Ryom, Ernst

Born in Munich in the family of a railway employee to the youngest of three children.

The elder brother, Robert Ryom (1879–1974), a participant in the First World War , received an officer’s rank at the end of the war.

The older sister is Eleonora Rom, married to an Austro-Hungarian, then Austrian official Adolf Lippert. Their sons: Robert Lippert (1902–1966), Austrian lawyer, and Bernhard Lippert (1904–1946), employee of the German Foreign Ministry under Hitler.

Influenced by Uncle Sigmund Röhm, a veteran of the Franco-Prussian war and a witness of the proclamation of a unified Germany at Versailles, Ernst had dreamed since childhood of a career as a military officer. Immediately after graduating from high school, in June 1906, he joined the Bavarian army as a fan-Junker and soon entered a military school. In 1908 he was promoted to lieutenant .

In the First World War he served on the Western and briefly (from summer 1917 to spring 1918) - on the Eastern Front (in Romania). Adjutant, company commander of the 10th Bavarian Infantry Regiment.

On September 24, 1914, during the battles in Lorraine , he was seriously wounded in the face by a shell fragment, lost the upper part of the nose (later partially eliminated the consequences of injury through plastic surgery). Then the life of Reem was saved by his orderly ^[4] . The third time he was seriously wounded (through a grenade splinter in the chest through the throat) near Verdun on June 23, 1916. After a long stay in the hospital, he returned to service, but was eventually transferred to staff work.

He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd (October 19, 1914) and 1st degree (August 12, 1916), the Bavarian Order For Military Merit, 4th class with swords and the badge "For Wounded" in silver.

In the spring of 1919 participated in the defeat of the Bavarian Soviet Republic in the composition of the volunteer corps F. von Epp .

Founder of SA

In 1920, replacing Karl Mayr as the head of the propaganda department of the IV military district, he met Hitler and became one of the first members of the Nazi Party .

At that time, Röhm, together with a member of the Land Hunting Council, Georg Escherich, created the Bavarian militia ( Einwohnerwehren ), designed to circumvent the limitations on the number of armed forces imposed by the Versailles Treaty . To provide him with weapons and ammunition, he created huge caches, which were then enough to arm a third of the Wehrmacht created in 1935. However, in 1921, the organization was banned. After this failure, Rom came to the conclusion that in order to seize power, support was needed for broad sections of the population. The most suitable candidate to solve this problem was Hitler.

To ensure the safety of Hitler from the soldiers of the 19th mortar company, Rom organized a mobile group. On its basis, a party order service was created, later renamed the physical education and sports department, and then the assault squad ( German Sturmabteilung , abbreviated as CA ).

He also searched for officers for commander positions. The basis of the leadership of the SA was made up of people from the headquarters of the 2nd Marine Brigade, disbanded for participating in the Kappsky coup , headed by its commander, Captain 3rd Rank Hermann Ehrhardt .

Almost immediately between Rome and Hitler disagreements arose over the goals and objectives of the SA. Hitler saw in the assault detachments of a group of fighters who are ready to perform any task of the party leadership. Ram also perceived the SA as the core of the future revolutionary army. In this he was supported by the military, who considered the attack aircraft as reserve units ^[5] .

In order to strengthen his influence in the SA, Hitler appointed Hermann Goering as commander of the detachments, and then, as a counterbalance, created his personal guards, which later became SS .

Beer Coup

Ryom took an active part in the Beer Putsch . At the head of the Reichskrigsflagge detachment he had created, he seized the building of the military ministry ^[6] .

After the failure of the coup, Ryom was arrested, but then released on bail. Being in Landsberg prison, Hitler appointed him head of the underground assault squads ^[7] . As a legal cover, Ryom created the “Frontban” (a union of front-line soldiers) under the formal guidance of General Ludendorff . At the head of the union, Rom launched a stormy activity to expand the influence of the National Socialists outside Bavaria. He succeeded in attracting former fighters and other paramilitary units of Northern Germany to his side, increasing the number of SAs from 2,000 people on the eve of the Beer putsch to 30,000. ^[eight]

In December 1924, Hitler, after being released from prison, ordered Ryom to form new assault detachments. But then a conflict arose between them, which eventually led to a break in relations. In no case did Hitler want to allow the independence of the stormtroopers, who would dictate their political will to him ^[9] .

On April 30, 1925, Röhm sent Hitler a farewell note:

In memory of the difficult and beautiful hours spent together, I sincerely thank you for the comradely attitude and ask you not to deprive me of your friendship . ^[9]

A month later, Hitler responded, but not personally, but through his secretary:

Mr. Hitler does not intend to create any military organization anymore. And if at one time he went to such a step, it was only at the insistence of some gentlemen, who eventually betrayed him. Today, he needs only the protection of party meetings, as before 1923. ^[9]

In 1925, Ryom resigned. Until 1928 he worked in the field of trade and, in addition, published his autobiography, The History of the State Traitor.

Bolivia

In 1928, Rome, who always considered himself a soldier, not a politician, left for Bolivia . Until 1930, he served there as a military adviser with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Bolivian army . During his stay in South America, he perfectly mastered Spanish.

Homosexual scandals

April 1, 1931 Rёm became chief of staff of the SA, soon being in the center of the scandal. Supporters of Walter Stennes , the displaced Berlin stormtrooper commander, expressed clear dissatisfaction with the appointment of a homosexual to a leading position, who disgraced the SA. He was also convicted of using his official position for personal purposes. Trustees of the number of attack aircraft found for him sexual partners, whom Ryom later appointed to posts in the SA. If the elect showed infidelity or discontent, he was severely beaten. Meetings took place in the Brasserie Brasserie. Ryom openly visited the favorite institutions of homosexuals "Kleist-casino" and "Silhouette" together with the new leadership of the Berlin assault troops. Hitler, in response to information received to him, compromising Ryoma, said he would make a decision when he was provided with evidence.

And the evidence soon appeared. The Münchner Post, a social-democratic newspaper, began to publish stories about the adventures of Ryom and publish his letters. Trying to find a source of information leakage, Rom ordered journalist George Bell to meet with Carl Mayr, who had become a Democrat by then. Mayr said that some of the leaders of the Nazi Party plan to physically eliminate Ryom.

And, indeed, after Hitler’s next refusal to remove Ryom from his post, the Supreme Judge of the Party, Walter Buch, conceived the murder of some of the top leaders of the SA, but due to the indecision of the executors, the plan failed.

After it became known about Ryom's contacts with Mayr, a new scandal broke out. Martin Borman , Buch’s son-in-law and his confidant, said furiously:

It does not go into any gate. One of the prominent party leaders is meeting an ideological opponent ... and building a hula on members of his party, calling them pigs.

"Second Revolution"

After the National Socialists came to power, Ryom began to plan military reform. In 1933 - Minister without portfolio . Being a company commander during the First World War, he realized that the old Prussian military school no longer meets the requirements of the times. The new army, in his opinion, was to be completed according to the militia principle on the basis of the SA. He saw himself at the head of this army. Having demanded the dissolution of the Reichswehr (army) and the creation of a "revolutionary people's militia" under the leadership of the SA, he entered into a conflict with Hitler, the SS and the Reichswehr.

Doom

Ryom and the members of the SA considered themselves to be the vanguard of the "National Socialist Revolution." After Hitler came to power, they expected cardinal changes in the life of Germany, including privileges for themselves. They did not realize that Hitler no longer needed attack aircraft with their experience of street violence.

The officer corps demanded the removal of Ryome and the dissolution of the SA as a condition for supporting Hitler. Despite the ideological closeness, Hitler decided to sacrifice Rem ^[10] . Hitler accused Ryom of conspiracy and took a personal part in his arrest (June 30, 1934). Simultaneously with the arrest of Ryoma, a large group of CA leaders was shot without trial.

A day later, Hitler ordered that a fresh newspaper with an article about his exposure and the execution of supporters, and a pistol with one cartridge be brought to the chamber, hoping that after reading the article, Ryom would shoot himself, but he refused, or perhaps did not have time to decide. 10-15 minutes after that, SS brigadeführer Theodor Eike and his adjutant Sturmbannführer SS Michel Lippert , armed with pistols, entered the chamber. Ryom put down the newspaper, went to the window, faced the door, raised his right hand and shouted, "Glory, my Fuhrer!", After a second Lippert and Eike fired four shots (two each) in the Ryom torso area, from which Ryom died on the spot . In Eike's diary, there was a record, according to which he simply stood in the door of the cell, and Lippert killed Ryoma, shooting him first in the chest and then in the head. Also, according to the same notes, Rohm allegedly shouted not “Hail my Fuhrer!”, But “Let Adolf shoot at me personally!”

• Geschichte eines Hochverräters. München: Franz Eher Nachf., 1928.
• SA. und SS. // Almanach der nationalsozialistischen Revolution. Berlin: Brunnen, 1934. S. 64-71.

• Ernst Röhm appears in the play of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima “ My Friend Hitler ”, which vividly depicts the events immediately preceding the death of Röhm.
• In Lyon Feuchtwanger's novel The Brothers Lautenzak (1943), Röhm is a prototype of Manfred Proel, the head of attack aircraft.

In the cinema

• “ Hitler: Rise of the Devil ” / “Hitler: The Rise of Evil” ( Canada , USA ; 2003 ) director Christian Dughet , in the role of Ernst Röhm - Peter Stormare .
• “The Scout: The Legend of Olga ”, ( Russia ; 2009 ) director Kirill Kapitsa , Sergey Gamov as Ernst Ryom.

• Zalessky K. A. Leaders and Warlords of the Third Reich: Biographical Encyclopedic Dictionary. - M .: “Veche”, 2000. - p. 331-332. - 576 [16 ill.] With. - ISBN 5-7838-0550-5 .

• Zalessky KA. Who was who in the Third Reich: Biographical encyclopedic dictionary. - M .: AST Publishing House LLC: Astrel Publishing House LLC, 2002. - p. 554-556. - 942 [2] - ISBN 5-17-015753-3 (AST Publishing House LLC); isbn 5-271-05091-2 (Astrel Publishing House LLC).

• Zalessky K.A. NSDAP. Power in the Third Reich. - M .: Eksmo , 2005. - P. 463-466. - 672 s. - ISBN 5-699-09780-5 .

• Hyone H. Black SS Order. The history of security detachments . - M .: OLMA-PRESS , 2003. - 542 p. - 6000 copies - ISBN 5-224-03843-X .
• Evans, Richard J. (2005) The Third Reich in Power ISBN 1-59420-074-2 .
• Fest, Joachim (2004) Inside the Revenues of the Third Reich , ISBN 0-374-13577-0 .
• Irving, David Hitler's War . London: Focal Point Publications. ISBN 1-872197-10-8 .
• Shirer, William L. The Third Reich. - New York: Simon & Schuster, 1960. - ISBN 0-671-72869-5 .