The atrocity of their actions was not just limited to killing. They additionally forced victims to dig their own mass graves before they were killed; stripped and robbed victims of their clothing and possessions; and forced family and friends to watch their own loved ones die. Out of the approximate 6 million Jews that were murdered in the Holocaust, about 1.5-2 million of them died due to The Einsatzgruppen.
Their actions proved to not only be devastating for victims, but also for many of those who were required to carry them out. A large number of members suffered from mental health problems associated with the constant commands to murder innocent people. Despite attempts from leaders to militarize the killings: portray them to be necessary for the military success, many of the killers still felt heavy guilt and trauma. This led to an eventual transition to gassing instead of shooting victims, though this proved to be equally harmful due to the unpleasant nature of clearing out the vans after the killings. It got bad enough that many had to have mental health care due to their ill health conditions.
After the war ended, many leaders were prosecuted in what was known as the Einsatzgruppen Trial, which fell under the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials, which were a set of military tribunals against Nazi leaders. Most of the people responsible for these war crimes were never charged, due to a multitude of reasons including the aging of witnesses, lack of funds to continue trials, and in the end, the desire to simply forget the horrors of the Nazi regime rather than demand justice.
Sources:
https://cdn.britannica.com/72/67972-050-008DB167/member-mobile-killing-units-Einsatzgruppen-Nazis-edge.jpg
I thought it was super important how you outlined the mass impact that this group had on the number of deaths during the war, mainly the impact on the Jewish population. The statistcs you used really helped in demonstrating just how powerful and cruel groups such as these were throughout the Holocaust. The sheer amount of death caused by this group is really eye opeing to just how detremental the Holocuast was. I also found it very intresting that some of the people carrying out these mass murders did not want to go through with it. I had not previsuly known this and it suprised me a lot. I think it's really powerful to incldue these details of the other side to demonstrate just how vulgar and terrible the Holocaust was.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting that you noted that these German Security Policemen had to receive mental health care due to the trauma that their actions of killing such masses brought upon them. After doing more research on their actions, I found that the Einsatzgruppen had a very systematic way of killing their victims. Mines and ditches in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, were dug up specifically for the purpose of storing the dead bodies. Even more disturbing, the Germans would find ways to make the mass murder more efficient by targeting the victim's head since lying face down would make more space in the ditches. These actions taken by the Einsatzgruppen demonstrate just how focused the Germans were at strengthening German power that they completely lost their sense of morality.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.yadvashem.org/untoldstories/documents/GenBack/Einsatzgruppen.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/30/books/himmler-s-willing-executioners.html