A Community of Violence: The SiPo/SD and Its Role in the Nazi Terror System in Generalbezirk Kiew

This essay reconstructs the activities of the German Security Police (SiPo) and Security Service (SD) field office in Generalbezirk Kiew—the German administrative unit carved out of the Kiev and Poltava provinces in Ukraine. It sheds light on the role of the SiPo/SD in the mass murder of Soviet citizens and on the social and psychological profile of its functionaries. The latter ranged from dedicated zealots to "ordinary men," but all fulfilled their murderous tasks.