Military losses of the USSR in the Second World War. Civilian losses and total losses of the German population in the Second World War

Military losses during the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War have been the subject of both controversy and speculation for many years. Moreover, the attitude towards these losses changes exactly the opposite. So, in the 70s, the propaganda apparatus of the CPSU Central Committee for some reason almost proudly broadcast about the heavy human losses of the USSR during the war. And not so much about the victims of the Nazi genocide, but about the combat losses of the Red Army. With completely incomprehensible pride, the propaganda “canard” was exaggerated about supposedly only three percent of front-line soldiers born in 1923 who survived the war. They talked with ecstasy about entire graduating classes, where all the young men went to the front and not a single one returned. An almost socialist competition was launched among rural areas to see who had more villages, where all the men who went to the front died. Although, according to demographic statistics, on the eve of the Great Patriotic War there were 8.6 million men of 1919-1923. birth, and in 1949, during the All-Union Population Census, there were 5.05 million of them alive, that is, the decline in the male population of 1919-1923. births during this period amounted to 3.55 million people. Thus, if we accept that for each of the ages 1919-1923. If the male population is equal, then there were 1.72 million men in each year of birth. Then it turns out that conscripts born in 1923 killed 1.67 million people (97%), and conscripts born in 1919-1922. births - 1.88 million people, i.e. about 450 thousand people. of those born in each of these four years (about 27% of their total number). And this despite the fact that the military personnel of 1919-1922. births made up the personnel Red Army, which took on the blow of the Wehrmacht in June 1941 and was almost completely burned out in the battles of the summer and autumn of the same year. This alone easily refutes all the speculations of the notorious “sixties” about the supposed three percent of surviving front-line soldiers born in 1923.

During “perestroika” and the so-called. “reforms” the pendulum swung in the other direction. The unimaginable figures of 30 and 40 million military personnel who died during the war were enthusiastically cited; the notorious B. Sokolov, a doctor of philology, by the way, and not a mathematician, is especially zealous with statistical methods. Absurd ideas were voiced that Germany lost only almost 100 thousand people killed during the entire war, about the monstrous ratio of 1:14 dead German and Soviet soldiers, etc. Statistical data on the losses of the Soviet Armed Forces, given in the reference book “The Classification of Secrecy Has Been Removed,” published in 1993, and in the fundamental work “Russia and the USSR in the Wars of the 20th Century (Loss of the Armed Forces),” were categorically declared falsification. Moreover, according to the principle: since it does not correspond to someone’s speculative concept of the losses of the Red Army, it means falsification. At the same time, enemy losses were and are being underestimated in every possible way. With calf delight, numbers are announced that do not fit into any goal. For example, the losses of the 4th Panzer Army and Task Force Kempf during the German offensive near Kursk in July 1943 were given as only 6,900 killed soldiers and officers and 12 burned tanks. At the same time, poor and ridiculous arguments were invented to explain why the tank army, which had practically retained 100% combat capability, suddenly retreated back: from the Allied landings in Italy, to the lack of fuel and spare parts, or even about the beginning of the rains.

Therefore, the question of the human losses of Germany during the Second World War is quite relevant. Moreover, interestingly, in Germany itself there is still no fundamental research on this issue. There is only indirect information. Most researchers, when analyzing German losses during the Second World War, use the monograph of the German researcher B. Müller-Hillebrandt as the main source. Ground Army Germany. 1933-1945". However, this historian resorted to outright falsification. Thus, indicating the number of conscripts into the Wehrmacht and SS troops, Müller-Hillebrand provided information only for the period from 06/01/1939 to 04/30/1945, modestly keeping silent about the contingents previously called up for military service. But by June 1, 1939, Germany had already been deploying its armed forces for four years, and by June 1 of that year there were 3214.0 thousand people in the Wehrmacht! Therefore, the number of men mobilized into the Wehrmacht and SS in 1935-1945. takes on a different appearance (see Table 1).

Thus, the total number mobilized into the Wehrmacht and SS troops is not 17,893.2 thousand people, but about 21,107.2 thousand people, which immediately gives a completely different picture of Germany’s losses during the Second World War.

Now let's turn to the actual losses of the Wehrmacht. The Wehrmacht operated three various systems loss accounting:

1) via channel “IIa” - military service;
2) through the health service channel;
3) through the channel of personal accounting of losses in the territorial bodies for the list of military personnel in Germany.

But at the same time there was interesting feature- losses of units and subunits were not taken into account in total, but according to their combat purpose. This was done so that the Reserve Army had comprehensive information about which contingents of military personnel needed to be submitted for replenishment in each specific division. A fairly reasonable principle, but today this method of accounting for the loss of personnel makes it possible to manipulate the figures for German losses.

Firstly, separate records were kept of the so-called personnel losses. “combat strength” - Kampfwstaerke - and support units. Thus, in the German infantry division of the state in 1944, the “combat strength” was 7160 people, the number of combat support and logistics units was 5609 people, and the total strength - Tagesstaerke - 12,769 people. In the tank division according to the 1944 staff, the “combat strength” was 9,307 people, the number of combat support and logistics units was 5,420 people, and the total strength was 14,727 people. The "combat strength" of the active Wehrmacht army was approximately 40-45% of the total number of personnel. By the way, this makes it possible to very cleverly falsify the course of the war, when the Soviet troops at the front indicate their total strength, while the German troops only indicate their combat strength. Like, signalmen, sappers, repairmen, they don’t go into attacks...

Secondly, in the “combat strength” itself - Kampfwstaerke - the units “directly leading the battle” - Gefechtstaerke - were separately allocated. The units and subunits “directly leading the battle” within the divisions were considered to be infantry (motorized rifle, tank-grenadier) regiments, tank regiments and battalions, and reconnaissance battalions. Artillery regiments and divisions, anti-tank and anti-aircraft divisions belonged to combat support units. IN Air Force- Luftwaffe - “units directly leading the battle” were considered to be the flight personnel, in Navy- Kriegsmarine - the sailing crew belonged to this category. And the accounting for the losses of “combat strength” personnel was kept separately for the personnel “directly leading the battle” and for the personnel of the combat support units.

It is also interesting to note that only those killed directly on the battlefield were taken into account in combat losses, but military personnel who died from severe wounds during the evacuation stages were already included in the losses of the Reserve Army and were excluded from the total number of irretrievable losses of the active army. That is, as soon as the injury was determined to require more than 6 weeks to heal, the Wehrmacht soldier was immediately transferred to the Reserve Army. And even if they did not have time to take him to the rear and he died close to the front line, he was still counted as an irretrievable loss in the Reserve Army and from the number of irretrievable combat losses of a particular front (Eastern, African, Western, etc.) this serviceman was excluded . That is why almost only the killed and missing appear in the accounting of Wehrmacht losses.

There was another specific feature of accounting for losses in the Wehrmacht. Czechs drafted into the Wehrmacht from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Poles drafted into the Wehrmacht from the Poznań and Pomeranian regions of Poland, as well as Alsatians and Lorraineers through personal registration of losses in the territorial bodies of the list of military personnel in Germany were not taken into account, since they did not belong to the so-called . "Imperial Germans" In the same way, ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) conscripted into the Wehrmacht from occupied European countries were not taken into account through the personal registration channel. In other words, the losses of these categories of military personnel were excluded from the total accounting of irretrievable losses of the Wehrmacht. Although more than 1,200 thousand people were drafted from these territories into the Wehrmacht and SS, not counting the ethnic Germans - Volksdoche - of the occupied countries of Europe. Six SS divisions were formed from the ethnic Germans of Croatia, Hungary and the Czech Republic alone, not counting a large number of military police units.

The Wehrmacht also did not take into account the losses of auxiliary paramilitary forces: the National Socialist Automobile Corps, the Speer Transport Corps, the Imperial Labor Service and the Todt Organization. Although the personnel of these formations took a direct part in ensuring combat operations, and final stage during the war, units and parts of these auxiliary formations rushed into battle against Soviet troops on German territory. Often, the personnel of these formations were added as reinforcements to the Wehrmacht formations right at the front, but since this was not a reinforcement sent through the Reserve Army, a centralized record of this replenishment was not kept, and the combat losses of these personnel were not taken into account through the official channels of loss accounting.

Separately from the Wehrmacht, records were kept of the losses of the Volkssturm and the Hitler Youth, which were widely involved in the fighting in East Prussia, East Pomerania, Silesia, Brandenburg, West Pomerania, Saxony and Berlin. The Volksshurm and the Hitler Youth were under the jurisdiction of the NSDAP. Often, units of both the Volkssturm and the Hitler Youth also joined the Wehrmacht units and formations directly at the front as reinforcements, but for the same reason as with other paramilitary formations, personal registration of this reinforcement was not carried out.

The Wehrmacht also did not take into account the losses of the SS military-police units (primarily the Felgendarmerie), which fought the partisan movement, and at the final stage of the war rushed into battle against units of the Red Army.

In addition, the so-called German troops took part in the hostilities. “voluntary helpers” - Hilfswillige (“hiwi”, Hiwi), but the losses of this category of personnel were also not taken into account in the total combat losses of the Wehrmacht. Special attention should be paid to “voluntary assistants”. These “assistants” were recruited from all countries of Europe and the occupied part of the USSR, in total in 1939-1945. Up to 2 million people joined the Wehrmacht and SS as “voluntary assistants” (including about 500 thousand people from the occupied territories of the USSR). And although most of the Hiwi were service personnel from the rear structures and commandant's offices of the Wehrmacht in the occupied territories, a significant part of them were directly included in the combat units and formations.

Thus, unscrupulous researchers excluded from the total number of irretrievable losses in Germany large number lost personnel directly involved in hostilities, but not formally related to the Wehrmacht. Although the auxiliary paramilitary formations, the Volkssturm, and the “voluntary assistants” suffered losses during the battles, these losses can rightfully be attributed to Germany’s combat losses.

Table 2 given here attempts to bring together the numbers of both the Wehrmacht and the paramilitary forces of Germany, and to roughly calculate the loss of personnel in the armed forces of Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

The number of German military personnel who were captured by the Allies and capitulated to them may be surprising, despite the fact that 2/3 of the Wehrmacht troops operated on the Eastern Front. The bottom line is that in captivity by the Allies, both Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS soldiers (designation of SS field troops operating on the fronts of World War II) and personnel of various paramilitary forces, Volkssturm, NSDAP functionaries, employees were taken into account in the general pot territorial divisions of the RSHA and police territorial formations, up to firefighters. As a result, the allies counted up to 4032.3 thousand people as prisoners, although the real number of prisoners of war from the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS was significantly lower than the allies indicated in their documents - about 3000.0 thousand people, but in our We will use official data in our calculations. In addition, in April-May 1945, German troops, fearing retribution for the atrocities committed on the territory of the USSR, quickly rolled back to the west, trying to surrender to the Anglo-American troops. Also at the end of April - beginning of May 1945, formations of the Wehrmacht Reserve Army and all kinds of paramilitary formations, as well as police units, surrendered en masse to the Anglo-American troops.

Thus, the table clearly shows that the total losses of the Third Reich on the Eastern Front in killed and died from wounds, missing, and died in captivity reach 6,071 thousand people.

However, as is known, not only German troops, foreign volunteers and German paramilitary forces fought against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, but also the troops of their satellites. It is also necessary to take into account the losses of “volunteer helpers - “Hiwi”. Therefore, taking into account the losses of these categories of personnel, the overall picture of losses of Germany and its satellites on the Eastern Front takes on the picture shown in Table 3.

Thus, the total irrecoverable losses Hitler's Germany and its satellites on the Eastern Front in 1941-1945. reach 7 million 625 thousand people. If we take losses only on the battlefield, without taking into account those who died in captivity and losses of “voluntary assistants”, then the losses are: for Germany - about 5620.4 thousand people and for satellite countries - 959 thousand people, in total - about 6579.4 thousands of people. Soviet losses on the battlefield amounted to 6885.1 thousand people. Thus, the losses of Germany and its satellites on the battlefield, taking into account all factors, are only slightly less than the combat losses of the Soviet Armed Forces on the battlefield (about 5%), and there is no ratio of 1:8 or 1:14 to the combat losses of Germany and its satellites there is no question of USSR losses.

The figures given in the tables above are, of course, very approximate and have serious errors, but they give, to a certain approximation, the order of losses of Nazi Germany and its satellites on the Eastern Front and during the war in general. Moreover, of course, if not for the inhumane treatment of Soviet prisoners of war by the Nazis, the total number of losses of Soviet military personnel would have been significantly lower. With the appropriate attitude towards Soviet prisoners of war, at least one and a half to two million people from among those who died in German captivity could have survived.

However, detailed and detailed research There are no real human losses in Germany during the Second World War to this day, because there is no political order, and many data regarding German losses are still classified under the pretext that they can cause “moral trauma” to the current German society (it would be better to remain in blissful ignorance of how many Germans died during the Second World War). Contrary to the popular picture of the domestic media in Germany, which is actively falsifying history. The main goal These actions are the introduction into public opinion of the idea that in the war with the USSR, Nazi Germany was the defending side, and the Wehrmacht was the “advanced detachment of European civilization” in the fight against “Bolshevik barbarism.” And there they actively praise the “brilliant” German generals, who held back the “Asian hordes of the Bolsheviks” for four years, with minimal losses of German troops, and only the “twenty-fold numerical superiority of the Bolsheviks,” who filled the Wehrmacht with corpses, broke the resistance of the “valiant” Wehrmacht soldiers. And the thesis is constantly being exaggerated that more “civilian” German population died than soldiers at the front, and most of the civilian deaths allegedly occurred in the eastern part of Germany, where they allegedly committed atrocities Soviet troops.

In light of the problems discussed above, it is necessary to touch upon the clichés persistently imposed by pseudo-historians that the USSR won by “filling the Germans with the corpses of its soldiers.” The USSR simply did not have such a quantity of human resources. As of June 22, 1941, the population of the USSR was about 190-194 million people. Including male population was about 48-49% - approximately 91-93 million people, of this number men 1891-1927. births were about 51-53 million people. We exclude approximately 10% of men who are unfit for military service even in wartime, this is about 5 million people. We exclude 18-20% of the “reserved” - highly qualified specialists who are not subject to conscription - this is about another 10 million people. Thus, the conscription resource of the USSR was about 36-38 million people. This is what the USSR actually demonstrated by conscripting 34,476.7 thousand people into the Armed Forces. In addition, it must be taken into account that a significant part of the conscript contingent remained in the occupied territories. And many of these people were either driven to Germany, or died, or took the path of collaboration, and after the liberation by Soviet troops from the territories subject to occupation, much fewer people were drafted into the army (40-45%) than could have been drafted before the occupation. In addition, the economy of the USSR simply could not stand it if almost all men capable of bearing arms - 48-49 million people - were drafted into the army. Then there would be no one to melt steel, produce T-34 and Il-2, or grow grain.

To have an Armed Forces of 11,390.6 thousand people in May 1945, to have 1,046 thousand people being treated in hospitals, to demobilize 3,798.2 thousand people due to wounds and illnesses, to lose 4,600 thousand people. captured and lost 26,400 thousand people killed, exactly 48,632.3 thousand people should have been mobilized into the Armed Forces. That is, with the exception of cripples completely unfit for military service, not a single man from 1891-1927. births should not have remained in the rear! Moreover, taking into account that some men of military age ended up in the occupied territories, and some worked at industrial enterprises, older and older men inevitably had to be mobilized. younger ages. However, the mobilization of men older than 1891 was not carried out, nor was the mobilization of conscripts younger than 1927. In general, if Doctor of Philology B. Sokolov had been engaged in analyzing poetry or prose, perhaps he would not have become a laughing stock.

Returning to the losses of the Wehrmacht and the Third Reich as a whole, it should be noted that the issue of accounting for losses there is quite interesting and specific. Thus, the data on losses of armored vehicles given by B. Müller-Hillebrandt are very interesting and noteworthy. For example, in April-June 1943, when there was a lull on the Eastern Front and fighting took place only in North Africa, 1019 tanks and assault guns were counted as irretrievable losses. Despite the fact that by the end of March, Army Africa had barely 200 tanks and assault guns, and in April and May, at most 100 units of armored vehicles were delivered to Tunisia. Those. in North Africa in April and May, the Wehrmacht could have lost at most 300 tanks and assault guns. Where did another 700-750 lost armored vehicles come from? Were there really secret tank battles on the Eastern Front? Or did the Wehrmacht tank army find its end in Yugoslavia these days?

Similar to the loss of armored vehicles in December 1942, when there were brutal tank battles on the Don, or losses in January 1943, when German troops rolled back from the Caucasus, abandoning their equipment, Müller-Hillebrand cites only 184 and 446 tanks and assault guns. But in February-March 1943, when the Wehrmacht launched a counteroffensive in the Donbass, the losses of the German armored vehicles suddenly reached 2069 units in February and 759 units in March. It must be taken into account that the Wehrmacht was advancing, the battlefield remained with the German troops, and all armored vehicles damaged in the battles were delivered to the Wehrmacht tank repair units. In Africa, the Wehrmacht could not suffer such losses; by the beginning of February, Army Africa consisted of no more than 350-400 tanks and assault guns, and in February-March it received only about 200 units of armored vehicles for replenishment. Those. even if everyone is destroyed German tanks in Africa, the losses of the Army "Africa" ​​in February-March could not exceed 600 units; the remaining 2228 tanks and assault guns were lost on the Eastern Front. How could this happen? Why did the Germans lose five times more tanks during the offensive than during the retreat, although war experience shows that the opposite always happens?

The answer is simple: in February 1943 the 6th Army surrendered in Stalingrad german army Field Marshal Paulus. And the Wehrmacht had to transfer to the list of irretrievable losses all the armored vehicles that it had long ago lost in the Don steppes, but which continued to be modestly listed in medium- and long-term repairs in the 6th Army.

It is impossible to explain why, gnawing through the deeply echeloned defenses of Soviet troops near Kursk in July 1943, saturated with anti-tank artillery and tanks, German troops lost fewer tanks than in February 1943, when they launched counterattacks on the lined-up troops of the South-Western and Voronezh fronts. Even if we assume that in February 1943 German troops lost 50% of their tanks in Africa, it is difficult to admit that in February 1943 in the Donbass the small Soviet troops were able to knock out more than 1000 tanks, and in July near Belgorod and Orel - only 925.

Not by chance for a long time When the documents of the German “Panzerdivisions” were captured in the “cauldrons,” serious questions arose about where the German equipment went if no one broke through from the encirclement, and the amount of abandoned and broken equipment did not correspond to what was written in the documents. Each time, the Germans had significantly fewer tanks and assault guns than were listed according to the documents. It was only by mid-1944 that they realized that the actual composition of German tank divisions must be determined by the “combat ready” column. Often situations arose when in the German tank and tank-grenadier divisions there were more “dead tank souls” than actually available combat-ready tanks and assault guns. And burnt-out tanks, with turrets twisted on their sides, with gaping holes in their armor, stood in the courtyards of tank repair plants, on paper moving from vehicles of one repair category to another, waiting either to be sent for melting down, or to be captured by Soviet troops. But at that time, German industrial corporations were quietly “sawing” the finances allocated for supposedly long-term repairs or repairs “to be sent to Germany.” In addition, if Soviet documents immediately and clearly indicated that an irretrievably lost tank was burned out or broken so that it could not be restored, then German documents indicated only the disabled unit or unit (engine, transmission, chassis), or indicated location of combat damage (hull, turret, bottom, etc.). Moreover, even a tank that was completely burned out by a shell hitting the engine compartment was listed as having engine damage.

If we analyze the same B. Müller-Hillebrandt’s data on the losses of the “Royal Tigers”, an even more striking picture emerges. At the beginning of February 1945, the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS had 219 Pz tanks. Kpfw. VI Ausf. B "Tiger II" ("Royal Tiger"). By this time, 417 tanks of this type had been produced. And according to Muller-Hillebrandt, 57 were lost. In total, the difference between produced and lost tanks is 350 units. In stock - 219. Where did 131 cars go? And that's not all. According to the same retired general, in August 1944 there were no lost Royal Tigers at all. And many other researchers of the history of the Panzerwaffe also find themselves in an awkward position when almost everyone points out that German troops admitted the loss of only 6 (six) Pz. Kpfw. VI Ausf. B "Tiger II". But what then to do with the situation when, near the town of Szydłów and the village of Oglendów near Sandomierz, Soviet trophy groups and special groups from the armored department of the 1st Ukrainian Front studied in detail and described, indicating serial numbers, 10 knocked out and burned out and 3 fully operational “Royal Tigers” ? We can only assume that the knocked out and burned out “Royal Tigers”, standing within the direct line of sight of the German troops, were considered by the Wehrmacht to be undergoing long-term repairs under the pretext that, theoretically, these tanks could be repulsed during a counterattack and then returned to service. Original logic, but nothing else comes to mind.

According to B. Müller-Hillebrandt, by February 1, 1945, 5840 were produced heavy tanks Pz. Kpfw. V "Panther" ("Panther"), lost - 3059 units, 1964 units were available. If we take the difference between the Panthers produced and their losses, the balance is 2781 units. There were, as already indicated, 1964 units. At the same time, Panther tanks were not transferred to Germany’s satellites. Where did the 817 units go?

With Pz tanks. Kpfw. IV is exactly the same picture. According to Müller-Hillebrandt, 8,428 units of these vehicles were produced by February 1, 1945, 6,151 were lost, the difference is 2,277 units, and 1,517 units were available on February 1, 1945. No more than 300 vehicles of this type were transferred to the Allies. Thus, up to 460 vehicles are left unaccounted for and disappeared to God knows where.

Tanks Pz. Kpfw. III. Produced - 5681 units, lost by February 1, 1945 - 4808 units, difference - 873 units, available on the same date - 534 tanks. No more than 100 units were transferred to the satellites, so, who knows where, about 250 tanks disappeared from the register.

In total, more than 1,700 tanks “Royal Tiger”, “Panther”, Pz. Kpfw. IV and Pz. Kpfw. III.

Paradoxically, to date, not a single attempt to deal with the irretrievable losses of the Wehrmacht in technology has been successful. No one has been able to analyze in detail by month and year what real irretrievable losses the Panzerwaffe suffered. And all because of the peculiar method of “accounting” for the losses of military equipment in the German Wehrmacht.

In the same way, in the Luftwaffe, the existing method of accounting for losses made it possible for a long time to list in the “repair” column aircraft that were shot down but fell on their territory. Sometimes even a plane smashed to smithereens that fell in the disposition of German troops was not immediately included in the lists of irretrievable losses, but was listed as damaged. All this led to the fact that in Luftwaffe squadrons up to 30-40%, and even more, of equipment was constantly listed as not combat-ready, smoothly moving from the category of damaged to the category subject to write-off.

One example: when in July 1943 on the southern façade Kursk Bulge pilot A. Gorovets shot down 9 Ju-87 dive bombers in one battle, the Soviet infantry examined the crash sites of the Junkers and reported detailed data on the downed aircraft: tactical and serial numbers, data on the dead crew members, etc. However, the Luftwaffe admitted the loss of only two dive bombers that day. How could this happen? The answer is simple: by the evening of the day of the air battle, the territory where the Luftwaffe bombers fell was occupied by German troops. And the downed planes ended up in territory controlled by the Germans. And out of nine bombers, only two disintegrated in the air, the rest fell, but retained relative integrity, although they were mangled. And the Luftwaffe peace of mind The downed planes were classified as those that had only received combat damage. Surprisingly, this is a real fact.

And in general, when considering the issue of losses of Wehrmacht equipment, we must take into account that huge amounts of money were made in repairing equipment. And when it came to the financial interests of the financial-industrial oligarchy, the entire repressive apparatus of the Third Reich stood at attention in front of it. The interests of industrial corporations and banks were looked after sacredly. Moreover, most of the Nazi bosses had their own selfish interests in this.

One more specific point should be noted. Contrary to popular belief about the pedantry, accuracy and scrupulousness of the Germans, the Nazi elite understood perfectly well that a complete and accurate accounting of losses could become a weapon against them. After all, there is always a possibility that information about the true scale of losses will fall into the hands of the enemy and will be used in the propaganda war against the Reich. Therefore, in Nazi Germany they turned a blind eye to the confusion in accounting for losses. At first there was a calculation that the winners would not be judged, then it became a deliberate policy to prevent the winners from complete defeat The Third Reich's arguments for exposing the scale of the disaster to the German people. In addition, it cannot be ruled out that at the final stage of the war, a special erasure of the archives was carried out so as not to provide the victors with additional arguments in accusing the leaders of the Nazi regime of crimes not only against other nations, but also against their own, German. After all, the death of several million young men in a senseless massacre for the sake of realizing crazy ideas about world domination - this is a very compelling argument for the prosecution.

Therefore, the true scale of human losses in Germany during the Second World War is still awaiting its scrupulous researchers, and then very interesting facts may be revealed to them. But on condition that these will be conscientious historians, and not all kinds of corned beef, mlechina, Svanidze, Afanasyev, Gavriilpopov and Sokolov. It’s paradoxical, but there will be a commission to counter the falsification of history more work inside Russia than outside it.

The largest wars in human history in terms of death toll.

The earliest war for which there is evidence from excavations took place approximately 14,000 years ago.

It is impossible to calculate the exact number of victims, since in addition to the death of soldiers on the battlefield, there is the death of civilians from the effects of weapons of war, as well as the death of civilians from the consequences of military operations, for example, from hunger, hypothermia, and disease.

Below is a list of the largest wars by number of victims.

The causes of the wars listed below are very different, but the number of victims exceeds millions.

1. Civil war in Nigeria (Biafra War of Independence). The death toll is more than 1,000,000 people.

The main conflict took place between the Nigerian government forces and the separatists of the Republic of Biafra. The self-proclaimed republic was supported by a number of European states, including France, Portugal, and Spain. Nigeria was supported by England and the USSR. The UN did not recognize the self-proclaimed republic. There were enough weapons and finances on both sides. The main victims of the war were the civilian population, who died from hunger and various diseases.

2. Imjin War. The death toll is more than 1,000,000 people.

1592 - 1598. Japan made 2 attempts to invade the Korean Peninsula in 1592 and 1597. Both invasions did not lead to the seizure of territory. The first Japanese invasion involved 220,000 soldiers and several hundred warships and transport ships.

The Korean troops were defeated, but at the end of 1592, China transferred part of the army to Korea, but was defeated; in 1593, China transferred another part of the army, which managed to achieve some success. Peace was concluded. The second invasion in 1597 was not successful for Japan and in 1598 hostilities were stopped.

3. Iran–Iraq War (death toll: 1 million)

1980-1988. The longest war of the 20th century. The war began with the invasion of Iraq on September 22, 1980. The war can be called positional - trench warfare, using small arms. Chemical weapons were widely used in the war. The initiative passed from one side to the other, so in 1980 the successful offensive of the Iraqi army was stopped, and in 1981 the initiative passed to the side of Iraq. On August 20, 1988, a truce was concluded.

4. Korean War (death toll: 1.2 million)

1950-1953. War between North and South Korea. The war began with an invasion North Korea to the territory South Korea. Despite the support of North Korea by the Soviet Union, Stalin opposed the war because he feared that this conflict could lead to World War 3 and even nuclear war. On July 27, 1953, a ceasefire agreement was concluded.

5. Mexican Revolution (1,000,000 to 2,000,000 death toll)

1910-1917. The revolution fundamentally changed Mexico's culture and government policies. But at that time the population of Mexico was 15,000,000 people and losses during the revolution were significant. The preconditions for the revolution were very different, but as a result, at the cost of millions of victims, Mexico strengthened its sovereignty and weakened its dependence on the United States.

6. Conquests of Chaka's army. First half of the 19th century. (death toll 2,000,000)

The local ruler Chaka (1787 - 1828) founded the state of KwaZulu. He assembled and armed a large army that conquered disputed territories. The army plundered and devastated the tribes in the occupied territories. The victims were local Aboriginal tribes.

7. Goguryeo-Sui Wars (2,000,000 dead)

These wars include a series of wars between the Chinese Sui Empire and the Korean state of Goguryeo. The wars took place on the following dates:

· war of 598

· war of 612

· war of 613

· war of 614

Ultimately, the Koreans managed to repel the advance of Chinese troops and win.

The total number of casualties is much higher because civilian casualties are not taken into account.

8. Religious Wars in France (death toll 2,000,000 to 4,000,000)

The religious wars in France are also known as the Huguenot Wars. Occurred between 1562 and 1598. They arose on religious grounds as a result of the conflict between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). In 1998, the Edict of Nantes was adopted, which legalized freedom of religion. On August 24, 1572, Catholics staged a mass massacre of Protestants, first in Paris and then throughout France. This happened on the eve of the feast of St. Barthomey, this day went down in history as St. Bartholomew's Night, on that day more than 30,000 people died in Paris.

9. Second Congo War (killed from 2,400,000 to 5,400,000)

The deadliest war in the history of modern Africa, also known as the African War world war And Great War Africa. The war lasted from 1998 to 2003, involving 9 states and more than 20 separate armed groups. The main victims of the war were the civilian population, who died due to disease and starvation.

10. Napoleonic Wars (death toll 3,000,000 to 6,000,000)

The Napoleonic Wars were an armed conflict between France, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, and a number of European states, including Russia. Thanks to Russia, Napoleon’s army was defeated. Different sources provide different data on victims, but greatest quantity Scientists believe that the number of victims, including civilians, from famine and epidemics reaches 5,000,000 people.

11. Thirty Years' War (death toll 3,000,000 to 11,500,000)

1618 - 1648. The war began as a conflict between Catholics and Protestants in the collapsing Holy Roman Empire, but gradually a number of other states were drawn into it. The number of victims from the Thirty Years' War, according to most scientists, is 8,000,000 people.

12. Chinese Civil War (death toll 8,000,000)

The Chinese Civil War was fought between forces loyal to the Kuomintang (the political party of the Republic of China) and forces loyal to Communist Party China. The war began in 1927, and it essentially ended when major active fighting ceased in 1950. Although historians give the end date of the war as December 22, 1936, the conflict eventually led to the formation of two de facto states, the Republic of China (now known as Taiwan) and the Chinese People's Republic in mainland China. During the war, both sides carried out mass atrocities.

13. Russian Civil War (killed between 7,000,000 and 12,000,000)

1917 - 1922. The struggle for power of various political trends and armed groups. But mainly the two largest and most organized forces fought - the Red Army and the White Army. The civil war in Russia is considered the greatest national catastrophe in Europe in the entire history of its existence. The main victims of war are the civilian population.

14. Wars led by Tamerlane (casualty ranged from 8,000,000 to 20,000,000)

In the second half of the 14th century, Tamerlane led cruel, bloody conquests in Western, South, Central Asia, and in southern Russia. Tamerlane became the most powerful ruler in the Muslim world, conquering Egypt, Syria and Ottoman Empire. Historians believe that 5% of the entire population of the Earth died at the hands of his warriors.

15. Dungan uprising (number of victims from 8,000,000 to 20,400,000 people)

1862 - 1869. The Dungan uprising was an ethnic and religious war between the Han Chinese (a Chinese ethnic group originally from East Asia) and Chinese Muslims. The rebels against the existing government were led by the spiritual mentors of Xinjiao, who declared jihad infidel.

16. Conquest of Northern and South America(number of victims from 8,400,000 to 148,000,000 people)

1492 - 1691. During the 200 years of colonization of America, tens of millions of the native population were killed by European colonizers. However exact number there are no casualties because there are no initial estimates of the original size of the Native American population. The conquest of America is the largest extermination of the indigenous population by other peoples in history.

17. An Lushan rebellion (casualty ranged from 13,000,000 to 36,000,000)

755 - 763 AD Revolt against the Tang Dynasty. According to scientists, up to two children of the entire Chinese population could have died during this conflict.

18. First World War (casualties: 18,000,000)

1914-1918. War between groups of states in Europe and their allies. The war claimed 11,000,000 military personnel who died directly during the fighting. 7,000,000 civilians died during the war.

19. Taiping Rebellion (casualties 20,000,000 - 30,000,000)

1850 - 1864. Peasant revolt in China. The Taiping Rebellion spread throughout China against the Manchu Qing dynasty. With the support of England and France, Qing troops brutally suppressed the rebels.

20. Manchu conquest of China (25,000,000 casualties)

1618 - 1683. The war of the Qing Dynasty, to conquer the territories of the Ming Dynasty Empire.

As a result of long wars and various battles, the Manchu dynasty managed to conquer almost all strategic territories of China. The war claimed tens of millions of human lives.

21. Sino-Japanese War (casualties 25,000,000 - 30,000,000)

1937 - 1945. War between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. Separate fighting began in 1931. The war ended with the defeat of Japan with the help of allied forces, mainly the USSR. The USA inflicted 2 nuclear strike across Japan, destroying the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On September 9, 1945, the government of the Republic of China accepted the surrender of the commander of Japanese troops in China, General Okamura Yasuji.

22. Wars of the Three Kingdoms (number of casualties 36,000,000 - 40,000,000 people)

220-280 AD Not to be confused with the War (of England, Scotland and Ireland between 1639 and 1651). The war of three states - Wei, Shu and Wu for complete power in China. Each side tried to unite China under its own leadership. The bloodiest period in Chinese history, which led to millions of victims.

23. Mongol conquests (casualties 40,000,000 - 70,000,000)

1206 - 1337. Raids across the territories of Asia and Eastern Europe with the formation of the state Golden Horde. The raids were distinguished by their cruelty. The Mongols spread the bubonic plague over vast territories, from which people died, having no immunity to this disease.

24. World War II (casualties 60,000,000 - 85,000,000)

The most brutal war in human history, when people were destroyed on racial and ethnic grounds with the help technical devices. The extermination of peoples was organized by the rulers of Germany and their allies, led by Hitler. Up to 100,000,000 troops fought on both sides of the war. With the decisive role of the USSR, Nazi Germany and its allies were defeated.

A military historian from Freiburg, R. Overmans, published the book “German Military Losses in the Second World War”, which took him 12 years - a rather rare case in our fleeting time.

The personnel of the German military machine in World War II was 13.6 million infantrymen, 2.5 million military pilots, 1.2 million military sailors and 0.9 million SS troops.

But how many German soldiers died in that war? To answer this question, R. Overmans turned to surviving primary sources. These include a consolidated list of identification marks (tags) of German military personnel (about 16.8 million names in total) and Kriegsmarine documentation (about 1.2 million names), on the one hand, and a consolidated card index of losses of the Wehrmacht Information Service about military losses and prisoners of war (about 18.3 million cards in total), on the other.

Overmans claims that the irretrievable losses of the German army amounted to 5.3 million people. This is approximately one million more than the figure ingrained in the public consciousness. According to the scientist’s calculations, almost every third German soldier did not return from the war. Most of all - 2743 thousand, or 51.6% - fell on the Eastern Front, and the most crushing losses of the entire war were not the death of the 6th Army at Stalingrad, but the breakthroughs of Army Group Center in July 1944 and Army Group “Southern Ukraine” in the Iasi region in August 1944. During both operations, between 300 and 400 thousand people were killed. On the Western Front, irretrievable losses amounted to only 340 thousand people, or 6.4% of total losses.

The most dangerous was service in the SS: about 34% of the personnel of these specific troops died in the war or in captivity (that is, every third; and if on the Eastern Front, then every second). The infantry also suffered, with a mortality rate of 31%; with a large “lag” followed by the air force (17%) and naval (12%) forces. At the same time, the share of infantry among the dead is 79%, the Luftwaffe is in second place - 8.1%, and the SS troops are in third place - 5.9%.

Over the last 10 months of the war (from July 1944 to May 1945), almost the same number of military personnel died as in the previous 4 years (therefore, it can be assumed that in the event of a successful attempt on Hitler’s life on July 20, 1944 and subsequent surrender, irrevocable German combat losses could have been half as much, not to mention the incalculable losses of the civilian population). In the last three spring months of the war alone, about 1 million people died, and if those drafted in 1939 were given an average of 4 years of life, those drafted in 1943 were given only a year, and those drafted in 1945 were given a month!

The most affected age group was those born in 1925: of those who would have turned 20 in 1945, every two out of five did not return from the war. As a result, the ratio of men and women in key age group from 20 to 35 years in the structure of the post-war German population reached a dramatic proportion of 1:2, which had the most serious and varied economic and social consequences for the dilapidated country.

Pavel Polyan, "Obshaya Gazeta", 2001

On the eve of Victory Day, I would like to raise several important, fundamental issues. I'll try in general outline characterize the pre-war potential of the USSR and Nazi Germany, and also provide data on human losses on both sides, including the latest. There is also the latest data on the number of dead Yakut residents.

The issue of losses in the Second World War has been discussed throughout the world for several years. There are various assessments, including sensational ones. Quantitative indicators are influenced not only various methods calculations, but also ideology, a subjective approach.

Western countries, led by the USA and England, tirelessly repeat the mantra that victory was “forged” in the sands North Africa, Normandy, on the sea routes of the North Atlantic and through the bombing of industrial targets in Germany and its allies.

The USSR’s war against Germany and its allies is presented to the Western public as “unknown.” Some residents of Western countries, judging by polls, claim in all seriousness that the USSR and Germany were allies in that war.

The second favorite saying of some Westerners and home-grown “Western-style” liberal democrats is that the Victory over fascism was “littered with the corpses of Soviet soldiers,” “one rifle for four,” “the command threw its soldiers at machine guns, the retreating detachments were shot,” “ millions of prisoners,” without the help of the allied troops, the Red Army’s victory over the enemy would have been impossible.

Unfortunately, after N.S. Khrushchev came to power, some of the Soviet military leaders, in order to elevate their role in the battle against the “brown plague” of the 20th century, described in their memoirs the implementation of orders from the Headquarters of Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin, as a result of which Soviet troops suffered unreasonably high losses.

And few people pay attention to the fact that during the period of active defensive, and even offensive battles, the main task was and is to achieve replenishment - additional troops from the reserve. And in order to satisfy the request, you need to provide such a combat note about the large losses of personnel of a particular military unit in order to receive replenishment.

As always, the truth is in the middle!

At the same time, official data on the losses of Hitler’s armies on the Soviet side were often clearly underestimated or, conversely, overestimated, which led to a complete distortion of statistical data on the military losses of Nazi Germany and its direct allies.

Captured documents available in the USSR, in particular, 10-day reports from OKW (the highest military command of the Wehrmacht), were classified, and only in lately military historians gained access to them.

For the first time, I.V. Stalin announced the losses of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War in 1946. He said that as a result of the German invasion, the Soviet Union irretrievably lost in battles with the Germans, as well as due to German occupation and hijacking Soviet people About seven million people were sent to German penal servitude.

Then N.S. Khrushchev, in 1961, having debunked Stalin’s personality cult, in a conversation with the Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, mentioned that 20 million people died in the war.

And finally, a group of researchers led by G.F. Krivosheev estimates the total human losses of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War determined by the demographic balance method, 26.6 million people. This includes all those killed as a result of military and other enemy actions, those who died as a result of military and other enemy actions, those who died as a result of the increased mortality rate during the war in the occupied territory and in the rear, as well as persons who emigrated from the USSR during the war and did not return after its ending.

Data on the losses of G. Krivosheev’s group are considered official. In 2001, the updated figures were as follows. USSR casualties:

- 6.3 million military personnel were killed or died from wounds,

- 555 thousand died from illnesses, as a result of accidents, incidents, were sentenced to death,

- 4.5 million– were captured and disappeared;

General demographic losses – 26.6 million Human.

German casualties:

- 4.046 million military personnel were killed, died of wounds, or went missing.

At the same time, the irretrievable losses of the armies of the USSR and Germany (including prisoners of war) are 11.5 million and 8.6 million (not counting 1.6 million prisoners of war after May 9, 1945), respectively.

However, new data is now emerging.

The beginning of the war is June 22, 1941. What was the balance of power between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union? What forces and capabilities did Hitler count on when preparing an attack on the USSR? How feasible was the “Barbarossa” plan prepared by the Wehrmacht General Staff?

It should be noted that in June 1941 the total population of Germany, including its direct allies, was 283 million people, and in the USSR - 160 million. Germany's direct allies at that time were: Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Croatia. In the summer of 1941, the Wehrmacht personnel numbered 8.5 million people; four army groups with a total number of 7.4 million people were concentrated on the border with the USSR. Nazi Germany was armed with 5,636 tanks, more than 61,000 guns of various calibers, and over 10,000 aircraft (excluding the weapons of allied military formations).

General characteristics of the Red Army of the USSR for June 1941. The total number was 5.5 million military personnel. The number of divisions of the Red Army is 300, of which 170 divisions concentrated on western borders(3.9 million people), the rest were stationed in the Far East (which is why Japan did not attack), in Central Asia, Transcaucasia. It must be said that the Wehrmacht divisions were staffed according to wartime levels, and each had 14-16 thousand people. Soviet divisions were staffed according to peacetime levels and consisted of 7-8 thousand people.

The Red Army was armed with 11,000 tanks, of which 1,861 were T-34 tanks and 1,239 were KV tanks (the best in the world at that time). The rest of the tanks - BT-2, BT-5, BT-7, T-26, SU-5 with weak weapons, many vehicles were idle due to lack of spare parts. Most of the tanks were to be replaced with new vehicles. More than 60% of the tanks were in the troops of the western border districts.

Soviet artillery provided powerful firepower. On the eve of the war, the Red Army had 67,335 guns and mortars. Katyusha multiple launch rocket systems began to arrive. In terms of combat qualities, Soviet field artillery was superior to German, but was poorly equipped with mechanized traction. The needs for special artillery tractors were met by 20.5%.

In the western military districts of the Red Army Air Force, there were 7,009 fighters, and long-range aviation had 1,333 aircraft.

So, at the first stage of the war, high-quality and quantitative characteristics were on the enemy's side. The Nazis had a significant advantage in manpower, automatic weapons, and mortars. And thus, Hitler’s hopes to carry out a “blitzkrieg” against the USSR were calculated taking into account real conditions and the distribution of available armed forces and means. In addition, Germany already had practical military experience gained as a result of military operations in other European countries. Surprise, aggressiveness, coordination of all forces and means, precise execution of orders from the Wehrmacht General Staff, the use of armored forces on a relatively small section of the front - this was a proven, fundamental tactic of action by military formations of Nazi Germany.

This tactic performed exceptionally well in military operations in Europe; Wehrmacht casualties were small. For example, in France, 27,074 German soldiers were killed and 111,034 were wounded. At the same time, the German army captured 1.8 million French soldiers. The war ended in 40 days. The victory was absolute.

In Poland, the Wehrmacht lost 16,843 soldiers, Greece - 1,484, Norway - 1,317, and another 2,375 died en route. These “historic” victories of German weapons incredibly inspired Adolf Hitler, and they were given the order to develop the “Barbarossa” plan - a war against the USSR.

It should also be noted that the question of surrender was never raised by Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin; Headquarters quite soberly analyzed and calculated the current military situation. In any case, in the first months of the war there was no panic at the main headquarters of the armies; panickers were shot on the spot.

In mid-July 1941 it ended initial period war. Due to a number of subjective and objective factors, Soviet troops suffered serious losses in manpower and equipment. As a result of heavy fighting, using air supremacy, the German armed forces by this time reached the borders of the Western Dvina and the middle reaches of the Dnieper, advancing to a depth of 300 to 600 km and inflicting major defeats on the Red Army, especially formations Western Front. In other words, the Wehrmacht’s priority tasks were completed. But the “blitzkrieg” tactics still failed.

The Germans met fierce resistance from the retreating troops. The NKVD troops and border guards especially distinguished themselves. Here, for example, is the testimony of a former German sergeant major who participated in the attacks on the 9th outpost of the border city of Przemysl: “...The fire was terrible! We left a lot of corpses on the bridge, but we never took possession of it right away. Then the commander of my battalion gave the order to ford the river to the right and left in order to surround the bridge and capture it intact. But as soon as we rushed into the river, the Russian border guards began to pour fire on us here too. The losses were terrible... Seeing that the plan was failing, the battalion commander ordered fire from 80-mm mortars. Only under their cover did we begin to infiltrate the Soviet shore... We could not advance further as quickly as our command wanted. The Soviet border guards had firing points along the coastline. They sat in them and shot literally until the last cartridge... Nowhere, never have we seen such fortitude, such military tenacity... They preferred death to the possibility of capture or withdrawal...”

Heroic actions made it possible to gain time for the approach of the 99th Infantry Division of Colonel N.I. Dementyev. Active resistance to the enemy continued.

As a result of stubborn battles, according to US intelligence services, as of December 1941, Germany lost 1.3 million people killed in the war against the USSR, and by March 1943, Wehrmacht losses already amounted to 5.42 million people (information has been declassified by the American side in our time ).

Yakutia 1941. What was the contribution of the peoples of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to the fight against Nazi Germany? Our losses. Heroic fighters of the Olonkho Land.

As you know, the scientific work “History of Yakutia” has been prepared since 2013. Researcher at the Institute for Humanitarian Research and Problems of Indigenous Peoples of the North SB RAS Marianna Gryaznukhina, the author of the chapter of this scientific work, which talks about the human losses of the Yakut people during the Great Patriotic War, kindly provided the following data: the population of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1941, on the eve of the war, was 419 thousand Human. 62 thousand people were drafted and went to the front as volunteers.

However, this cannot be called the exact number of Yakuts who fought for their Motherland. At the beginning of the war, several hundred people were doing military service in the army, and a number were studying at military schools. Therefore, the number of Yakuts who fought can be considered from 62 to 65 thousand people.

Now about the human losses. IN recent years the figure is called 32 thousand Yakuts, but it also cannot be considered accurate. According to the demographic formula, they did not return to the regions from the war; about 30% of those who fought died. It should be taken into account that 32 thousand did not return to the territory of Yakutia, but some soldiers and officers remained to live in other regions of the country, some returned late, until the 1950s. Therefore, the number of residents of Yakutia who died at the front is approximately 25 thousand people. Of course, for the small population of the republic this is a huge loss.

In general, the contribution of the Yakut people to the fight against the “brown plague” is enormous and has not yet been fully studied. Many became combat commanders, demonstrated military training, dedication, and courage in battles, for which they were awarded high military awards. Residents of the Khangalassky district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) remember the general with warmth Prituzov (Pripuzov) Andrey Ivanovich. Participant of the First World War, commander of the 61st Guards Slavic Red Banner Division. The division fought through Romania, part of Austria and ended its journey in Bulgaria. The military general found his eternal peace in his native Pokrovsk.

How can one not remember on the eve of Victory Day about the Yakut snipers - two of whom were included in the legendary top ten snipers of the Second World War. This is a Yakut Fedor Matveevich Okhlopkov, on whose personal account there are 429 killed Nazis. Before becoming a sniper, he destroyed several dozen fascists with a machine gun and machine gun. And Fyodor Matveevich received the Hero of the Soviet Union only in 1965. The man is a legend!

The second one is Evenk Ivan Nikolaevich Kulbertinov- 489 killed Nazis. He taught sniper training to young Red Army soldiers. Originally from the village of Tyanya, Olekminsky district.

It should be noted that until the end of 1942, the Wehrmacht command missed the opportunity of sniper warfare, for which it paid dearly. During the war, the Nazis began hastily learning the art of snipers using captured Soviet military training films and instructions for snipers. At the front they used the same Soviet captured Mosin and SVT rifles. Only by 1944 did the Wehrmacht military units include trained snipers.

Our colleague, lawyer, Honored Lawyer of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), has passed the worthy path of a front-line soldier. Yuri Nikolaevich Zharnikov. He began his military career as an artilleryman, in 1943 he retrained as a T-34 driver, his tank was hit twice, and the hero himself received severe concussions. He has dozens of battle victories, hundreds of killed enemies, large number broken and burned enemy heavy equipment, including German tanks. As Yuri Nikolaevich recalled, the calculation of enemy losses was carried out by the commander of the tank unit, and his concern was the constant maintenance of the mechanical part of the combat vehicle. For military exploits, Yu.N. Zharnikov was awarded many orders and medals, of which he was proud. Today Yuri Nikolaevich is not among us, but we, the lawyers of Yakutia, keep his memory in our hearts.

Results of the Great Patriotic War. Losses of the German armed forces. The ratio of the losses of Nazi Germany and its direct allies with the losses of the Red Army

Let us turn to the latest publications of a prominent Russian military historian Igor Ludvigovich Garibyan, who did a tremendous amount of statistical work, studying not only Soviet sources, but also captured archival documents of the Wehrmacht General Staff.

According to the Chief of Staff of the Wehrmacht High Command - OKW, Wilhelm Keitel, Germany lost 9 million soldiers killed on the Eastern Front, 27 million were seriously wounded (without the possibility of returning to duty), went missing, were captured, all of this is united by the concept of “irretrievable losses.” "

Historian Gharibyan calculated German losses based on 10-day OKW reports, and the following data was obtained:

Germans and Austrians killed during hostilities - 7,541,401 people (data as of April 20, 1945);

Missing – 4,591,511 people.

The total irretrievable losses are 17,801,340 people, including disabled people, prisoners, and those who died from diseases.

These figures concern only two countries – Germany and Austria. The losses of Romania, Hungary, Finland, Slovakia, Croatia and other countries that fought against the USSR are not taken into account here.

Thus, Hungary, with its population of nine million, lost 809,000 soldiers and officers killed in the war against the Red Army, mostly young people aged 20 to 29 years. 80,000 civilians died in the fighting. Meanwhile, in the same Hungary in 1944, on the eve of the collapse of the fascist regime, 500,000 Hungarian Jews and Gypsies were exterminated, as reported by Western media mass media they prefer to remain “bashfully” silent.

To sum up, we must admit that the USSR had to fight virtually one on one (in 1941-1943) with all of Europe, except England. All factories in France, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Italy worked for the war. The Wehrmacht was provided not only with military materials, but also with the human resources of Germany's direct allies.

In the end Soviet people, showing the will to Victory, mass heroism both on the battlefield and in the rear, defeated the enemy and protected the Fatherland from the “brown plague” of the 20th century.

The article is dedicated to the memory of my grandfather - Stroev Gavril Egorovich, a resident of the village of Batamai, Ordzhonikidze district of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the chairman of the Zarya collective farm, who died heroically in the Great Patriotic War in 1943, and all the Yakut residents who did not return from the war.

Yuri PRIPUZOV,

President of the Yakut Republican

Bar Association "Petersburg"

Honored Lawyer of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

What were the losses of the USSR population during World War II? Stalin said that they were 7 million, Khrushchev - 20. However, is there any reason to believe that they were significantly larger?
By the beginning of the war, the population of the USSR was 197,500,000 people. The “natural” population growth from 1941 to 1945 was 13,000,000 people... and the “natural” decline was 15,000,000 people, since the war was going on.
By 1946, the population of the USSR should have been 195,500,000 people. However, at this time it was only 168,500,000 people. Consequently, population losses during the war amounted to 27,000,000 people. An interesting fact: the population of the republics and territories annexed in 1939 is 22,000,000 people. However, in 1946 it was 13 million. The fact is that 9 million people emigrated. 2 million Germans (or those who called themselves Germans) moved to Germany, 2 million Poles (or those who knew a few words from the Polish dialect) moved to Poland, 5 million residents of the western regions of the USSR moved to Western countries.
So, direct losses from the war: 27 million - 9 million = 18 million people. 8 million people out of 18 million are civilians: 1 million Poles who died at the hands of Bandera, 1 million who died during the siege of Leningrad, 2 million civilians classified by the Nazis as persons capable of taking up arms (age from 15 to 65 years) and held in concentration camps along with Soviet prisoners of war, 4 million Soviet citizens, classified by the fascists as communists, partisans, etc. Every tenth Soviet person died.

Losses of the Red Army - 10 million people.

What were the population losses in Germany during World War II?By the beginning of the war, the population of Germany proper was 74,000,000 people. The population of the Third Reich is 93 million people.By the fall of 1945, the population of Germany (Vaterland, not the entire Third Reich) was 52,000,000 people. More than 5 million Germans immigrated to the country from among the Volksdeutsche. So, German losses: 74 million - 52 million + 5 million = 27 million people.

Consequently, the loss of the population of Germany during the war was 27,000,000 people. About 9 million people emigrated from Germany.
Direct military losses of Germany - 18 million people. 8 million of them are civilians who died as a result of air raids by US and British aircraft, as a result of artillery shelling. Germany lost about a third of its population! By October 1946, more than 13 million more Volksdeutsche from Alsace and Lorraine arrived in Western Germany (about 2.2 million people Volksdeutsche) , Saara ( 0.8 million people ), Silesia (10 million people), Sudetenland ( 3.64 million people), Poznan (1 million people), Baltic states (2 million people), Danzig and Memel (0.54 million people) and other places. The population of Germany became 66 million people. Persecution began against the German population outside the occupation zones. The Germans were thrown out of their homes and were often slaughtered in the streets. The non-German population did not spare either children or old people. It was because of this that a mass exodus of Germans and those who collaborated with them began. The Kashubians with Schlenzaks considered themselves to be Germans. They also went to the western occupation zones.