The Einsatzgruppen: Operational Situation Report USSR No. 177

The Chief of the Security Police and Security Service

Berlin,
March 6, 1942

OPERATIONAL SITUATION REPORT USSR NO. 177

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General situation in regard to basic views

The strong measures taken by the Einsatzgruppe against the Jews and former Communist Party members had good results with respects to the feelings of the general public. Not only the treatment of the Jews but also the actions against persons causing unrest are accepted with [sympathetic] understanding.

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In general, cooperation with Ukrainian officers and with the militia is good. The fact that Senista, the mayor of Kremenchug, was arrested for sabotaging orders, demonstrates that responsible officials are not always selected with the necessary care and attention. Only after the Einsatzkommandos had interrogated the official could it be established that he had purposely sabotaged the handling of the Jewish problem. He used false data and authorized the chief priest Protyorey Romansky to baptize the Jews whom he himself had selected, giving them Christian or Russian first names. His immediate arrest prevented a larger number of Jews from evading German control. Senitsa was executed.

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Executions

After the advance of the front had come to a standstill, the long stay of the Kommandos resulted in a considerable accumulation of cases. Police activity suffered very much from the cold temperature and the obliteration of tracks by the snow.

Sonderkommando 4b executed 1,317 people (among them 63 political agitators, 30 saboteurs and partisans, and 1,224 Jews). With this action, the district of Artemovsk was also freed of Jews.

As a result of the activity of Einsatzkommando 5, a number of political agitators, 114 saboteurs and looters, as well as 1,580 Jews were shot, in all 1,880 people. This kommando also carried out an action against the Bandera group.

As a result of the measures carried out by Einsatzkommando 6, both the Gorlovka and Makeyevka districts are free now of Jews. A small number who remained in Stalino will be moved as soon as whether conditions permit. A total of 493 people were executed here, among them 80 political agitators, 44 saboteurs and looters, and 369 Jews.

The number of arrested old members of the Communist Party remaining here is striking. This suggests specific intentions of the enemy in this zone. Also, four armed parachutists were liquidated here.

(The Einsatzgruppen Reports by Yitzak Arad, Shmuel Krakowski and Shmuel Spector, editors. p. 304-5)