World War II Casualties

German Casualties in World War II

Military Casualties

The following is a translation of an excerpt from the ETIKA Index 49NS — National Socialism, The Whole Truth, from the section NS-Series: World War II

Letter from Stalingrad: Let the Hell at the Volga be a Warning to you! Be on guard, so that a greater disaster doesn't befall the fatherland.  Let the hell at the Volga be a warning to you.  I beg of you, don't let this insight be blown into the wind.  (This was contained in one of the last seven postal bags that were flown out of Stalingrad in January 1943 and handed over to the Army Postal Service.  The addresses of the sender and recipient were removed.  It had been intended to use the letters in a documentary book about the battle at the Volga.  However Goebbels decided that the letters were "unbearable for the German people." [Dolomiten 31.10.1988]) War Victims Idiotic Action:  The state prosecutor in Regensburg withdrew the charges against two former army majors, who had ordered without a trial on April 27, 1945 the cruel execution of a soldier, the son of the sacristan of Ittling (M.D. Straubing), who was on military home-leave.  It was said that no evidence of any mean motivation for the action by the two majors could be established.  Their action could only be considered as "shortsighted" in view of the military situation.  State Attorney Witzeck declared:  "The action by the two men was idiotic, but idiocy is not a valid motivation within the meaning of the law on which one can base an indictment of murder." (Press Release May 5, 1970 dpa) Military Casualties in World War II, for which the National Socialists are jointly responsible The Senate of Bremen published an announcement Oct. 31, 1949, listing the German losses in World War II.  The information was based on the monthly tally which was published by the Headquarters of the Armed Forces extending to January 31, 1945.   "All information is as reliable as it can be, considering the difficult circumstances of the war.  The Armed Forces, including the Weapons-SS, has lost since the beginning of the war:   1,810,061 casualties, comprised of Army:  1,622,561 Navy:     49,904 Air force 138,596 Furthermore, there were 191,388 casualties on account of disease, accidents, suicides and death sentences, altogether: 2,001,399 dead. In addition to these casualties, the Armed Forces had up to January 31, 1945 a total of 1,902,704 members missing in action.  Two of my uncles and one of my cousins were in that number.  My three brothers survived, one of them slightly injured, the other with permanent arthritis.  My youngest brother, after having been in the Armed Forces for four years and having escaped from a POW camp, returned home and turned eighteen shortly after that. — WHS For the interval from February 1, 1945  to the end of the war it must be assumed that there were at least another 150,000 casualties… If one totals the number of the fallen-in-action, the deceased, as well as the [seriously] wounded, a number is reached that is in the order of eight million members of the Armed Forces.  According to that almost one out of every five men in Germany either died or became [seriously] wounded in action during the Second World War. That statistic doesn't include any civilian casualties. —WHS

Military and Civilian Casualties in the World Wars

According to an article in Der Spiegel (4/1999), the casualties in the two world wars were as follows:

The Casualties of the World Wars (millions)

World War I: about 10 million

Breakdown of the numbers according to
The Two World Wars, Vol I - World War I by Susan Everett; (1980 by Bison Books)

World War II: about 55 million

Of those:

	Military (millions)	Civilian (millions)
USSR	13.6	7.0
Germany	4.8	0.5
Japan	1.2	0.6
Yugoslavia	0.4	1.3
USA	0.3	0.006
Poland	0.3	4.2
Canada	0.04	0

Canadian Casualties in World War II

Not only was Canada's war effort in World War II far more extensive than that in World War I, it also had a much more lasting impact on Canadian society. By the end of the war, more than 1,000,000 Canadians (about 50,000 of whom were women [who were employed exclusively in service positions]) had served in the three services. Casualties were lower than in the previous war, with approximately 42,000 killed or having died in service and 54,400 wounded. [Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica]

The more-than 21,000 women who served in the Canadian army during World War II filled an array of roles, although they were excluded from combat duty. More than 2,000 were posted overseas and at least 25 lost their lives in the line of duty. Source: Toronto Star, Sep. 19, 2004. 01:00 AM "Amid fond memories, army women disband Proud wartime service created lifelong friends"

In contrast, more than a million Canadian men served in the Canadian Armed Forces during Word War II, and about 50,000 of them died in the service of their country, one out of every 20 that served, as opposed to the 25 women that died, one out of every 840 women that served, according to the numbers published in the article by the Toronto Star.

Breakdown of World War II Casualties — All Nations

The on-line edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica contains a Table listing estimated casualties for most countries involved in and affected by the Second World War.  The information from that table, augmented by information from a web page by Phil Stokes, is reflected in the following three graphs and the subsequent table.

 

World War II Casualties — All Countries

based on http://members.xoom.com/philswwii/home.html and http://search.eb.com.au/bol/topic?tbl_id=1073

Country	Military	Civilian	Total
U.S.S.R.	8,668,000	16,900,000	25,568,000
China	1,324,000	10,000,000	11,324,000
Germany	3,250,000	3,810,000	7,060,000
Poland	850,000	6,000,000	6,850,000
Japan	1,506,000	300,000	1,806,000
Yugoslavia	300,000	1,400,000	1,700,000
Rumania	520,000	465,000	985,000
France	340,000	470,000	810,000
Austria	380,000	145,000	525,000
Hungary	200,000	290,000	490,000
Greece	88,300	325,000	413,300
Italy	330,000	80,000	410,000
United Kingdom	326,000	62,000	388,000
USA	292,131	6,000	298,131
Netherlands	14,000	236,000	250,000
Czechoslovakia	10,000	215,000	225,000
Philippines	27,000	91,000	118,000
Belgium	10,000	75,000	85,000
Finland	82,000	2,000	84,000
Canada	37,476		37,476
India	36,000		36,000
Australia	29,000		29,000
Spain	12,000	10,000	22,000
Bulgaria	19,000	2,000	21,000
New Zealand	12,000		12,000
Norway	3,000	7,000	10,000
South Africa	9,000		9,000
U.K. Colonies	6,877		6,877
Denmark	2,000	1,800	3,800
Brazil	943		943
Totals:	18,684,727	40,892,800	59,577,527

World War II

Human and material cost

There can be no real statistical measurement of the human and material cost of World War II. The money cost to governments involved has been estimated at more than $1,000,000,000,000 but this figure cannot represent the human misery, deprivation, and suffering, the dislocation of peoples and of economic life, or the sheer physical destruction of property that the war involved.  
(Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica)
 

The costs to governments translate to earnings by the members of the armament industry at $16,666.67 per human life lost.

The quote from the Encyclopaedia Britannica shown above mentions the impossibility of measuring other losses.  However, what should be considered too is that in the reconstruction following the war, enormous profits were made by many of the same companies that brought about the destruction of the property that had to be replaced after the war.

War is very profitable for some people, the trusts.  Considering that for instance Krupp had provided much funding to finance Hitler's rise to power, the role of the trusts in bringing about war should be examined.  Isn't that what business is all about, to satisfy the demand of the market with whatever goods are needed, and to create a market when none exists?

The Shadows of Power

Perloff, James — The Shadows of Power (Western Islands, Belmont MA, 1988 ed, eighth printing, 266pp, pb, $10.95, Case of 30 - $200.00)

James Perloff exposes the global designs of the Council on Foreign Relations.  Passed off as a think-tank, this group is a key “power behind the throne,” with hundreds of top appointed government officials drawn from its ranks.  Review and Ordering

The first two paragraphs from the review:

Many Americans still scoff at the idea of a conspiratorial interpretation of ongoing events. The Shadows of Power by James Perloff demonstrates that they scoff at their own peril. By sheer weight of evidence, and perhaps more clearly than ever before, this account overwhelms any and all arguments of the disbelievers. Piling fact upon fact, the author moves unerringly to the frightening conclusion that we are being manipulated into a merger with the Soviet bloc and a New World Order. 

Although not by any means the first exposé of the "invisible government" directed by David Rockefeller's Council on Foreign Relations, this book is an invaluable summary and updating of this vital subject. However, it must not be imagined that this is a giant tome to be waded through. On the contrary, it is a definitive volume of 264 pages, including numerous photographs.

___________________________
Updates:
1999 10 23 —WHS
2000 11 05 (to provide reference to The Shadows of Power)
2001 01 31 (format changes)
2008 04 29 (updated link to The Shadows of Power)