After political opponents, Hitler is slowly getting rid of his opponents in his own ranks. Ernst Röhm, Chief of Staff of the SA, was the first to feel this. On June 30, 1934, Hitler personally had Röhm and some loyalists arrested in Bad Wiessee. Six SA men were immediately shot on his orders, Röhm a day later. On July 2, 1934, the Reich government retrospectively justified the murderous action, which was disguised by the Nazis as the "Röhm Putsch", as a "state of emergency".
