The Einsatzgruppen reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Einsatzgruppen

Einsatzgruppen (a German military term meaning "insertion groups" or "special action groups") were semi-military groups formed in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. They belonged to the SS and followed the Wehrmacht in their attacks on Poland and the Soviet Union. They killed "undesirable" people without being subjected to judicial review.

In Poland, they killed Poles belonging to the intelligentsia, such as priests and teachers. The Nazis considered all Slavic people Untermenschen, or sub-humans, and wanted to use the Polish lower classes as servants and slaves.

In the Soviet Union, the Einsatzgruppen's main assignment was to kill Communist officers and Jews. They were under control of the RSHA; i.e., under Reinhard Heydrich and his successor Ernst Kaltenbrunner. They executed more than half a million Jews, Communists, prisoners of war, and gypsies in total. They also assisted Wehrmacht units and local anti-Semites in killing half a million more. They were mobile forces in the beginning of the invasion, but settled down after the occupation.

Organization of the Einsatzgruppen:

• Einsatzgruppe A for the Baltic Republics with the Sonderkommandos (German for special forces, not to be confused with the the sonderkommandos in the concentration camps) 1 a and 1 b and the Einsatzkommandos 2 and 3.
• Einsatzgruppe B for Belorussia with the Sonderkommandos 7a and 7 b, the Einatzkommandos 8 and 9, and also with a special force in case Moscow was captured .
• Einsatzgruppe C for the Northern and central Ukraine with the Sonderkommandos 4 a and 4 b and the Einsatzkommandos 5 and 6.
• Einsatzgruppe D for Bessarabia, the Southern Ukraine, the Crimea and the Caucasus with the Sonderkommandos 10 a and 10 b and the Einsatzkommandos 11 a, 11 b and 12.

Einsatzgruppen leaders

• Group A: SS-Brigadeführer Dr.Franz Walter Stahlecker (until 23 March 1942)
• Group B: SS-Brigadeführer Arthur Nebe (until Oct. 1941)
• Group C: SS-Gruppenführer Dr. Dr. Otto Rasch (until Oct. 1941)
• Group D: SS-Gruppenführer Otto Ohlendorf ( until June 1942)

See also: Operation Barbarossa, Holocaust, Operation Tannenberg, Generalplan Ost, Babi Yar

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