The first eight '' Einsatzgruppen '' of World War II were formed in 1939 for the invasion of Poland . They were composed of the Gestapo , Kripo and SD functionaries , and deployed during the classified Operation Tannenberg ( codename for murder of Polish civilians ) and the Intelligenzaktion lasting till the spring of 1940 ; followed by the German AB-Aktion which ended in late 1940 . Long before the attack on Poland , the Nazis prepared a detailed list identifying more than 61,000 Polish targets by name , with the help of German minority living in the Second Polish Republic . The list was printed as a called '' Sonderfahndungsbuch Polen '' ( Special Prosecution Book – Poland ) , and composed only of names and birthdates . It included politicians , scholars , actors , intelligentsia , doctors , lawyers , nobility , priests , officers and numerous others – as the means at the disposal of the SS paramilitary death squads aided by Selbstschutz executioners . By the end of 1939 already , they summarily killed around 50,000 Poles and Jews in the annexed territories , including over 1,000 POWs
Operation Tannenberg
Operation Tannenberg
Einsatzkommando