CBS

Ernst Röhm was born on November 28, 1887 in Munich, Germany. He joined the German Army in 1906. During WWI he was decorated and rose through the ranks. The soldier was also wounded three times. After the war, Captain Röhm led a group of street-fighting soldiers who helped to crush the 1919 Communist revolt in Munich. Hitler admired the effectiveness of Röhm's violent methods and convinced Röhm to join the German Workers' Party (later the Nazi Party). Röhm's men later became known as the SA, which was an abbreviation of "Sturmabteilung," or Storm Detachment. The SA served as a private militia within the Nazi Party. Röhm and Hitler shared an uneasy alliance however, and when the SA became a political liability to Hitler, Röhm refused to tell his men to cease instigating acts of public violence. In 1933, feeling betrayed by Hitler's political ambition, Röhm sought economic assistance from a wealthy industrialist in London for the purpose of possibly overthrowing the leader of the Nazi Party. Röhm's plan was uncovered, and, when Hitler came into power in 1934, he had his old ally arrested. Hitler gave Röhm the opportunity to take his own life by having a pistol put in his cell; the captain refused. He was then executed upon Hitler's orders.