 Organized crimes against civilians , including women and children , were also carried out on a huge scale by the German police and military forces , as well as the local collaborators . Under the command of the Reich Main Security Office , the Einsatzgruppen killing squads conducted large @-@ scale massacres of Jews and communists in conquered Soviet territories . Holocaust historian Raul Hilberg puts the number of Jews murdered by " mobile killing operations " at 1 @,@ 400 @,@ 000 . The original instructions to kill " Jews in party and state positions " was broadened to include " all male Jews of military age " and was expanded once more to " all male Jews regardless of age . " By the end of July , the Germans were regularly killing women and children . On 18 December 1941 , Himmler and Hitler discussed the " Jewish question " , and Himmler noted the meeting 's result in his appointment book : " To be annihilated as partisans . " According to Christopher Browning , this represented the Nazi decision of " annihilating Jews and solving the so @-@ called ' Jewish question ' under the cover of killing partisans . " In accordance with Nazi policies against " inferior " Asian peoples , Turkmens were also persecuted ; according to a post @-@ war report by Prince Veli Kajum Khan , they were imprisoned in concentration camps in terrible conditions , where those deemed to have " Mongolian " features were murdered daily . Asians were also targeted by the Einsatzgruppen and were the subjects of lethal medical experiments and murder at a " pathological institute " in Kiev . 
