Hitler's bodyguard — Season 1, Episode 4: Night of the Long Knives

Episode synopsis

In one bloody, well-planned purge, Hitler eliminated his political rivals and ended the looming threat from Ernst Röhm's well-armed Sturmabteilung.

About Hitler's bodyguard

Adolf Hitler caused the deaths of fifty million people. An entire nation followed him to ruin. Over a tumultuous 12 years Adolf Hitler went from being a minor rabble-rousing politician, to supreme leader of Nazi Germany. He was hated by those he persecuted, and even by some of his own commanders - yet in twenty-five years no one managed to kill him. This program shows how Hitler's bodyguards helped him cheat death on many occasions. They expanded from a handful of thugs recruited to protect political meetings and fight opponents on the streets, to many thousands - including some of the most fearsome secret police and paramilitary forces the world has ever known.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1How Hitler's Bodyguard Worked
• E2Early Attempts on Hitler's Life
• E3Kill the new Chancellor
• E5Jewish and Emigre Attempts to Kill Hitler
• E6Kill Hitler Before War Starts
• E7Bombs and Paranoia
• E8Dangerous Car Journeys
• E9Flights into Danger
• E10Hitler's Dangerous Train Journeys
• E11Attempts to Kill Hitler at Wolf's Lair
• E12Nearly Assassinated at the Berghof
• E13Poison Gas Plot in the Bunker