The Sturmabteilung (SA), also known as the Stormtroopers or the Brownshirts, was the original paramilitary wing of the German Nazi Party, founded in 1920. The SA provided protection for Nazi rallies and assembies, disrupting opposing parties' meetings, fighting the Communist Party of Germany (KPD)'s Red Front Fighters League, and intimidating Slavs, Romani, and Jews in Germany. Ernst Rohm was the main commander of the SA, and he was known to promote homosexual German men like himself to leadership positions in the SA. In 1934, the powerful SA was purged during the "Night of the Long Knives" by Hitler, who feared that his disagreements with Rohm could lead to the SA turning against him. The Schutzstaffel replaced the Sturmabteilung, and homosexuals were persecuted by Hitler.
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