Overview of the Einsatzgruppen Massacre

During the Holocaust, mobile killing squads known as Einsatzgruppen (made up of groups of German soldiers and local collaborators) killed over one million people following the invasion of the Soviet Union. From June 1941 until their operations were curtailed in the spring of 1943, Einsatzgruppen conducted mass killings of Jews, Communists, and the disabled in Nazi-occupied areas in the East.  The Einsatzgruppen were the first step in the Nazi’s implementation of the Final Solution. Origins of the Final Solution In September 1919, Adolf Hitler first wrote down his ideas about â€Å"the Jewish Question,† comparing the presence of Jews to that of tuberculosis. To be certain, he wanted all Jews removed from German lands; however, at the time, he did not necessarily mean genocide. After Hitler came to power in 1933, the Nazis attempted to remove Jews by making them so unwelcome that they would emigrate. There were also plans to remove the Jews en masse by moving them to an island, perhaps to Madagascar. However unrealistic the Madagascar Plan was, it did not involve mass killing. In July 1938, delegates from 32 countries met at the Evian Conference in Evian, France to discuss the increasing number of Jewish refugees fleeing Germany. With many of these countries having difficulty feeding and employing their own populations during the Great Depression, nearly every delegate stated that their country could not increase their refugee quota. Without an option to send Jews elsewhere, the Nazis began to formulate a different plan to rid their lands of Jews – mass killing. Historians now place the beginning of the Final Solution with the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. The initial strategy directed mobile killing squads, or Einsatzgruppen, to follow the Wehrmacht (Germany army) into the East and eliminate Jews and other undesirables from these newly claimed lands. Organization of the Einsatzgruppen There were four Einsatzgruppen divisions sent east, each with 500 to 1,000 trained Germans. Many members of the Einsatzgruppen had once been part of the SD (Security Service) or the Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police), with about a hundred having been once part of the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police). The Einsatzgruppen were tasked with eliminating Communist officials, Jews, and other â€Å"undesirables† such as Roma (Gypsies) and those that were mentally or physically ill. With their goals clear, the four Einsatzgruppen followed the Wehrmacht east. Labeled Einsatzgruppe A, B, C, and D, the groups were focused on the following areas: Einsatzgruppe A: Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania, and EstoniaEinsatzgruppe B: Eastern Poland and BelorussiaEinsatzgruppe C: Western UkraineEinsatzgruppe D: Southern Ukraine and Crimea In each of these areas, the 3,000 German members of the Einsatzgruppen units were aided by local police and civilians, who often willingly collaborated with them. Also, while the Einsatzgruppen were supplied by the Wehrmacht, oftentimes army units would be used to help guard victims and/or the gravesite before the massacre. Einsatzguppen as Killers Most massacres by the Einsatzgruppen followed a standard format. After an area was invaded and occupied by the Wehrmacht, members of the Einsatzgruppen and their local auxiliaries rounded up the local Jewish populations, Communist functionaries, and disabled individuals. These victims were often held in a central location, such as a synagogue or town square, before being taken to a remote area outside of the town or village to be executed. The execution sites were generally prepared in advance, either by the location of a natural pit, ravine, or old quarry or through the use of forced labor to dig out an area to serve as a mass grave. Individuals who were to be killed were then taken to this location on foot or by trucks supplied by the German military. Once the individuals arrived at the mass grave, the executioners would force them to remove their clothing and valuables and then step up to the edge of the pit. Victims were shot by the members of the Einsatzgruppen or their auxiliaries, who typically adhered to a one bullet per person policy. Since not every perpetrator was a polished killer, some victims did not die immediately and instead suffered a slow and painful death. While the victims were being killed, other members of the Einsatzgruppen sorted through the victims’ personal belongings. These belongings would either be sent back to Germany as provisions for bombed-out civilians or they would be auctioned off to the local population and the funds would be utilized to fund further Einsatzgruppen actions and other German military needs. At the conclusion of the massacre, the mass grave would be covered over with dirt. Over time, evidence of the massacres was often difficult to detect without the assistance of members of the local populations who either witnessed or aided in these events. The Massacre at Babi Yar The largest single-site massacre by an Einsatzgruppen unit took place outside of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev on September 29-30, 1941. It was here that the Einsatzgruppe C executed nearly 33,771 Jews in a mass ravine known as Babi Yar. Following the shootings of Jewish victims in late September, other individuals in the local area who were deemed undesirables, such as Roma (Gypsies) and the disabled were also shot and dumped into the ravine. In total, an estimated 100,000 people are said to be buried at this site. An Emotional Toll Shooting defenseless people, especially large groups of women and children, can take a large emotional toll on even the most trained soldier.  Within months of beginning the massacres, leaders of the Einsatzgruppen realized that there was a high emotional cost to shooting victims. The extra liquor rations for members of the Einsatzgruppen was not enough. By August 1941, Nazi leaders were already searching for less personal ways of killing, which led to the invention of gas vans. Gas vans were trucks which had been specially outfitted for killing. Victims would be placed in the backs of the trucks and then exhaust fumes would be piped into the back. Gas vans were a stepping stone to the invention of stationary gas chambers built specifically for killing Jews at death camps. Covering Up Their Crimes At first, the Nazis made no attempt to hide their crimes. They conducted the mass killings during the day, with full knowledge of the local populace. However, after a year of killing, the Nazis made a decision in June 1942 to start eradicating the evidence. This change of policy was partly because most of the mass graves had been hastily covered and were now proving to be a health risk and also because news of the atrocities had begun to leak out to the West. A group known as Sonderkommando 1005, headed by Paul Blobel, was formed to eliminate the mass graves. Work began at the Chelmno Death Camp and then began in occupied areas of the Soviet Union in June 1943. To eliminate the evidence, the Sonderkommandos had prisoners (mostly Jewish ones) dig up the mass graves, move the corpses to a pyre, burn the bodies, crush bones, and scatter the ashes. When an area was cleared, those Jewish prisoners were also killed. While many mass graves were dug up, many more remained. The Nazis did, however, burn enough corpses to make it difficult to determine an accurate number of victims. Post-War Trials of Einsatzgruppen Following World War II, a series of trials were held by the United States in the German city of Nuremberg. The ninth of the Nuremberg Trials was The United States of America v. Otto Ohlendorf et al. (but is more commonly known as the â€Å"Einsatzgruppen Trial†), where 24 high-ranking officials within the ranks of the Einsatzgruppen were put on trial from July 3, 1947, to April 10, 1948. The defendants were charged with one or more of the following crimes: Crimes Against HumanityWar CrimesMembership in a criminal organization Of the 24 defendants, 21 were found guilty on all three counts, while two were only convicted of â€Å"membership in a criminal organization† and one other was removed from the trial for health reasons prior to the sentencing (he died six months later). The penalties varied ranging from death to a few years of imprisonment. In total, 14 individuals were sentenced to death, two received life in prison, and four received sentences ranging from time already served to 20 years.  One individual committed suicide before he was sentenced. Of those sentenced to death, only four were actually executed and many others ultimately had their sentences commuted. Documenting the Massacres Today Many of the mass graves remained hidden in the years following the Holocaust. Local populations were aware of their existence but did not frequently speak of their location. Beginning in 2004, a Catholic priest, Father Patrick Desbois, began a formal effort to document the location of these mass graves. Although locations do not receive official markers for fear of looting, their locations are documented as part of the efforts of DuBois and his organization, Yahad-In Unum. To date, they have discovered the locations of nearly 2,000 mass graves.

Summer Astronomy Programs for High School Students

Hunting Research Paper - 1051 Words

Justin Luke English III Honors Mrs. Ledy 11/27/11 Hunting Hunting is a common activity all around the world, and if performed properly, can have many benefits to us and the rest of the planet. The art of hunting has been around since the beginning of time. Living off of the land used to be a necessity across the world, until the mass production of food came along. In America, people do not usually need to hunt to survive. However, the population of animal species needs to be controlled. Too many of one type of animal can cause a drastic change to any ecosystem. Food supplies decline quickly, leaving many animals without food. Hunting can help keep the population of a group of animals at a good number, making the lives of the other†¦show more content†¦Too many positive effects come from hunting to take action based on the negative ones, which are mostly opinions, not facts. Many people believe hunting to be a cruel activity. With any activity in this world, there will be those who do not perform it properly and can damage the reputation those who do it right try to uphold. If hunting is performed how it is made to, it is not a cruel sport and should not be looked upon in shame. Between 60% to 76% of Americans identify themselves as Christians. Therefore, 60% to 76% of Americans believe what the Bible states. â€Å"Then God said, â€Å"Let us make man in our image, in our like-ness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.†(Gen . 1.26) Therefore, around 70% percent of America believes that men should rule over all of the creatures of the earth (animals), giving them the choice to hunt throughout the world. On another topic, Most Americans eat meat, which means that most Americans condone the use of slaughterhouses. 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Strategic Management and Business Innovation-Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: What Are the Differences Strategic Management and Business Innovation? Answer: Introducation: From the e-learning activity of Week 3, it is extracted as the concept of strategy wanders around the tactics, goals, objectives and the description of thoughts. Most the people confuse the concept of strategy with various other things and thus it can be concluded that, the strategy is not a goal or any tactics of a person or any organization. The definition of strategy given by Suntzu is that, strategy is nothing but an art of war and a person needs to develop strategies to overcome the obstacles (Simons 2013). The modern day business can be considered as the war and the business executives needs to develop strategies to compete in the market with their rival organization. The strategies can be developed with the analysis of the competitors in the market, their strategies and approaches towards each market trends. However, the concept of strategy lies in 4 questions which are In this context, the example can be taken of the Australian biggest retailer Woolworths Limited. The company has successfully applied various strategies to achieve their business goals in the retailing business in Australia. The company has also grown various other businesses with the help of strategic development in the organization (Ausfoodnews.com.au, 2017). According to the news, the company has outlined their upcoming three years strategy in customer handling and the main purposed of the strategy development is to increase the market share of the Woolworths Group. The article states that, the company Woolworths has strategize the customer acquisition model of the company with new innovation of meeting the exact customers need of with their products. The company has also developed new pricing and promotion strategies for their supermarkets. Apart from that, the company has planned to extend their product ranges and the new product developments in their various other businesses along with the supermarket chains (Ausfoodnews.com.au, 2017). Business Model Innovation The e-learning material focuses on the concepts and the misconception among the business people about the innovation in business model. The study shows, a business can have sufficient resources, efficient workforce and extensive knowledge of the market in which they are operating, but there are some chances to loose in the competition of particular business fields. Henceforth, innovation in business is necessary for the business (Amit and Zott 2012). There are various misconception regarding the innovation in business such as, innovation need be based on an idea or concept which nobody has executed before and the success requires huge resources, along with that, innovation needs the background of fascinating technology (Casadesus?Masanell and Zhu 2013). There are 55 basic model or fields of business pattern which need to learned about and then the knowledge can be utilized for the innovation purposes. There are various firms which have innovated their ideas in similar way. There are four basic steps namely initiation, ideation, Integration and Implementation. The study initiate that, the innovation is an ongoing process and the achievement comes to them who not only focuses on the profit of the present day but growth of the future (Boons et al 2013). In the four steps of innovation, an organization can build their image in the particular industry by implementing new out of the box ideas in their business model. However, the innovation can help a company to get competitive advantages in any field and focus for sustainable growth for the future. The concept of the business model can be explained by an example of Facebook. The period when Facebook started their business, there were various other chatting community websites, but the company Facebook has innovated their business model and the structure of their website. The company has invented such strategies to connect and relate peoples minds according to the psychological behavior of the human being (Kindstrm and Kowalkowski 2014). However, they has a strong base of technological background, but technology was not the only thing, since every similar chat community was using the technology at that time. The study of the company Facebook can idealize the concept behind innovation in a business model. CAGE Framework of International trade According to the study by Novy, the concept of CAGE framework has been stated as the international trading depends on the characteristics of the countries among which the trading happens. The characteristics are Cultural, Administrative, Geographic and the Economic (CAGE). The inter-trading among various countries completely depends on the correlation of such characte4ristics of two countries and these also influences the business opportunities of the two countries (Novy 2013). The cultural context and the similarities in perception of the people of two countries contributes in the business of the global operators. Along with that, the Administrative services like government services supports the international businesses to minimized the cost of trading along with sustainability in the market. However, the Geographic characteristics and similarities help is achieving the better distribution chain in the country. The economic similarities like currency, product valuation and others ca n influence the ease of trading in two or more countries (Ghemawat 2015). According to studies, there are various barriers in the international trading which impacts in the business in large quantity and there are various limitations regarding the international trading purposes. Apart from that, there are four propositions which are used to diminish the geographic differences of two countries. For example, the Bega Cheese can be considered which operates in the country Australia along with New Zealand. However, both of the countries are neighbor countries and the company has acquired a good market share in the Diary market of both of the countries. Henceforth, it can be concluded that, the CAGE framework is effective for the multinational companies. References Amit, R. and Zott, C., 2012. Creating value through business model innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 53(3), p.41. Boons, F., Montalvo, C., Quist, J. and Wagner, M., 2013. Sustainable innovation, business models and economic performance: an overview. Journal of Cleaner Production, 45, pp.1-8. Casadesus?Masanell, R. and Zhu, F., 2013. Business model innovation and competitive imitation: The case of sponsor?based business models. Strategic management journal, 34(4), pp.464-482. Ghemawat, P., 2015. From International Business to Intranational Business. In Emerging Economies and Multinational Enterprises (pp. 5-28). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Hernandez Barros, R., Vidal-Garcia, J., Vidal, M. and Martnez Torre-Enciso, M.I., 2016. New Evidence in the Definition of Strategy for Global Insurers. Kindstrm, D. and Kowalkowski, C., 2014. Service innovation in product-centric firms: A multidimensional business model perspective. Journal of Business Industrial Marketing, 29(2), pp.96-111. Martins, L.L., Rindova, V.P. and Greenbaum, B.E., 2015. Unlocking the hidden value of concepts: a cognitive approach to business model innovation. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 9(1), pp.99-117. Novy, D., 2013. Gravity redux: measuring international trade costs with panel data. Economic inquiry, 51(1), pp.101-121. Simons, R., 2013.Performance Measurement and Control Systems for Implementing Strategy Text and Cases: Pearson New International Edition. Pearson Higher Ed.