how many civilians died in ww2

Between 70 to 85 million people died, either as a direct result of the conflict or due to war-related factors like diseases and starvation. Officially, roughly 8.6 million Soviet soldiers died in the course of the war, including millions of POWs. [60] They were to anticipate a southward attack by the III Panzer Army and be ready to be the southern arm of a pincer attack that would envelop 1st Belorussian Front, which would be destroyed by SS-General Felix Steiner's Army Detachment advancing from north of Berlin. [36] On 6 March, Hitler appointed Lieutenant General Helmuth Reymann commander of the Berlin Defence Area, replacing Lieutenant General Bruno Ritter von Hauenschild. Many civilians died because of deliberate genocide, massacres, mass-bombings, disease, and starvation. [70] Within the next day, 25 April 1945, the Soviet investment of Berlin was consolidated, with leading Soviet units probing and penetrating the S-Bahn defensive ring. The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people during the war, including 8.7 million military and 19 million civilians. That estimate equates to roughly 3-3.7% of Earth's population at the time. There are no reliable figures for the casualties of the Soviet Union and China, the two countries in which casualties were undoubtedly greatest. . We shall stop the Red hordes at the walls of our Berlin.' . [20] Adolf Hitler insisted on a counter-attack to recapture the Drau-Danube triangle. The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. [112] These manoeuvres had broken the German forces south of Berlin into three parts. Mitsuyoshi Himeta reported that 2.7 million casualties occurred during the Sank Sakusen. Give Today. Stalin did not believe the Western Allies would hand over territory occupied by them in the post-war Soviet zone, so he began the offensive on a broad front and moved rapidly to meet the Western Allies as far west as possible. The official death figures are listed here . [65], Elsewhere, the 2nd Belorussian Front had established a bridgehead 15km (9mi) deep on the west bank of the Oder and was heavily engaged with the III Panzer Army. The following list includes the total estimated casualties for every country involved in the war. ", National WWII Museum & Various sources, Estimated number of military and civilian fatalities due to the Second World War per country or region between 1939 and 1945 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293510/second-world-war-fatalities-per-country/ (last visited June 28, 2023), Estimated number of military and civilian fatalities due to the Second World War per country or region between 1939 and 1945 [Graph], National WWII Museum, & Various sources, April 4, 2022. [89] The remaining German Tiger tanks of the Hermann von Salza battalion took up positions in the east of the Tiergarten to defend the centre against Kuznetsov's 3rd Shock Army (which although heavily engaged around the Reichstag was also flanking the area by advancing through the northern Tiergarten) and the 8th Guards Army advancing through the south of the Tiergarten. The nations of western Europe, however great their suffering from occupation, escaped with manpower losses that were hardly comparable with those of World War I. [52] By 22 April, the 2nd Belorussian Front had established a bridgehead on the east bank of the Oder that was over 15km (9mi) deep and was heavily engaged with the III Panzer Army. It was not until the damaged bridges were repaired that artillery could be moved up in support. [63], In an attempt to coax Hitler out of his rage, General Alfred Jodl speculated that General Walther Wenck's XII Army, which was facing the Americans, could move to Berlin because the Americans, already on the Elbe River, were unlikely to move further east. Mainly for this reason, estimates of total dead in World War II vary anywhere from 35,000,000 to 60,000,000a statistical difference of no small import. Allies:if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'historylearningsite_co_uk-medrectangle-3','ezslot_2',129,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historylearningsite_co_uk-medrectangle-3-0'); Total civilian casualties Allies + Axis = 30,497,000if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'historylearningsite_co_uk-medrectangle-4','ezslot_12',114,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historylearningsite_co_uk-medrectangle-4-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'historylearningsite_co_uk-medrectangle-4','ezslot_13',114,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historylearningsite_co_uk-medrectangle-4-0_1'); .medrectangle-4-multi-114{border:none !important;display:block !important;float:none !important;line-height:0px;margin-bottom:15px !important;margin-left:auto !important;margin-right:auto !important;margin-top:15px !important;max-width:100% !important;min-height:250px;min-width:250px;padding:0;text-align:center !important;}, Total civilian + military casualties (Allies + Axis) = 55,014,000. About 270,000 of these Javanese laborers were sent to other Japanese-held areas in South East Asia, and only 52,000 were repatriated to Java. The Liberation of Bergen-Belsen Concentration: SS female camp guards remove prisoners bodies from lorries and carry them to a mass grave, inside the German Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, 1945, 830px-World_War_II_Casualties2.svg.png., The_Liberation_of_Bergen-belsen_Concentration_Camp,_April_1945_BU4031.jpg., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II#/media/File:World_War_II_Casualties2.svg, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II#Axis_collapse.2C_Allied_victory_.281944.E2.80.9345.29, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/. [141] Combat medic Guards Senior Sergeant Lyudmila S. Kravets, was the Battle of Berlin's only female HSU recipient for her valorous actions while serving in 1st Rifle Battalion, 63rd Guards Rifle Regiment, 23rd Guards Rifle Division (subordinate to 3rd Shock Army). [55] These are the known dead, but the remains of more who died in the battle are found every year, so the total of those who died will never be known. [33], The Soviet offensive into central Germany, what later became East Germany, had two objectives. [3], The three Soviet fronts had altogether 2.5million men (including 78,556 soldiers of the 1st Polish Army), 6,250 tanks, 7,500 aircraft, 41,600 artillery pieces and mortars, 3,255 truck-mounted Katyusha rocket launchers (nicknamed 'Stalin's Organ'), and 95,383 motor vehicles, many manufactured in the US. A frequently quoted number is that 100,000 women in Berlin were raped by soldiers of the Red Army (Helke Sander & Barbara Johr: BeFreier und Befreite, Fischer, Frankfurt 2005). While 37,583 prisoners from the UK, 28,500 from the Netherlands, and 14,473 from the United States were released after the surrender of Japan, the number of Chinese released was only 56. [24] On 30 March, the Soviets entered Austria; and in the Vienna Offensive they captured Vienna on 13 April. [67] Elements of the 1st Ukrainian Front continued to move westward and started to engage the German XII Army moving towards Berlin. Assess the losses and damages of World War II. Surprisingly, more than twice as many civilians died in World War II than did members of the military. They were part of Wenck's XX Corps and were made up of men from the officer training schools, making them some of the best units the Germans had in reserve. The figures are a clear indication that many Soviet civilians died in the war as a result of Nazi reprisals as well as . [87] To the south-west the 8th Guards Army attacked north across the Landwehr canal into the Tiergarten. Estimates of the total number of people killed during World War II have ranged from 35,000,000 to 60,000,000a significant span, because statistics about the wars casualties are inexact. Their spearheads had met elements of the 1st Belorussian Front west of Berlin, completing the investment of the city. [76], On 23 April, Berzarin's 5th Shock Army and Katukov's 1st Guards Tank Army assaulted Berlin from the south-east and, after overcoming a counter-attack by the German LVI Panzer Corps, reached the Berlin S-Bahn ring railway on the north side of the Teltow Canal by the evening of 24 April. [66] The IX Army had lost Cottbus and was being pressed from the east. [109] General Kurt von Tippelskirch was named as Heinrici's interim replacement until Student could arrive and assume control. [53], On 20 April 1945, Hitler's 56th birthday, Soviet artillery of the 1st Belorussian Front began shelling Berlin and did not stop until the city surrendered. Japanese POW camps, many of which were used as labor camps, also had high death rates. In a 27 January order near the conclusion of the Vistula-Oder Offensive, Marshal Konev supplied a long list of commanders to be reassigned to penal battalions for looting, drunkenness, and excesses against civilians (Duffy 1991, p.275). . "For the first time in their lives, eight million Soviet people came abroad, the Soviet Union was a closed country. Soviet ex-POWs and repatriated civilians were treated with great suspicion as potential Nazi collaborators, and some were sent to the Gulag upon being checked by the NKVD. [28], No plans were made by the Western Allies to seize the city by a ground operation. In the evening Heinrici was given permission to make the link-up. By now there were about 10,000 German soldiers in the city centre, which was being assaulted from all sides. British civilians killed in WW2 The number is about 65,000 - mainly from air raids. A quarter of the people in the Soviet Union were wounded or killed. [17], The newly created Army Group Vistula, under the command of Reichsfhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler,[18] attempted a counter-attack, but this had failed by 24 February. [51] During the same period, of all the German forces ordered to reinforce the inner defences of the city by Hitler, only a small contingent of French SS volunteers under the command of SS Brigadefhrer Gustav Krukenberg arrived in Berlin. Then came the tremendous words of command: 'Open fire on the capital of Fascist Germany.' [67] On 25 April, the 2nd Belorussian Front broke through III Panzer Army's line around the bridgehead south of Stettin, crossed the Randowbruch Swamp, and were now free to move west towards Montgomery's British 21st Army Group and north towards the Baltic port of Stralsund. Only those that went west through the Tiergarten and crossed the Charlottenbrcke (a bridge over the Havel) into Spandau succeeded in breaching Soviet lines. World War II was the largest and deadliest armed conflict in the history of mankind. [46] The cost to the Soviet forces had been very high, with over 2,807 tanks lost between 1 and 19 April, including at least 727 at the Seelow Heights. To the north of the city was the 9th Parachute Division. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [94] That afternoon, Hitler and Braun committed suicide and their bodies were cremated not far from the bunker. Enter your email below, and you'll receive this table's data in your inbox momentarily. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. In the latter category fall about 5,700,000 Jews, more than half of them from Poland, who died in Nazi concentration and death camps. Corrections? Estimated number of military and civilian fatalities due to the Second World War per country or region between 1939 and 1945 [Graph]. This represents the most military deaths of any nation by a large margin. [69] Meanwhile, by 24 April 1945 elements of 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukrainian Front had completed the encirclement of the city. [21] The goal was to secure the oil region of Nagykanizsa and regain the Danube River for future operations, [22] but the depleted German forces had been given an impossible task. [101] Goebbels was against surrender. Home About History Famous people / organisations Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour 1939 - 1945 Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour 1939 - 1945 By a supplemental charter dated 7th February 1941 the Imperial War Graves Commission was empowered to collect and record the names of civilians who died from enemy action during World War II.

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