In West Prussia, the "Selbstschutz" organization led by "SS-Gruppenführer" Ludolf von Alvensleben was 17,667 men strong, and by 5 October 1939 had already executed 4,247 Poles. Notably, Alvensleben complained to the "Selbstschutz" officers that too few Poles had been shot. German officers had reported to him that only a fraction of Poles had been "destroyed" in the region, with the total number of those executed in West Prussia during this action being about 20,000. One "Selbstschutz" commander, Wilhelm Richardt, said in Karolewo (Karlhof) that he did not want to build big camps for Poles and feed them, and that it was an honour for Poles to fertilize the German soil with their corpses. There was visible enthusiasm for activities of the "Selbstschutz" among those involved in the action. Only in one case a "Selbstschutz" commander was relieved of duty after failing to finish his job with "only" 300 Poles executed.