World War II casualties of the Soviet Union
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World War II casualties of the Soviet Union
from all related causes are commonly estimated in excess of 20,000,000, both civilians and military, although the statistics vary to a great extent. Most of the casualties occurred from 22 June 1941, after Nazi Germany
invaded the USSR
.
In 1993 the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a report authored by G. I. Krivosheev that details for Soviet military casualties in World War II. The source for the data was Soviet "reports from the field and other archive documents" that were considered secret during the Soviet era. The report shows that of all the men serving in the military during the war there were about 4,559,000 reported missing (including 3,396,400 per field reports and an additional 1,162,600 estimated by Krivosheev), out of which 500,000 were missing and presumed dead, 939,700 were conscripted back into the Soviet army during the war as territories were being liberated, 1,103,300 POW died in captivity, 2,016,000 POW survived the war, of which 1,836,000 POWs are known to have returned to the U.S.S. R. after the war and another 180,000 liberated POWs who most likely emigrated to other countries.
Some scholars maintain that Soviet military casualties should also include the deaths of an additional estimated 500,000 conscripted reservists captured before being listed on active strength, 1,000,000 civilians treated as military POW by Germany and also about 150,000 militia and 250,000 Soviet partisan dead. In official Russian sources these are considered civilian casualties.
Estimates by Western historians of Soviet military POW deaths is about 3 million out of 5.7 million total POWs in German hands. However, this number probably includes partisans, militia, and many civilian men of military age taken as POWs Total Soviet population losses include approximately 12 million men aged 18 to 39
Many Soviet war dead are presented at the OBD Memorial database online.
Source: The figures for civilian losses are taken from a report published by the Russian Academy of Science Human Losses of the USSR in the Period of WWII: Collection of Articles (In Russian). Saint-Petersburg, 1995. ISBN 978-5-86789-023-0 -M. V. Philimoshin of the War Ministry of the Russian Federation About the results of calculation of losses among civilian population of the USSR and Russian Federation 1941-1945 Pages 124-131
These figures are for the regions of the USSR occupied by Germany, there were about 70 million persons in the occupied regions of the USSR
These casualties are for 1941-1945 within the 1946-1991 borders of the USSR.
Contemporary Russian sources use the terms "genocide" and "premeditated extermination" when referring to civilian losses in the occupied USSR caused by the result of direct, intentional actions of violence. Civilians killed in reprisals during the Soviet partisan war account for a major part of the huge toll. Russian sources generally do not list Jewish Holocaust deaths separately. Martin Gilbert
puts Jewish losses at one million, within the borders of 1939; Holocaust deaths in the annexed territories were another 1.5 million bringing the total in Soviet territory to about 2.5 million. The genocide of Romani people totaled about 30,000 people.
These losses include deaths in the siege of Leningrad. David Glantz
has noted that Soviet era sources put the number of dead in the Siege of Leningrad
at “greater than 800,000” and that a Russian source from 2000 put the number of dead at 1,000,000. However, other Russian historians have put the death toll in the in the siege of Leningrad at between 1.4 and 2.0 million persons.
The report of the Russian Academy of Science lists the deaths of civilian forced laborers in Germany totaling 2,164,313. G. I. Krivosheev in the report on military casualties gives a total of 1,103,300 POW dead. The total of these two figures is 3,267,613, which is in close agreement with estimates by western historians of about 3 million deaths of prisoners in German captivity.
In the occupied regions Nazi Germany had a policy of forced confiscation of food that resulted in the famine deaths of an estimated 6% of the population, 4.1 million persons.
In addition to the losses listed above an estimated 2.5 to 3.2 million civilians died due to famine and disease in non-occupied territory of the USSR which was caused by wartime shortages in the rear areas. Documents from the Soviet archives list the total deaths of prisoners in the Gulag
from 1941 to 1945 at 621,637. In the 1995 Report by the Russian Academy of Science V.N. Zemskov noted "due to general difficulties in 1941-1945 in the camps, the GULAG and prisons about 1.0 million prisoners died
These figures do not include an additional 622,000 persons who did not return to the USSR after 1946 according to the 1993 Russian Academy of Science report on total war losses by E.M. Andreev
Included with civilian losses are dead in the territories annexed by the USSR including 600,000 in the Baltic states
and 1,500,000 in Eastern Poland.
*37,200,000 + 1,300,000 - 11,900,000 = 26.6 million total dead, or missing,
These figures are from a report published by the Russian Academy of Science in 1993 that estimated the total Soviet population losses in the war. This is the current official Russian government figure for total losses. These losses are a demographic estimate of excess deaths, not an exact accounting of losses. The main areas of uncertainty when calculating losses were the estimated figures for increase in the Soviet population in the territories annexed from 1939–1945 and the loss of population due to emigration during and after the war. The figures also include victims of Soviet repression as well as the deaths of Soviet citizens in German military service. Michael Haynes has noted that "We do not know the total number of deaths as a result of the war and related policies". We do know that the demographic estimate of excess deaths was 26.6 million plus an additional 16.1 million natural deaths
that would have occurred in peacetime, bringing the total dead to 42.7 million. At this time the actual total number of deaths caused by the war is unknown since among the 16.1 million "natural deaths" some would have died peacefully and others as a result of the war.
Total War Deaths by Age Group and Gender
Source:Andreev, EM, et al., Naselenie Sovetskogo Soiuza, 1922–1991. Moscow, Nauka, 1993. ISBN 978-5-02-013479-9 (Population of the Soviet Union 1922-1991 Russian Academy of Science)
Remarks:
Age Group 0-14- The deaths of 2.8 million children was due primarily to the famine and disease caused by the war.
Age Group 15-19 The excess deaths of 724,000 males females was due primarily to military losses. The draft age in the USSR was 18 during the war.
Age Group 20-34 The excess deaths of 6,342,000 males was due primarily to military losses. The deaths of 2,663,000 women is an indication that women were also involved in the partisan war and became victims of Nazi reprisals.
Age Group 35-49 The excess deaths of 5,358,000 males was due primarily to military losses.
Age Group over 49 The excess deaths of 1,038,000 males was due primarily to military losses.
Some men from the older age group did serve in the Armed Forces. They were involved in the partisan war and became victims of Nazi reprisals.
All Age Groups- The excess deaths of 13,489,000 males was due primarily to military losses with the regular forces as well the partisan forces. The figures are a clear indication that many Soviet civilians died in the war as a result of Nazi reprisals as well as famine and disease caused by wartime shortages which took a large toll.
Russian scholars attribute the high civilian death toll to the Nazi Generalplan Ost
which treated the Soviet people as "subhuman". Contemporary Russian sources use the terms "genocide" and "premeditated extermination" when referring to civilian losses in the occupied USSR. To suppress the partisan units the Nazi occupation forces engaged in a campaign of brutal reprisals against innocent civilians. The extensive fighting destroyed agricultural land, infrastructure, and whole towns, leaving much of the population homeless and without food. The Nazis confiscated food stocks which resulted in famine in the occupied regions. During the war Soviet civilians were taken to Germany as forced laborers under inhuman conditions.
period under Gorbachev and in post communist Russia the casualties in World War Two were re-evaluated and the official figures revised. In 1993 the Russian government issued reports on war losses that gave total dead of 26.6 million persons including military losses of 8,668,400 military personnel, since then these figures have been accepted by the Russian government as being correct. However, the official figures have been disputed by Russian scholars.
in March 1946 stated that Soviet war losses were 7 million dead. This was to be the official figure until the Khrushchev era. In November 1961 Nikita Khrushchev
stated that Soviet war losses were 20 million, this was to be the official figure until 1990. Leonid Brezhnev
in 1965 put the Soviet death toll in the war at “more than 20 million” In May 1965 Ivan Konev
at a Soviet Ministry of Defense press conference stated that Soviet military dead in World War Two were 10 million. In 1971 the Soviet demographer Boris Urlanis put losses at 20 million including 6,074,000 civilians and 3,912,000 prisoners of war killed by Nazi Germany, military dead were put at 10 million
the official figure of 20 million war dead was challenged by Soviet scholars. In 1988-1989 estimates of 26 to 28 million total war dead appeared in the Soviet press. The Russian scholar Dmitri Volkogonov
writing at this time estimated total war deaths at 26-27,000,000 including 10,000,000 in the military In March 1989 Mikhail Gorbachev
set up a committee to investigate Soviet losses in the war. In a May 1990 speech Gorbachev gave the figure for total Soviet losses at "almost 27 million". This revised figure was the result of research by the committee set up by Gorbachev that estimated total war dead at between 26 and 27 million . In January 1990 M.A. Moiseev Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces disclosed for the first time in an interview that Soviet military war dead totaled 8,668,400. In 1991 reports were published in the USSR indicating 14 million military dead based on the alphabetical card-indexes personnel records of the Russian Military Archives.
From 1942-1946 the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission
collected information on Nazi crimes in the USSR. The reports of the Commission detailing the number of civilian deaths were kept secret until the collapse of the USSR. In 1991 the Russian scholar A.A. Shevyakov published an article with summary of civilian losses based on the reports of this commission, civilian dead were given as 18.3 million. In a second article in 1992 A.A. Shevyakov gave a figure of 20.8 million civilian dead, no explanation for the difference was given.
This study by Krivosheev is the current official Russian Ministry of Defense accounting for military casualties from 1941–1945. A report published by the Russian Academy of Science in 1993 estimated that the total Soviet population losses were 26.6 million. This is the current official Russian government figure for total losses in the war. In 1995 the Russian Academy of Science published a series of articles that analyzed Soviet losses in the war. An article detailed civilian deaths in the German occupied USSR totaling 13.7 million, which includes 7.4 million victims of Nazi genocide and reprisals; 2.2 million deaths of persons deported to Germany for forced labor; and 4.1 million famine and disease deaths in occupied territory. They also estimated an additional 3 million deaths due to famine and disease in the regions not occupied by Germany
Dr. L. L. Rybakovsky dismissed these hypothetical calculations and believes they are not based on sound judgment.
In 2000 the late Dr. S. N. Mikhalev of the History department of Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University published a critical analysis of the official Russian wartime casualty statistics, From 1989 to 1996 Mikhalev was an associate of the Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defence.
Mikalev estimated actual Soviet military war dead at more than 10.9 million persons. He maintained that the official figures cannot be reconciled to the total men drafted and that POW deaths were understated. Mikhalev believed that the official figure of 26.6 million war dead should not be regarded as definitive. In 1995 the Russian Academy of Science published his analysis of the demographic balance of the USSR in the war that indicated total losses ranging from 21.240 million to 25.854 million, with the mid range being 23.568 million total war dead. Mikhalev pointed out that the figures for total war deaths are based on a range of possible estimates for the pre-war population in 1939 and the population of the annexed territories that are by no means certain.
The following schedule shows the reconciliation of losses of the field reports to the actual number of mobilized persons
Notes:
A. Strength Red Army June 1941- Mikhalev excludes Construction troops whose casualties were not included in the field reports.
B. Drafted during war -Excludes those drafted twice.
C.Discharged during war-Includes those sent on sick leave, those sent to industry, NKVD or foreign units and 437,000 imprisoned after sentencing
D. Red Army strength June 1945-Mikhalev excludes 403,000 Construction troops whose casualties were not included in the field reports and 437,000 imprisoned after sentencing already deducted in number of discharged
E.Conscripted reservists captured in 1941 before being listed on active strength. Mikhalev maintains that they were a military operational losses that should be included with total casualties
F. MIA Re-conscripted were men conscripted back into the Soviet army during the war as territories were being liberated. Mikhalev maintains that they should not be deducted because were included in the Red Army strength in June 1945 and that the number conscripted excludes those drafted twice.
G.NKVD & Border Troops -Mikhalev adds these losses to the total because they were not part of the Red Army balance in June 1945.
H.Losses in the Far East August 1945- Mikhalev adds these losses to the total because they were not part of the Red Army balance in June 1945
The analysis of Krivosheev and Mikhalev is based on the field reports of the Red Army and the reconciliation of the balance for persons conscripted. An alternative method to determine Soviet war losses is the Russian Military Archives data base of individual war dead. S. A. Il’enkov an official of the Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense maintains that “ complex military situation at the front did not always allow for the conduct of a full accounting of losses”. He pointed out that reports from the field units did not include deaths in rear area hospitals of wounded personnel. Il’enkov maintains that the information in the Russian Military Archives alphabetical card-indexes can assist in solving the problem of determining the total number of Soviet military war dead. In an article published by the Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense Il’enkov described the work of the archives to reconcile data base of individual war dead. He believes the work has progressed to the point where we can determine an accurate accounting of war losses. Il’enkov concluded by stating "We established the number of irreplaceable losses of our Armed Forces at the time of the Great Patriotic War of about 13,850,000.
Some Russian writers have argued that war losses should also include the hypothetical population loss for children unborn due to the war, using this methodology total losses would be about 46 million. In May 2009 the former Russian Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov
put the death toll in the war at 37 million (27 to 28 million civilians and 8.6 million military)
David Glantz
maintains that “ the war with Nazi Germany cost the Soviet Union at least 29 million military casualties”(dead, wounded and sick) “ The exact numbers can never be established, and some revisionists have attempted to put the number as high as 50 million”
Richard Overy
believes the figures for military dead published in 1993... give the fullest account yet available, but they omit three operations that were clear failures. The official figures themselves must be viewed critically, given the difficulty of knowing in the chaos of 1941 and 1942 exactly who had been killed, wounded or even conscripted" Regarding military dead Richard Overy
believes that "for the present the figure of 8.6 million must be regarded as the most reliable"
Norman Davies
points out that that not all Soviet war dead were not killed by the Nazis, many perished due to Soviet repression. Davies notes It lies in the nature of the problem that the victims of Soviet wartime repressions cannot be easily quantified. The records of the victorious Soviets, unlike those of the defeated Nazis have never been opened for scrutiny. Whether the fraction of Soviet civilians who perished at the hands of their own régime was one quarter, one third or even one half of the whole will never be firmly established until the Soviet government itself comes clean.
The authors of the Cambridge History of Russia have provided an analysis of Soviet wartime casualties. Overall losses were about 25 million persons plus or minus 1 million. Red Army records indicate 8.7 million military deaths, “this figure is actually the lower limit”. The official figures understate POW losses and armed partisan deaths. Excess civilian deaths in the Nazi occupied USSR were 13.7 million persons including 2 million Jews. There were an additional 2.6 million deaths in the interior regions of the Soviet Union. The authors maintain “scope for error in this number is very wide”. At least 1 million perished in the wartime GULAG camps or in deportations. Other deaths occurred in the wartime evacuations and due to war related malnutrition and disease in the interior. The authors maintain that both Stalin and Hitler “were both responsible but in different ways” for these deaths.The authors of the Cambridge History of Russia believe that “In short the general picture of Soviet wartime losses suggests a jigsaw puzzle. The general outline is clear: people died in colossal numbers but in many different miserable and terrible circumstances. But individual pieces of the puzzle do not fit well; some overlap and others are yet to be found"
G. I. Krivosheev. Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses. Greenhill 1997 ISBN 978-1-85367-280-4
Michael Haynes, Counting Soviet Deaths in the Great Patriotic War: a Note Europe Asia Studies Vol.55, No. 2, 2003, 300–309
Michael Ellman and S. Maksudov, Soviet Deaths in the Great Patriotic War:a note-World War II- Europe Asia Studies, July 1994
Boris SokolovThe cost of war: Human losses for the USSR and Germany, 1939-1945 The Journal of Soviet Military Studies Volume 9, Issue 1 March 1996
Boris Urlanis, Populations and Wars Progress Moscow 1971
Iosif G. Dyadkin, Unnatural Deaths in the Ussr, 1928-1954 Transaction 1983
S. A. Il'Enkov Concerning the registration of Soviet armed forces' wartime irrevocable losses, 1941-1945 The Journal of Soviet Military Studies Volume 9, Issue 2 June 1996
In the Russian Language
G. I. Krivosheev Rossiia i SSSR v voinakh XX veka: Poteri vooruzhennykh sil ; statisticheskoe issledovanie OLMA-Press, 2001 ISBN 5224015154
S. N Mikhalev Liudskie poteri v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine 1941- 1945 gg: Statisticheskoe issledovanie Krasnoiarskii gos. pedagog. universitet • 2000 ISBN: ISBN 978-5-85981-082-6. Mikhalev's book is available in libraries in the U.S. and the UK
Российская академия наук (Russian Academy of Sciences). Людские потери СССР в период второй мировой войны: сборник статей (Human Losses of the USSR in the Period of WWII: Collection of Articles). Saint-Petersburg, 1995. ISBN 978-5-86789-023-0
Andreev, EM, et al., Naselenie Sovetskogo Soiuza, 1922–1991. Moscow, Nauka, 1993. ISBN 978-5-02-013479-9
A. A. Shevyakov “Gitlerovski genotsid na territoriyakh SSR.” Sotsiologicheskie issiedovaniya, 12, 1991 This article by a researcher at the Russian Academy of Science is a brief summary of the work of the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission
.
A. A. Shevyakov “Zherty sredi mirnogo nasseleniya v gody otechestvennoi voiny” Sotsiologicheskie issiedovaniya, 11, 1992 This article by a researcher at the Russian Academy of Science gives a detailed breakdown by locality of civilian losses in the occupied USSR based on the reports of the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission
.
L L Rybakovsky Casualties of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War (In Russian) Sotsiologicheskie issiedovaniya, 2000. № 6.
L L Rybakovsky The Great Patriotic War Russian Human Losses (In Russian) Sotsiologicheskie issiedovaniya, 2001. № 6.
Л.Л. РЫБАКОВСКИЙЛЮДСКИЕ ПОТЕРИ СССР В ВЕЛИКОЙ ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОЙ ВОЙНЕ LL Rybakovsky Casualties of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War In Russian Sotsiologicheskie issiedovaniya, 2000. № 8.
Б.В. Соколов ЦЕНА ВОЙНЫ:ЛЮДСКИЕ ПОТЕРИ СССР И ГЕРМАНИИ, 1939-1945 Boris Sokolov, Truth about the Great Patriotic War 1998 ( In Russian) Russian translation of the article that appeared in the Journal of Slavic Military Studies # 3 1996.
S. A. Il’enkov Pamyat O Millionach Pavshik Zaschitnikov Otechestva Nelzya Predavat Zabveniu Voennno-Istoricheskii Arkhiv No. 7(22), Central Military Archives of the Russian Federation 2001, pp. 73–80 ISBN 978-5-89710-005-7,( The Memory of those who Fell Defending the Fatherland Cannot be Condemned to Oblivion In Russian -Available at the New York Public Library
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
from all related causes are commonly estimated in excess of 20,000,000, both civilians and military, although the statistics vary to a great extent. Most of the casualties occurred from 22 June 1941, after Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
invaded the USSR
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
.
Military losses
| Soviet WWII military casualties 1939-1945 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dead and missing | Wounded and survived | |
| Battle of Khalkhin Gol Battle of Khalkhin Gol The Battles of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border Wars fought among the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield... 1939 |
9,703 | 15,952 |
| Invasion of Poland 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland Soviet invasion of Poland can refer to:* the second phase of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 when Soviet armies marched on Warsaw, Poland* Soviet invasion of Poland of 1939 when Soviet Union allied with Nazi Germany attacked Second Polish Republic... |
1,475 | 2,383 |
| Winter War Winter War The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty... 1939-1940 |
126,875 | 264,908 |
| World War II 1941-1945 | 8,668,400 | 14,685,593 |
| Total | 8,806,453 | 14,968,836 |
| Military dead and missing (1941–45) | |
|---|---|
| KIA Killed in action Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to... or died of wounds |
6,329,600 |
| Noncombat deaths (sickness, accidents,etc.) | 555,500 |
| Subtotal KIA, died of wounds and Nonombat deaths | 6,885,100 |
| MIA Missing in action Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively... and POW |
4,559,000 |
| Total operational losses during war | 11,444,100 |
| Less:Surviving missing | (939,700) |
| Less:POWs returned to USSR | (1,836,000) |
| Total irrecoverable losses(from listed strength) | 8,668,400 |
In 1993 the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a report authored by G. I. Krivosheev that details for Soviet military casualties in World War II. The source for the data was Soviet "reports from the field and other archive documents" that were considered secret during the Soviet era. The report shows that of all the men serving in the military during the war there were about 4,559,000 reported missing (including 3,396,400 per field reports and an additional 1,162,600 estimated by Krivosheev), out of which 500,000 were missing and presumed dead, 939,700 were conscripted back into the Soviet army during the war as territories were being liberated, 1,103,300 POW died in captivity, 2,016,000 POW survived the war, of which 1,836,000 POWs are known to have returned to the U.S.S. R. after the war and another 180,000 liberated POWs who most likely emigrated to other countries.
Some scholars maintain that Soviet military casualties should also include the deaths of an additional estimated 500,000 conscripted reservists captured before being listed on active strength, 1,000,000 civilians treated as military POW by Germany and also about 150,000 militia and 250,000 Soviet partisan dead. In official Russian sources these are considered civilian casualties.
Estimates by Western historians of Soviet military POW deaths is about 3 million out of 5.7 million total POWs in German hands. However, this number probably includes partisans, militia, and many civilian men of military age taken as POWs Total Soviet population losses include approximately 12 million men aged 18 to 39
Many Soviet war dead are presented at the OBD Memorial database online.
| Soviet military dead and Missing by nationality (1941–45) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total | Percentage | |
| Russians Russians The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.... |
5,756,000 | 66.402% |
| Ukrainians Ukrainians Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens... |
1,377,400 | 15.890% |
| Belarusians Belarusians Belarusians ; are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Old Belarusian... |
252,900 | 2.917% |
| Tatars Tatars Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,... |
187,700 | 2.165% |
| Jews Jews The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation... |
142,500 | 1.644% |
| Kazakhs Kazakhs The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia .... |
125,500 | 1.448% |
| Uzbeks Uzbeks The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China... |
117,900 | 1.360% |
| Armenians Armenians Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian.... |
83,700 | 0.966% |
| Georgians Georgians The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America.... |
79,500 | 0.917% |
| Others | 545,300 | 6.291% |
Civilian losses
| Soviet civilian war dead(1941–45) | |
|---|---|
| Deaths caused by the result of direct, intentional actions of violence | 7,420,379 |
| Deaths of forced laborers in Germany | 2,164,313 |
| Deaths due to famine and disease in the occupied regions | 4,100,000 |
| Total | 13,684,692 |
Source: The figures for civilian losses are taken from a report published by the Russian Academy of Science Human Losses of the USSR in the Period of WWII: Collection of Articles (In Russian). Saint-Petersburg, 1995. ISBN 978-5-86789-023-0 -M. V. Philimoshin of the War Ministry of the Russian Federation About the results of calculation of losses among civilian population of the USSR and Russian Federation 1941-1945 Pages 124-131
These figures are for the regions of the USSR occupied by Germany, there were about 70 million persons in the occupied regions of the USSR
These casualties are for 1941-1945 within the 1946-1991 borders of the USSR.
Contemporary Russian sources use the terms "genocide" and "premeditated extermination" when referring to civilian losses in the occupied USSR caused by the result of direct, intentional actions of violence. Civilians killed in reprisals during the Soviet partisan war account for a major part of the huge toll. Russian sources generally do not list Jewish Holocaust deaths separately. Martin Gilbert
Martin Gilbert
Sir Martin John Gilbert, CBE, PC is a British historian and Fellow of Merton College, University of Oxford. He is the author of over eighty books, including works on the Holocaust and Jewish history...
puts Jewish losses at one million, within the borders of 1939; Holocaust deaths in the annexed territories were another 1.5 million bringing the total in Soviet territory to about 2.5 million. The genocide of Romani people totaled about 30,000 people.
These losses include deaths in the siege of Leningrad. David Glantz
David Glantz
David M. Glantz is an American military historian and the editor of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies....
has noted that Soviet era sources put the number of dead in the Siege of Leningrad
Siege of Leningrad
The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...
at “greater than 800,000” and that a Russian source from 2000 put the number of dead at 1,000,000. However, other Russian historians have put the death toll in the in the siege of Leningrad at between 1.4 and 2.0 million persons.
The report of the Russian Academy of Science lists the deaths of civilian forced laborers in Germany totaling 2,164,313. G. I. Krivosheev in the report on military casualties gives a total of 1,103,300 POW dead. The total of these two figures is 3,267,613, which is in close agreement with estimates by western historians of about 3 million deaths of prisoners in German captivity.
In the occupied regions Nazi Germany had a policy of forced confiscation of food that resulted in the famine deaths of an estimated 6% of the population, 4.1 million persons.
In addition to the losses listed above an estimated 2.5 to 3.2 million civilians died due to famine and disease in non-occupied territory of the USSR which was caused by wartime shortages in the rear areas. Documents from the Soviet archives list the total deaths of prisoners in the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
from 1941 to 1945 at 621,637. In the 1995 Report by the Russian Academy of Science V.N. Zemskov noted "due to general difficulties in 1941-1945 in the camps, the GULAG and prisons about 1.0 million prisoners died
These figures do not include an additional 622,000 persons who did not return to the USSR after 1946 according to the 1993 Russian Academy of Science report on total war losses by E.M. Andreev
Included with civilian losses are dead in the territories annexed by the USSR including 600,000 in the Baltic states
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
and 1,500,000 in Eastern Poland.
Total losses
| Total Soviet losses by demographic balance (1941–45) | |
|---|---|
| Population in June 1941 | 196,700,000 |
| Population at the end of 1945 | 170,500,000 |
| Born before June 1941 and living by end of 1945 | 159,500,000 |
| Total loss of population born before the war period | 37,200,000 |
| Add wartime increase in Infant Mortality Infant mortality Infant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide was dehydration from diarrhea. However, the spreading information about Oral Re-hydration Solution to mothers around the world has decreased the rate of children dying... |
1,300,000 |
| Less Natural deaths at 1940 level (not including Infant Mortality Infant mortality Infant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide was dehydration from diarrhea. However, the spreading information about Oral Re-hydration Solution to mothers around the world has decreased the rate of children dying... of 4.2 million) |
(11,900,000) |
| Total population loss (in excess of pre-war level) | 26,600,000 |
*37,200,000 + 1,300,000 - 11,900,000 = 26.6 million total dead, or missing,
These figures are from a report published by the Russian Academy of Science in 1993 that estimated the total Soviet population losses in the war. This is the current official Russian government figure for total losses. These losses are a demographic estimate of excess deaths, not an exact accounting of losses. The main areas of uncertainty when calculating losses were the estimated figures for increase in the Soviet population in the territories annexed from 1939–1945 and the loss of population due to emigration during and after the war. The figures also include victims of Soviet repression as well as the deaths of Soviet citizens in German military service. Michael Haynes has noted that "We do not know the total number of deaths as a result of the war and related policies". We do know that the demographic estimate of excess deaths was 26.6 million plus an additional 16.1 million natural deaths
Death by natural causes
A death by natural causes, as recorded by coroners and on death certificates and associated documents, is one that is primarily attributed to natural agents: usually an illness or an internal malfunction of the body. For example, a person dying from complications from influenza or a heart attack ...
that would have occurred in peacetime, bringing the total dead to 42.7 million. At this time the actual total number of deaths caused by the war is unknown since among the 16.1 million "natural deaths" some would have died peacefully and others as a result of the war.
Total War Deaths by Age Group and Gender
| Age Group | Males (millions) | War Deaths (millions) | % Age Group | Females (millions) | War Deaths(millions) | % Age Group | Total Population (millions) | War Deaths (millions) | % Age Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-14 | 27.879 | 1.425 | 5.1% | 27.984 | 1.398 | 5.0% | 55.863 | 2.823 | 5.1% |
| 15-19 | 11.092 | 1.064 | 9.6% | 11.220 | 0.340 | 3.0% | 22.312 | 1.404 | 6.3% |
| 20-34 | 24.948 | 9.005 | 36.1% | 26.330 | 2.663 | 10.1% | 51.278 | 11.668 | 22.8% |
| 35-49 | 18.497 | 6.139 | 33.2% | 20.236 | 781 | 3.9% | 38.733 | 6.920 | 17.9% |
| Over 49 | 11.999 | 2.418 | 20.2% | 16.976 | 1.380 | 8.1% | 28.975 | 3.798 | 13.1% |
| All Age Groups | 94.415 | 20.051 | 21.2% | 102.746 | 6.562 | 6.4% | 197.161 | 26.613 | 13.5% |
Source:Andreev, EM, et al., Naselenie Sovetskogo Soiuza, 1922–1991. Moscow, Nauka, 1993. ISBN 978-5-02-013479-9 (Population of the Soviet Union 1922-1991 Russian Academy of Science)
Remarks:
Age Group 0-14- The deaths of 2.8 million children was due primarily to the famine and disease caused by the war.
Age Group 15-19 The excess deaths of 724,000 males females was due primarily to military losses. The draft age in the USSR was 18 during the war.
Age Group 20-34 The excess deaths of 6,342,000 males was due primarily to military losses. The deaths of 2,663,000 women is an indication that women were also involved in the partisan war and became victims of Nazi reprisals.
Age Group 35-49 The excess deaths of 5,358,000 males was due primarily to military losses.
Age Group over 49 The excess deaths of 1,038,000 males was due primarily to military losses.
Some men from the older age group did serve in the Armed Forces. They were involved in the partisan war and became victims of Nazi reprisals.
All Age Groups- The excess deaths of 13,489,000 males was due primarily to military losses with the regular forces as well the partisan forces. The figures are a clear indication that many Soviet civilians died in the war as a result of Nazi reprisals as well as famine and disease caused by wartime shortages which took a large toll.
Causes
The Red Army suffered catastrophic losses of men and equipment during the first months of the German invasion., In the spring of 1941 Stalin ignored the warnings of his intelligence services of a planned German invasion and refused to put the Armed forces on alert. The units in the border regions were not prepared to face the German onslaught and were caught by surprise. Large numbers of Soviet soldiers were captured and many perished due to the brutal mistreatment of POWs by the Nazis U.S. Army historians maintain the high Soviet losses can be attributed to 'less efficient medical services and the Soviet tactics, which throughout the war tended to be expensive in terms of human life"Russian scholars attribute the high civilian death toll to the Nazi Generalplan Ost
Generalplan Ost
Generalplan Ost was a secret Nazi German plan for the colonization of Eastern Europe. Implementing it would have necessitated genocide and ethnic cleansing to be undertaken in the Eastern European territories occupied by Germany during World War II...
which treated the Soviet people as "subhuman". Contemporary Russian sources use the terms "genocide" and "premeditated extermination" when referring to civilian losses in the occupied USSR. To suppress the partisan units the Nazi occupation forces engaged in a campaign of brutal reprisals against innocent civilians. The extensive fighting destroyed agricultural land, infrastructure, and whole towns, leaving much of the population homeless and without food. The Nazis confiscated food stocks which resulted in famine in the occupied regions. During the war Soviet civilians were taken to Germany as forced laborers under inhuman conditions.
Soviet and Russian Estimates
Estimates for Soviet losses in the Second World War range from 7 million to over 43 million. The following estimates by Russian sources of Soviet war losses are often cited in English language accounts dealing with the war. During the Communist era in the Soviet Union historical writing about World War Two was subject to censorship and only official approved statistical data was published. In the USSR during the GlasnostGlasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
period under Gorbachev and in post communist Russia the casualties in World War Two were re-evaluated and the official figures revised. In 1993 the Russian government issued reports on war losses that gave total dead of 26.6 million persons including military losses of 8,668,400 military personnel, since then these figures have been accepted by the Russian government as being correct. However, the official figures have been disputed by Russian scholars.
Official Estimates made from 1946 to 1987
Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
in March 1946 stated that Soviet war losses were 7 million dead. This was to be the official figure until the Khrushchev era. In November 1961 Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
stated that Soviet war losses were 20 million, this was to be the official figure until 1990. Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
in 1965 put the Soviet death toll in the war at “more than 20 million” In May 1965 Ivan Konev
Ivan Konev
Ivan Stepanovich Konev , was a Soviet military commander, who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, retook much of Eastern Europe from occupation by the Axis Powers, and helped in the capture of Germany's capital, Berlin....
at a Soviet Ministry of Defense press conference stated that Soviet military dead in World War Two were 10 million. In 1971 the Soviet demographer Boris Urlanis put losses at 20 million including 6,074,000 civilians and 3,912,000 prisoners of war killed by Nazi Germany, military dead were put at 10 million
Estimates by Russians published in the West 1950-1983
In 1949 a Soviet Colonel Kalinov defected to the west, he published a book claiming that Soviet records indicated the military loss of 13.6 million men including 2.6 million POW dead. In 1977 Sergei Maksudov a Russian demographer living in the west estimated Soviet war losses at between 24.5 and 27.4 million, including 7.5 million military dead. In 1983 the Soviet mathematician Iosif G. Dyadkin published a study in the United States that indicated the total Soviet population loss from 1939–1945 due to the war and political repression was 30 million. Dyadkin was imprisoned for publishing this study in the west.Period of Glasnost
During the period of GlasnostGlasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
the official figure of 20 million war dead was challenged by Soviet scholars. In 1988-1989 estimates of 26 to 28 million total war dead appeared in the Soviet press. The Russian scholar Dmitri Volkogonov
Dmitri Volkogonov
Dmitri Antonovich Volkogonov was a Russian historian and officer.-Biography:...
writing at this time estimated total war deaths at 26-27,000,000 including 10,000,000 in the military In March 1989 Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
set up a committee to investigate Soviet losses in the war. In a May 1990 speech Gorbachev gave the figure for total Soviet losses at "almost 27 million". This revised figure was the result of research by the committee set up by Gorbachev that estimated total war dead at between 26 and 27 million . In January 1990 M.A. Moiseev Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces disclosed for the first time in an interview that Soviet military war dead totaled 8,668,400. In 1991 reports were published in the USSR indicating 14 million military dead based on the alphabetical card-indexes personnel records of the Russian Military Archives.
From 1942-1946 the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission
Extraordinary State Commission
The Extraordinary State Commission – fully: "Extraordinary State Commission for ascertaining and investigating crimes perpetrated by the German–Fascist invaders and their accomplices, and the damage inflicted by them on citizens, collective farms, social organisations, State enterprises and...
collected information on Nazi crimes in the USSR. The reports of the Commission detailing the number of civilian deaths were kept secret until the collapse of the USSR. In 1991 the Russian scholar A.A. Shevyakov published an article with summary of civilian losses based on the reports of this commission, civilian dead were given as 18.3 million. In a second article in 1992 A.A. Shevyakov gave a figure of 20.8 million civilian dead, no explanation for the difference was given.
Official Figures Released in 1993-1995 by Russian Government
In 1993 the Russian Col-General G.F. Krivosheev published a study that gave total Soviet military dead and missing in the war of 8,668,400. These figures were based on official documentation that was previously classified secret in the Soviet era.This study by Krivosheev is the current official Russian Ministry of Defense accounting for military casualties from 1941–1945. A report published by the Russian Academy of Science in 1993 estimated that the total Soviet population losses were 26.6 million. This is the current official Russian government figure for total losses in the war. In 1995 the Russian Academy of Science published a series of articles that analyzed Soviet losses in the war. An article detailed civilian deaths in the German occupied USSR totaling 13.7 million, which includes 7.4 million victims of Nazi genocide and reprisals; 2.2 million deaths of persons deported to Germany for forced labor; and 4.1 million famine and disease deaths in occupied territory. They also estimated an additional 3 million deaths due to famine and disease in the regions not occupied by Germany
Estimates disputing the Russian government figures
In 1988 a Russian academic Boris Sokolov published an article in a Soviet academic journal estimating total war losses at 21.3 million persons, including 14.3 military and 7.0 million civilians In 1991 Sokolov published a study of the war that put total losses at 29.4 million persons, including military war dead of 14.7 million and civilian deaths of 15 million In 1996 Sokolov published a revised study that estimated total war dead at 43.3 million including 26.4 million in the military. Sokolov’s own calculations show that the official figures for population in 1941 to be understated by 12.7 million and the population in 1946 to be overstated by 4.0 million, thus resulting in 16.7 million additional war dead bringing the total to 43.3 million. The Russian demographerDemography
Demography is the statistical study of human population. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic human population, that is, one that changes over time or space...
Dr. L. L. Rybakovsky dismissed these hypothetical calculations and believes they are not based on sound judgment.
In 2000 the late Dr. S. N. Mikhalev of the History department of Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University published a critical analysis of the official Russian wartime casualty statistics, From 1989 to 1996 Mikhalev was an associate of the Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defence.
Mikalev estimated actual Soviet military war dead at more than 10.9 million persons. He maintained that the official figures cannot be reconciled to the total men drafted and that POW deaths were understated. Mikhalev believed that the official figure of 26.6 million war dead should not be regarded as definitive. In 1995 the Russian Academy of Science published his analysis of the demographic balance of the USSR in the war that indicated total losses ranging from 21.240 million to 25.854 million, with the mid range being 23.568 million total war dead. Mikhalev pointed out that the figures for total war deaths are based on a range of possible estimates for the pre-war population in 1939 and the population of the annexed territories that are by no means certain.
The following schedule shows the reconciliation of losses of the field reports to the actual number of mobilized persons
| Description | Balance per Kirvosheev | Balance per Mikhalev | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Army & Navy Strength- June 1941 ( A.) | 4,902,000 | 4,704,000 | (198,000) |
| Drafted during war ( B.) | 29,575,000 | 29,575,000 | 0 |
| Discharged during war (C.) | (9,693,000) | (9,693,000) | 0 |
| Red Army & Navy strength- June 1945 (D.) | (12,840,000) | (11,999,000) | 841,000 |
| conscripted reservists (E.) | (500,000) | 0 | 500,000 |
| Subtotal: Operational Losses | 11,444,000 | 12,587,000 | 1,143,000 |
| MIA Re-conscripted (F.) | (940,000) | 0 | 940,000 |
| Liberated POW returned to USSR | (1,836,000) | (1,836,000) | 0 |
| NKVD & Border Troops (G.) | 0 | 159,000 | 159,000 |
| Losses in the Far East August 1945 H. | 0 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| Total Irrecoverable Losses | 8,668,000 | 10,922,000 | 2,254,000 |
Notes:
A. Strength Red Army June 1941- Mikhalev excludes Construction troops whose casualties were not included in the field reports.
B. Drafted during war -Excludes those drafted twice.
C.Discharged during war-Includes those sent on sick leave, those sent to industry, NKVD or foreign units and 437,000 imprisoned after sentencing
D. Red Army strength June 1945-Mikhalev excludes 403,000 Construction troops whose casualties were not included in the field reports and 437,000 imprisoned after sentencing already deducted in number of discharged
E.Conscripted reservists captured in 1941 before being listed on active strength. Mikhalev maintains that they were a military operational losses that should be included with total casualties
F. MIA Re-conscripted were men conscripted back into the Soviet army during the war as territories were being liberated. Mikhalev maintains that they should not be deducted because were included in the Red Army strength in June 1945 and that the number conscripted excludes those drafted twice.
G.NKVD & Border Troops -Mikhalev adds these losses to the total because they were not part of the Red Army balance in June 1945.
H.Losses in the Far East August 1945- Mikhalev adds these losses to the total because they were not part of the Red Army balance in June 1945
The analysis of Krivosheev and Mikhalev is based on the field reports of the Red Army and the reconciliation of the balance for persons conscripted. An alternative method to determine Soviet war losses is the Russian Military Archives data base of individual war dead. S. A. Il’enkov an official of the Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense maintains that “ complex military situation at the front did not always allow for the conduct of a full accounting of losses”. He pointed out that reports from the field units did not include deaths in rear area hospitals of wounded personnel. Il’enkov maintains that the information in the Russian Military Archives alphabetical card-indexes can assist in solving the problem of determining the total number of Soviet military war dead. In an article published by the Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense Il’enkov described the work of the archives to reconcile data base of individual war dead. He believes the work has progressed to the point where we can determine an accurate accounting of war losses. Il’enkov concluded by stating "We established the number of irreplaceable losses of our Armed Forces at the time of the Great Patriotic War of about 13,850,000.
Some Russian writers have argued that war losses should also include the hypothetical population loss for children unborn due to the war, using this methodology total losses would be about 46 million. In May 2009 the former Russian Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov
Dmitry Yazov
Dmitry Timofeyevich Yazov was the last Marshal of the Soviet Union to be appointed before the collapse of the Soviet Union . He was the only Marshal of the Soviet Union to be born in Siberia....
put the death toll in the war at 37 million (27 to 28 million civilians and 8.6 million military)
Rebuttal by Krivosheev
In 2002 G.F. Krivosheev, author of the 1993 official study of military casualties, defended the results of his report that found 8.668 million military war dead. Krivosheev maintains that the figures were derived in a scientific manner by a team of professional researchers who had access to the military archives. He also maintains that the results of the study reflect a realistic view of casualties based on the military operational situation during the war. Krivosheev believes that the Central Archives data base of individual war dead is not reliable because some personnel records are duplicated and others omittedEstimates Of Soviet War Dead by Western Scholars
Historians writing outside of the Soviet Union and Russia have evaluated the various Russian language sources and have offered their estimates of Soviet war dead. Here is a listing of estimates by recognized scholars published in the West.| Source | Military Dead | Civilian Dead | Total Dead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Lorimer(1946), | 5,000,000 | 9,000,000 | 14,000,000 |
| Pierre George (1946) | 7,000,000 | 10,000,000 | 17,000,000 |
| N. S. Timasheff(1948), | 7,000,000 | 18,300,000 | 25,300,000 |
| Helmut Arntz (1953) | 13,600,000 | 7,000,000 | 20,000,000+ |
| Jean-Noël Biraben(1958) | 8,000,000 | 6,700,000 | 14,700,000 |
| Warren W. Eason(1959) | 10,000,000 | 15,000,000 | 25,000,000 |
| E. Ziemke(1968) | more than 12,000,000 |
||
| Albert Seaton(1971) | 10,000,000 | ||
| Gil Elliot (1972) | 10,000,000 | 10,000,000 | 20,000,000 |
| Charles Messenger(1989) | 20,000,000 | ||
| John Keegan John Keegan Sir John Keegan OBE FRSL is a British military historian, lecturer, writer and journalist. He has published many works on the nature of combat between the 14th and 21st centuries concerning land, air, maritime, and intelligence warfare, as well as the psychology of battle.-Life and career:John... (1989), |
7,000,000 | 7,000,000 | 14,000,000 |
| R. J. Rummel R. J. Rummel Rudolph Joseph Rummel is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii. He has spent his career assembling data on collective violence and war with a view toward helping their resolution or elimination... (1990) |
7,000,000 | 19,125,000 in war and 10,000,000 due to Soviet repression |
36,125,000 |
| John Ellis(1993) | 11,000,000 | 6,700,000 | 17,700,000 |
| Norman Davies Norman Davies Professor Ivor Norman Richard Davies FBA, FRHistS is a leading English historian of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland, and the United Kingdom.- Academic career :... (1998) |
8-9,000,000 | 16-19,000,000 | 24-28,000,000 |
| Richard Overy Richard Overy Richard Overy is a British historian who has published extensively on the history of World War II and the Third Reich. In 2007 as The Times editor of Complete History of the World he chose the 50 key dates of world history.... (1997) |
8,668,400 | 17,000,000 | 25,000,000 |
| Mark Mazower Mark Mazower Mark A. Mazower is a British historian. His expertise is Greece, the Balkans and, more generally, 20th century Europe. He is currently a professor of history at Columbia University in New York City.-Career:... (1998) |
9,500,000 | 10,000,000 | 19,500,000 |
| David Wallechinsky David Wallechinsky David Wallechinsky has worked as a commentator for NBC Olympic coverage and is the author of many Olympic reference books and other reference books. He is a Jewish-American. He is the author of The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics and The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics series... (1995) |
13,600,000 | 20-26,000,000 | |
| Michael Clodfelter (2002) | 8,668,400 | 20-26,000,000 | |
| Martin Gilbert Martin Gilbert Sir Martin John Gilbert, CBE, PC is a British historian and Fellow of Merton College, University of Oxford. He is the author of over eighty books, including works on the Holocaust and Jewish history... (2004) |
10,000,000 KIA & 3,300,000 POW |
7,000,000 | 20,000,000+ |
| H. P. Willmott(2004) | 8,700,000 | 16,900,000 | 25,600,000 |
| Tony Judt Tony Judt Tony Robert Judt FBA was a British historian, essayist, and university professor who specialized in European history. Judt moved to New York and served as the Erich Maria Remarque Professor in European Studies at New York University, and Director of NYU's Erich Maria Remarque Institute... (2005) |
8,600,000 | 16,000,000 | 24,600,000 |
| Norman Davies Norman Davies Professor Ivor Norman Richard Davies FBA, FRHistS is a leading English historian of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland, and the United Kingdom.- Academic career :... (2006) |
8,668,000 | 18,332,000 | 27,000,000 |
| Cambridge History of Russia(2006) | 8.7 million + | 13.7 million in Nazi occupied USSR and 2.6 million in interior USSR | 24-26 million |
David Glantz
David Glantz
David M. Glantz is an American military historian and the editor of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies....
maintains that “ the war with Nazi Germany cost the Soviet Union at least 29 million military casualties”(dead, wounded and sick) “ The exact numbers can never be established, and some revisionists have attempted to put the number as high as 50 million”
Richard Overy
Richard Overy
Richard Overy is a British historian who has published extensively on the history of World War II and the Third Reich. In 2007 as The Times editor of Complete History of the World he chose the 50 key dates of world history....
believes the figures for military dead published in 1993... give the fullest account yet available, but they omit three operations that were clear failures. The official figures themselves must be viewed critically, given the difficulty of knowing in the chaos of 1941 and 1942 exactly who had been killed, wounded or even conscripted" Regarding military dead Richard Overy
Richard Overy
Richard Overy is a British historian who has published extensively on the history of World War II and the Third Reich. In 2007 as The Times editor of Complete History of the World he chose the 50 key dates of world history....
believes that "for the present the figure of 8.6 million must be regarded as the most reliable"
Norman Davies
Norman Davies
Professor Ivor Norman Richard Davies FBA, FRHistS is a leading English historian of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland, and the United Kingdom.- Academic career :...
points out that that not all Soviet war dead were not killed by the Nazis, many perished due to Soviet repression. Davies notes It lies in the nature of the problem that the victims of Soviet wartime repressions cannot be easily quantified. The records of the victorious Soviets, unlike those of the defeated Nazis have never been opened for scrutiny. Whether the fraction of Soviet civilians who perished at the hands of their own régime was one quarter, one third or even one half of the whole will never be firmly established until the Soviet government itself comes clean.
The authors of the Cambridge History of Russia have provided an analysis of Soviet wartime casualties. Overall losses were about 25 million persons plus or minus 1 million. Red Army records indicate 8.7 million military deaths, “this figure is actually the lower limit”. The official figures understate POW losses and armed partisan deaths. Excess civilian deaths in the Nazi occupied USSR were 13.7 million persons including 2 million Jews. There were an additional 2.6 million deaths in the interior regions of the Soviet Union. The authors maintain “scope for error in this number is very wide”. At least 1 million perished in the wartime GULAG camps or in deportations. Other deaths occurred in the wartime evacuations and due to war related malnutrition and disease in the interior. The authors maintain that both Stalin and Hitler “were both responsible but in different ways” for these deaths.The authors of the Cambridge History of Russia believe that “In short the general picture of Soviet wartime losses suggests a jigsaw puzzle. The general outline is clear: people died in colossal numbers but in many different miserable and terrible circumstances. But individual pieces of the puzzle do not fit well; some overlap and others are yet to be found"
Sources
In the English LanguageG. I. Krivosheev. Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses. Greenhill 1997 ISBN 978-1-85367-280-4
Michael Haynes, Counting Soviet Deaths in the Great Patriotic War: a Note Europe Asia Studies Vol.55, No. 2, 2003, 300–309
Michael Ellman and S. Maksudov, Soviet Deaths in the Great Patriotic War:a note-World War II- Europe Asia Studies, July 1994
Boris SokolovThe cost of war: Human losses for the USSR and Germany, 1939-1945 The Journal of Soviet Military Studies Volume 9, Issue 1 March 1996
Boris Urlanis, Populations and Wars Progress Moscow 1971
Iosif G. Dyadkin, Unnatural Deaths in the Ussr, 1928-1954 Transaction 1983
S. A. Il'Enkov Concerning the registration of Soviet armed forces' wartime irrevocable losses, 1941-1945 The Journal of Soviet Military Studies Volume 9, Issue 2 June 1996
In the Russian Language
G. I. Krivosheev Rossiia i SSSR v voinakh XX veka: Poteri vooruzhennykh sil ; statisticheskoe issledovanie OLMA-Press, 2001 ISBN 5224015154
S. N Mikhalev Liudskie poteri v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine 1941- 1945 gg: Statisticheskoe issledovanie Krasnoiarskii gos. pedagog. universitet • 2000 ISBN: ISBN 978-5-85981-082-6. Mikhalev's book is available in libraries in the U.S. and the UK
Российская академия наук (Russian Academy of Sciences). Людские потери СССР в период второй мировой войны: сборник статей (Human Losses of the USSR in the Period of WWII: Collection of Articles). Saint-Petersburg, 1995. ISBN 978-5-86789-023-0
Andreev, EM, et al., Naselenie Sovetskogo Soiuza, 1922–1991. Moscow, Nauka, 1993. ISBN 978-5-02-013479-9
A. A. Shevyakov “Gitlerovski genotsid na territoriyakh SSR.” Sotsiologicheskie issiedovaniya, 12, 1991 This article by a researcher at the Russian Academy of Science is a brief summary of the work of the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission
Extraordinary State Commission
The Extraordinary State Commission – fully: "Extraordinary State Commission for ascertaining and investigating crimes perpetrated by the German–Fascist invaders and their accomplices, and the damage inflicted by them on citizens, collective farms, social organisations, State enterprises and...
.
A. A. Shevyakov “Zherty sredi mirnogo nasseleniya v gody otechestvennoi voiny” Sotsiologicheskie issiedovaniya, 11, 1992 This article by a researcher at the Russian Academy of Science gives a detailed breakdown by locality of civilian losses in the occupied USSR based on the reports of the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission
Extraordinary State Commission
The Extraordinary State Commission – fully: "Extraordinary State Commission for ascertaining and investigating crimes perpetrated by the German–Fascist invaders and their accomplices, and the damage inflicted by them on citizens, collective farms, social organisations, State enterprises and...
.
L L Rybakovsky Casualties of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War (In Russian) Sotsiologicheskie issiedovaniya, 2000. № 6.
L L Rybakovsky The Great Patriotic War Russian Human Losses (In Russian) Sotsiologicheskie issiedovaniya, 2001. № 6.
Л.Л. РЫБАКОВСКИЙЛЮДСКИЕ ПОТЕРИ СССР В ВЕЛИКОЙ ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОЙ ВОЙНЕ LL Rybakovsky Casualties of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War In Russian Sotsiologicheskie issiedovaniya, 2000. № 8.
Б.В. Соколов ЦЕНА ВОЙНЫ:ЛЮДСКИЕ ПОТЕРИ СССР И ГЕРМАНИИ, 1939-1945 Boris Sokolov, Truth about the Great Patriotic War 1998 ( In Russian) Russian translation of the article that appeared in the Journal of Slavic Military Studies # 3 1996.
S. A. Il’enkov Pamyat O Millionach Pavshik Zaschitnikov Otechestva Nelzya Predavat Zabveniu Voennno-Istoricheskii Arkhiv No. 7(22), Central Military Archives of the Russian Federation 2001, pp. 73–80 ISBN 978-5-89710-005-7,( The Memory of those who Fell Defending the Fatherland Cannot be Condemned to Oblivion In Russian -Available at the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...