 In spite of the generally benign attitude of the officers and men of the HKP unit, the SS did enter the camp on several occasions and committed atrocities.Most notable was the Kinderaktion (an action against the camp's children) on 27 March 1944, during which the SS, supervised by Martin Weiss, removed the vast majority of the 250 children living in the camp, who were then taken to their deaths.As the Red Army approached Vilnius in late June 1944, the Wehrmacht prepared to retreat.