Despite the fact that Hitler had previously tolerated the homosexuality of Röhm and other SA leaders, the charges of immorality were effective in gaining the support of the German population for the political murders in 1934.^[34] In August 1941, Hitler declared that homosexuality is actually as infectious and as dangerous as the plague,^[35] and supported SS leader Heinrich Himmler's efforts to remove gay men from both the military and the SS.^[36] Homosexuality was not one of Hitler's priorities, compared to the Jewish question.^[37] The Nazi Party held anti-homosexual views, declaring in 1928 that anyone who even thinks of homosexual love is our enemy.^[38] Hitler's regime persecuted homosexuals, sending an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 to concentration camps; some 2,500 to 7,500 of these died.