General Erich von Manstein, in an order to his troops on 20 November 1941 stated: Jewry is the middleman between the enemy at our rear and the still fighting remnants of the Red Army and the Red leadership; more than in Europe, it occupies all key posts of the political leadership and administration, of trade and crafts and forms the nucleus for all disquiet and possible revolts. The Jewish-Bolshevist system must be exterminated once and for all. On 6 July 1941 "Einsatzkommando" 4b of "Einsatzgruppe" C – which was operating in Tarnopol at the time – sent a report which noted "Armed forces surprisingly welcome hostility against the Jews". On 8 September 1941 "Einsatzgruppe" D reported that relations with the German Army were "excellent". Franz Walter Stahlecker of "Einsatzgruppe" A wrote in September 1941 that Army Group North had been exemplary in co-operating with his men in murdering Jews and that relations with the Fourth Panzer Army commanded by General Erich Hoepner were "very close, almost cordial".