Einsatzgruppen

German extermination squads of World War II. Einsatzgruppen were established as four special SS formations which followed up the invasion of the USSR 1941, charged with the extermination of Jews, communists, and other ‘non-Aryan elements’.

Their technique was brutal and consisted of simply rounding up Jews and shooting them, although a few experimental gas trucks were used. They are estimated to have executed some 2 million victims 1941–44.

Einsatzgruppe A covered the Baltic countries and northern Russia; Gruppe B the central front through to Smolensk; Gruppe C the Ukraine; and Gruppe D the Crimea.