Editing Arthur Nebe (section)

===''Einsatzgruppe B''===

Just before the 1941 Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in [[Operation Barbarossa]], the ''Einsatzgruppen'' mobile [[death squad]]s, which had previously operated in Poland, were reformed and placed once again under the overall command of Reinhard Heydrich. Nebe volunteered to command ''[[Einsatzgruppen|Einsatzgruppe B]]'', an SS [[death squad]] that operated in the [[Army Group Center Rear Area]] as the invasion progressed. The unit's task was to exterminate Jews and other "undesirables", such as communists, "Gypsies", "Asiatics", the disabled, and psychiatric hospital patients in the territories that the ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' had overrun. The ''Einsatzgruppe'' also shot hostages and prisoners of war handed over by the army for execution.{{sfn|Beorn|2014|p=98}}{{sfn|Headland|1992|pp=62–70}}

====Mass killing operations====

Around 5 July 1941, Nebe consolidated ''Einsatzgruppe B'' near [[Minsk]], establishing a headquarters and remaining there for two months. The murders progressed apace. In a 13 July [[Einsatzgruppen reports|Operational Situation Report]], Nebe stated that 1,050 Jews had been killed in Minsk, also noting that the liquidation of the Jews was underway in [[Vilna]] where 500 Jews were shot daily.{{sfn|Headland|1992|p=74}} In the same report, Nebe remarked: "only 96 Jews were executed in Grodno and Lida during the first days. I gave orders to intensify these activities". He reported that the killings were being brought into smooth running order and that the shootings were carried out "at an increasing rate". The report also announced that his ''Einsatzgruppe'' was now killing non-Jews in Minsk.{{sfn|Beorn|2014|p=110}}{{sfn|Headland|1992|p=197}}

In the 23 July report, Nebe advanced the idea of a "solution to the Jewish problem" being "impractical" in his assigned area of operation due to "the overwhelming number of the Jews"; i.e. there were too many Jews to be killed by too few men.{{sfn|Headland|1992|pp=199–201}} By August 1941, Nebe came to realize that his ''Einsatzgruppe'''s resources were insufficient to meet the expanded mandate of the killing operations, resulting from the inclusion of Jewish women and children since that month.{{sfn|Beorn|2014|p=190}}

====New killing methods====

In August 1941, Himmler, after a visit to Minsk, decided that alternative methods of killing should be found, instead of mass-shootings.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|p=547}} He told Heydrich that he was concerned about the SS men's mental health.{{sfn|Gerwarth|2011|p=199}} Himmler turned to Nebe to devise a more "convenient" method of killing, particularly one that would spare executioners elements of their grisly task. Murder with [[carbon monoxide]] gas, already in use in the Reich as part of [[Action T4|the "euthanasia" program]], was contemplated, but deemed too cumbersome for the mobile killing operations in the occupied Soviet Union.{{sfn|Heberer|2008|p=232}}

Nebe decided to try experimenting by murdering Soviet psychiatric patients, first with explosives near Minsk, and then with automobile exhaust at [[Mogilev]].{{sfn|Lewy|2000|pp=204–208}} The idea of using gas was partly inspired by an incident in Nebe's past. One night after a party, Nebe had driven home drunk, parked in his garage, and fallen asleep with the engine running, nearly dying of [[carbon monoxide poisoning]] from the exhaust fumes.{{sfn|Rees|2006|p=53}} To conduct the experiments, he ordered the SS chemist [[Albert Widmann]], a member of the criminal-technical institute of the RKPA, to come to Minsk with {{convert|250|kg|lb}} of explosives and exhaust hoses. The next day, Widmann, Nebe, and an explosives expert carried out their first experiment in prepared bunkers in the Minsk area. According to testimony presented at Widmann's postwar trial:

{{quote|One of the bunkers was loaded with explosives and 24 mental patients were put into it. Nebe gave the signal to detonate, but the resultant explosion failed to kill the patients. Several of them emerged from the bunker covered in blood and screaming loudly. Thereupon more explosives were brought up, the wounded patients were forced back into the bunker, and a second explosion finally finished the job. The bunker had become quiet and parts of bodies could be seen hanging from nearby trees.{{sfn|Lewy|2000|pp=204–208}}}}

Two days later, Nebe and Widmann carried out another killing experiment: five psychiatric patients from Mogilev were placed in a hermetically sealed room with pipes leading to the outside. At first, exhausts from a passenger vehicle were vented into the room, so that the carbon monoxide would kill those inside. This method failed to kill the patients, so a truck was added; the patients were dead within 15 minutes. Nebe and Widmann concluded that killing with explosives was impractical, while gassing "held promise", as vehicles were readily available and could be used as needed.{{sfn|Dederichs|2009|p=106}}

After these experimental killings, Nebe thought of remodelling a vehicle with a hermetically sealed cabin for killing. The carbon monoxide from the vehicle's exhaust would be channelled into the sealed cabin in which the victims stood. He discussed the idea's technical aspects with a specialist from Kripo's Technology Institute and together they brought the proposal to Heydrich, who approved it.{{sfn|Arad|1987|pp=10–11}}

====Mogilev conference and escalation of violence====

{{Main|Mogilev conference}}

The ''Wehrmacht''{{'}}s aggressive rear security doctrine and the use of the "security threat" to disguise genocidal policies resulted in a close cooperation between the army and the security apparatus behind the front lines. Nebe, as the ''Einsatzgruppe B'' commander, participated in a [[Mogilev conference|three-day field conference at Mogilev]] in late September 1941. Organised by General [[Max von Schenckendorff]], chief of Army Group Centre's rear area, the conference was to serve as an "exchange of experiences" for the ''Wehrmacht'' rear unit commanders.{{sfn|Beorn|2014|pp=95–96}}

Participating officers were selected on the basis of their "achievements and experiences" in security operations already undertaken.{{sfn|Förster|1998|pp=1204–1205}} In addition to Nebe, the speakers included [[Higher SS and Police Leader]] [[Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski]]; [[Max Montua]], commander of [[Police Regiment Centre]]; [[Hermann Fegelein]], commander of the [[SS Cavalry Brigade]]; and [[Gustav Lombard]], commander of the 1st SS Cavalry Regiment in [[Hermann Fegelein|Fegelein]]'s brigade. Nebe's talk focused on the SD's role in the common fight against "partisans" and "plunderers". He also covered the "Jewish question" and its connection to the suppression of resistance movements in occupied territories.{{sfn|Blood|2006|p=167}}{{sfn|Beorn|2014|pp=99–101}} After the conference, a 16-page executive summary was distributed to the ''Wehrmacht'' troops and [[Order Police battalions]] in the rear area. There was a dramatic increase in atrocities against Jews and other civilians in the last three months of 1941.{{sfn|Beorn|2014|pp=101–106}}

Under Nebe's command, ''Einsatzgruppe B'' committed public hangings to terrorise the local population. Nebe's report dated 9 October 1941 stated that, due to suspected partisan activity near Demidov, all male residents aged 15 to 55 were put in a camp to be screened. Seventeen people were identified as "partisans" and "Communists" and five were hanged in front of 400 local residents assembled to watch; the rest were shot.{{sfn|Headland|1992|pp=57–58}} Through 14 November 1941, ''Einsatzgruppe B'' reported the killing of 45,467 people; thereafter, Nebe returned to Berlin and resumed his duties as head of the Kripo.{{sfn|Headland|1992|p=94}}