Einsatzgruppen - history of German executioners
Since the beginning of the Second World War, when fascist Germany attacked the Soviet Union, the systematic destruction of the Soviet population began. As a rule, for the performance of tasks of this kind, special units were created, bearing quite innocent names - aizatzgruppa or operational-tactical groups. The first such groups were created in 1938 by Walter Schellenberg. The order was given by Reinhard Heydrich, before the start of operations in Czechoslovakia. The purpose of their organization was to suppress the slightest resistance from the local population.
The creation of operational groups did not go beyond the agreement between the Supreme Command of the German armed forces and the General Directorate of Imperial Security.
In May 1941, on behalf of Heydrich, Gestapo chief Heinrich Muller was obliged to discuss the activities of the Einsatzgruppen in the rear of the German army, which was planned to be sent to the Eastern Front. But Muller was a man too straightforward, so the only thing he managed to achieve was to turn General Wagner against himself. Later, the same task was entrusted to the diplomat Schellenberg, who managed to persuade the military, who up to this point reacted extremely negatively to any actions of the Gestapo in the rear. According to Heydrich’s instructions, the army had to not only tolerate the presence of operational-tactical groups, but also provide them with all kinds of support. Thus, the successful negotiations of Schellenberg led to the fact that at the end of May the agreement was signed.
As a result, four such operational tactical groups were formed according to geography: A - Baltic, B - Moscow, Smolensk, C - Kiev, D - the south of Ukraine. Each of such groups was headed by experienced Nazis who had long forgotten such a notion as torments of conscience, Gruppenführer Franz Stalekker, Arthur Nebe, Otto Rush and Otto Ohlendorf. All of them received orders from Deputy Heydrich Bruno Shteckenbach, who served as head of the Security Police and SS Intelligence Service.
Each of these groups comprised between a thousand and 1200 people who were distributed among several teams. Moreover, it is also necessary to note here that the composition of the groups was thoroughly thought out. So, for every thousand people, there were about 100 Gestapo, 350 SS, 150 mechanics and chauffeurs, 130 police and 80 auxiliary police officers, who were usually recruited locally, as well as about 50 of criminal police officers and 30 SD officers. In addition, the groups included translators, radio operators, telegraph operators, as well as ... female staff (approximately 10-15 women for each group).
It should be noted that it was Shteckenbach who conducted the “Share AV” in 1939, the operation to destroy the Polish intelligentsia, and then managed to make a good career in this field. Aynzatzgruppy were assigned to the armies of "Center", "North" and "South", and also to the 11-th army. The main task of the Einsatzgruppen was to destroy the enemies of the Reich, and by and large - to be destroyed by the Communists, Jews and Gypsies. At the insistence of Dr. Otto Rush, all members of the groups were required to take part in the executions in order to overcome themselves. Thus, all members of the groups were bound by a common sense of guilt.
The formation of the Einsatzgroup at the end of June 1941 was completed, and at the beginning of the next they started to fulfill their duties. Among their immediate responsibilities was the task of destroying the Jewish population and political commissars. Orders regarding these tasks were communicated to all commanders at a meeting that was held in June 19. According to this order, all members of the Jewish population, including children, were subject to total annihilation. So, for example, in Riga 35 thousands of Jews were destroyed, in Kiev - 195 thousands. As a rule, their liquidation began as standard - with compulsory registration with the police. Executions were always accompanied by robberies, and all that could be used was confiscated - gold and jewels, clothes and shoes, and leather goods.
During the invasion of the Soviet territory, aizatzgruppa followed the German forces as they advanced inland. These groups carried out their operations with the help of teams of local collaborators. The forces of the operational-tactical groups killed thousands of physically and mentally handicapped people who were in the asylums. And if the practice of exporting Jews to death camps or ghettos was introduced later, then at the initial stage they were shot on the spot.
The army, as it was prescribed by the agreement, provided the punishers with equipment, transport and housing, as well as in certain cases and with personnel (during the transportation of prisoners as security). If at first the predominantly Jewish men became victims of the Einsatzgruppen, then later absolutely everyone died from their hands, regardless of age and gender - and they were all buried in a common grave. In general, local informers gave Jews. Then they were sent to collection points. After that, they were transported on foot or by truck to the place of execution, where trenches were prepared in advance. In a number of cases they were forced to dig their own graves before being shot. After that, everyone, regardless of whether they were men, women or children, was forced to undress and give up all valuable things. The shooting was carried out in two ways: the victims were either lined up in front of the trench, or forced to lie face down at the bottom of the pit.
It must be said that the most common form of extermination of the population was shooting. But in the 1941 year, by order of Heinrich Himmler, who noted that such a method is a psychologically difficult test for the members of the firing squads. In this regard, a new, more effective way of mass destruction of people was invented. These were gazenvageny - gas chambers, which were installed on the chassis of the truck. They were fed carbon monoxide from the exhaust pipe, so everyone inside was killed. This invention was called the "gas chamber". They first appeared on the Eastern Front in the fall of 1941, and from that time on, they were used on a par with shootings.
Until the spring of 1943, the Einsatzgroup destroyed more than one million Jewish people living in the Soviet Union, as well as tens of thousands of Roma, politicians and patients of mental hospitals.
In the second half of the war, the Einsatzgruppen can be said to have ceased to exist. These punitive squadrons were replaced by death camps, in which stationary gas chambers were already installed. This, as the world would later learn, enabled the fascists to destroy even more innocent people.
Materials used:
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/ru/article.php?ModuleId=10005130
http://www.hrono.ru/organ/eisatzgruppen.html
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