Reichenau Severity Order

E239743

The Reichenau Severity Order was a notorious directive issued by German Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau in 1941 that encouraged extreme brutality and war crimes by the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front, particularly against Jews and other civilians.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Reichenau Severity Order canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Nazi policy document
Wehrmacht directive
military order
alsoKnownAs Guidelines for the Conduct of the Troops in Russia
surface form: Order on the Conduct of Troops in the Eastern Territories

Reichenau Order
appliesTo 6th Army
surface form: 6th Army (Wehrmacht)

Wehrmacht soldiers on the Eastern Front
author Walther von Reichenau
conflict World War II
countryOfOrigin Nazi Germany
dateIssued 1941-10-10
declared that the primary objective was the destruction of the Jewish-Bolshevik system
that the struggle in the East was a war of ideologies and races
describedAs Severity Order
effect contributed to systematic mass shootings
intensified violence against Jews
encouraged extreme brutality against civilians
harsh measures against Jews
harsh measures against alleged partisans
summary executions
war crimes
historicalAssessment considered a key document of the war of annihilation in the East
considered evidence of Wehrmacht involvement in Nazi crimes
ideologicalBasis anti-Bolshevism
antisemitism
ideology Nazism
instructed troops to show no sympathy for the local population
troops to support SS and police measures against Jews
troops to treat Jews as partisans and enemies
issuedBy 6th Army
surface form: 6th Army (Wehrmacht)

Walther von Reichenau
justifiedBy anti-communist propaganda
racial ideology
language German
legalStatus violated international humanitarian law
linkedTo Holocaust shootings in the Soviet Union
surface form: Holocaust in the Soviet Union

Wehrmacht war crimes on the Eastern Front
criminalization of the war of annihilation
placeOfIssue Eastern Front
relatedTo Barbarossa Decree
Commissar Order
Nazi war of annihilation in the East
targetedGroup Jews
Soviet civilians
communist officials
theaterOfWar Eastern Front
yearIssued 1941

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Walther von Reichenau responsibleFor Reichenau Severity Order
Reichenau Order alsoKnownAs Reichenau Severity Order