Their principal task (during the war), according to SS General Erich von dem Bach, at the Nuremberg Trials: "was the annihilation of the Jews, Gypsies, and Soviet political commissars".
Njihov primarni zadatak (tijekom rata) bio je, prema riječima generala Ericha von dem Bacha na Nürnberškom procesu, "istrebljenje Židova, Cigana i sovjetskih komesara".