In June 1941, the Axis Powers launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union and by 26 July 1941, Mogilev, Belarus, had been occupied by the Wehrmacht. Army Group Centre Rear Area, commanded by General Max von Schenckendorff, established its headquarters there on 7 September, but members of "Einsatzgruppe B" had entered the city in August and already begun murdering Jews. A ghetto was later established in September; in October 1941, most of the inmates had been murdered as part of two operations.