Original Item: Only One Available. Prior to his "unmasking" as a traitor, Ernst Röhm was the leader of the SA. In 1934, he distributed approximately 100,000 SA daggers with his personal inscription on the reverse blade. These daggers were to honor individuals who had served with the SA prior to December, 1931. Other than the inscription, these pieces were identical to the standard M1933 SA dagger. After the Röhm purge, the inscription was ordered to be removed. Many examples were returned to the factory for grinding. Others were simply ground in the field by whatever means were available. Examples such as this will occasionally be encountered with remnants of the original inscription remaining on the blade, but on most none will remain. Some blades exist with an intact inscription, exhibiting only the removal of the Röhm signature. Very, very rarely is an example seen with a full, untouched inscription, as the holder would have surely risked a charge of treason.

This is a great looking Partially ground Röhm SA Dagger, which looks to most likely have had the signature removed in the field or at arsenal, as it looks to have been rather roughly done. This was not deep enough to remove all of the acid etched script In herzlicher kameradschaft Ernst Röhm (In cordial companionship Ernst Röhm) inscription. A few small areas of the end of the signature are present, including the very end of the "m" at the end, as well as the umlaut over "ö", along with others possibly. The rough resurfacing makes it a bit hard to tell.

The front side of this blade is in very good condition, however almost all of the original factory final grind cross grain has been removed by cleaning on both sides. This texture is iconic, and is the definitive identifying characteristic for a real WWII German Blade. We can see evidence of past rust and water staining, now cleaned away, and the tip also looks to have suffered damage and then been reshaped, leaving the blade about 1/4" shorter than usual. The acid etched Alles für Deutschland motto is beautifully executed, and in spite of the cleaning still shows much of the original factory darkening.

The rear of the blade shows where the signature was roughly removed, and then polished a bit to clean it up. The blade was subsequently cleaned multiple times, which has given the rear a very interesting texture.

The reverse of the blade is stamped with the early Anton Wingen Jr. "Standing Knight" trademark logo:

Anton Wingen Jun., Stahlwarenfabrik was a cutler and metalsmith company first founded in Solingen, Germany in 1888, and was formally registered in late 1901. They first came to prominence during WWI with their high quality hunting and combat knives, which were popular with troops. They acquired the "Knight" logo from Clauberg in 1920, and continued using it through the Third Reich period. This particular larger trademark was the style of logo they used on SA and NSKK daggers, per J. Anthony Carter's work GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS. The company continued operation well after the war, finally closing in 1997.

Both guards are solid Nickel alloy, and really in great shape, with a lovely lightly oxidized patina and some traces of past cleaning. There is no lifting at all, showing that they are definitely solid nickel, and the accent grooves are all still crisp. The pommel nut is present, showing just a bit of tightening, and the grip is tight on the tang. The lower reverse guard is Gruppe/Gau marked He, for Hessen, a district in the west of Germany, with the principal city being Frankfurt. This feature was only seen on daggers produced 1935 and prior.

The brown hardwood grip is lovely, showing some great color variation and what looks like the original oil finish on the wood. There is overall light pressure denting on the surface from use and handling, and a small crack on the lower reverse, but otherwise is completely solid. The SA insignia roundel is well set, and still has most of the original enamel, with the plating showing some wear and oxidation. The grip eagle is the correct "high necked" type, and shows some patination, indicating that it is the correct early nickel alloy type.

The steel scabbard shell is straight throughout and is the early war style, which originally had a brown "anodized" finish on the steel, protected by a lacquer coating. The lacquer unfortunately is delicate and easily wears off, as it did on this example. It still does much some of the brown anodized finish, with some other areas showing a bit of a darker color due to oxidation of the base metal. The fittings are the correct solid nickel alloy, and have a lovely used look to them. As with most we see, the end ball of the lower fitting has been dented in a bit, as the alloy is quite soft. All four dome-headed securing screws are present, though two show wear and may have been turned in the past. The top mount and throat throat nicely matches the crossguards.

Attached to the scabbard is a very nice leather belt hanger clip, which is the correct early style with solid nickel alloy fittings. The leather shows a lovely dark brown color, with just some light cracking to the finish. The fittings are in great shape, with just a bit of verdigris around the buckle. Really a nice honest used hanger.

A great opportunity to get a very good condition partial Röhm SA Dagger in very nice condition, "sanitized" after the Night of the Long Knives! Ready to add to your collection and display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 8 1/2"
Overall length: 13 1/2”
Crossguard: 3”
Scabbard Length: 10”

The SA or Brown Shirts, were a private political formation which Adolf AH and the NSDAP used to maintain order at organized Party meetings and demonstrations. The group was formed in 1921, and grew to a huge force of nearly 3,000,000 men by the later 1930's. To instill esprit de corps, as well as create employment for the Blade City of Solingen, it was decided each SA man would carry a dagger with his Brown Shirt uniform. Huge quantities needed to be produced to accommodate the demand. The dagger initially was produced of hand-fitted nickel mounts with attractive finished wood grip and brown anodized (a bluing process) finished scabbard.

The blade was etched with the SA motto, Alles für Deutschland. Examples produced prior to 1935 were stamped with the German sector of the SA group on reverse lower crossguard. Later examples underwent standardization through the RZM ministry. These pieces were produced of cheaper plated zinc-base fittings and scabbards were simply painted brown.

The Night of the Long Knives, in June 1934, saw the wiping out of the SA’s leadership and others who had angered AH in the recent past in NSDAP Germany. After this date, the SS lead by Heinrich Himmler was to become far more powerful in NSDAP Germany. For all the power the Enabling Act gave AH, he still felt threatened by some in the NSDAP Party. He was also worried that the regular army had not given an oath of allegiance. AH knew that the army hierarchy held him in disdain as he was ‘only ‘ a corporal in their eyes. The Night of the Long Knives not only removed the SA leaders but also got AH the army’s oath that he so needed.

By the summer of 1934, the SA’s numbers had swollen to 2 million men. They were under the control of Ernst Röhm, a loyal follower of AH since the early days of the NSDAP Party. The SA had given the NSDAP’s an iron fist with which to disrupt other political parties meetings before January 1933. The SA was also used to enforce law after AH became Chancellor in January 1933. To all intents, they were the enforcers of the NSDAP Party and there is no evidence that Röhm was ever planning anything against AH. However, Röhm had made enemies within the NSDAP Party – Himmler, Goering and Goebbels were angered by the power he had gained and convinced AH that this was a threat to his position. By June 1934, the regular army hierarchy also saw the SA as a threat to their authority. The SA outnumbered the army by 1934 and Röhm had openly spoken about taking over the regular army by absorbing it into the SA. Such talk alarmed the army’s leaders.

By the summer of 1934, AH had decided that Röhm was a ‘threat’ and he made a pact with the army. If Röhm and the other SA leaders were removed, the rank and file SA men would come under the control of the army but the army would have to swear an oath of loyalty to AH. The army agreed and Röhm’s fate was sealed. On the night of June 29th – June 30th 1934, units of the SS arrested the leaders of the SA and other political opponents. Men such as Gregor Strasser, von Schleicher and von Bredow were arrested and none of them had any connection with Röhm. The arrests carried on for 2 more nights. Seventy seven men were executed on charges of treason though historians tend to think the figure is higher. The SA was brought to heel and placed under the command of the army. AH received an oath of allegiance from all those who served in the army. Röhm was shot. Others were bludgeoned to death. The first the public officially knew about the event was on July 13th 1934, when AH told the Reichstag that met in the Kroll Opera House, Berlin, that for the duration of the arrests that he and he alone was the judge in Germany and that the SS carried out his orders. From that time on the SS became a feared force in NSDAP Germany lead by Heinrich Himmler. The efficiency with which the SS had carried out its orders greatly impressed AH and Himmler was to acquire huge power within NSDAP Germany.