I knew the Einsatzgruppen was not very well known, but as I told people about my research paper and they inquired further, I was shocked at how little, if anything, people knew. I knew it was a great paper topic to inform people when I was at the library and the librarian, who had never ceased to answer a question, asked me what the Einsatzgruppen was. This was a woman, who when I was a working on an obscure paper, knew about the orphanages in revolutionary France and where to find primary sources on them! And yet, she did not know about the mobile killing units who were responsible for the death of over 1,500,000 people, the majority being Jews (Edeiken). The Einsatzgruppen played a key role in the murder of Eastern Jews. So much in fact, that an Einsatzgruppen trial was held at the famous Nuremberg War Crime trials. This report will examine the origins, methods of killing, problems, and the Einsatzgruppen trial in hopes that more people will be aware of one of the mos!

ed. The persons which still had to be shot , were assembled near the place of the execution, and were guarded by members of those squads, which were at that moment did not take part in the executions. (Mendelsohn 132-133)

Many of the Jews believed they were being deported, but the Germans were planning to avenge the fictitious claims.

"The Einsatzgruppen." The Jewish Virtual Library: A Division of the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. 2001. http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/einsatztoc.html (9 March 2001)

Hilberg, Raul. Perpetrators Bystanders Victims: The Jewish Catastrophe 1933-1945. New York: Harper Perrenial, 1992.

Both Jews and non-Jews did the work described above. One of Kommando 1005 operations was Babi Yar. Work commenced on August 18th, 1943. The group of 327 men, of which 100 were Jewish, were divided into five brigades. The brigades each had a specific task consisting of one of the following: digging, hooking, removing valuables, cremating, or crushing bones. Hooking involved a special tool to hook the twisted corpses that had fallen lifelessly into the ravine. A survivor recalled that "sometimes the bodies were so firmly stuck together that two or three of them came out with one hook. It was often necessary to hack them apart with axes, and the lower layers had to be dynamited several times" (Babi Yar: Destroying the Evidence). During this time, the German members of the Kommando 1005 drank vodka to drown out both the smell and the duty they were commanding... the workers were not allowed to even wash their hands (Babi Yar: Destroying the Evidence).

First, the subordinated police of the Ukrainian militia, the population and the members of the Sonderkommando seized the popele, and mass graves were prepared. Out of the total number of persons designated for the execution, 15 men were led in each case to the brink of the mass grave, where they had to kneel down, their faces turned toward the grave. At that time, closthes and valuables were not yet collected. Later on this was changed. The execution squards were composed of men of the Sonderkommando 4A, the militia and the police. When the men were ready for the execution one of my leaders who was in charge of this execution squad gave the order to shoot. Since they were kneeling on the brink of the mass grave, the victims fell, as a rule, at once into the mass grave. I have always used rather large execution squads since I declined to use men who were specialists for shots in the neck (Genickshcussspezialisten). Each squad shot for about one hour, and was then replac!

While the date the Einsatzgruppen was conceived is unknown, the first mention of the Einsatzgruppen was in a memo draft agreement dated the 4th of April 1941 (Fletcher Introduction). The memo discusses the relationship between the Einsatzgruppen, Wermacht, and Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). Since the Einsatzgruppen would be in the army's domain but under control of the RSHA (two very distinct groups in the Nazi regime), their position of authority needed to be established. The draft provided that the units of the Einsatzgruppen could move within the army group rear areas, army rear areas, and "within the framework of their instruction and upon their own responsibility, the Sonderkommandos are entitled to carry out executive measures against the civilian population" (Hilberg 284). The draft held the Wermacht responsible for the movement of the Einsatzgruppen, furnishing them with quarters, gasoline, food rations, and radio communications. Negotiations between t!

Austin, Ben S. "The Einsatzgruppen-Mobile Killing Units." The Holocaust/Shoah Page. 21 February 1996. http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/einsatz.html (9 March 2001)

With or without the help of auxiliary forces, the Einsatzgruppen managed to terrorize the Jews and other minority groups in Eastern Europe. Many horrible and unconceivable massacres took place at the hands

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