Germany, William Borm was a prized Einflussagent working for
Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung. See also BRAUN, JOSEF.EINSATZGRUPPEN. Mobile killing units employed during World
War II, the Einsatzgruppen (deployment teams) took formal shape
immediately prior to the German invasion of the Soviet Union in
June 1941. Composed of elements of the Gestapo (Secret Police),
the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service), and Sicherheitspolizei
(Security Police), and numbering about 3,000 people altogether, the
Einsatzgruppen were under the command of Reinhard Heydrich of
the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office). Their
function was implementing “on their own responsibility executive
orders concerning the civilian population.” Each of the groups—
designated A, B, C, and D—was attached to a particular army com-
mand, but a double line of authority existed, leading ultimately to
Heinrich Himmler. The smaller Einsatzgruppen commando units
possessed their own motorcycles, trucks, drivers, mechanics, transla-
tors, and kitchen and clerical staff, thereby reinforcing their relative
autonomy and rapid movement.
Prime targets of the Einsatzgruppen and their numerous col-
laborators were Jews, gypsies, communist officials, and Russian
prisoners of war. Often entire villages were destroyed as the attacks
continued from the Baltic to the Black Sea. After the war, graphic
testimony was given by a leading participant, Otto Ohlendorf, at the
International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, and a series of
prosecutions—the Einsatzgruppen Trials—took place between Sep-
tember 1947 and April 1948 before a U.S. military court. All 24
defendants were found guilty on at least one charge, yet only four of
the 13 death sentences were carried out.
ELSNER, BERNHARD (1927– ). The commander of the Felix Dzer-
zhinsky Wachregiment for many years, Bernhard Elsner was born
in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia) on 30 January 1927, the
son of a coachman. Trained as a machine fitter, he joined the Wehr-
macht as a volunteer in the last months of World War II. Following
his capture on the eastern front, he spent 1945 to 1949 in a Soviet
prisoner of war camp.
ELSNER, BERNHARD • 95