Einsatzkommando
Sign in to saveDuring World War II, the Nazi German ''''''' were a sub-group of the ' (mobile killing squads) – up to 3,000 men total – usually composed of 500–1,000 functionaries of the SS and Gestapo, whose mission was to exterminate Jews, Polish intellectuals, Romani, and communists in the captured territories often far behind the advancing German front. Einsatzkommandos, along with Sonderkommandos, were responsible for the systematic murder of Jews during the aftermath of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. After the war, several commanders were tried in the Einsatzgruppen trial, conv
Key facts
- Organization.name
- Einsatzkommando
- Organization.image
- File:Execution of Poles by German Einsatzkommando Oktober 1939.jpg
- Organization.size
- 290px
- Organization.caption
- German Einsatzkommando murder Polish civilians in Leszno, Poland on 21 October 1939
- Organization.membership
- Approximately 3,000
- Organization.leader_title
- Founder
- Organization.leader_name
- Reinhard Heydrich
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- death squad
- Part of
- Einsatzgruppen
- Country
- Germany
- Founded by
- Reinhard Heydrich
- Parent organization
- Einsatzgruppen
- Employees
- 3000
- Conflict
- World War II
- Image
- Einsatzgruppen or their auxiliaries - Kovno 1942.jpg
- Has use
- Bandenbekämpfung
Show 4 more facts
- inception
- 1938-00-00
- dissolved, abolished or demolished date
- 1945-00-00
- member count
- 3000
- commanded by
- Ernst Kaltenbrunner
via Wikidata · CC0
~26 min read
Encyclopedic overview
16 sectionsContents
- Organization of the ''Einsatzgruppen''
- Earliest ''Einsatzgruppen'' in occupied Poland
- ''Einsatzgruppe'' A
- ''Jäger'' Report
- ''Einsatzgruppe'' B <span id="Einsatzgruppe B"></span>
- ''Einsatzgruppe'' C
- ''Einsatzgruppe'' D
- ''Einsatzgruppe'' E
- ''Einsatzgruppe Serbien''
- ''Einsatzkommando Tunis''
- ''Einsatzkommando Finnland''
- ''Einsatzkommando Italien''
- Planned ''Einsatzkommando'' units
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
During World War II, the Nazi German ''''''' were a sub-group of the ' (mobile killing squads) – up to 3,000 men total – usually composed of 500–1,000 functionaries of the SS and Gestapo, whose mission was to exterminate Jews, Polish intellectuals, Romani, and communists in the captured territories often far behind the advancing German front. Einsatzkommandos, along with Sonderkommandos, were responsible for the systematic murder of Jews during the aftermath of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. After the war, several commanders were tried in the Einsatzgruppen trial, convicted, and executed.
==Organization of the Einsatzgruppen== Einsatzgruppen () were paramilitary groups originally formed in 1938 under the direction of Reinhard Heydrich – Chief of the SD, and Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police; SiPo). They were operated by the Schutzstaffel (SS). The first Einsatzgruppen of World War II were formed in the course of the 1939 invasion of Poland. Then following a Hitler-Himmler directive, the Einsatzgruppen were re-formed in anticipation of the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. The Einsatzgruppen were once again under the control of Reinhard Heydrich as Chief of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA); and after his assassination, under the control of his successor, Ernst Kaltenbrunner.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Einsatzkommando” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.