Einsatzgruppen

The Oxford Companion to World War II | 2001 | 700+ words | Copyright

Einsatzgruppen were mobile killing squads of the RSHA's Sicherheitspolizei and Sicherheitsdienst. First employed in Austria in March 1938, seven of these units followed behind German forces during the Polish campaign in September 1939. They murdered Poland's élite—aristocrats, the intelligentsia, priests—and many Jews were arbitrarily killed while the rest were herded into ghettos. Five Einsatzgruppen totalling 3,000 men also followed the Wehrmacht during its invasion of the USSR in June 1941 (see BARBAROSSA) with orders to kill systematically all Jews and Soviet political commissars. By November 1941 perhaps as many as 600,000 Jews had been liquidated. Einsatzgruppen were also used against Soviet partisans (see USSR, 8), though these operations were often a cloak for helping to implement the Final Solution, and it was planned that six should be used in the UK (see Black Book) should the German invasion, condenamed SEALION, be successful. See also Germany, 4.

Bibliography

Headland, R. , Messages of Murder (London, 1992).

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I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Einsatzgruppen." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Einsatzgruppen." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-Einsatzgruppen.html

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Einsatzgruppen." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-Einsatzgruppen.html

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