['< sod > before the war, hitler issued the notorious [ [ commissar order ] ], which called for all soviet [ [ political commissar ] ] s taken prisoner at the front to be shot immediately without trial. { { sfn | kershaw | 2001 | pp = 357 – 359 } } { { sfn |\'\' general wilhelm keitel : the lackey\'\', 1998 } } german soldiers participated in these mass killings along with members of the\'\' ss - einsatzgruppen\'\', sometimes reluctantly but nevertheless under the auspices of " military necessity. ". { { sfn | wette | 2007 | pp = 198 – 199 } } { { sfn |\'\' general wilhelm keitel : the lackey\'\', 1998 } } on the eve of the invasion, german soldiers were informed that their battle " demands ruthless and vigorous measures against bolshevik inciters, guerrillas, saboteurs, jews and the complete elimination of all active and passive resistance. " collective punishment was authorized against partisan attacks ; if a perpetrator could not be quickly identified, then burning villages and mass executions were considered acceptable reprisals. { { sfn | forster | 1988 | p = 26 } } an estimated two million soviet [ [ prisoner of war | prisoners of war ] ] died of starvation during barbarossa alone ; nothing was done for their survival. { { sfn | hartmann | 2013 | pp = 89 – 94 } } { { sfn |\'\' general wilhelm keitel : the lackey\'\', 1998 } } the famished prisoners of war were hardly able to walk by themselves. { { sfn | beevor | 2012 | p = 213 } } by the end of the war, 58 percent of all soviet prisoners of war died in german captivity. { { sfn | glantz | 2012 | p = 48 } } { { sfn | " nazi persecution of soviet prisoners of war " } } < eod > < sod > before the war, hitler issued the notorious [ [ commissar order ] ], which called for all soviet [ [ political commissar ] ] s taken prisoner at the front to be shot immediately without trial. { { sfn | kershaw | may 2001 | pp = 357 – 359 } } { { sfn |\'\' general wilhelm keitel : the lackey\'\', 1998 } } german soldiers participated in these mass killings along with members of the\'\' ss - einsatzgruppen\'\', sometimes reluctantly but nevertheless under the auspices of " military necessity. ". { { sfn | wette | 2007 | pp = 198 – 199 } } { { sfn | forster | 1998 | pp = 507 – 513 } } { { sfn |\'\' general wilhelm keitel : the lackey\'\', 1998 } } on the eve of the invasion, german soldiers were informed that their battle " demands ruthless and vigorous measures against bolshevik inciters, guerrillas, saboteurs, jews and the complete elimination of all active and passive resistance. " collective punishment was authorized against partisan attacks ; if a perpetrator could not be quickly identified, then burning villages and mass executions were considered acceptable reprisals. { { sfn | forster | 1988 | p = 26 } } an estimated two million soviet [ [ prisoner of war | prisoners of war ] ] died of starvation during barbarossa alone ; nothing was done for their survival. { { sfn | hartmann | 2013 | pp = 89 – 94 } } { { sfn |\'\' general wilhelm keitel : the lackey\'\', 1998 } } the famished prisoners of war were hardly able to walk by themselves. { { sfn | beevor | 2012 | p = 213 } } by the end of the war, 58 percent of all soviet prisoners of war died in german captivity. { { sfn | glantz | 2012 | p = 48 } } { { sfn | " nazi persecution of soviet prisoners of war " } } < eod >']