Ernst Rohm
Rohm was from an old Bavarian family of civil servants, and was thus able to provide Hitler with followers, arms, and finances. He introduced Hitler to nationalistic officers and politicians whom he knew from his time as a paramilitary member after World War I. He later served as a liaison between the NSDAP and the Bavarian regular army in 1923. Hitler named him Chief of Staff in 1930, but in June of 1934 he, along with many other prominent Nazis, was arrested by the Nazi government and murdered in the "Night of Long Knives."
Paul Joseph Goebbels
Heinrich Himmler
Hermann Goering (1893-1946)
Goering was a hero as a pilot in World War I. He joined the Nazi party in his post-war search for comradeship and power. In 1928 Goering would become one of the first Nazis elected to the Reichstag, bringing aristocratic ties and monetary support to the party. In 1933 he was named Prussian Minister of the Interior by Hitler, and sought and gained many purely honorary titles such as President of the Reichstag. Goering would eventually decline in power due to personal indulgences and lack of self-confidence, as well as drug addiction. He committed suicide in 1946, a few hours before his scheduled execution.
Martin Bormann (1900-1945)
Bormann was a soldier in World War I, and became one of what was known as the "Lost Generation" of German Youth, displaced by the war and with no non-military training or life. As many of the Lost Generation did, Bormann joined a para-military group called the Freikorps. He joined he Nazi party in 1925, and with Hitler's ascent to power in 1933, was made Chief-of- Staff to the Fuhrer's deputy (Rudolf Hess). He was never a likeable character. Bormann was described as "brutal" by practically any person who ever wrote about him, even Hitler himself. Yet he made himself indispensable through his ability to master any and all administrative details, and came to great power in Hitler's government as the Fuhrer's personal secretary in 1942. Bormann was killed trying to escape from Berlin in 1945.
Rudolf Hess
Albert Speer
