Ernst Röhm

Ernst Julius Günther Röhm 28 November 1887 – 8 December 1942) was a German military officer and an early member of the Nazi Party. As one of the members of its predecessor, the German Workers' Party, he was a close friend and early ally of Adolf Hitler and a co-founder of the Sturmabteilung (SA, "Storm Battalion"), the Nazi Party's militia, and later was its commander.

After a failed revolt against Hitler's rule in 1934 (known as The Emergency), Röhm fled to the Soviet Union. There, Röhm radically shifted his views in politics. He publically denounced National Socialism, and embraced Marxism in 1935. Röhm also apologized for the killings and fights with Jews and Communists during his time in the SA. He also agreed to serve a limited prison sentence due to his crimes, serving from 1936 to 1938.