Night of the Long Knives

The Night of the Long Knives, also known as the Wiessee massacre, was a purge of the Sturmabteilung (SA) leadership in the early years of the Third Reich, on 29 and 30 June 1934, ordered by Adolf Hitler.

History

The Sturmabteilung, colloquially known as the Brownshirts, was Hitler's private army in the years before the Nazis came to power in Germany. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus, AUDIO: The Alchemists) Headed by Ernst Rohm, (PROSE: Wolfsbane, Big Bang Generation) the SA played a significant role in boosting the Nazi Party's popularity, suppressing crime and dissension and therefore effectively replacing the police force. (AUDIO: The Alchemists)

However, in the summer of 1934, over a year after becoming Chancellor, Hitler began to suspect that the SA was plotting a coup against him. He favoured a quick and decisive strike to eradicate the potential threat before it could manifest itself. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus, Wolfsbane)

Accordingly, the SA membership were tracked down in Wiessee, outside Munich, while staying at Wiessee hotel. The Schutzstaffel (SS) was to oversee their executions on 29 June. (PROSE: Wolfsbane)

Heinrich Himmler read through the death lists and oversaw the executions. Four Brownshirts were lined up at a time in front of a firing squad and shot. The corpses were removed and the next four took their place. Two thousand people were executed in the space of one day, including the entirety of the leadership. By the end of it all, the firing squad broke down. Hermann Goering retained vivid memories of the grisly experience. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus)

Emmeline Neuberger also remembered witnessing the massacre, but she was unsure if these memories were genuine or if they had been implanted in her mind by Lady Hester Stanton. According to her memories, the SS recruited her among a number of werewolves held captive since 1933. Too weak to resist, the werewolves were secretly unleashed into the hotel during the night of the 29th, and they slaughtered Brownshirts and civilians alike. Neuberger attacked a sleeping Brownshirt in his room, but she was injured by the silver he was wearing and her quarry escaped. She hid under the bed then made her escape in the morning of the 30th, bypassing the SS while in human form by adopting the guise a dead maid. Neuberger fled continental Europe altogether and sought refuge with her extended family in the English West Country. She made no secret that she was present in Wiessee at the time of the massacre but never spoke to anyone about her own part in it until she met the Eighth Doctor on 28 November 1936 and the Fourth Doctor later on 12 December. (PROSE: Wolfsbane)

Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich helped the Doctor chase the Master through the streets of Berlin during the purge. (PROSE: The King of Terror)

The SA was effectively replaced by the SS, Hitler's elite bodyguard. (PROSE: Warlords of Utopia, Just War) Along with the Gestapo, the SS was led by Reichsfuhrer Himmler (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus, The Shadow in the Glass) and Deputy Reichsfuhrer Heydrich. (PROSE: Illegal Alien)

Parallel universe

In one of the Known Worlds of Germania, codenamed beta alpha one five, Ernst Rohm murdered Adolf Hitler and declared himself the Führer of Germany circa 1933. After the formation of the Greater German Reich, Germania I invaded and executed Rohm and his followers in retribution. (PROSE: Warlords of Utopia)