Einsatzgruppen (German for "task forces",^[2]"deployment groups";^[3] singularEinsatzgruppe; official full nameEinsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD) wereSchutzstaffel (SS) paramilitarydeath squads ofNazi Germany that were responsible for mass killings, primarily by shooting, during World War II. TheEinsatzgruppen had a leading role in the implementation of theFinal Solution of theJewish question (Die Endlösung der Judenfrage) in territories conquered by Nazi Germany.

Under the direction ofReichsführer-SSHeinrich Himmler and the supervision of SS-ObergruppenführerReinhard Heydrich, theEinsatzgruppen operated in territories occupied by the German armed forces following theinvasion of Poland in September 1939 andOperation Barbarossa (the invasion of the Soviet Union) in June 1941. HistorianRaul Hilberg estimates that between 1941 and 1945 theEinsatzgruppen and related agencies and foreign auxiliary personnel killed more than two million people, including 1.3 million Jews.^[4] The total number of Jews murdered duringthe Holocaust is estimated at 5.5 to six million people.^[5]

After the close of the World War II, 24 senior leaders of theEinsatzgruppen were prosecuted in theEinsatzgruppen Trial in 1947–48, charged withcrimes against humanity andwar crimes. Fourteen death sentences and two life sentences were among the judgements. Four additionalEinsatzgruppe leaders were later tried and executed by other nations.^[6]

SevenEinsatzgruppen of battalion strength operated in Poland. Each was subdivided into fourEinsatzkommandos of company strength.^[7]

• Einsatzgruppe I, commanded by SS-StandartenführerBruno Streckenbach, acted with14th Army
• Einsatzgruppe II, SS-ObersturmbannführerEmanuel Schäfer, acted with10th Army
• Einsatzgruppe III, SS-Obersturmbannführer und Regierungsrat Dr.Herbert Fischer, acted with8th Army
• Einsatzgruppe IV, SS-BrigadeführerLothar Beutel, acted with4th Army
• Einsatzgruppe V, SS-StandartenfürerErnst Damzog, acted with3rd Army
• Einsatzgruppe VI, SS-OberführerErich Naumann, acted inWielkopolska
• Einsatzgruppe VII, SS-ObergruppenführerUdo von Woyrsch and SS-GruppenführerOtto Rasch, acted inUpper Silesia andCieszyn Silesia^[7]

Organisation

Einsatzgruppe	Leader		Subgroups
Einsatzgruppe A (Baltic states)[8]	SS-Brigadeführer Dr.Franz Walter Stahlecker (until 23 March 1942)		Sonderkommandos 1a and 1b (German for special forces; not to be confused with theSonderkommandos in the concentration camps) Einsatzkommandos 2 and 3. Attached toArmy Group North
Einsatzgruppe B (Belarus)[8]	SS-Brigadeführer Arthur Nebe (until October 1941)		Sonderkommandos 7a and 7b Einsatzkommandos 8 and 9 A special force under Dr.Franz Six in caseMoscow was captured. Attached toArmy Group Center
Einsatzgruppe C (Northern and centralUkraine)[8]	SS-Gruppenführer Dr.Otto Rasch (until October 1941)		Sonderkommandos 4a and 4b (Sonderkommando 4 a was commanded byPaul Blobel) Einsatzkommandos 5 and 6. Attached toArmy Group South
Einsatzgruppe D (Bessarabia, Southern Ukraine,Crimea, andCaucasus)[8]	SS-Gruppenführer Prof.Otto Ohlendorf (until June 1942)		Sonderkommandos 10a and 10b Einsatzkommandos 11a, 11b, and 12. Attached to11th Army
Einsatzgruppe E (Croatia)[9]	SS-Obersturmbannführer Ludwig Teichmann, SS-Standartenführer Günther Herrmann, SS-StandartenführerWilhelm Fuchs		FiveEinsatzkommandos located inVinkovci,Sarajevo,Banja Luka,Knin, andZagreb
Einsatzgruppe F (Army Group South)[10]
Einsatzgruppe G (Romania,Hungary, Ukraine)[9]	SS-Standartenführer Dr. Josef Kreuzer		Einsatzkommandos 11 and 12
Einsatzgruppe H (Slovakia)[11]	SS-ObersturmbannführerJosef Witiska		Einsatzkommandos 13 and 14, formed inBrno 31 August 1944 as part of the German invasion of Slovakia concurrent with theSlovak National Uprising
Einsatzgruppe K (with5th Panzer Army in theArdennes offensive)[12]	SS-Oberführer Dr.Emanuel Schäfer
Einsatzgruppe L (with6th Panzer Army in theArdennes offensive)[12]	SS-Standartenführer Dr.Ludwig Hahn
Einsatzgruppe Griechenland (Greece)[13]	SS-Sturmbannführer Dr.Ludwig Hahn
Einsatzgruppe Iltis (Carinthia (Slovenia))[14]	SS-StandartenführerPaul Blobel
Einsatzkommando Luxemburg (Luxembourg)[10]
Einsatzgruppe Norwegen (Norway)[15]	SS-Oberführer Dr.Franz Walter Stahlecker
Einsatzgruppe Serbien (Yugoslavia)[16]	SS-StandartenführerWilhelm Fuchs, SS-GruppenführerAugust Meysner
Einsatzgruppe for Special Purposes (easternPoland)[8]	SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei Karl Eberhard Schöngarth
Einsatzkommando Tilsit (Lithuania, Poland)[17]
Einsatzkommando Tunis (Tunis)[18]	SS-ObersturmbannführerWalter Rauff
ProposedEinsatzkommando Egypt (Middle East)[19][20]	SS-ObersturmbannführerWalter Rauff			Planned for Jews resident in the Middle East, includingMandatory Palestine. Never organised.
ProposedEinsatzgruppe (United Kingdom)[21]	SS-Standartenführer Dr.Franz Six		Proposed. SixEinsatzkommandos would have been located inLondon,Manchester,Birmingham,Bristol,Liverpool, and eitherEdinburgh orGlasgow. These death squads would have been charged with the elimination of civilian resistance members and Jews in theUnited Kingdom. Due to the cancellation of the planned invasion of Britain (Operation Sealion), the units never saw active service.

• "Book review:Tasks of the Einsatzgruppen by Alfred Streim".Museum of Tolerance Online Multimedia Learning Center, Annual 4, Chapter 9. Los Angeles:Simon Wiesenthal Center. Archived fromthe original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved6 May 2013.
• Conze, Eckart; Frei, Norbert; Hayes, Peter; Zimmermann, Moshe (2010).Das Amt und die Vergangenheit : deutsche Diplomaten im Dritten Reich und in der Bundesrepublik (in German). Munich: Karl Blessing.ISBN 978-3-89667-430-2.
• Crowe, David (2007) [2004].Oskar Schindler: The Untold Account of his Life, Wartime Activities and the True Story Behind the List. New York: Basic Books.ISBN 978-0-465-00253-5.
• Dams, Carsten; Stolle, Michael (2012) [2008].Die Gestapo: Herrschaft und Terror im Dritten Reich. Becksche Reihe (in German). Munich: Beck.ISBN 978-3-406-62898-6.
• Evans, Richard J. (2008).The Third Reich at War. New York: Penguin Group.ISBN 978-0-14-311671-4.
• "Reflections on the Holocaust: "The Einsatzgruppen"". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved10 January 2013.
• Larsen, Stein Ugelvik (2008).Meldungen aus Norwegen 1940-1945: Die geheimen Lagesberichte des Befehlshabers der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD in Norwegen, 1 (in German). Munich: Oldenburg.ISBN 978-3-486-55891-3.
• LEO Dictionary Team."LEO Deutsch-Englisches Wörterbuch "einsatzgruppe"" (in German). Dict.leo.org. Retrieved10 January 2013.
• Longerich, Peter (2010).Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-280436-5.
• MacLean, French L. (1999).The Field Men: The SS Officers Who Led the Einsatzkommandos—The Nazi Mobile Killing Units.Schiffer Military History. Madison, WI: Schiffer.ISBN 978-0-7643-0754-6.
• Mallmann, Klaus-Michael; Cüppers, Martin; Smith, Krista (2010).Nazi Palestine: The Plans for the Extermination of the Jews in Palestine. New York: Enigma.ISBN 978-1-929631-93-3.
• Rhodes, Richard (2002).Masters of Death: The SS-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust. New York: Vintage Books.ISBN 0-375-70822-7.
• Shelach, Menachem (1989). "Sajmište: An Extermination Camp in Serbia". InMarrus, Michael Robert (ed.).The Victims of the Holocaust: Historical Articles on the Destruction of European Jews. Vol. 2. Westport, CT: Meckler.
• Shirer, William L. (1960).The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. New York: Simon & Schuster.LCCN 60-6729.
• Weale, Adrian (2010).Army of Evil: A History of the SS. New York; Toronto: Penguin Group.ISBN 978-0-451-23791-0.

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