All language subtitles for m.m.n.g.i.w.s01e06.1080p.web.h264-cbfm_track3_[eng]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR: On September 1,
1939, 1.8 million German troops

invaded Poland,
initiating the beginning

of World War II in Europe.

Two German army
groups, consisting

of 35 standard infantry
divisions, four

motorized infantry divisions,
five Panzer divisions, four

light infantry divisions,
and three mountain divisions,

were formed to attack
Poland from three fronts.

In addition to the
traditional army divisions,

there were three obscure
military formations

listed as part of the
Wehrmacht order of battle.

They were the SS regiments
Deutschland, Germania, and

the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler.

These formations, together not
equaling an entire division,

would receive their
baptism of fire in Poland,

overcome the harsh criticism
of the German army leadership,

and emerge as an
organization that

would eventually grow into the
fourth branch of the Wehrmacht,

the Waffen-SS.

The contributions
of the SS regiments

during the Polish
campaign were minimal

compared to those of the
army but not inconsequential.

Army commanders, such as
General Walther von Brauchitsch,

the Wehrmacht
commander in chief,

commented that the
Leibstandarte, for example,

was untrained for battle and
had no knowledge of strategy

and had to pay the price
for being policemen

dressed up in army uniforms.

Despite the negative views of
the generals of the German high

command, or OKW,
Hitler authorized

an expansion of the Waffen-SS.

This resulted in the
establishment of three divisions

by the end of November 1939,
which included the Verfügungs

division, Totenkopf
Division, Polizei

Division, and an
expanded Leibstandarte

into a motorized rifle regiment.

By the time the 1940 campaign
began, the Waffen-SS' strength

had increased to 125,000 men.

The leadership
within the Waffen-SS

used the time between the
end of hostilities in Poland

and the beginning of
the war in the West

to train new recruits
within its expanded ranks

and acquire the arms and
machinery necessary to equip

elite motorized forces.

Equipment shortfalls
plagued the Waffen-SS units

throughout the winter,
as they conducted

training for the upcoming
campaign in the West.

It was not until April 1940
that the SS Totenkopf received

its full allocation of
heavy field artillery

and prime movers, along
with German equipment

to replace that of
Czech manufacturer.

Operation Fall
Gelb, the invasion

of France and the Low
Countries, began on 10 May 1940.

Three army groups,
consisting of 136 divisions,

were deployed for
this offensive.

At a time when only 7 of the
157 divisions in the German army

were motorized, the
OKW had little choice

but to deploy the fully
motorized Waffen-SS divisions.

The SS Leibstandarte and
the SS Verfügungs Division

were both deployed
as part of Army Group

B, whose mission was to
break through Dutch defenses

and occupy Holland.

Although the SS Totenkopf
and the Polizei divisions

were initially deployed
as part of the reserve,

both were eventually engaged
in the battles for France.

The 1940 campaign
marked the first time

that SS units fought under the
command of their own officers.

The German blitzkrieg
through May and June 1940

was an astounding success.

The new Panzer divisions moved
rapidly through the countryside,

splitting the Allied
armies in two.

The motorized SS units, able
to keep up with the Panzer

divisions, were quickly
ordered to engage the enemy

at critical points,
such as defending

against the British
counterattack near Arras.

In spite of the action at
Arras, throughout the campaign

through the Low
Countries and France,

the Waffen-SS
divisions displayed

a reckless aggressiveness,
which resulted in great success,

along with a high casualty
rate, especially among officers.

The courage and success
of these formations,

however, was overshadowed by the
actions of the SS Leibstandarte

at Wormhoudt and
the SS Totenkopf

at Le Paradis, where members
of these SS formations

executed Allied
prisoners of war.

The Western campaign of 1940
demonstrated the hallmarks

of Waffen-SS behavior--

reckless aggressiveness in
the assault, fanatical defense

against enemy attacks, and
a reputation for committing

savage atrocities.

In comparison with
the Wehrmacht units,

the presence of the
fledgling Waffen-SS units

had a very limited impact
on the overall success

of either the Polish or
the Western campaigns.

The differences between
regular German army units

and Waffen-SS units in regard to
leadership, training, personnel,

morale, and equipment became
significant throughout

the further expansion
and development

of the Waffen-SS formations
during the Second World War.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

At dawn on 22nd June
1941, German aircraft

and artillery began
the opening bombardment

of Operation Barbarossa.

From the Baltic
to the Black Sea,

more than 3 million
German troops

attacked, taking
5 million Red Army

soldiers largely by surprise.

The Waffen-SS motorized
divisions and brigades,

poised to attack Russia, were
some of the most powerful

units available to Hitler.

Unlike the ordinary
army infantry divisions

whose soldiers
marched everywhere,

Waffen-SS motorized
units were provided

with trucks to carry their
troops onto the battlefield.

Unlike army infantry units whose
guns were pulled by horses,

trucks also towed all
their artillery pieces.

SS motorized infantry units
were all lavishly armed with

automatic machine pistols and
bipod or tripod-mounted MG 34

machine guns as well
as 80-millimeter

and 120-millimeter mortars.

Waffen-SS troops were also some
of the most highly motivated

on the German side.

They had all been
thoroughly indoctrinated

with Nazi racial
superiority theories.

To the members of the
Waffen-SS, their Russian enemies

were racial inferiors, to
be treated as subhumans.

The SS men were told by their
officers to execute immediately

any Communist Party officials
they captured to break

the back of any resistance.

This also applied to political
officers or commissars

serving with Red Army units.

The civilian population or
captured Russian soldiers

had no rights under laws of
war, because the Soviets had not

signed the Geneva Convention.

They were to be exploited
to help the German war

effort as forced laborers, and
anyone who offered resistance

was to be executed immediately.

Any Jews who were
caught by the Waffen-SS

were also to be liquidated.

This brutal imperial
policy soon alienated

most of the civilian population
in areas under German control,

even in regions that
had been anti-Soviet

before the occupation.

Everything about the
war on the Eastern Front

was on a titanic scale--

the distances, the number
of troops involved,

the intensity of the fighting,
and the horrific extent

of the casualties.

The initial lineup of
forces was of a scale

that had never been seen before
in the history of warfare.

On the German side
were 153 divisions,

including 21 Panzer and
14 motorized divisions

with over 3,000 tanks.

In the air, the Luftwaffe
had almost 3,800 fighters,

bombers, and transport
aircraft available.

On top of this force were added
the contingents from Finland,

Hungary, Italy,
Slovakia, and Romania

that mustered several
hundred thousand

troops to help the Wehrmacht.

Opposing Hitler's invasion
force was the Red Army,

which appeared on paper to be
a formidable force of some 180

divisions with some 20,000
tanks and air support

from 10,000 combat aircraft.

However, the Red Army
was a hollow shell,

after many of its
best officers had been

executed in the
purges that Stalin had

unleashed in the late 1930s.

Fewer than 2,000 of its
tanks were modern T-34s that

could take on the
latest German Panzer

IIIs or IVs on equal terms.

Most of the Red Army soldiers
were from rural peasant stock

or were ill-educated
factory workers.

Many had received only
rudimentary training

to fire their rifles and
had little experience

operating sophisticated
artillery,

tanks, or heavy weapons.

Although Stalin loved to
show off his military might

in parades through Red Square
or in showcase field exercises,

the bulk of the Red
Army rarely participated

in large-scale maneuvers or
rehearsals of defensive plans.

Discipline was brutal to
ensure the Red Army remained

under Communist Party control.

Food and other provisions
were in short supply.

Its battle-hardened
opponents in the Wehrmacht

hopelessly outclassed the Red
Army division for division.

The colossal war in the
East is often divided

into three distinct phases.

The first phase consists of
the initial German blitzkrieg

in the summer of 1941 that
ended with the assault

on Moscow, the
subsequent Soviet winter

counteroffensives, and the
German defensive operations.

During this period,
the Waffen-SS divisions

continued to serve
as separate divisions

under the command of
different army groups.

The Totenkopf Division attacked
as part of Army Group North.

Das Reich served as part
of Army Group Center.

The Leibstandarte and
the Wiking divisions

were part of the
Army Group South,

while the Polizei Division
was kept in reserve.

As part of Army Group North,
the Totenkopf Division

fought desperate engagements
south of Leningrad.

Trapped in the Demyansk Pocket
from January to October 1942,

the Totenkopf Division was
the nucleus of a mixed force

of surrounded army and
Waffen-SS formations

that hung on to
the Valdai Hills.

This prevented a major
Russian breakthrough

and stabilized the weakened
right flank of Army Group North.

When they pulled
out in October 1942,

they had the combat
strength of a battalion.

The Das Reich Division
began the war in the East,

driving with Army Group
Center toward Moscow.

During the bitter
fighting outside

of Moscow against the
Soviet counteroffensive,

the Das Reich was
virtually destroyed.

During a meeting between a
regimental commander of Das

Reich and General Model, Model
asked, "What is your regimental

strength at the moment?"

The commander replied,
"General, my entire

regiment is paraded outside."

There in the snow stood 35 men.

They were the
remnant of a regiment

which had gone into battle
more than 2,000 strong.

The Leibstandarte and
the Wiking divisions

fared little better as
part of Army Group South.

The net result of the first
year of fighting in Russia

was twofold.

First, the heavy
casualties among veterans

meant that replacements
had to be found.

"Often these replacements,"
according to Theodor Eiche,

"were markedly inferior
soldiers to those

whose places they filled."

This had dramatic
effects on the recruiting

efforts within the
Waffen-SS organization.

A shortage of manpower
within the Reich

forced the Waffen-SS to relax
the once stringent selection

process and recruit from
Volksdeutsche, people

of German heritage living
within the greater Reich,

and eventually from
non-Germanic races.

A second outcome of these
difficult battles of attrition

was the added prestige
and confidence

that senior army officers,
such as General Manstein,

bestowed upon the Waffen-SS
for their excellent performance

in combat.

The Waffen-SS divisions
had indeed achieved

the goals set by their führer.

They had proven
themselves in combat

and gained the prestige and
confidence of the German army.

In view of this, the
Leibstandarte, the Totenkopf

Division, Wiking,
and the Das Reich

were reorganized into
Panzergrenadier divisions,

complete with tank battalions.

Hitler also authorized the
creation of more SS divisions

and the SS Panzer Corps.

As the tide began to turn
against Hitler with the fall

of Stalingrad and the
loss of North Africa,

he placed a greater demand
upon the men of the SS,

who were an extraordinary
body of men devoted

to an idea loyal unto death.

In March 1943, the
first SS Panzer Corps

did not let their führer down.

Spearheading an operation to
recapture the city of Kharkov,

the SS divisions Leibstandarte,
Totenkopf, and Das Reich

achieved one of the most
spectacular victories of the war

by recapturing this
key city and bringing

the Soviet offensive to a halt.

With his faith in his SS
formations now vindicated,

Hitler ensured that the SS
divisions, which included

the newly formed SS
Hohenstaufen, Frundsberg,

and Hitlerjugend divisions,
no longer had to fight

the German army for resources.

They also received a priority
of both men and materials, which

included the recently
developed heavy tanks

and the latest equipment.

The second half of
1943 did not go well

for the elite SS divisions.

Despite the Stalingrad
victory, the Soviets,

in the summer of 1943, went
on the strategic defensive

in anticipation
of a German attack

against the Kursk salient.

The SS divisions were
asked to spearhead

another offensive again.

The senior German leadership
hoped that a summer offensive

would break the Soviets'
offensive capabilities

and provide the
führer with a much

needed victory in the face of
defeats in Africa and Sicily.

The results of
Operation Citadel were

a disaster for the Wehrmacht and
the SS divisions taking part.

Between the 5th and
the 18th of July,

the divisions of the SS Panzer
corps Leibstandarte, Das Reich,

and Totenkopf made substantial
gains in terms of the distance

of their advance but lost
over 50% of their personnel

and equipment.

This included many
of their tanks

at the Battle of Prokhorovka.

Hitler's last chance to win
a limited strategic victory

in 1943 was lost.

With the German defeat
at Kursk, the Soviets

gained the strategic
initiative for good.

The subsequent Soviet offensive
during the summer of 1943

proved devastating
for the Wehrmacht.

During the retreat, the
SS formations became

the fire brigades in the East.

As motorized divisions,
they were routinely rushed

to the critical
points on the front

to seal a breach
in the German lines

or slow down the Soviet
onslaught long enough

for other formations to escape.

"They had," in the
words of General Wohler,

commander of the Eighth Army,
"stood like a rock in the army,

while the enemy broke through
in neighboring sectors."

By the end of 1943,
the SS formations

were a shadow of their former
strength and confidence.

By 10 December
1943, for example,

the battalions of the Das Reich
had almost been bled to death.

The SS soldiers had fought
from Kharkov in the spring

through the summer
offensive at Kursk

and into the fighting retreat
of autumn and early winter.

They had been in action
almost without pause

or let up, committed to
unceasing murderous battle

for nearly 10 months.

The elite veterans who survived
these trying times were few.

Replacements, including a
large number of draftees,

continued to fill the ranks,
but their level of training

and experience was negligible.

On paper, the Waffen-SS
was more robust than ever,

possessing 7 of the
30 Panzer divisions

and 6 of the 17 Panzergrenadier
divisions in the Wehrmacht.

The total personnel
strength of the Waffen-SS

had doubled since the
beginning of the year.

The total number of SS
divisions had risen to 38.

Six of the elite
SS Panzer divisions

were transferred
to France in 1944

in order to receive
replacements, new equipment,

and prepare for the
Allied invasion of France.

As these divisions fought
the Allies through Normandy,

Holland, and Belgium, the other
divisions, such as the Totenkopf

and Wiking divisions,
remained in the east,

fighting a brutal
war of attrition

with an enemy that had grown
vastly superior in terms

of both manpower and equipment.

On 22 June, 1944,
it was the Soviets

who went on the offensive,
launching Operation Bagration.

This surprise offensive
completely destroyed Army Group

Center and erased 350,000 men
and 28 German divisions from

the Wehrmacht order of battle.

It was through this inferno and
the great retreat which followed

that the SS divisions that
remained on the Eastern Front

waged a war to slow
the Soviet juggernaut.

It wasn't until the
early months of 1945

that the SS formations
would finally cease

to exist as combat formations.

The last battles of
the elite SS divisions

occurred not in the fatherland
but on the plains of Hungary.

The final offensives on
the Eastern Front conducted

by the SS divisions
occurred during operations

to relieve the siege
of Budapest and protect

the Reich's last fuel reserves,
the Hungarian oil fields.

The reconstituted elite SS
divisions, consisting primarily

of draftees, combined
with untrained

and inexperienced former
Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine

personnel, were completely
destroyed and ceased to exist

as effective combat formations.

The survivors were
captured by the Soviets

or fought their way through
vengeful partisan groups

to reach American lines
in order to surrender.

The war in the east was very
different from that in the west.

The Soviet soldiers
displayed comparable suicidal

aggressiveness, fanatical
defense and courage

to that of the soldiers
of the Waffen-SS.

Against this enemy, the
Waffen-SS formations earned

their legendary reputation.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

On June 6, 1944, Allied forces
began Operation Overlord,

the invasion of
France, and opened

the long-awaited second
front against Germany

in Western Europe.

Facing the overwhelming military
might and the complete air

superiority of the Allies,
Hitler, once again,

relied on his trusted and
powerful Waffen-SS divisions

to defeat the Allied
armies, first,

in the brutal
fighting in Normandy

and then in the dense
forests of the Ardennes.

During these decisive battles,
the soldiers of the Waffen-SS

repeatedly demonstrated
their elite esprit de corps

and aggressive fighting
spirit but, in the end,

were unable to win the
victories Hitler desired.

Hitler directed that six
Waffen-SS Panzer divisions

be sent to France to thwart
the expected Allied invasion

against his Atlantic Wall.

These included the divisions
Leibstandarte, Das Reich,

Hitlerjugend,
Hohenstaufen, Frundsberg,

and Götz von Berlichingen.

In terms of equipment,
personnel strength,

and veteran leadership, they
were among the most powerful

divisions in the
German army at the time

and constituted 50% of the
Panzer formations in France.

For the Waffen-SS
formations, the days

of having to compete with
the Wehrmacht for the latest

equipment were gone.

A führer order,
dated 3 May, ensured

the requisition of weapons
for his favored Leibstandarte

Division.

The equipment being sent to the
elite Waffen-SS Panzer divisions

was the best available.

The German soldier was well
equipped with excellent Panzers,

such as the much feared
Tiger and Panther tanks.

They also possessed
what may be considered

the best machine gun produced
at the time, the MG 42.

What the grenadiers of
the Waffen-SS lacked

was protection against
the Allied air forces

and a method to counter the
overwhelming Allied advantages

in artillery and
naval gunfire support.

The training
proficiency of the SS

grenadiers in Normandy
varied within each division.

The Leibstandarte and Das Reich
divisions needed more time

to train new replacements.

The Hitlerjugend, along with
the Frundsberg and Hohenstaufen

divisions, were newer formations
which had received more time

to train together but
lacked the combat experience

of the older SS divisions.

All of the Waffen-SS
divisions would

have to rely heavily on their
battle-hardened veteran NCOs.

Many of whom had been
fighting since 1939.

Among these veterans,
the old arrogance

and recklessness remained.

These charismatic
leaders instilled

in the new replacements
and young volunteers

the same confidence
representative

of a soldier of the Waffen-SS.

The bitter fighting
in Normandy was

very different for the
Waffen-SS divisions

compared to what
many had experienced

on the Eastern Front.

They faced many new
challenges, such

as the complete and overwhelming
air superiority of the Allies.

Formations were forced to
move as much as possible

during the hours of darkness in
order to avoid constant attack

from Allied fighter bombers.

Air attacks caused many
delays and frustrating losses

in both men and equipment.

Unable to move quickly and
maintain unit cohesion,

the SS divisions were forced
to counterattack the Allies

before they could properly
consolidate all of their combat

forces, resulting in piecemeal
attacks and heavy casualties

among the SS formations.

The bitter battles that
took place in the Normandy

countryside, much of which
was crisscrossed with hedges,

fields, and sunken
roads, forced fighting

to occur over short distances
with limited visibility.

This reduced the German
advantages in combined infantry

and armor maneuver warfare.

Large-scale combined
arms maneuver operations

were replaced by small
unit actions of infantry

and individual Panzers.

Throughout these bitter
battles, Waffen-SS formations

were called upon to spearhead
offensive operations

and to fanatically defend
against Allied offensives.

The Waffen-SS divisions were
always the lead elements

during the critical battles
in Normandy, such as those

around the city of Caen,
the German counterattack

toward Avranches, to
close the Allied breakout

of Operation Cobra
and the struggle

to hold open the Falaise gap.

The Waffen-SS divisions were,
once again, nearly bled white

during these terrible battles.

They were unable to
stop the advancing

tide of the Allies'
overwhelming personnel

and material superiority.

What they did accomplish
was to significantly

delay the Allied advance.

It is doubtful that the
German defenses in France

would have held as long as
they did without the courage,

determination, and
overall combat power

of the Waffen-SS divisions.

General Eisenhower remarked that
while the SS elements, as usual,

fought to annihilation, the
ordinary German infantry

gave themselves up in
ever-increasing numbers.

This reckless fanaticism
in the face of defeat

was exactly what Hitler
needed from the troops

who were to execute his planned
counteroffensive in the West.

Codenamed Operation Wacht am
Rhein the planned offensive was

for three German
armies to conduct

a surprise offensive
through the rugged heavily

forested Ardennes region.

The SS Leibstandarte,
Das Reich, Hitlerjugend,

and Hohenstaufen
divisions were organized

into the Sixth SS
Panzer Army in order

to spearhead this operation.

This formation, commanded by
SS Veteran Obergruppenführer

Sepp Dietrich, was
the most powerful

German army in the West.

The reconstitution of
the Waffen-SS formations,

following their near-complete
annihilation in Normandy,

was nothing short of a miracle.

The loss of both men and
material had been enormous.

By September, for
example, the combat

strength of the
Hitlerjugend consisted

of only 600 men and no tanks.

Replacements were sent to
bring the divisions back

up to strength,
but they consisted

mostly of untrained naval
and Luftwaffe personnel.

There was no time to
train them as true elites.

To illustrate, the
Das Reich pulled out

of the line in late October,
received new replacements,

and by 11 November
was on the move

to take part in Wacht am Rhein.

The SS divisions had received
new replacements of both men

and weapons, including
tanks and guns,

but were severely lacking
in motor transportation

and most importantly fuel.

The Ardennes offensive
began successfully,

with the German formations
achieving complete surprise.

The Waffen-SS divisions
made good progress

initially but were unable
to achieve a breakthrough.

They were soon stalled by the
difficult terrain, massed Allied

artillery, and rearguard
elements left behind

to defend key road junctions.

Unable to mass their
forces and move forward,

the SS formations
were soon caught

in long bottlenecks along
the narrow Ardennes roads.

Supply shortages, combined
with the deadly appearance

of Allied air power, destroyed
any possible chance of success

for the German formations.

Wacht am Rhein was a failure.

The Sixth Panzer Army was
unable to meet any of its rather

optimistic objectives.

The achievements of the
Wehrmacht's Fifth Panzer Army

were greater.

It was the Second
Panzer Division, not

the Waffen-SS, that
penetrated furthest

into the Allied defenses.

Hitler's elite, Sepp Dietrich
and his Waffen-SS divisions,

had failed him, proving that
in 1945, a triumph of the will

was not possible against
the superior military might

of the Allies.

By April 1945, the
German front in Hungary

was shattered wide open
by the Soviet offensive.

It was never re-established.

Dietrich's army started
to fall back to Austria

in the hope of defending
the capital Vienna.

The Waffen-SS divisions
were now constantly

retreating, though
every so often

a handful of tanks
and Panzergrenadiers

would turn to form a rearguard.

However, they were
soon outflanked,

and the retreat
would begin again.

When news reached
Hitler's bunker

about the retreat
of the Waffen-SS,

the führer flew into a rage.

He sent a signal
to Sepp Dietrich,

ordering the soldiers of
the Sixth SS Panzer Army

to remove their
honorific Nazi armbands.

In his eyes, they were no
longer fit to wear the führer's

name on their uniforms.

The effect on the morale of the
Waffen-SS divisions in Austria

was catastrophic.

Senior commanders ripped
off their medals in disgust,

and ordinary grenadiers started
to desert in large numbers.

The men of Dietrich's army
could see that the war was lost.

They tried to stage a rearguard
action to defend Vienna,

but it was futile.

Soon, they were
heading westward again.

Once back on German soil,
many of the conscripts,

now serving in the ranks of the
Waffen-SS, began to drift away.

The hardcore officers
started to concentrate

on getting themselves
and their remaining men

away from the vengeful Soviets.

Fighting the führer's war
was no longer their priority.

In Austria, what was left
of the Hitlerjugend Division

surrendered en masse
to the Americans

under the watchful eye
of a Russian tank column.

At the last minute, the
remaining 6,000 Hitlerjugend

troops stampeded past an
American checkpoint rather than

risk capture by the Russians.

The Hohenstaufen Division was
able to surrender peacefully

to the Americans, while Wiking
just broke up into small groups

and disappeared into Austrian
and Bavarian villages.

Many of the staff officers
of the various Waffen-SS

Panzer Corps and the
Sixth SS Panzer Army

also took to the hills.

American, British,
and French patrols

soon arrested hundreds
of Waffen-SS men

as they tried to
reach their hometowns

or flee to Switzerland.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

With the start of
the Second World War,

the Totenkopfverbande
began a large expansion

to administer the growing
concentration camps.

By 1944, there were three
divisions of the SS-TV.

These were the staffs of the
concentration camps in Germany

and Austria, the labor camp
system in occupied territories,

and the guards and staffs of the
extermination camps in Poland

that were involved
in the Holocaust.

By 1944, with the concentration
camps fully integrated

with the Waffen-SS,
a standard practice

developed to rotate SS members
in and out of the camps

based on manpower needs.

This also gave easier
assignments to wounded Waffen-SS

officers and soldiers
who could no longer serve

in frontline combat duties.

This rotation of personnel
is the main argument

that nearly the entire SS knew
of the concentration camps

and what actions were
committed in them.

This made the
entire organization

liable for war crimes and
crimes against humanity.

The SS also formed
Einsatzgruppen

or intervention groups.

These were paramilitary
groups operated by the SS.

"Their principal task," in the
words of SS General Erich von

dem Bach-Zelewski at
the Nuremberg trial,

"was the annihilation
of the Jews, Gypsies,

and political commissars."

Formed from police forces
of the Gestapo, Kripo, SD,

and Waffen-SS officers,
these death squads

followed the Wehrmacht as it
advanced eastward into Eastern

Europe and the Soviet Union.

On occupied territories,
the Einsatzgruppen

utilized local populations to
provide additional security

and manpower when needed.

The activities of
the Einsatzgruppen

were spread throughout a
large pool of personnel

from different branches of
the SS and German state.

According to their own records,
the Einsatzgruppen operatives

were responsible for killing
over 1 million people, almost

exclusively civilians,
without judicial review

and later without
semblance of legality.

There is no reading
of sentences of

martial or administrative law.

This started with the
Polish intelligentsia

and quickly progressed by
1941 to target, primarily,

the Jews of Eastern Europe.

In 1945, after the
surrender of Germany,

the SS was declared an
illegal criminal organization

by the Allies.

SS doctors, in particular,
were marked as war criminals

due to the wide range of
human medical experimentation

which had been conducted
during the Second World War.

The SS doctors also
played a significant role

in the gas chamber
selections of the Holocaust.

Relatively few SS doctors
were ever brought to justice.

Figures such as Josef
Mengele escaped to Argentina.

Other SS doctors returned to
civilian practice in Germany

under assumed names
or, in some cases,

even their original identities.

After the war, the
Einsatzgruppen leaders

were tried at the subsequent
Nuremberg proceedings.

In the ninth trial,
there were 24 defendants.

14 of them were sentenced
to death, 7 to periods

of imprisonment ranging
from 10 years to life,

and one to the time
already served.

Two were not tried or sentenced.

Four of the defendants
were actually executed,

and 16 had their sentences
commuted or reduced

to periods extending
from the time already

served to life imprisonment.

One defendant was released.

One died of natural causes.

One committed suicide,
and the execution of one

was stayed because of
the defendant's insanity.

Following the establishment
of the Central Office

of the Judicial
Administrations of the Land

at Ludwigsburg in
West Germany, over 100

more indictments
were handed down.

These were against
Einsatzkommando

commanders, officers,
noncommissioned officers,

and privates.

In the ensuing trials,
no death sentences

were passed since the
Federal Republic of Germany

had abolished
capital punishment.

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