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''Einsatzgruppen'' (German for "task forces", "deployment groups"; singular ''Einsatzgruppe''; official full name ''Einsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD'') were ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass killings, primarily by shooting, during World War II. The ''Einsatzgruppen'' were involved in the murder of much of the intelligentsia and cultural elite of Poland, and had an integral role in the implementation of the Final Solution of the Jewish question (''Die Endlösung der Judenfrage'') in territories conquered by Nazi Germany. Almost all of the people they killed were civilians, beginning with the intelligentsia and swiftly progressing to Soviet political commissars, Jews, and Gypsies throughout Eastern Europe. Under the direction of ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler and the supervision of SS-''Obergruppenführer'' Reinhard Heydrich, the ''Einsatzgruppen'' operated in territories occupied by the German armed forces following the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and Operation Barbarossa (the invasion of the Soviet Union) in June 1941. The ''Einsatzgruppen'' worked hand-in-hand with the Orpo Police Battalions on the Eastern Front to carry out operations ranging from the murder of a few people to operations which lasted over two or more days, such as the massacre at Babi Yar with 33,771 Jews killed in two days, and the Rumbula massacre (with about 25,000 killed in two days of shooting). As ordered by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, the Wehrmacht cooperated with the ''Einsatzgruppen'' and provided logistical support for their operations. Historian Raul Hilberg estimates that between 1941 and 1945 the ''Einsatzgruppen'' and related auxiliary troops killed more than two million people, including 1.3 million Jews. The total number of Jews murdered during the Holocaust is estimated at 5.5 to 6 million people. After the close of World War II, 24 senior leaders of the ''Einsatzgruppen'' were prosecuted in the Einsatzgruppen Trial in 1947–48, charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes. Fourteen death sentences and two life sentences were handed out. Four additional ''Einsatzgruppe'' leaders were later tried and executed by other nations. == Formation and Action T4 == The ''Einsatzgruppen'' were formed under the direction of SS-''Obergruppenführer'' Reinhard Heydrich and operated by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) before and during World War II. The ''Einsatzgruppen'' had its origins in the ad hoc ''Einsatzkommando'' formed by Heydrich to secure government buildings and documents following the ''Anschluss'' in Austria in March 1938. Originally part of the ''Sicherheitspolizei'' (Security Police; SiPo), two units of ''Einsatzgruppen'' were stationed in the Sudetenland in October 1938. When military action turned out not to be necessary because of the Munich Agreement, the ''Einsatzgruppen'' were assigned to confiscate government papers and police documents. They also secured government buildings, questioned senior civil servants, and arrested as many as 10,000 Czech communists and German citizens. From September 1939, the ''Reichssicherheitshauptamt'' (Reich Main Security Office; RSHA) had overall command of the ''Einsatzgruppen''. As part of the drive to remove undesirable elements from the German population, from September to December 1939 the ''Einsatzgruppen'' and others took part in Action T4, a programme of systematic murder of the physically and mentally handicapped and psychiatric hospital patients undertaken by the Nazi regime. Action T4 mainly took place from 1939 to 1941, but continued until the end of the war. Initially the victims were shot by the ''Einsatzgruppen'' and others, but gas chambers were put into use by spring 1940. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Einsatzgruppen」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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