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 have been returned to the factory or a cutler and had the rear of the dagger mostly resurfaced. This has removed part of the Trademark logo, however it was not deep enough to remove all of the acid etched script In herzlicher kameradschaft Ernst Röhm (In cordial companionship Ernst Röhm) inscription. Many small pieces of it are still visible, and there is even a bit of the darkened etched finish present in some of the "loops" in the inscription.

The front side of this blade is in excellent condition, showing lots of the original factory final grind cross grain on both sides. This texture is iconic, and is the definitive identifying characteristic for a real WWII German Blade. It looks to only really have been worn by runner wear, which happens to virtually every German dagger out there. There is also a bit of light oxidation near the crossguard. The acid etched Alles für Deutschland motto is beautifully executed, and still shows most of the original factory darkening.

The rear of the blade shows the original crossgrain for the 1/2" nearest the ricasso, while the rest has a rougher crossgrain pattern from when the inscription was removed. The maker's trademark logo is a bit faint, but it is still unmistakably that of E. Pack & Söhne. It shows their trademark "Young Siegfried wielding a hammer" Logo, surrounded by:

J. Anthony Carter's book GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS, this firm used this trademark on early SA and NSKK daggers, which they made a good number of. We have seen other examples of ground Röhm daggers from this maker, all with the same trademark. They also manufactured various other edged weapons during the war. The company survived the war, until it was sold in the 1960s to another knife company from Solingen, and the maker mark continued to be used into the 1990s.

The brown hardwood grip has no chips, cracks or major damage, though it does show wear from age and use. It looks like it may have been cleaned and refinished at some point in the past. The solid nickel-silver eagle is crisp with a perfect fit, and just a bit of oxidation. The SA insignia roundel is also well set, and still has all of the original translucent enamel. The plating is also still mostly intact as well, with a bit of patination.

The lower reverse guard is Gruppe/Gau marked Wf, for Westfalen (Westphalia), which encompassed the area near Cologne, very close to Solingen. Both guards are solid Nickel alloy, and really in great shape, with a lovely lightly oxidized patina. The pommel nut is present, showing just a bit of tightening.

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. After the anodization faded, it looks like this dagger was then refinished with brown enamel, and that may have been lacquered as well. Over time this has degraded a bit, and now shows a lot of checking, looking almost like puzzle pieces. The fittings are the correct solid nickel alloy, and have a lovely patinated look to them. As with most we see, the end ball of the lower fitting has been dented in quite a bit, as the alloy is quite soft. All four dome-headed securing screws are present and do not show signs of having been messed with. The top mount and throat throat nicely matches the crossguards.

A great opportunity to get a 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 3/4"
Overall length: 13 3/4”
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.