[1] In 1941, Reinhardt and XLI Panzer Corps were deployed on the Eastern Front for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union in June.

After the German defeat in the Battle of Moscow, his army was driven back by Soviet counter-attack during the winter of 1941−42.

A report of February 1943 stated:[6] In order to keep bandits from resettling in this territory, the population of villages and farms in this area were killed without exception to the last baby.

Between September and December 1943, nearly 4,000 civilians were deported from Vitebsk and surrounding areas, because they were suspected of helping "bandits" (quotation marks in the original).

The action was conducted in cooperation with units of the SD; civilians, including women and children, were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp, where they died from starvation and maltreatment or were later gassed.

[7] In December, renewed Soviet attacks drove Army Group Centre out of Poland into northern Prussia.