The operational command of
Einsatzgruppe B, was sent in by SS-
Obersturmbannfuhrer Eberhard Schöngarth on orders from the
Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), due to reports of Soviet guerrilla activity in the area with Jews being of course immediately suspected of helping them out. On 10 July 1941, Schaper's unit was split into smaller
Einsatzkommandos due to requirements of Operation Barbarossa. In addition to mass shootings,
Einsatzgruppe B engaged in public hangings used as a terror tactic on the local population. An
Einsatzgruppe B report, dated 9 October 1941, described one such hanging. Due to suspected partisan activity in the area around the settlement of Demidov, all males aged fifteen to fifty-five in Demidov were detained in a camp for screening. The screening produced seventeen people identified as 'partisans' and 'communists'. Thereafter, 400 local residents were assembled to watch the hanging of five members of the group; the rest were shot. On 14 November 1941, Nebe told Berlin that, up until then, 45,000 persons had been eliminated. A further report, dated 15 December 1942, established that the
Einsatzgruppe B had shot a total of 134,298 people. After 1943, the mass killings of
Einsatzgruppe B diminished, and the unit was decommissioned in August 1944. ;Commanders: •
SS-Gruppenführer und Generalmajor der Polizei Arthur Nebe (June–November 1941) •
SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei Erich Naumann (November 1941 – March 1943) • SS-
Standartenführer Horst Böhme (12 March–28 August 1943) •
SS-Oberführer und Oberst der Polizei Erich Ehrlinger (28 August 1943 – April 1944) •
SS-Oberführer und Oberst der Polizei Heinrich Seetzen (28 April–August 1944) • SS-
Standartenführer Horst Böhme (12 August 1944) Around 5 July 1941, Nebe consolidated
Einsatzgruppe B near Minsk, establishing a headquarters and remaining there for some two months. The
Gruppenführer determined that
Sonderkommando 7a and
Sonderkommando 7b and the
Vorkommando Moskau would follow the
Army Group Center, while
Einsatzkommandos 8 and 9 clean up to the sides of the spearhead. In compliance,
Einsatzkommando 8 reached
Bialystok on 1 July, passed through
Słonim and
Baranowicze, and began systematic mass killing operations in modern-day southern
Belarus (
eastern Poland before World War II). On 5 August, Nebe moved his
Einsatzgruppen command to
Smolensk, where the
Vorkommando Moskau was concentrated. On 6 August,
Einsatzkommando 8 reached
Minsk, remaining there until 9 September 1941. From Minsk, it reached
Mogilev, which became its general headquarters, and from there
Einsatzkommando 8 effected successive killings in
Bobruisk,
Gomel,
Roslavl, and
Klintsy systematically attacking the local Jewish communities, and killing the inhabitants. Meanwhile,
Einsatzkommando 9 was put to work; they had left Treuburg, in eastern Prussia, and reached Vilna on 2 July. Their main theater of mass killing operations were
Grodno and
Bielsk-Podlaski (Biala-Podlaska). On 20 July it moved its headquarters to Vitebsk, and then exterminated the citizens of Polotzk, Nevel, Lepel, and Surazh. The command progressed to Vtasma, and from there they killed the communities of Gshatsk and Mozhaisk in the Moscow vicinity. The Soviet counter-offensive forced the
Einsatzkommando to withdraw to Vitebsk on 21 December 1941. Anticipating the fall of
Moscow, the
Vorkommando Moskau advanced to
Maloyaroslavets, earlier captured by the Wehrmacht on 18 October 1941. In practice,
Sonderkommandos 7a and 7b operated behind the vanguard of the army. The actions were fast, in order to prevent the Jews from escaping the advancing German Army. To the south and east of Smolensk and Minsk, the two
Sonderkommandos left a wake of dead civilians, from
Velikiye Luki,
Kalinin,
Orsha,
Gomel,
Chernigov and
Orel, to
Kursk. ;
Sonderkommando 7a
Sonderkommando 7a led by
Walter Blume, was attached to the
9th Army under General
Adolf Strauß. SK 7a entered
Vilna on 27 June and remained there until 3 July. Soon
Vilna was in the command sphere of
Einsatzgruppe A, and
Sonderkommando 7a was transferred to
Kreva near
Minsk. The
Sonderkommando was active in
Vilna,
Nevel,
Haradok,
Vitebsk,
Velizh,
Rzhev,
Vyazma,
Kalinin, and
Klintsy. It executed 1344 people. • SS-
Standartenführer Walter Blume (June–September 1941) • SS-
Standartenführer Eugen Steimle (September–December 1941) • SS-
Hauptsturmführer Kurt Matschke (December 1941 – February 1942) • SS-
Obersturmbannführer Albert Rapp (February 1942–28 January 1943) • SS-
Sturmbannführer Helmut Looss (June 1943 – June 1944) • SS-
Sturmbannführer Gerhard Bast (June–October/November 1944) ;
Sonderkommando 7b The
Sonderkommando was active in
Brest-Litovsk (see the
Brześć Ghetto),
Kobrin,
Pruzhany,
Slonim (the
Słonim Ghetto),
Baranovichi,
Stowbtsy,
Minsk (the
Minsk Ghetto),
Orsha, Klinzy,
Briansk,
Kursk, Tserigov, and
Orel. It executed 6,788 people. • SS-
Sturmbannführer Günther Rausch (June 1941 – January/February 1942) • SS-
Obersturmbannführer Adolf Ott (February 1942 – January 1943) • SS-
Obersturmbannführer Josef Auinger (July 1942 – January 1943) • SS-
Obersturmbannführer Karl-Georg Rabe (January/February 1943 – October 1944) ;
Sonderkommando 7c See also
Vorkommando Moskau • SS-
Sturmbannführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock (June 1942) • SS-
Hauptsturmführer Ernst Schmücker (June 1942 – 1942) • SS-
Sturmbannführer Wilhelm Blühm (1942 – July 1943) • SS-
Sturmbannführer Hans Eckhardt (July–December 1943) ;
Einsatzkommando 8 The
Einsatzkommando was active in
Volkovisk,
Baranovichi,
Babruysk,
Lahoysk,
Mogilev, and
Minsk. It executed 74,740 people. • SS-
Obersturmbannführer Dr.
Otto Bradfisch (June 1941–1 April 1942) • SS-
Sturmbannführer Heinz Richter (1 April–September 1942) • SS-
Sturmbannführer Dr.
Erich Isselhorst (September–November 1942) • SS-
Obersturmbannführer Hans-Gerhard Schindhelm (7 November 1942 – October 1943) • SS-
Sturmbannführer Alfred Rendörffer (?) ;
Einsatzkommando 9 The
Einsatzkommando was active in
Vilna (see the
Vilna Ghetto),
Grodno (the
Grodno Ghetto),
Lida,
Bielsk-Podlaski,
Nevel,
Lepel,
Surazh,
Vyazma,
Gzhatsk,
Mozhaisk,
Vitebsk (the
Vitebsk Ghetto),
Smolensk, and
Varena. It executed 41,340 people. • SS-
Obersturmbannführer (June–20 October 1941) • SS-
Obersturmbannführer (October 1941 – February 1942) • SS-
Obersturmbannführer Wilhelm Wiebens (February 1942 – January 1943) • SS-
Obersturmbannführer Dr.
Friedrich Buchardt (January 1943 – October 1944) • SS-
Sturmbannführer Werner Kämpf (October 1943 – March 1944) ;
Vorkommando Moskau The
Vorkommando—also known as
Sonderkommando 7c—was to operate in
Moscow, until it became apparent that Moscow would not fall; it was incorporated to
Sonderkommando 7b, where it was active in
Smolensk and executed 4,660 people. • SS-
Brigadeführer Professor Dr.
Franz Six (20 June–20 August 1941) • SS-
Obersturmbannführer Waldemar Klingelhöfer (August–September 1941) • SS-
Obersturmbannführer Dr. Erich Körting (September–December 1941) • SS-
Sturmbannführer Dr.
Friedrich Buchardt (December 1941 – January 1942) • SS-
Sturmbannführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock (January–June 1942) ==
Einsatzgruppe C==