January 14, 1930: The Death of Horst Wessel

January 14, 1930: Horst Wessel, an early figure in Germany's Nazi Party, is shot in Berlin. He later dies from his wounds. He was only 22 years old, and would not see the rise -- or the fall -- of the Third Rech.

He was born on October 9, 1907 in Bielefeld, in what is now the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The family was monarchist, supporting Kaiser Wilhelm II to the end of World War I. Horst joined several right-wing groups, and even founded a few that didn't work out. One group he joined was the Viking League, a paramilitary group whose stated goal was to effect "the revival of Germany on a national and ethnic basis through the spiritual education of its members."

The League was banned in the state of Prussia in 1926, and Wessel joined the Sturmabteilung ("Storm Detachment," or "SA") of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP, or "Nazi"). He wrote in his diary that he believed that over 2/3rds of his Viking League colleagues had also done so.

For a few years, he lived a double life, as a middle-class university law student and as a member of the primarily working-class SA. Billy Joel would have called him "the angry young man, with his working-class ties and his radical plans." Wessel himself, as he rose through the ranks of the Party, became a songwriter, including writing "Die Fahne hoch!" ("Raise the Flag!"). He took the music from a Communist song, with the idea of provoking Communist groups into fighting with the SA.

This turned out to be a bad idea: On January 14, 1930, he was shot in the head by 2 Communists, after pub owner Elisabeth Salm attempted to evict him from a subleased room, as Wessel refused to move out despite overdue rent payments. He hung on for 40 days, and died on February 23. (American actress Mabel Normand also died that day.)

Albrecht "Ali" Höhler was arrested and charged with his murder. Höhler was initially sentenced to six years in prison but was forcibly removed from jail and killed by the SA on September 20, 1933, 8 months after the Nazis came to power.

Wessel became bigger in death than he was in life. "Raise the Flag!" was renamed "Horst-Wessel-Lied" ("Horst Wessel Song"), and was made the official anthem of the Nazi Party. When Adolf Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, he made it the new National Anthem of Germany.

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January 14, 1930 was a Tuesday. Baseball and football were out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Detroit Cougars, 3-0 at the then-new building that would later be called the old Madison Square Garden. The Cougars became the Detroit Falcons the next season, and the Detroit Red Wings in 1932.

* The Montreal Maroons and the Toronto Maple Leafs played to a tie, 1-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-1 at the Boston Garden.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-2 at the new Chicago Stadium. The next season, the Pirates, named for their city's baseball team, moved, becoming the Philadelphia Quakers, playing 1 disastrous season, and then going out of business.

* And the New York Americans and the Montreal Canadiens were not scheduled.