Severity Order

The Severity Order or Reichenau Order was the name given to an order promulgated within the German Sixth Army on the Eastern Front during World War II by "Generalfeldmarschall" Walther von Reichenau on 10 October 1941.
Text of the order.
The order said, in part:
Implications of the order.
The order paved the way for mass murder of Jews.
All Jews were henceforth to be treated as partisans, and commanders were directed that they be either summarily shot or handed over to the "Einsatzgruppen" execution squads of the SS-Totenkopfverbände as the situation dictated.
Other dispositions complain about feeding civilians and POWs, which is described as an "equally misunderstood humanitarian act"; indeed, the taking of partisans and women as POWs is criticised.
Finally, the civilian population is to be disarmed and buildings which have been set on fire by Destruction battalions are to be saved only when useful to the army.
History of the order.
Upon enactment.
Upon hearing of the Severity Order, Reichenau's superior Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt expressed "complete agreement" with it, and sent out a circular to all of the Army generals under his command urging them to send out their own versions of the Severity Order, which would impress upon the troops the need to exterminate Jews. According to Wilhelm Adam when Reichenau died, and command of the Sixth Army was taken over by General Friedrich Paulus, both the Severity Order and Hitler's Commissar Order were rescinded in his command sector.
After the war.
During the Nuremberg trials, Rundstedt denied any knowledge of that order before his capture by the Allies, although he acknowledged that Reichenau's orders "may have reached my army group and probably got into the office".