Figure 1.--Countless images from the Soviet Union show countless villages destroyed and burned to the ground. Desvestated villagfes like this were common place. We are not sure to the extent that this reflects Stalin's burnt earth policy. We know that the NAZIs burned villages, both during their 1941 and '42 offensives and diring their retreat west in '43-'44. We are not yet sure who was resonsible for this carnage and when it occurred. |
The NAZIs employed the same ruthless tactics developed in Poland, but on a far larger scale. Heydrich issued at order in the days leading up to the invasion that Jews, Asiantic "inferiors" Communist officials, and gypsies were to be killed. [Krausnick, pp. 363ff.]
The most horific operations were conducted against the Jews. The Holocaust in the Soviet Union began nearly a year before the mass killings began in the NAZI death camps. The NAZIs with Barbarossa made no pretense of isolating and transporting Soviet Jews, their were military groups organized to kill Jews in large numbers where they found them--the Einsatzgruppen. German operations were not limited to Jews. Communist Party anf government officials were executed. Many villages were destroyed. Here we are not yet fully aware of what occurred. The NAZIs seized livestock and food supplies and shipped it back to Germany. We are not sure, however, who was responsible for the destruction of thousands of villages. The Soviets persued a scoarced earth policy. The Germans also destroyed many villages. Here I am not sure what the purpose was because this reduced the economic potential of the occupied areas. I think much of these destruction occurred after Stalingrad when the Wehrmacht began the long retreat west. This subject requires further investigation.
The NAZIs employed the same ruthless tactics developed in Poland, but on a far larger scale. Heydrich issued at order in the days leading up to the invasion that Jews, Asiantic "inferiors" Communist officials, and gypsies were to be killed. [Krausnick, pp. 363ff.]
The most horific operations were conducted against the Jews. The Holocaust in the Soviet Union began nearly a year before the mass killings began in the NAZI death camps. The NAZIs with Barbarossa made no pretense of isolating and transporting Soviet Jews, their were military groups organized to kill Jews in large numbers where they found them--the Einsatzgruppen. German operations were not limited to Jews. Communist Party anf government officials were executed.
Many villages were destroyed. Here we are not yet fully aware of what occurred. The NAZIs seized livestock and food supplies and shipped it back to Germany. We are not sure, however, who was responsible for the destruction of thousands of villages. The Soviets persued a scoarced earth policy. Livestock and food supplies that could be moved were fdriven east. Those that could not be mpved east were destroyed. We are not sure if villages and comunal farms were burnt and destroyed by the retreating Soviets. The Germans also destroyed many villages. Here I am not sure what the purpose was because this reduced the economic potential of the occupied areas. I think much of these destruction occurred after Stalingrad when the Wehrmacht began the long retreat west. This subject requires further investigation.
Krausnick. "Judenverfolgung" in Anatomie des SS-Staates.
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