Oh, Winston…

From June 30 to July 2, 1934, Adolf Hitler had the S.S. and the Gestapo murder his own supporters, critics of his regime, and old enemies. 

Called the Night of the Long Knives, it wiped out 85 of the S.A.’s leaders and over 700 “Brown Shirts,” the street thugs who had propelled Hitler to power. 

Ironically, Hitler’s dictatorship is dated from the Night of the Long Knives. 

A week later, Winston Churchill stood before his constituents in Wanstead and explained what it all meant:

“[Our] minds are oppressed by the grisly events which occurred a week ago in Germany. It seems difficult to realize that a great and highly educated and scientific nation, with all its treasures of literature, learning, and music behind it, should present itself to the world in such an awful guise. 

“We are in the presence of a tyranny maintained by the Press and broadcast propaganda and the ruthless murder of political opponents. Where a band of ferocious men rise from the depths to a dictatorship there is no guarantee for life, or for law, or for liberty.”

Chew on that last sentence, my friends. It describes what may lie ahead of us. 

For Winston’s last sentence was first heard in July 1934. The first bombs fell on London in August 1940, six years and one month later. 

In the European Theatre of Operations, WWII essentially ended in April 1945 when Hitler splattered his brains across a bunker wall. 

Hitler’s dictatorial powers had lasted from June 30, 1934 to April 30, 1945 — 10 years and 10 months, or nearly 4,000 days beyond Day One.