Johannes Schmidt (SS-member)



Johannes Schmidt (11 March 1908 in Gotha – 23 December 1976 in Offenbach am Main) was a member of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the intelligence agency of the Schutzstaffel (SS). On 30 June 1934, Schmidt shot Hitler's predecessor as Reichschancellor, Kurt von Schleicher, on behalf of Reinhard Heydrich, during the political purge of the Nazi Government known as Night of the Long Knives. On 28 April 1945, Schmidt was arrested by U.S. military occupation authorities. He spent three years in internment camps, and was released from custody in 1948. Schmidt was questioned, but never charged, over the killing of Schleicher.