World War II statistics are terrifying, but they will never be accurate.
The loss of life in World War II was the largest in history. The total death toll - military and civilian - according to various sources ranges from 20 million (Encyclopedia Americana) to more than 55 million (German statistics). The military alone killed more than 16 million people. Hitler killed about 6,000,000 Jews from all over Europe in his famous concentration camps, or they simply disappeared. Millions of other civilians have died in air strikes, as a result of great clashes between armies, from hunger, malnutrition or deprivation, or in the huge stream of people that moved back and forth across Europe and Asia during the exodus of refugees and displaced persons.
Russia has lost more people than any of the other belligerent countries, and millions have died in China. Germany and Japan, who sided with the Axis, paid dearly for their conquest attempts and short-lived fame.
Below are the losses for different countries based on statistical data taken mainly from official sources. Some of them are exaggerated for political reasons. Nevertheless, it seems credible that the Second World War was the cause of the deaths of a total of about 40 million people.
Source: Belgian Embassy, Washington.
BRITISH COMMONWEALTH
a - including those who died of wounds or trauma
b - including military internees
c - now Pakistan and the Republic of India
d - including 20,147 missing but who were probably prisoners of war
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Source - British Information Service.
BULGARIA
Killed from 10,000 to 20,000
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Military ……………………. 160,000
Civilians ………………… 215,000
Sources: World Almanac and German Statistical Office. Among the military dead, there are probably many who served with the German or Russian armed forces. Among the civilian deaths are also those who were killed during the Nazi occupation or in cases related to the war.
The total death toll (military and Resistance) is from 1,400 to 6,300.
Source: Embassy of Denmark; German sources; World Almanac; fewer are soldiers in uniform. A larger number are merchant sailors and civilian fighters of the Resistance.
FINLAND
Winter War between Finland and Russia, 1939/40
Total death toll 25,000, of which 23,157 killed in action
45,000 injured, of which 10,000 became disabled
(Note: The number of Russians killed according to Finnish data is 200,000 killed in action. According to the Russians, 217,000 were killed or wounded.)
Killed in action 60 605
Missing 4 534
158,000 injured, of which 47,500 became disabled
Total (including Finnish War, World War II, and civilians and sailors)
Killed 86,000
Disabled 57,000 (a)
a. Including 7,000 who have since died of their wounds.
Source: Consulate General of Finland, New York.
a. Of this total, 250,000 died in concentration camps or prisons outside France.
b. Includes only those receiving a government disability pension.
With. Of these, 127,000 were injured in France; the rest are repatriated from Germany, injured or sick.
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Sources: Cahiers Francais d "Information, January 15, 1949, from a statistical report prepared by Direction de la Generale et le Secretariat de la Comission Consultatives des Dommages et des Reparations, 1949.
GERMANY (including AUSTRIA)
Killed in action (a)
Injured ……………………………………………………… 4 429 875
The prisoners also disappeared ...………………………… ..1 902 704
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Total 8 333 978
a. Includes about 191,000 people who have died from disease, accidents, suicide, death row, etc.
The estimated death toll in the last three months of the war, as well as the number of missing persons who did not return to Germany and who are believed to have died in Russian prisoner camps, bring the total German military death toll to 4,000,000.
Army …………………… ..1 622 561
Navy ………………………… .48 904
Air Force ………………………… 138 596
Civilian casualties (fatalities only)
As a result of air attacks or fighting on land …………………… .500 000 (b)
During mass migration or flight ……………………… ..2 000 000 (b)
b. This is a rough estimate and does not include Jews or other nationalities exterminated in Nazi concentration camps.
Germanic Jews
Killed in concentration camps during the war Around ……………………… 180 000 (c)
Killed before the war About …………………………………………… 200,000 (c)
With. German data. According to other estimates, this number is higher.
The figures shown do not include Jews from other countries.
Sources: German Embassy, Washington, and Losses of the German Wehrmacht, Bonn.
Losses of the armed forces of the Second World War, 1940-1944
Communist guerrilla war, 1944-1949
Source: Information Service, Royal Greek Embassy, Washington, D.C.
GENERAL LOSSES OF THE GREEK POPULATION IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR
Greco - Italian war ……………………………………… .15 700
Greco - German War ………………………………………… .. 8,000
Executed by Germans and Italians ………………………………… 30,000
Killed by the Bulgarians ……………………………………………… .40 000
Enemy shelling …………………………………………… ..3 000
Shelling by allied forces …………………………………… ..4 000
Killed seamen of merchant ships …………………………… 3 500
Partisans ……………………………………………………… 50,000
Died of hunger (during hunger strike) ……………………… 200,000
Total ………………………………………………………… .415 300
Taken out
to Bulgaria …………………………………………………… ..50 000
to Germany …………………………………………………… ..30 000
to Italy …………………………………………………… ..10 000
Jews to Poland ……………………………………………… 60,000
Source: Data taken from The Sacrifice of Greece in the Second World War, written by a group of experts edited by K.A. Doxiades, published by Ministry of Reconstruction, Athenes, 1946.
The total number of military and civilian deaths ………………. 420 000
Source: Embassy of Hungary and The Geography of Hungary, Morton Pecsi and Bela Sarfalvi. Budapest: Corvina Press, 1964. Probably more than 100,000 deaths were in the military (World Almanac counts 140,000 “killed in action”).
Killed ………………………………………………… .309 453
military …………………………………………………… .162 650
civilian ………………………………………………. 146 803
Missing ………………………………………… .135 070
military ……………………………………………………. 131 833
civilians ………………………………………………… .3 237
Wounded and injured ………………………………… 106 054
Source: Italian Embassy, Washington.
Dead and missing in World War II
Data on the losses of Italians from 1940 to 1945 are given in table. US. 263.
The Italian Statistical Institute recently completed work that provided complete figures on Italy's losses in World War II. It contains casualties among the military and among the civilian population.
The statistics refer to the period between June 10, 1940 and December 31, 1945 and were compiled with the assistance of the Ministry of Defense. The total losses of Italians during the war amounted to 444,523 people, including 309,453 dead (263,210 men and 46,243 women), and 135,070 people were missing (134,265 men and 805 women).
a. Includes civilian or military and naval personnel.
b. Includes 170,000 Japanese who died in Manchuria and China, 165,000 in the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) and 24,010 who did not return to their homes after the war. The rest were killed by nuclear bombardment, shelling and aerial bombardment of Japan.
With. By rough estimates. Of this number, some 20,500 are believed to have died from their wounds after the war.
The homes of some 8.75 million people were destroyed or damaged during the war.
It should be noted that in this table there is a very small ratio of the wounded to the killed, and there is also no category of prisoners of war. Japanese soldiers were inspired with the idea that death for God - the emperor in battle is glorious and will immediately lead the deceased to heavenly paradise. The samurai code of bushido called for fighting to the death. Even the wounded Japanese, while conscious, tried to kill those who wanted to help them, and the drowning resisted their rescuers. It was considered a shame to be captured, and fear of torture was added to the fear of shame. After the war, there were a number of prisoners, but no attempts were made to find them. They were simply erased from the life of Japan.
Source: Press Attaché at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, DC, from the Defense Department, from data compiled by the Japan Demobilization Agency and the Office of Economic Stabilization.
NETHERLANDS
The total number of deaths …………………………………… 250,000
Military ………………………………………………………… 5 200
Seamen of merchant ships ………………………………………… ..1 200
Jewish citizens ………………………………………… .104,000
Hostages …………………………………………………… 2 700
Citizens who died in
German camps …………………………………………… ..20 000
in the Dutch camps …………………………………………… 600
Those killed in battles ………………………………………………. 21,000
killed in German labor camps ………………………. 10,000
killed in the "hungry winter" …………………………………… 15 000
perished as a result of hardship .............................................................. 50,000
Missing persons ………………………………………… ..6 500
Prisoners
political …………………………………………………… .35 000
prisoners of war……………………………………………………. 9,000
Killed during the war in the Netherlands
East Indies
killed in hostilities …………………………………… ..8 500
citizens killed and dead
in concentration camps ……………………………………………… .10 500
Source: Netherlands Information Service.
NORWAY
The average number of casualties per 10,000 inhabitants was 12.8 for men and 1.2 for women.
Sources: Press Attaché of the Norwegian Embassy in Washington, DC, from official military records, reports from medics and other Norwegian and German officials, and a register of political prisoners compiled by the Department of Social Affairs.
REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Losses among the military
Killed ……………………………………… ..1 319 958
Wounded ……………………………………… .1 761 335
Missing …………………………… 130 126
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Total ………………………………………… 3 211 419
Civilian casualties are unknown. There is only the data of General Ho Ingchin, Minister of War at the time: 10,000,000. According to sources from other countries: 6,000,000.
Sources: Chinese Information Service Statistics, Operations Directorate, National War Council.
NOTE These losses include those who suffered from the Japanese during the attempt to conquer China prior to the outbreak of World War II.
Total death toll from 300 to 378,000
The total number of deaths (military and civilian) …………. 20 000 000 (a)
Dead military
killed in battles or missing ………………………… .8 500 000
died of wounds ……………………………………………… .2 500 000
died in camps …………………………………………… 2,600,000
Total ………………………………………………………… .13 600 000 (b)
Civilian deaths around ………………………………… 7,000,000 (b)
a. According to the calculations of the Russians.
b. According to the calculations of the Germans. The German historian Hans-Adolph Jacobsen, however, testifying at the meetings of the military tribunal in Germany, said that about 4,000,000 Russian prisoners of war had died in German camps.
Sources: Novosti press agency through the press service of the Soviet embassy in Washington, the German embassy.
Russian casualty statistics are very inaccurate. The communist armies did not keep accurate records of burials.
Killed in battles ………………………………………… from 320,000 to 644,000 (a)
Killed not in combat (b)
killed or died in concentration and other camps ……………… .4 863 000,
of which about 3,200,000 were Polish Jews
did not die in the camps from wounds, hunger, etc. ............................................. 521,000
Total number from ……………………………………… .5 800 000 to more than 6 000 000 (c)
a. Obviously, it includes both military and civilian personnel killed in hostilities, under shelling, bombing, etc. The larger number represents the official Polish data, the smaller the data of the World Almanac. According to German data, 100,000 Poles in military uniform were killed in the fighting.
b. Only calculations. Obviously include civilian and military personnel.
c. The current Polish government uses a large figure of 6,028,000 Polish citizens.
