| “ | You're right, Adolf. We were friends once; and I will always speak my mind; and I will not betray my men! | „ |
| ~ Rohm standing up to Hitler |
Ernst Gunther Julius Rohm is an antagonist in the 2003 TV mini-series Hitler: The Rise Of Evil. He is based on the real-life historical figure, a political ally and friend of Adolf Hitler.
He was played by Peter Stormare, who also portrayed Gaear Grimsrud in Fargo, Dino Velvet in 8mm, Sir Slicer in Adventure Time, Werner Zytle in Arrow, Torsten in False Trail, Ghost in 22 Jump Street, Lucifer in Constantine, Dieter Stark in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Abram Tarasov in John Wick: Chapter 2, Shayes in Mercury Rising, Dracula in The Batman vs. Dracula, John Abruzzi in Prison Break, Uli Klunkel in The Big Lebowski, and The Nazi Officer in the music video for "Uprising" by Sabaton.
Biography[]
Upon the forming of the Weimar Republic in 1918, Rohm joins Adolf Hitler in forming the German Workers' Party, united by their mutual hatred of the new government and of anyone who does not fit their ideal of the "Aryan race", particularly Jews. Later, Hitler changes the name of his party to the National Socialist German Workers' Party, better known as the Nazi Party, in 1920. In 1921, later in the series, Hitler and Rohm form the Paramilitary Wing formally known as the Sturmabteilung (Storm Battalion), better known as the SA or the Brownshirts. The Brownshirts then earn a reputation for their brutality against those opposed to the Nazis' actions.
Unlike most of the Nazi High Command as portrayed in the series, Ernst Rohm is openly homosexual, as he was in real life. Later in the series, in the early 1930s, Hitler and his party didn't win a majority of the vote, and under pressure from right-wing politicians, President Paul Von Hindenburg appoints Hitler as Chancellor of Germany, allowing him to form his new government, dissolve the Weimar Constitution, and turn Germany into a dictatorship.
Rohm then begins to grow the SA and its control in the government, to the point that Hitler fears that they will attempt to overthrow him. Hitler then orders his personal bodyguard unit, the Schutzstaffel (Protection Squad), better known as the SS, to purge the SA leadership. Out of respect, Hitler asks Rohm to abandon the coup and join him, but Rohm refuses. Hitler then puts a pistol on the table and leaves the room, the implication being that Rohm is to kill himself. He refuses, however, stating that if Hitler wants to kill him, he must do it himself. Hitler declines to personally shoot Rohm, but he sends SS officers in to execute him. Rohm defiantly stands up before the officers, who then shoot him dead.