The Holocaust: Einsatzgruppen in the Soviet Union--Orders

Eisatzgruppen killers
Figure 1.--Here a group of Jewish men have been rounded up, we think by a detachment of Einsatzgruppen A in Latvia, probably during July 1941. The orders were vague to kill 'suspect elements', especially Communist Commisars. From the beginning this meant male Jews of military age. Heydrich urged the Einsatzgruppen commanders to exceed their orders. Thus the killing of women and children began soon after the launcing of Barbarossa. Commonly for the killing, men and women (with the children) were separated and the men killed first. For those who later said that they weere just following orders, study the expressions on the faces of the Germans. Many are clearly enjoying this. And there is little dobt what comes next.

SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich ordered the Einsatzgruppen commanders to clear the newly conquerred territories in the Soviet Union of 'suspect elements'. Note that there was no attempt to link the actions with actual resistence, but simply the vague term 'suspect elements'. the initial orders were not precise, but within a short time became to kill Jews in large numbers and as soon as possible. Some short term ghettoes were estsblished in the Baltic states to concentrate the Jews for more efficent killing, but in the Ukraine the killing occurred very quickly without the intermediate step of setting up ghettoes. The orders were to kill Jews, Romany, and Communiust and Goverment officials, but the primary focus was on killing Jews. There were also actions against Ukranian nationlists. Heydrich also ordered the commanders to incite local pograms against Jews. The idea was to be able to show that local populations had begun the campaign against Jews. SS-Brigadeführer Franz Stahlecker, a protoge of Heydrich from the SD and commander of Einsatzgruppen A explained, "It has to be shown that the local population themselves had taken the first measures on their own as a natural reaction against decades of supression by the Jews." [Streit, pp. 5-6] The formal orders were to kill Soviet Commisars and partisans. Because the Germans saw Jews as a key element of both Bolshevism and the partisan menace, from the onset the Einsatzgruppen began killing Jewish men of military age. Heydrich incouraged the commanders to exceed orfers. And very quickly the Eisatzgruppen were began killing women and children as well which upped their tallies. They proudly submitting weekly reports to Berlin of Jews killed, specifying the numbers of men, women, and children. The Ultra code breakers in Blechly Park began decrypting these reports from the inception of Barbarossa.

War of Aniilation

Hitler had made his intentions in the East very clear to his Army commanders. He told them the invasion of the Soviet Union would be a war of ‘annihilation’. He had not told tge Armybthis before invading Poland. And some Army commanders had arrested SS men killing Jews. Now they do that this would not be tolerated. Hitler made this very clear. The Army commanders were fully aware that there would be the killing of civilians including Jews. Some approve others dud not or were not concerned. Most were not aware that women and children would be killed. Most soon became aware and would become complicit in the killing. The orders issued did not spell out ckearly what was to be done, but were draconian enough. Commanders accepted and passed on the two main killing orders, the ‘Commissar Order’ and the ‘Barbarossa Decree’. The Commisar Orde instructed German soldiers to separate any Soviet Political Commissars they found rom other POWS and kill them. The Barbarossa Decree authorized soldiers to shoot without any legal action or higher authority, any ‘partisans’ they found. The Barbarossa Decree also authorized collective reprisals against communities believed to be aiding partidans. No where was the killing of women and children specified. The German army leadership was in no doubt, that the war in the East was to be noting like the one completed in the West. Hitler told the head of the Army's Genera Staff (OKH), "In Great Russia force must be used in its most brutal form. The intelligentsia put in by Stalin must be exterminated.’ [Hadler] The Army knew about the Einsatzgruppen, but not the full dimensions of what they would do behind the lines.

Whermacht Complicity

Heydrich had direct orders from Himmler and probably Hitler. Sub-paragraph B of the Barbarossa Decre specified that Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler would be given "special tasks" on direct orders from the Führer, which he would carry out independently. This meant that there would be no interderence from the Army.And to make sure that cooperation was semless, Heydrich met with the First Quartermaster of the Wehrmacht Heer, General Eduard Wagner. They negotiations a cooperation between the Einsatzgruppen and the German Army to allow the conduct of 'special tasks' (April 28, 19410.[Hillgruber, pp. 94-96.] Following the conclusion of the Heydrich-Wagner agreement, Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch ordered that all German Army commanders were to immediately identify and register all Jews as they moved into the Soviet Union. Thi information was to be ptovided the Einsatzgruppen. Army commanders were also ordered to copperate with the Einsatzgruppen. [Hillgruber, p. 96.] he Whermact would be used to assist in the killing process when a large killing iperation was planed. This was often to provide logistical support. We also notice solduers attracted by tge noise and activity ans onserving the killing. Less clear is the level of involvement in the planning. We jnoww ghat Gen Wagner

Vague Orders

SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich ordered the Einsatzgruppen commanders to clear the newly conquerred territories in the Soviet Union of 'suspect elements'. Note that there was no attempt to link the killing actions with any actual resistence, but simply the vague term 'suspect elements'. Heydrich briefed the 3,000 assembled members of the Einsatzgruppen at their training center in Pretzsch, soyh of Berlin near Wittenberg (May 1941). What is strange is that Heydrich did not clearly state what he was ordering the Einsatzgruppen to do. He seems to have stuck largely to the letter ofvthe written orders issued by Htler--the Commissar Order amd the Barbarossa Decree. It is not precisely know what he told them, bit it is clear that he did not go much beyond the two killing order, because women and children were not killed at first. The men had already been fully inculcated in the idea that the Jews were a threat and a major element of the Soviet state they were attacking. The only surviving document outlines the tasks of the Einsatzgruppen, but only criptically specified those to be killed, "officials of senior and middle rank and ‘extremists’ in the party … the people’s commissars, Jews in the service of the party or the state’. [Heydrich] Why Heydrich was so reticent is not clear, but he made it clear that the men and commanders were expected to use their own ininiative in selecting victims and to encourage killing actions by locals. He assured then, "No steps will be taken to interfere with any purges that may be initiated by anti-Communist or anti-Jewish elements in the newly occupied territories. On the contrary, these are to be secretly encouraged." And since no limit was placed on such ‘purges’ or the targets of these purges as well as the fact that that they were to be ‘secretly encouraged’, it was clar that Einsatzgruppe commanders risked legal consequences no matter how many people were shot.

Short Term Ghettoes

Some short term ghettoes were estsblished in the Baltic states to concentrate the Jews for more efficent killing, but in the Ukraine the killing occurred very quickly without the intermediate step of setting up ghettoes.

Targets

The orders were to kill Jews, Romany, and Communiust and Goverment officials, but the primary focus was on killing Jews. There were also actions against Ukranian nationlists.

Inciting Locals

Heydrich also ordered the commanders to incite local pograms against Jews. He refrred to his a 'purges'. The idea was to be able to show that local populations had begun the campaign against Jews. SS-Brigadeführer Franz Stahlecker, a protoge of Heydrich from the SD and commander of Einsatzgruppen A explained, "It has to be shown that the local population themselves had taken the first measures on their own as a natural reaction against decades of supression by the Jews." [Streit, pp. 5-6]

Partisans

The formal orders were to kill Soviet Commisars and partisans. Because the Germans saw Jews as a key element of both Bolshevism and the partisan menace, from the onset the Einsatzgruppen began killing Jewish men of military age. This all began before thee was any partisan axtivity.

Expanded Actions

Hrydrich's initial orders were not precise and at first the kiling of Jewish civilians was men of military age. This varied from group to group, but within only a few weeks the killing of women and chilkdren had begun. Some Eistatzgruoen commanders asked fir guidance. Heydrich incouraged the commanders to exceed order, we think hriugh oral instructions. Soon the Eisatzgruppen were began killing eldeing to kill eldrly men, women,and children and not just military-age men. No effort was made to determune if they had any state office or Party position. Expanding the targets of course enabled the Eistazgruppen commanders to up their tallies. We note women and children being killed from an early point, but there wre differences among commanders. In some areas after killing military age make Jews, other Jews were not immeduately shot, but rather rounded up and concentrated. One historuan writes, "In August Himmler goes on a visit to the front and while he does that, in every place that he visits there seems to be a change in the policy. We don’t have orders by him, but it is quite likely that he orally transmits the order that now it is time to destroy entire communities. Whether that is the beginning of the ‘Final Solution’ or not is again another big debate, because what is happening there at that point in these communities is that people are being killed where they live. So a police unit marches into a town in Lithuania or Belarus, rounds up the Jews, takes them aside and shoots them. They do n’t transport them to any other place, they kill them on the spot. That could be seen as the beginning of genocide, of course, and it’s easily defined as genocide, but it is different from what happens later on when there are extermination camps and people are shipped there from all over Europe and killed in extermination facilities." [Bartov]

Reporting to Berlin

The Einsatzgruppen proudly submitting weekly reports to Berlin of Jews killed, specifying the numbers of men, women, and children. The Ultra code breakers in Blechly Park began decrypting these reports from the inception of Barbarossa.

Sources

Bartov, Omer. Hitler's Army: Soldiers, Nazis, and War in the Third Reich (1991).

Hadler, Franz. Diary entry (March 17, 1941).

Heydrich, Reinhard. Meno to Einsatzgruppen (July 2, 1941).

Hillgruber, Andreas (1989). "War in the East and the Extermination of the Jews". In Marrus, Michael. Part 3, The Final Solution: The Implementation of Mass Murder, Volume 1. The Nazi Holocaust(Westpoint, Connecticut: Meckler, 1989). . pp. 85–114. ISBN 0-88736-266-4.

Streit, C. "The Germany Army and the policies of genocide," in Hirschfeld, ed. Policies of Genocide.






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Created: 9:10 AM 11/28/2011
Last updated: 3:07 PM 4/2/2015