Questions about Einsatzgruppen
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What were the Einsatzgruppen and what was their purpose in World War II?
The Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, in German-occupied Europe during World War II. Their central purpose was the implementation of the Final Solution, targeting Jews, Soviet commissars, Romani people, and the intelligentsia in occupied territories. Historian Raul Hilberg estimates they and related agencies killed more than two million people between 1941 and 1945.
How many people were killed at Babi Yar by the Einsatzgruppen?
33,771 people were murdered at Babi Yar on the 29th and the 30th of September 1941. The victims were Jews of Kiev who had been ordered to report to a street corner, told they were being deported, and then marched to the ravine northwest of the city where they were shot. The perpetrators included a company of Waffen-SS attached to Einsatzgruppe C and members of Sonderkommando 4a under SS-Obergruppenführer Friedrich Jeckeln.
What happened to Einsatzgruppen commanders after World War II?
Twenty-four senior Einsatzgruppen leaders were prosecuted in the Einsatzgruppen trial of 1947-48, part of the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials held under United States military authority. Fourteen death sentences and two life sentences were handed down, but only four executions were carried out on the 7th of June 1951. The West German government charged only about 100 former Einsatzgruppen members in total, and most surviving perpetrators returned to civilian life without prosecution.
What is the Jäger Report and what does it document about Einsatzgruppen killings?
The Jäger Report was filed by SS-Standartenführer Karl Jäger on the 1st of December 1941, documenting the activities of Einsatzkommando III in Lithuania from July to November 1941. It provides an almost daily tally of 137,346 people killed across more than 100 executions in 71 locations. A February 1942 addendum raised the total to 138,272, broken down as 48,252 men, 55,556 women, and 34,464 children.
How did the Einsatzgruppen get local populations to participate in mass killings?
The Einsatzgruppen incited and organised pogroms in newly occupied territories, releasing criminals from local jails and directing nationalist groups to participate. In Latvia, Einsatzgruppe A commander Stahlecker appointed Viktors Arājs on the 2nd of July 1941 to head the Arajs Kommando, a force of about 300 men, mostly university students, who participated in mass murders. Historian Erich Haberer noted that in rural Ukraine and Belarus the ratio of German Order Police to local auxiliaries was 1 to 20, meaning most Jews in those areas were killed by fellow countrymen under German command.
What role did the German Wehrmacht play in Einsatzgruppen operations?
The Wehrmacht cooperated with the Einsatzgruppen as ordered by Hitler, providing logistical support and participating directly in mass killings. On the 10th of October 1941, Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau issued the Severity Order to the German Sixth Army, calling for the extermination of Jews. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt of Army Group South expressed complete agreement and circulated his own version. Einsatzkommando 4b reported on the 6th of July 1941 that armed forces surprisingly welcomed hostility against the Jews.