English source-aligned edition
Heinz Jost
Heinz Jost served as head of RSHA Office VI and, from March to September 1942, commander of Einsatzgruppe A. The profile reconstructs the person’s function in the Baltic states and the Leningrad area, with headquarters in Riga through documented office, decisions, supervision or operational conduct. It does not assign every crime committed by an institution or region to one individual.
Confirmed findings
- Jost headed RSHA Office VI, the SD foreign-intelligence division, from 1939 until early 1942.
- He commanded Einsatzgruppe A from March to September 1942 and was responsible for the activity and reporting of its subordinate commands during that period.
- A United States military tribunal convicted him of crimes against humanity, war crimes and membership in criminal organisations.
Place in the chain of responsibility
Jost connected senior RSHA work with operational command in the East. Responsibility is based on his office, knowledge and command during 1942, not on assigning to him the entire earlier record of Einsatzgruppe A.
Key events and mechanisms
- In September 1939 he became head of RSHA Office VI.
- From March to September 1942 he succeeded Franz Walter Stahlecker as commander of Einsatzgruppe A.
- In April 1948 the Einsatzgruppen tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment.
The circle records authority, function and agency. Several profiles may describe different parts of the same persecution chain, so profile-level totals must not be added together.
Postwar accountability
His life sentence was reduced during the review of the Nuremberg sentences. He left Landsberg prison in December 1951 and was not prosecuted again before his death in 1964.
Limits of the evidence
The frequently cited total of more than 135,000 people murdered by Einsatzgruppe A relates chiefly to the period before Jost assumed command. It must not be presented as the total for his own tenure, although the tribunal found him responsible for crimes committed while he commanded the formation.
Sources
The source set combines institutional, archival, trial or scholarly material from at least two independent publishers.