occupied territories of the Soviet Union
On June 22, 1941, the German Reich invaded the Soviet Union (USSR). By the end of 1941, the Baltic, Belorussia, and large parts of the Ukraine had been occupied. The German advance was accompanied by brutal attacks on the civilian population. By late 1941, more than 500,000 Jewish civilians had been shot in mass executions and others had been deported to extermination camps.