The night of the long knives

Within a year, opponents of the Nazis had either left Germany or been taken to concentration camps. The army did not trust the SA or its leader Ernst Rohm and neither did Hitler as he feared his control over the 4 million SA men. On the weekend of 29-30 June, squads of SS men killed Rohm and other leading figures in the SA and arrested them. Hitler accused Rohm of plotting to overthrow and murder him. Over the weekend, Rohm and as many as 400 others were executed, including former chancellor Von schleicher.