Operation "Pripiatsümpfe" (March to Pripiat) was the first large-scale German "clearance" operation on Soviet territory, in the Pripiat Marshes. It took place between July and August 1941 and thousands of civilians were its victims. It was the first planned operation to exterminate Jews and not only in German-occupied Soviet territories, shortly after the start of "Barbarossa".
The "brain" of the operation was SS leader Heinrich Himmler. The 2nd SS Cavalry Brigade (TI SS) took part in it, as well as parts of the 162nd and 252nd Infantry Divisions (MP) of the German army which otherwise knew nothing about murders... The general supervision was the general of the SS Erich von dem Bach Chelefsky, a known criminal who, unfortunately, never paid.
The operation began on 28 July, proving that the German policy of extermination was pre-decided, and was carried out in two phases. The head of the 2nd TI SS was Brigadier General Hermann Fegelein, then Hitler's son-in-law.
The TI SS with the 1st and 2nd SS Cavalry Regiments (ΣΙ SS) began the operation on July 28th by "sweeping" the area of the Pripet River marshes. At the same time, on the same day, Himmler sent Chelewski the "special order" that provided for the extermination, without pretexts or excuses, of the inhabitants of the area who were not close to the Germans and who were arrested and labeled "partisans".
Men would be executed on the spot, women and children displaced, houses burned, livestock and food seized. Fegeklein also received Himmler's order and implemented it to the letter. Fegeklein deployed the 1st SS SS north of the marshes and the 2nd south. The SS horsemen would move from east to west, burning and killing.
The SS moved through the villages of the area "clearing" them. The two regiments in slaughtering and burning and looting also joined Einsatzgrouppe B, the special detachment of SS executioners in the area. The operation continued in this fashion with the Germans only once having to fight a Soviet battalion that had escaped from a previous German cordon.
The Soviet battalion was annihilated. 700 of his men were killed and only 10 captured. The Germans had 23 dead and wounded. When the operation ended the Germans reported that they had killed 14,178 Jews, 1,000 "partisans" and 700 Soviet soldiers. Their own losses were 17 dead, 36 wounded and 3 missing.
It is worth noting that Himmler was not happy with the death toll and on August 1st he had sent an order to exterminate (Order No. 42) all male Jews from the age of 14 and over. The women and children were sent into the swamps and drowned. When the depth was not enough and the women and children were murdered with fire. Army forces were used to "seal" the cordons.