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[[File:362px-Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1982-159-21A, Nürnberg, Reichsparteitag, Hitler und Röhm.jpg|thumb|[[Adolf Hitler]] with Ernst Röhm.]]

[[File:362px-Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1982-159-21A, Nürnberg, Reichsparteitag, Hitler und Röhm.jpg|thumb|[[Adolf Hitler]] with Ernst Röhm.]]

'''Ernst Röhm''' (November 28, 1887 – July 1, 1934) - was a friend of [[Adolf Hitler]] and an early member of the [[Nazi Party]]. He was co-founder of and later became Supreme Commander of the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' ("Storm Battalion") or [[SA]].<ref>The SA was also known as ("brownshirts") in reference to the color of their uniforms.</ref> He was also one of the many [[homosexual]]s who made up the higher echelons of the Nazis.<ref>Lively, Scott & Abrams, Kevin. ''The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party'', 4th Edition.</ref>

'''Ernst Röhm''' (November 28, 1887 – July 1, 1934) - was a friend of [[Adolf Hitler]] and an early member of the [[Nazi Party]], one of the key architects behind the rise of it.<ref name="Röhm1928">{{cite book |title=Memoirs of Ernst Röhm |author=Ernst Röhm |publisher=Frontline Books |pages=envelope |isbn=978-18483-25999 |url=https://books.google.sk/books?id=K9W4Xrh6jw4C |quote=Röhm was one of the key architects behind the rise of the Nazi Party. }}</ref> He was co-founder of and later became Supreme Commander of the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' ("Storm Battalion") or [[SA]].<ref>The SA was also known as ("brownshirts") in reference to the color of their uniforms.</ref> He was also one of the many [[homosexual]]s who made up the higher echelons of the Nazis.<ref>Lively, Scott & Abrams, Kevin. ''The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party'', 4th Edition.</ref>

Röhm had been in the military since 1906. During [[World War I]] he was twice wounded in combat and later was awarded the Iron Cross First Class. After World War I he was a member of the Socialist terror organization known as the Iron Fist. In 1919, Röhm joined the German Workers' Party, which soon became known as the ''Nationalsozialistche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' ([[Nazi Party|National Socialist German Worker's Party]] - Nazi Party).<ref>Kershaw, Ian. ''Hitler: A Biography'' (2008).</ref> Many of the first party meetings took place in a beer hall that catered to homosexuals, the Bratwurstgloeckl.<ref>Lively, Scott & Abrams, Kevin. ''The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party'', 4th Edition.</ref>

Röhm had been in the military since 1906. During [[World War I]] he was twice wounded in combat and later was awarded the Iron Cross First Class. After World War I he was a member of the Socialist terror organization known as the Iron Fist. In 1919, Röhm joined the German Workers' Party, which soon became known as the ''Nationalsozialistche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' ([[Nazi Party|National Socialist German Worker's Party]] - Nazi Party).<ref>Kershaw, Ian. ''Hitler: A Biography'' (2008).</ref> Many of the first party meetings took place in a beer hall that catered to homosexuals, the Bratwurstgloeckl.<ref>Lively, Scott & Abrams, Kevin. ''The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party'', 4th Edition.</ref>

Despite his explicit practice and promotion of homosexuality as well as his adherence to socialism, various leftists, similar to their treatment of the Nazi Party as a whole as being of the far-right in politics, often falsely list him as being on the far-right, mostly because of his fighting against the German Communists via the SA. Ironically, the same leftists also claimed that Hitler arranging for Rohm's arrest and later execution made the former a right-winger, despite the fact that Hitler not only was firmly aware of Rohm's homosexuality, but that he also rejected Himmler's suggestion that they purge homosexuals from the ranks of the SA, and that he only arrested Rohm to get rid of a potential threat to his power, with his sexuality playing little role other than as a convenient excuse.

Despite his explicit practice and promotion of homosexuality as well as his adherence to socialism, various leftists, similar to their treatment of the Nazi Party as a whole as being of the far-right in politics, often falsely list him as being on the far-right, mostly because of his fighting against the German Communists via the SA. Ironically, the same leftists also claimed that Hitler arranging for Rohm's arrest and later execution made the former a right-winger, despite the fact that Hitler not only was firmly aware of Rohm's homosexuality, but that he also rejected Himmler's suggestion that they purge homosexuals from the ranks of the SA, and that he only arrested Rohm to get rid of a potential threat to his power, with his sexuality playing little role other than as a convenient excuse.

== Notes & sources ==

== Notes & sources ==