What is the Einsatzgruppen?
O Einsatzgruppen was a special unit created by the Nazis in 1938 during the annexation of Austria (called the Anschluss) to carry out the pursuit and execution of opponents of the regime. With the beginning of the war, the role of this unit was expanded to Poland and then to the entire eastern front of the war against the Soviet Union.
O Einsatzgruppen, “task force” in German, was formed by members of the gestapo (secret police), of the Wehrmacht (German army) and the Schutzstaffel, the SS (paramilitary unit of the Nazi Party). it was created by ReinhardHeydrich, also known for having been, along with Heinrich Himmler, one of the creators of the burnt offering.
Performance of the Einsatzgruppen in Eastern Europe
Initially, the performance of Einsatzgruppen in Poland was against the intelligentsia that is, against the Polish intellectual elite. Historian Timothy Snyder called these groups "ideological soldiers"|1|. Germany's intention in exterminating the Polish intellectual elite was to minimize the possibilities of resistance of that country's society against the Nazi occupation.
This action by the Einsatzgruppen resulted in the death of around 50,000 Poles|2| and resembled the practice of the Soviet secret police (NKVD) against the intelligentsia in the east of the country in the same period. From July 1941, this group began to exterminate the Jews.
Einsatzgruppen during the Final Solution
In July 1941, Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich convinced Hitler to initiate the Final Solution, the plan to exterminate Europe's Jews. Initially, the Nazi leader had left the realization of this plan only for the end of the war, but, based on the arguments of Himmler and Heydrich, Hitler authorized the execution of the genocide.
Thus, “in July 1941, Himmler made a private tour throughout the western part of the Soviet Union in order to convey the latest information: Jewish women and children should be eliminated along with men Jews. Ground forces reacted immediately"|3|. The execution of this order was carried out by three Einsatzgruppen, each responsible for an area:
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Einsatzgruppen THE: operated in the Baltic countries (Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania);
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Einsatzgruppen B: operated in Belarus;
Einsatzgruppen Ç: worked in Ukraine.
The search for the Einsatzgruppen by the Jews was extremely organized, and there was great control over the regions where the persecution of these people was established. Altogether, this unit mobilized about 20,000 soldiers in Eastern Europe, who executed their victims by firing squad.
The Babi Yar Massacre
Before the war, Kiev had around 160,000 Jews, which represented around 20% of the city's population. With the Nazi invasion, around 100,000 managed to flee, and the remaining 60,000 came under the Nazis.
During the German occupation of this city, two buildings used by the Nazis were bombed by members of the Soviet secret police. The attack was used by Germany as a pretext to massacre the Jewish population of Kiev. Thus, all Jews were summoned to appear in a certain district of the city on September 29, 1941.
The aim of the Nazis was to rally the entire Jewish population to execute it. On the day, according to reports, a long line formed and, systemically, the Jews were escorted by troops to a mass grave where they were shot. The Babi Yar massacre was carried out by the Einsatzgruppen C and was responsible for the deaths of 33,761 people.
extermination camps
The function of the Einsatzgruppen in the execution of the Jews it was replaced by the use of Gas chamber in the extermination camps. This change was due to the psychological factor that the executions caused in the soldiers of the Einsatzgruppen, especially when the victims were women and children. With the use of gas Zyklon B, the Nazis managed to increase the number of people killed and made the genocide impersonal.
|1| SNYDER, Timothy, Lands of Blood: Europe between Hitler and Stalin. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 2012, p. 165.
|2| Idem, p. 166.
|3| Idem, p. 247.
*Image credits: Everett Historical and Shutterstock
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SILVA, Daniel Neves. "What is Einsatzgruppen?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/historia/o-que-e-einsatzgruppen.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
