Walter von Reichenau

Walter von Reichenau (1884–1942) was a German field marshal and senior Wehrmacht commander whose forces participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union. He supported Nazi ideology and issued orders that tied military operations to the persecution and murder of civilians.

Adolf Hitler: The dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. Reichenau cultivated Hitler’s confidence and supported his regime’s ideological aims.
Severity Order: A directive issued by Reichenau in November 1941 urging harsh measures against Soviet civilians and partisans. This order translated his ideological hostility into guidance for troops in his command.
Operation Barbarossa: Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, launched on 22 June 1941. Reichenau commanded Army Group South during this invasion.
Holocaust: The genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. Reichenau’s command cooperated with mass murder operations against Jews in occupied Soviet territory.
Walther von Brauchitsch: German field marshal who served as commander-in-chief of the Army from 1938 to 1941. Brauchitsch was Reichenau’s superior as army commander-in-chief during the early war years.
Commissar Order: A 1941 German military directive requiring the execution of captured Soviet political commissars. Reichenau’s army operated within the campaign shaped by this criminal order.
Sixth Army (Wehrmacht): A German field army that fought on the Eastern Front and was destroyed at Stalingrad in 1943. Reichenau commanded the Sixth Army during its advance into Ukraine.
Wehrmacht war crimes: Crimes committed by members of Germany’s armed forces during World War II. Reichenau’s orders exemplify the military’s participation in criminal occupation policies.
Erich von Manstein: German field marshal who commanded major forces on the Eastern Front during World War II. Manstein succeeded Reichenau as commander of Army Group South in January 1942.
Einsatzgruppen: Mobile SS and police units that carried out mass shootings and other crimes in occupied territories. Reichenau’s command cooperated with these units during the invasion of the Soviet Union.

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