In the early hours of 14 November , multiple buildings in the city center were blown up by time-fuses left by the retreating Red Army . Casualties included the commander ( '' Generalleutnant '' Georg Braun ) and staff of the '' 68th Infantry Division '' . The Germans arrested some 200 civilians ( mostly Jews ) and hanged them from the balconies of large buildings . Another 1,000 were taken as hostages and interned in the Hotel International on Dzerzhinsky Square . All of these war crimes were committed by frontline '' Heer '' commanders , and not by SS troops
war crimes
War crimes of the Wehrmacht
First Battle of Kharkov