<P> The Night of the Long Knives ( German : Nacht der langen Messer ( help info ) ) , also called Operation Hummingbird ( German : Unternehmen Kolibri ) or , in Germany , the Röhm Putsch , was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from June 30 to July 2 , 1934 , when the National Socialist German Workers Party , or Nazis , carried out a series of political extrajudicial executions intended to consolidate Adolf Hitler 's absolute hold on power in Germany . Many of those killed were leaders of the Sturmabteilung ( SA ) , the Nazis ' own paramilitary organization , colloquially known as the `` Brownshirts '' due to the color of their uniforms . The best - known victim of the purge was Ernst Röhm , the SA 's leader and one of Hitler 's longtime supporters and allies . Leading members of the left - wing Strasserist faction of the Nazi Party , including its figurehead , Gregor Strasser , were also killed , as were establishment conservatives and anti-Nazis , such as former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and Bavarian politician Gustav Ritter von Kahr , who had suppressed Hitler 's Munich Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 . The murders of SA leaders were also intended to improve the image of the Hitler government with a German public that was increasingly critical of thuggish Brownshirt tactics . </P>
<P> The Night of the Long Knives ( German : Nacht der langen Messer ( help info ) ) , also called Operation Hummingbird ( German : Unternehmen Kolibri ) or , in Germany , the Röhm Putsch , was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from June 30 to July 2 , 1934 , when the National Socialist German Workers Party , or Nazis , carried out a series of political extrajudicial executions intended to consolidate Adolf Hitler 's absolute hold on power in Germany . Many of those killed were leaders of the Sturmabteilung ( SA ) , the Nazis ' own paramilitary organization , colloquially known as the `` Brownshirts '' due to the color of their uniforms . The best - known victim of the purge was Ernst Röhm , the SA 's leader and one of Hitler 's longtime supporters and allies . Leading members of the left - wing Strasserist faction of the Nazi Party , including its figurehead , Gregor Strasser , were also killed , as were establishment conservatives and anti-Nazis , such as former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and Bavarian politician Gustav Ritter von Kahr , who had suppressed Hitler 's Munich Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 . The murders of SA leaders were also intended to improve the image of the Hitler government with a German public that was increasingly critical of thuggish Brownshirt tactics . </P>
where did the night of the long knives take place
where did the night of the long knives take place
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany