During Operation Barbarossa — the invasion of the Soviet Union — Leeb commanded Army Group North , which advanced through the Baltic States towards Leningrad ( present day St. Petersburg ) , eventually laying siege to the city . Units under Leeb ’s command committed war crimes against the civilian population and closely cooperated with the SS '' Einsatzgruppen '' , death squads primarily tasked with the murder of the Jewish population as part of the Holocaust
war crimes
War crimes of the Wehrmacht
Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb