What was the Einsatzkommando in WW2?

Einsatzkommando. During World War II, the Nazi German Einsatzkommandos were a sub-group of five Einsatzgruppen mobile killing squads (term used by Holocaust historians) – 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,…

Who operated the Einsatzgruppen in WW2?

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.

How many people were killed by Einsatzkommando III?

The list included Churchill, members of the cabinet, prominent journalists and authors, and members of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile. Page 6 of the Jäger Report shows the number of people murdered by Einsatzkommando III alone in the five-month period covered by the report as 137,346.

What do Einsatzgruppen orders really mean?

Longerich notes that most orders received by the Einsatzgruppen leaders—especially when they were being ordered to carry out criminal activities—were vague, and couched in terminology that had a specific meaning for members of the regime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_xC0CL2V6I

How many Jews were killed by the Einsatzkommando 3?

It is a tally sheet of the actions of Einsatzkommando 3 — a running total of their killings of 136,421 Jews (46,403 men 55,556 women, 34,464 children), 1,064 Communists, 653 mentally disabled, and 134 others, from 2 July-1 December 1941. A second, major sweep occurred in 1942, before death camp killing replaced Einsatzkommando open-pit executions.

What happened to Einsatzgruppe B?

Einsatzgruppe B departed from the occupied city of Poznań (Posen) on 24 June 1941, with 655 men from the Security Police, Gestapo, Kripo, SD, Waffen-SS and the 2nd Company of Reserve Police Battalion 9.

How many Einsatzgruppen were in Operation Barbarossa?

Einsatzgruppen commanders reported that the understanding by Wehrmacht commanders of Einsatzgruppen tasks made their operations considerably easier. For Operation Barbarossa (June 1941), initially four Einsatzgruppen were created, each numbering 500–990 men to comprise a total force of 3,000.