In 1941, the Nazi leaders of Germany ordered Einsatzgruppen mobile killing squads to murder people considered enemies of the Reich — primarily Jews, Gypsies, and communists — by the thousands. Each squad consisted of 600 to 1000 SS soldiers, who accompanied the invading German Army into eastern Europe and rounded up and shot individuals or whole communities. Making their way through Russia, Belorussia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the Ukraine, they often left thousands of bodies in open graves. Overall, the Einsatzgruppen were responsible for the murder of up to 1.5 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of communists, Gypsies, and prisoners of war. They were assisted by local recruits, German police units, the German and Romanian armies, and other collaborators.
