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Soldiers from unidentified units of Einsatzgruppe (mobile killing squad) C look through the possessions of Jews massacred at Babi Yar, a ravine near Kiev. Soviet Union, September 29-October 1, 1941. (Photo courtesy of USHMM)
Following the March 1938 Anschluss (Germany’s annexation of Austria) and the March 1939 invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Nazis established a special unit of the German security police called the Einsatzgruppen, literally meaning “action groups.” The initial purpose of this unit was to follow the military into the newly annexed territories to serve as mobile security police, identifying and imprisoning those seen as enemies of the state. However, the role of the Einsatzgruppen changed dramatically in preparation for the June 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, known as Operation Barbarossa.
Because the war with the Soviet Union was viewed as a fight against an opposing and toxic ideology, Nazi officials determined that it was necessary to eliminate all opponents and enemies of the regime. Between March and May 1941, in anticipation of Operation Barbarossa, the German army and the umbrella organization of Nazi secret police agencies, the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), set up the framework for the Einsatzgruppen that were to be deployed in occupied Soviet territories. With a gradually widening scope of victims, by late summer 1941, the Einsatzgruppen turned into mobile killing units, indiscriminately killing the Jewish population in addition to communists and Soviet officials. Many Roma (Gypsies) also fell victim to the crimes.
There were four distinct Einsatzgruppen, and each was assigned to a different region of the conquered territory. The largest unit with approximately 1,000 men, Einsatzgruppe A was assigned to the Baltic States, working toward Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Einsatzgruppe B worked from Warsaw to Belorussia and Smolensk, while Einsatzgruppe C was assigned to Northern and Central Ukraine from Krakow. The 600-men Einsatzgruppe D, the smallest of the units, was assigned to Southern Ukraine, the Crimea, and Ciscaucasia.
The Einsatzgruppen’s mass killing operations were typically carried out shortly after the German army conquered a village. In many cases Jews and other victims were identified by locals, rounded up by the Einsatzgruppen, and walked to nearby forests, ravines, or quarries, regardless of age, class, or gender. After forcing the victims to surrender their positions and remove their clothing, the Einsatzgruppen—often with the support or assistance of local collaborators and German soldiers and police—then shot and killed them, leaving the bodies in mass graves. These massacres occurred throughout the Soviet Union. The most notorious of these mass murders occurred at the Babi Yar ravine in Kiev, where some 33,771 Jews were massacred in late September 1941. By the spring of 1943, the Einsatzgruppen had murdered over one million Jews and tens of thousands of Roma, political opponents, and members of other targeted groups.
Eventually the psychological effects these mass shootings had on the units began to concern German officials. As a result, gas vans were incorporated into the activities of the Einsatzgruppen. The mobile gas chambers were used in conjunction with mass shootings to expedite the killing process. However, German officials soon realized that these methods would be insufficient in eliminating the large Jewish populations that were now under their control. The deportation of Jews to camps and killing centers later became the primary means by which the Nazis carried out the “Final Solution.”
When discussing the Einsatzgruppen with your students, consider the role that the Einsatzgruppen played in the perpetration of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. Why didn’t these men refuse to participate in mass killing operations? How did the local populations respond to these massacres? How can these massacres be viewed as the first step in the “Final Solution”?
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