"Hey, Adolf! This joke’s gone too far!"
Röhm shouted in shock. Dietrich, standing beside me, snorted.
"This looks like a joke to you?"
He leveled his Luger at Röhm’s head. One twitch and he’d fire.
"Typical homo—shameless to the end. Filthy pig," Himmler piled on.
"L-look here, at least tell me why—"
"Take him."
I turned away, ignoring his desperate plea.
SS men rushed in and bound him. Röhm thrashed and howled, only making them angrier.
"Hold still, you bastard!"
"Pig!"
A rifle butt cut the air, and the impact thudded like a meat mallet pounding schnitzel.
Five minutes later, when they dragged him out, his face was a swollen mask of bruises.
His nose looked broken; blood poured down. His eyes puffed so badly he could barely open them.
"You son of a bitch…"
He forced the words out as he passed me.
An SS man cracked him across the back with a buttstroke.
"Fucking prick!"
"He needs more to beat sense into him!"
"Wait."
"?"
"He was our comrade once. Let it go."
"Sir? Ah—understood…"
They tossed Röhm into the back of a truck like a sack of trash.
All the SA staffers staying at Bad Wiessee were bound and hauled out too.
Some were in pajamas like Röhm; plenty were naked. Easy enough to guess what they’d been doing.
They, like Röhm, had no idea why they were being arrested.
A few jabbed fingers at me and cursed; each time, nearby SS men rushed them and turned their faces to pulp.
"We’ve arrested all the traitors."
"So we have, my Führer."
I nodded at Dietrich.
"Shall we sweep the area in case anyone slipped away?" Heydrich asked. He knew perfectly well no one had.
He was saying it to flaunt his thoroughness and win points.
"No need. If they had any wit, they wouldn’t have come here."
I took one last look around Bad Wiessee. A few residents, startled by the commotion, stepped outside to see what had happened, then retreated under SS orders.
But lights stayed on behind curtains.
"We’ve made enough noise. We’re done here. Pull out."
"Understood."
***
Back at the Munich Party headquarters, I called an emergency meeting.
The key officials who’d been tipped off were already waiting; the rest came running as soon as the summons hit.
Once they’d all gathered, I made the announcement.
"Sorry to drag you here without warning. I called you because Röhm was preparing a coup."
The room rippled at the word coup.
"Don’t worry. Röhm and his cronies are already under arrest."
I laid out the outline, the process, and the conclusion.
At first they looked lost; then they caught on and broke into wild applause and shouts.
"As expected of you, my Führer!"
"Sieg Heil! Heil Hitler!"
I left the hall to thunderous clapping. They could explain it to the public.
Time to finish this.
***
While Röhm was being seized in Munich, the SS, the army, and the police launched simultaneous actions in Berlin and other major cities.
"Drag them out!"
"You fucking red bastards!"
Röhm’s intimates, their associates, and everyone on the SS kill list were arrested or shot.
Among the SA high command, everyone except a few close to Viktor Lutze was purged, and even families got swept up and killed.
As the blood wind rose, Schleicher was at home.
"Hitler finally shows his true colors."
He clicked his tongue, shuddering at the thought that the bumbling ex-Sergeant-turned-politician had been a monster with a knife under his coat all along.
After hearing the news from his housekeeper, he moved quickly to get the situation through his own channels.
Once he confirmed that Hitler was using the SS to purge Röhm and the SA, he pondered his next move.
If Hitler had any sense, he’d realize soon enough that I dislike him.
He might already know.
A cold sweat crept down Schleicher’s back. Maybe the bastard was already preparing to get rid of me.
The only man he could rely on now was Hindenburg.
Their relationship had cooled over the Chancellorship, but they still exchanged the occasional message.
"If I want to live, that’s the only way."
He sent an aide to secure a meeting with Hindenburg.
Unlike with Röhm, the fact that Hitler hadn’t touched him yet meant Hitler knew he and the President were on friendly terms.
If he met the President and reaffirmed that friendship before Hitler’s mind changed, Hitler wouldn’t dare touch him.
"Dinner is served, sir."
The housekeeper brought in a simple but hearty breakfast: fresh bread, boiled eggs, cheese, bacon, coffee.
By habit, Schleicher started with the coffee. Odd—today it tasted a little off.
More bitter than usual. Was it stale?
Why am I so sleepy? Something’s wro—
Thud.
"Sir!?"
The housekeeper rushed over, but he was already unconscious on the floor.
The next morning, a brief note in the paper reported the death of Kurt von Schleicher, former Deputy Defense Minister and retired lieutenant general.
Accompanied by a statement of condolence from the sitting Chancellor, Adolf Hitler.
***
The SA officers arrested with Röhm were thrown into the basement cells of Stadelheim Prison in Munich.
That same day, all the arrested officers were executed by firing squad.
Only Röhm still lived.
When he finally came to, two men were standing before him.
For a moment he dared to hope Hitler had come. He raised his head and saw two unfamiliar faces.
"So you’re awake."
SS Lieutenant Colonel Theodor Eicke looked down at the bloodied man without expression.
"L-let me see Hitler…"
"The Chancellor. He has already left Munich."
Eicke gestured, and the man beside him—SS Major Michael Lippert—handed him a copy of that day’s paper and a Luger P08.
And a single round.
"Ordinarily you’d face a firing squad as well, but the Führer has granted you one last chance. Decide for yourself. We’ll return in ten minutes."
After they left, Röhm, hands shaking, picked up the paper.
Splashed across the front was the claim that he had incited the SA to launch a coup.
"Impossible…"
Why…
Other articles called him a lecher and a debauchee obsessed with boys, even alleging he had taken bribes from France to overthrow the government.
"The Filthy Face of the SA Chief!"
"Can’t Sleep Without a Man?"
"Foiled Coup… All Involved Arrested"
"French Ambassador Issues Urgent Statement—‘France Has Nothing to Do with This’"
"Heh…"
When he finished, he set the paper down. He stared blankly up at the ceiling.
When he first met Hitler, he believed this man would truly rise with him and rebuild the nation from head to toe.
When Hitler seized power, Röhm was happier than anyone. He was sure the day of true revolution was near.
The rotten army—the bodyguards of corrupt Junkers and greedy capitalists—would vanish, and he would build a real people’s army with his own hands.
But Hitler thought otherwise.
He had no intention of creating a people’s army, no intention of joining a revolution.
To him, Röhm was just a convenient discard.
Why had he only realized it now?
***
Ten minutes later, Eicke and Lippert returned to the cell.
Röhm was still alive. The round lay unchambered beside the pistol.
"So you kicked away your last chance."
Eicke clicked his tongue and shook his head.
Röhm met his eyes and spoke in a strained voice.
"I still have things to say. So…"
"Fire."
Before he could finish, Lippert drew the Luger and aimed at his heart. The muzzle flashed.
Röhm flinched reflexively.
Two shots rang out. The second punched into his chest. His blood surged; his vision dimmed.
"My Führer…"
He forced out the words as he collapsed and vomited blood.
"You should have said that sooner."
Those were the last words he heard, just before his breath left him.
A final gunshot echoed.