Reichsbahn participate in mass killings The special order from Reichenau therefore explained the “necessity” and “righteousness” of Einsatzgruppen mass murders and instructions to soldiers to kill Jews, including women and children It called for “merciless national ideology” in treatment of “subhuman Jewry” by all German soldiers, each of whom was expected to be a “carrier of a merciless racial concept.” It was a wholly illegal and immoral order that nevertheless was widely obeyed and executed by the men of the Wehrmacht REICHENAU, WALTER VON (1884–1942) German field marshal He served as a staff officer throughout World War I He first met Adolf Hitler in 1932 and was immediately attracted to the man and his views In 1933 Reichenau was placed in charge of Reichswehr liaison to the Nazi Party, dealing principally with the Army’s concern about the swelling ranks and socialist agenda of some leaders of the Party’s Sturmabteilung (SA) He strongly supported Hitler’s ruthless action of the Night of the Long Knives ( June 30–July 2, 1934), making an arrangement with Heinrich Himmler to keep the Reichswehr in barracks while Schutzstaffel (SS) murder gangs carried out the blood purge He even endorsed the slaying of former Reich President and General Kurt von Schleicher, although he did not publicly endorse the murder of the general’s wife, who was shot while lying in bed beside her husband Hitler wanted to appoint Reichenau commander in chief of the Heer in 1938, but several top generals less committed to Nazism refused to serve if his appointment went through It did not Reichenau was in charge of 10th Army when it occupied the Sudetenland, and again in the invasion of Poland in 1939 In October he was transferred to command of 6th Army, which he led during the invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940 He was still commander of 6th Army during BARBAROSSA in 1941, fighting around Kiev and Kharkov Reichenau became infamous for his endorsement of the letter and spirit of special orders issued to the Wehrmacht by Hitler and the OKW, which he supplemented with his own murderous Reichenau order of October 10, 1941 From the opening of the drive toward Stalingrad he ordered German 6th Army to execute “partisans,” frequently a mere euphemism and cover story for murdering Jews He was also responsible for much murder and malign neglect of Red Army prisoners of war It is certain that Reichenau would have numbered among the major criminals tried by the Nuremberg Tribunal had he not been killed in an air crash on January 17, 1942 Before that, he had been replaced as commander of 6th Army by General Friedrich von Paulus, who led to destruction at the Battle of Stalingrad See also Donbass-Rostov operation; Sumi-Kharkov operation REICHSBAHN The German national railway system See Eisenbahntruppen REICHSFÜHRER-SS See Heinrich Himmler 913