It's fair to say that Ernst had very bad taste in friends.

To be fair to him, he was quite literally the leader of the original Nazi party.

Those fellows weren't really known for their good judgment. Even so, not many people say that they had a close

personal friendship with Adolf Hitler. And when I say that these men were close, I mean it. In fact,

Hitler was one of the few people who knew that his friend was, in fact, same-sex-oriented. Ernst

Rahm kept that particular secret under wraps until his political enemies released his private

letters to the public in 1932, although most historians agree that the evidence points to Hitler

already being aware, although that wouldn't be enough to save Rahm from what was coming next.

In June of 1934, Hitler launched what has become known as the Night of the Long Knives.

It was a total purge of his political enemies, along with any of his allies who put his own

reputation at risk, and that included Ernst Rom. On the night of June 30th, Hitler himself

arrested him, alongside hundreds of other politicians. He had forged documents to make it look

like his friend had accepted a bribe from France to overthrow Hitler. When he addressed his subjects,

he called Rahm's alleged double-crossing, the worst

treachery in world history. In the end, Ernst Rom was given the option of taking his own life,

but he declined. If I am to be killed, he said, let Adolf do it himself. He was executed just

ten minutes later, by a stranger, not his friend. Even between

two of the most terrible people in world history, trust can be a special thing. And when someone

takes a hammer to the trust you have for them, it can feel like the world has turned upside

down. I'm Aaron Mankey, and this is lore legends.

As a kid, did you ever think the people on the other side of the globe had to be walking upside down?

Considering typical kid logic, this made a lot of sense.

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