Einsatzgruppen

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 88. Chapters: Reinhard Heydrich, Bloody Sunday, Babi Yar, Gas van, Rumbula massacre, Riga Ghetto, Liepaja massacres, Daugavpils Ghetto, Taganrog during World War II, August Becker, Einsatzkommando, Jelgava massacres, Burning of the Riga synagogues, Massacre of Lviv professors, Einsatzgruppen Trial, Ponary massacre, Ypatingasis burys, Dünamünde Action, Salaspils concentration camp, Jungfernhof concentration camp, Ninth Fort massacres of November 1941, Bruno Streckenbach, 1941 Odessa massacre, The Black Book, Taganrog resistance movement, Minsk Ghetto, Einsatzkommando Finnland, Rollkommando Hamann, Mizocz ghetto, Operation Tannenberg, List of victims of the Babi Yar massacre, Valley of Death, Kamianets-Podilskyi Massacre, Kaunas massacre of October 29, 1941, Jäger Report, Drohobych ghetto, Einsatzgruppe Egypt. Excerpt: Einsatzgruppen (German: "task forces"; singular Einsatzgruppe; official full name Einsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD) were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories. The Einsatzgruppen operated throughout the territory occupied by the German armed forces following the German invasions of Poland, in September, 1939, and later, of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. The Einsatzgruppen carried out operations ranging from the murder of a few people to operations which lasted over two or more days, such as the massacres at Babi Yar (33,771 killed in two days) and Rumbula (25,000 killed in two days). The Einsatzgruppen were responsible for the murders of over 1,000,000 people, and they were the first Nazi organizations to commence mass killing of Jews as an organized policy. The Einsatzgruppen were formed under the direction of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich (deputy to Heinrich Himmler) and operated by the Schutzstaffel (SS) before and during World War II. From September 1939 forward the SS-Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA - Reich Main Security Office) had overall command of the Einsatzgruppen. Their principal task during the war (according to SS General Erich von dem Bach at the Nuremberg Trials) "... was the annihilation of the Jews, Gypsies, and Soviet political commissars". The Einsatzgruppen had a leading role in the implementation of the final solution of the Jewish question (Die Endlösung der Judenfrage) in the conquered territories. Formed mainly of members from the Orpo, the Waffen-SS, and local volunteers, e.g. militia groups, and led by SD, Gestapo and Kripo officers, these death squads followed the Wehrmacht Heer (German Army) as it advanced eastwards through Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. During the course of their operations, the Einsatzgruppen commanders were authorized to reques