History
Although the term "death squad" did not rise to notoriety until the activities of such groups in Central and South America during the 1970s and 1980s became widely known, death squads have been employed under different guises throughout history. Apparently, the term was first used by the fascist Iron Guard in Romania. It officially installed Iron guard death squads in 1936 to kill political enemies. It was also used during the Battle of Algiers by Paul Aussaresses.
One of the earliest cases of extrajudicial killings was in Weimar Germany.
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