Adolf Hitler gives a speech before the Reichstag, 1934 (b/w photo)

Berlin, Berlin/City State, Germany On July 13, 1934 Hitler held a speech before the Reichstag in which he clearly stated his position on the suppression of the so-called Roehm putsch. Hitler presented himself to the uneasy population - who were unsettled by the numerous shootings, including the shooting of the SA chief of staff Ernst Roehm among others, and indiscriminate arrests - as a rescuer of the Fatherland and claimed the armed forces to be the only weapon carrier of the nation: 'There is only one weapons carrier in the country: the armed forces, and only one carrier of the political will: the National Socialist Party.