The Einsatzgruppen: Operational Situation Report USSR No. 156
(January 16, 1942)
The Chief of the Security Police and Security Service
Berlin,
January 16, 1942
65 copies
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(51st copy)
OPERATIONAL SITUATION REPORT USSR No. 156
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Einsatzgruppe A
Location: Krasnogvardeisk
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Situation of Security Police work
Arrests
The following were arrested:
41 Communist officials or members of Communist organizations
11 escaped prisoners of war
1 person for insulting the German Reich
1 person for manipulating Jewish property
1 person based on information in the secret file
2 persons for the purpose of examination of personal data
1 Politruk, and
3 Russian prisoners of war were transferred to the camp from the Stalag [prisoner of war camp] for instigating rebellion.
13 foreigner (Russians and Poles) who had entered Latvia after June 17, 1940 were interned.
In the course of the action against the illegal Communist organization in Riga, the number of arrested persons has risen to 115. A hand-grenade was found in the possession of one of the arrested people and secured. No special events were recorded during the inquiries. The action is not yet concluded.
On December 1, 1941, a Russian pilot who had made a forced landing was arrested 40 km from Modohn. He had been ordered to pick out a suitable landing site for [partisan] parachutists.
Another partisan was arrested by the Auxiliary Police in Daugavpils.
Shootings
During the period covered by this report, the following were shot by order of a summary court:
in Libau.........................20 Communists
.......................................1 Jew
in Modohn....................28 Communists
in Yakobstadt.................1 Communist
totaling.........................50 persons
The total to date in the area of Einsatzkommando 2 comes to 33,970.
On November 30, 1941, 10,600 Jews were shot in Riga. The action was led by the Higher SS and Police Chief. One officer and 20 men of Einsatzkommando took part.
Libau
In the period November 29 to December 4, 1941, 18 formerly active members of a Communist organization were arrested in the local district. At present, there are 469 political prisoners in the prisons of Libau, of these, 219 in the concentration camp.
Because of political agitation at their place of work, three released Ukrainian prisoners of war were arrested. The Ukrainians work in closed work units. The arrested persons sang Communist songs and gave inciting speeches.
A rumor is spread among the population that the Americans together with the Swedes are preparing to land troops on the coast of Kurland [Latvia]. This is to occur before Christmas. The rumor obviously stems from Jewish quarters. According to some information, it is assumed that the workers refuse to work for this reason. It is explained that it makes no sense to earn money which will probably be valueless in a short time.
The pamphlet "Latvia" No. 1 has again appeared in the district of Libau. The pamphlet was sent from Riga by mail to the dairy cooperative in Ezere.
Einsatzgruppe C
Location: Kiev
The Jewish question in Kharkov
At the moment discussions are being conducted with a view to the most thorough registration of the Jews. According to experience gained so far, the lines between the saboteurs and the partisans are mainly being kept open by the Jewish segment of the population of Kharkov. The registration of all Jews would seem to indicate a considerable contribution to the solution of the partisan problem in this area. In agreement with the authorized Army HQ (1) and the Field Kommandatur, preliminary steps to a major action against the Jews are to be taken by SK 4a, as soon as arrangements for the accommodation of the Kommando has been made.
Activity of Teilkommando SK 4a in Poltava
On November 17, 1941, Teilkommando SK 4a took over the arrangements of the proceedings left behind by SK 4b. Future cooperation with the Security Service, Secret Military Police, Field Gendarmerie, the German police and local Kommando was outlined in a meeting with militia organized in Poltava. In this context the so-called political department of the Poltavian Ukrainian militia was dissolved. In the period ending November 20, 1941, quite a number of arrested Communists were interrogated and most of them were shot.
A major Jewish action took place on November 23, 1941, after the Jewish population, on the previous day, had been requested by means of posters to assemble. In all, 1,538 Jews were shot. Their clothing was handed over to the mayor of Poltava who gave special priority to ethnic Germans when distributing it.
Activity of Teilkommando SK 4a in Lubny
On November 18, 1941, the Teilkommando of SK 4a at Lubny took over the evaluation of the NKVD files left behind by the Vorkommando as well as the handling of current correspondence.
Together with the Ukrainian militia set up in Lubny, it was possible, with the aid of the acquired files, to arrest a considerable number of NKVD agents and several leading Communists. 34 agents and Communists, and 73 Jews were shot.
The total number of people shot by Sonderkommando 4a as of November 30, 1941, was 59,018.
Einsatzkommando 5 has, up to December 7, 1941, shot 36,147 people. Of this number, during the period November 23 through 30, 1941.
64 political functionaries 46 saboteurs and looters 2,615 Jews were shot. During the period December 1 through 7, 1941, EK 5 shot 60 political functionaries 47 saboteurs 1,417 Jews.
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SK 4b had to limit its activity again to work in the places that it passed through during the march toward Kramaetorskya. According to the information gathered so far, active partisan activity has to be counted upon in the new location. While communist elements appear to exist in respectable numbers, it could generally be noted that the Jews living in towns occupied by SK 4b in the environs of Kramaetorskya is estimated to be no more than 1,500. During the search for suspicious elements, the mayor of Kremenchug, Vershovsky, was arrested and shot. He frequently managed to carry out his duties in gross defiance of German orders and wishes that were well known to him. In his order of September 28, 1941, he succeeded in sabotaging the handling of the Jewish problem by having a great number of Jews baptized in order to remove them from German control.
Einsatzkommando 6
During the period November 24 through 30, 1941, EK 6 carried out 274 shootings. This figure includes:
19 political functionaries 29 saboteurs and looters and 226 Jews
Up to November 12, 1941, EK 6 shot 800 of a total of 1160 mentally deficient patients of the Igrin mental hospital near Dniepropetrovsk.
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Einsatzgruppe D
Location: Simferopol
On November 23, 1941, towards 16:00 hours, partisans shot at an army convoy, 9 km north-west of Alushta, on its way to Yalta with guns and grenade-throwers. The Army suffered the following casualties: eight dead and six wounded. In addition, three trucks were so badly damaged that they had to be towed away. In reprisal 32 Communists and 30 Jews from Bium-Lambat and Alushta were shot on November 21, 1941.
(The Einsatzgruppen Reports by Yitzak Arad, Shmuel Krakowski and Shmuel Spector, editors. p. 279-283)
Source: The Nizkor Project