based on a previous encounter, revealing with a devilish smile the murders of Sturmabteilung officers being carried out all throughout Germany, informing the Gruppenführer of the nature of the massacre and telling him how Heinrich Himmler and Schmidt himself shared a belief that the tales of Nordic legend were more than mere folk law, whilst it had been an easy thing to motivate Schmidt's comrades in the Schutzstaffel to carry out the attack. Schmidt then proceeded to murder his rival, leaving Kaufmann to perish painfully with both the reassurance that in his hands, the weapons division of his Sturmabteilung would continued and the parting words that while the dying senior officer brought the storm, he would bring the thunder. Whilst this was occurring, Schmidt's allies were carrying out similar deeds across Germany and in mere hours, the commanding force of the Sturmabteilung was in tatters.[1]
Attack on the Kummersdorf Weapons Testing Ground[]
To be added[1]
Aftermath[]
To be added[1]
Trivia[]
- In the comics, the young Johann Schmidt intended to kill Adolf Hitler during the Night of the Long Knives but at the last moment changed his mind and shot his co-conspirator in front of Hitler, presenting himself as his savior, eventually gaining Hitler's trust and becoming his right-hand man.
