Einsatzgruppen (German for "task forces" or "intervention groups") were paramilitary groups forme by Heinrich Himmler and operated by the SS before and during World War II. Their principal task, in the words of SS General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski at the Nuremberg Trials, "was the annihilation of the Jews, Gypsies, and Soviet political commissars." They were a key component in Hitler's plans to implement his "final solution of the Jewish question" (German: Die Endlösung der Judenfrage) in the conquered territories.