Einsatzgruppen

Einsatzgruppen (a German military term meaning "mission groups") were semi-military groups formed in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. These death squads belonged to the SS and followed the Wehrmacht in their attacks first on Poland and then the Soviet Union. Their principal task, in the words of SS General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski at the Nuremberg Trial "was the annihilation of the Jews, gypsies, and political commissars." According to their own records, they killed over 1 million people, almost exclusively civilians, without judicial review and later without semblance of legality (no reading of sentences of martial or administrative law were read), starting with the Polish intelligentsia and eventually including Jewish women and children.

Related Topics:
German - Military - Nazi Germany - World War II - Death squads - SS - Wehrmacht - Poland - Soviet Union - Intelligentsia - Jew

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