Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

754 DER FUEHRERcircumstances; also purges of different degrees had been provided for:some in which the victims were to be killed at once, some in whicharrest would be sufficient. This criss-cross system of lists and purges ofvarious types seemed to work out on paper; but in reality bloodyconfusion was almost inevitable, especially when former executionerswere suddenly to be designated as victims.This mass of stored-up murder considerably added to the bloodyconfusion of the subsequent events; persons fell who had absolutelynothing in common with Rohm and his circle, and against whom thereexisted no tangible suspicion, let alone an accusation calling for thedeath penalty. Furthermore, the whole idea of a Schleicher-Strasser-Rohm conspiracy was little more than an invention, and the empty andembarrassed words which Hitler later used to describe this alleged plotsuffice to prove this. True, the dissatisfaction of the S.A. and theirreadiness to go into action were much more serious; but all the factslater revealed by the victors or made known against their will show thaton June 30 no immediate danger threatened. The brutal repressionwhich inevitably caused the death of many innocent people was thusunnecessary and unjustified.On July 1, the S.A. were supposed to take a furlough; the supremeleadership issued orders to this effect and even transmitted them to thepress. During this furlough they were forbidden to wear uniforms and toorganize meetings, even private meetings; so-called 'celebrations' werealso forbidden, and lower officials were advised to avoid, as far aspossible, sending written reports to their superiors during that period.Whether this very thoroughness aroused the suspicions of the opposinggroups or whether they had better reasons to be suspicious, on June 25,Blomberg proclaimed a so-called 'little' state of alarm to theReichs'vehr, which meant that every soldier had to be at the army'sdisposal, even if he were on leave. The same kind of state of alarm wasproclaimed by Himmler for the S.S. troops. Karl Ernst, group leader ofBerlin, twice telephoned Goring inquiring whether this state of alarmmeant anything. Twice received 'No' for an answer.It is certain that on June 25, when the state of alarm began, Hitleralready envisaged the deposition of Rohm; but it is unlikely that