Germany recently witnessed the start of a trial against an elderly ex-Nazi for his involvement with the Einsatzgruppen death squads, following John Demjanjuk's case where it was successfully applied: anyone helping Nazi killing machinery function can be charged as an accessory to murder even if they didn't pull the trigger themselves or shovel dirt in mass graves.
Einsatzgruppen were the SS’s mobile killing squads
The Einsatzgruppen were SS units and police forces that followed German troops as they invaded Europe, charged with the task of killing off perceived racial enemies by means of mass shootings. Their victims ranged from entire Jewish communities to communists, Roma (Gypsies), residents of institutions for mentally and physically disabled individuals - totalling an estimated one million dead victims by their hands.
Though most members of the Einsatzgruppen were ordinary men, they felt bound by a murderous ethic to carry out their orders. Even after becoming aware of horrors taking place around them, their conviction in this ethos remained firm, since many did not consider their actions immoral; many thought they were fulfilling their duties as soldiers and policemen, thus resisting suggestions that their murderous activities were morally inappropriate.
As most officers in the Einsatzgruppen were national socialists who adhered to an extremely stringent code of ethics for battlefield conduct, especially higher ranks of SS officers, their actions became part of an overarching mission aimed at wagering racial war - reinforced with written orders from their leadership of SS - so many perpetrators saw themselves as engaging in an anti-Jewish crusade and celebrated their murders of Jews.
Understanding what connected the members of Hitler's Einsatzgruppen with his anti-Semitic intentions requires an examination of SS ethos based on National Socialism that stressed it was soldiers' duty to murder enemies while it was an enemy's right to be defeated, leading them to regard their murderous activities as accomplishments rather than immoral. This helps explain how so many Jews and others opposed to Nazi causes were murdered without moral issues coming into play as part of this narrative.
They were tasked with initiating and partaking in mass murder
The Einsatzgruppen were key components in Nazi Germany's attempt to exterminate all European Jews. Composed of SS soldiers and policemen, these mobile killing units accompanied the German army as it invaded Soviet Russia during Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 and carried out specific "tasks," such as mass shootings of their racial enemies or destruction of Jewish communities; additionally they targeted communists, Roma people, as well as residents in institutions for mentally disabled.
Historians remain divided as to the motivations of members of Hitler's killing squads. Some, like American historian Christopher Browning, view them as ordinary men forced into extraordinary situations by peer pressure, careerism and obedience orders; other historians such as Daniel Goldhagen regard them as willing executioners sharing his ideology of anti-Semitic genocide.
Initial tasks assigned to the Einsatzgruppen by German occupation forces included extermination of Jewish prisoners and political enemies living on German-controlled land, then mass killings in Soviet territory under German control; during these operations hundreds of thousands were shot simultaneously while their bodies dug up and burned away to hide evidence of any crimes against humanity committed during this time period.
One of the primary tasks of the Einsatzgruppen was to murder Communist Party functionaries, officials and political commissars as well as to massacre entire Jewish communities - even murdering their women and children - with an aim of exterminating Eastern Europe's estimated Jewish population of 1.5 million or so people.
In 1941, Auschwitz, Sobibor, Treblinka and other permanent death camps gradually replaced the four Einsatzgruppen with permanent death camps such as Auschwitz, Sobibor and Treblinka as permanent killing facilities - this reduced their need to kill people on-site; although mobile units such as the Einsatzgruppen continued carrying out mass murders for some time thereafter.
As a result of their inhumane task, some members of the Einsatzgruppen became psychologically damaged; many suffered from flashbacks of killings that haunted them while others developed psychotic symptoms such as paranoia and delusions; some committed suicide while the commanders who ordered their crimes at Nuremberg trials in 1947-48 were held accountable; 24 commanding officers including multiple commanding officers were sentenced to death at that time.
They acted swiftly and took the Jewish population by surprise
The Einsatzgruppen were temporary units formed of members from the SS, SD and various German police forces such as Ordnungspolizei (order police), Gendarmerie and Kripo. Led by Heydrich, these teams were charged with killing civilians considered enemies of Nazi Germany behind enemy lines - such as Communists, officials from Soviet Communist Parties or state apparatus, or Jews considered politically or "racially" hazardous.
As German army advanced into Soviet territories, special action squads known as Einsatzgruppen A, B, C and D were sent with orders to murder specific populations such as Jews between 1941 and 1945. Over 1.5 million Jews were murdered between 1941 and 1945 alone by these Einsatzgruppen A-D.
Einsatzgruppen were notorious for acting without restraint or uniformity, killing entire communities with mass shootings and gas vans. Many victims knew one another well as neighbors or colleagues before the killings were carried out by small detachments of an Einsatzgruppe supported by Waffen SS units, Wehrmacht units, Romanian units as well as local auxiliaries.
Massacres typically began with victims being rounded up and sent to an assembly site, where they would either march or be driven in groups to be stripped naked and stripped of valuables, with many forced to dig mass graves themselves before being shot as they stood there; oftentimes relatives or friends witnessed these deaths first-hand.
Himmler authorized the Einsatzgruppen as part of their Holocaust policy following Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Together with Reinhard Heydrich's Order Police battalions on the eastern front, these Einsatzgruppen would carry out systematic murder of Jews known as Holocaust.
In September 1941, a small detachment of Einsatzgruppe C with support from Wehrmacht and auxiliary police killed 33,771 Jews at Babi Yar, an extermination camp outside Kiev. It marked a pivotal moment as it marked a shift from extermination to genocide; subsequent massacres occurred throughout World War II with increasing casualty counts as war deteriorated further.
They were ordinary men
Although Auschwitz-Birkenau became synonymous with the Holocaust, mass shootings by Einsatzgruppen first started the killing of racial enemies during this era. Comprised of both SS soldiers and policemen, these paramilitary units helped Germany invade Soviet Russia in June 1941. These assassins targeted numerous people, from Communist Party officials and Soviet government representatives, Roma people, residents of institutions for mentally or physically disabled people and residents of institutions for mental illness; their primary target being Jews regardless of age and gender. Historians remain divided over the motivations of these killers. One American historian, Christopher Browning, contends they were ordinary men thrust into extraordinary situations where conformity, peer pressure and careerism overcame moral inhibitions. Daniel Goldhagen disagrees and asserts they shared Hitler's vision of anti-Semitic genocide while finding their tasks both unpleasant but necessary.
Einsatzgruppen were successful at carrying out their orders due to local collaborators' support, as well as assistance from German soldiers who assisted with identifying Jewish victims or rounding them up for murder. Killers would hide behind Nazi uniforms to avoid suspicion; some even consumed heavy amounts of alcohol to forget their grim task.
Massacre perpetrators drew inspiration from National Socialism's combination of militarism and SS ideals. This ethos enabled them to justify face-to-face murder as necessary means of reaching their goals while providing them with a sense of pride from their work.
Many of the killers had families back home in Germany and used propaganda to justify their actions to themselves. The Nazis encouraged them to view their victims as enemies of Germany; many believed that by killing more people quickly enough, the war would end sooner and allow them to go home sooner - some even used code names to distance themselves from their crimes.
The Einsatzgruppen were charged with orchestrating mass killings of civilians and political leaders. Although some members were caught and tried, most escaped punishment due to difficulty proving they participated in murders. Prosecuters have therefore decided to focus their limited resources on cases that involve former guards at death camps which are easier to prove.
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