concerned about the moral strain on those carrying out the murders than those being murdered. At the trial, Ohlendorf attempted to present the operations in the Soviet area "not as a racist programme for the annihilation of all the Jews ... but as a general liquidation order primarily aimed at 'securing' the newly won territory". Defending his actions, Ohlendorf compared Einsatzgruppen activities to the Biblical Jewish extirpation of its enemies; he likewise claimed that his firing squads were "no worse than the 'press-button killers' who dropped the atom bomb on Japan". Despite his attempts to establish moral equivalency for atrocities upon the Allies, Otto Ohlendorf was convicted of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during World War II. He was sentenced to death in April 1948 and spent three years in detention before being hanged at the Landsberg Prison in Bavaria on 7 June 1951. References Explanatory notes Citations Bibliography External links "Otto Ohlendorf, Einsatzgruppe D, and the ‘Holocaust by Bullets’," 13 January 2021 biographical article by Jason Dawsey (National World War II Museum, New Orleans, LA) 1907 births 1951 deaths Einsatzgruppen personnel Executions by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals German people convicted of crimes against humanity German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom Holocaust perpetrators in Russia Holocaust perpetrators in Ukraine Lawyers in the Nazi Party People from Hildesheim (district) People from the Province of Hanover Reich Security Main Office personnel SS-Gruppenführer Executed mass murderers