The extermination activities of the Einsatzgruppen generally followed a standard procedure, with the Einsatzgruppen chief contacting the nearest Wehrmacht unit commander to inform him of the impending action; this was done so they could coordinate and control access to the execution grounds. Initially, the victims were shot, but this method proved impracticable for an operation of this scale. Also, after Himmler observed the shooting of 100 Jews at Minsk in August 1941, he grew concerned about the impact such actions were having on the mental health of his SS men. He decided that alternate methods of murder should be found, which led to the introduction of gas vans. However, these were not popular with the men, as they regarded removing the dead bodies from the van and burying them to have been unpleasant. Prisoners or auxiliaries were often assigned to do this task so as to spare the SS men the trauma.
The extermination activities of the Einsatzgruppen generally followed a standard procedure with the Einsatzgruppen chief contacting the nearest Wehrmacht unit commander to inform him of the impending action; this was done so they could coordinate and control access to the execution grounds Initially the victims were shot but this method proved impracticable for an operation of this scale Also after Himmler observed the shooting of 100 Jews at Minsk in August 1941 he grew concerned about the impact such actions were having on the mental health of his SS men He decided that alternate methods of murder should be found which led to the introduction of gas vans However these were not popular with the men as they regarded removing the dead bodies from the van and burying them to have been unpleasant Prisoners or auxiliaries were often assigned to do this task so as to spare the SS men the trauma