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World War II casualties

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American corpses sprawled on the beach of Tarawa. The Marines secured the island after 76 hours of intense fighting with around 6,000 dead in total from both sides together. The Pacific War claimed the lives of more than 100,000 US military personnel.

World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history. Over 60 million people were killed, which was over 2.5% of the world population. The tables below give a detailed country-by-country count of human losses.

Contents   [hide]  1 Total dead 2 Recent historical scholarship 3 Classification of casualties 4 Human losses by country 4.1 Total deaths 4.2 Third Reich 4.3 USSR 4.4 Holocaust deaths 4.5 Japanese war crimes 4.6 Repression in the Soviet Union 4.7 Military casualties by branch of service 4.8 Commonwealth military casualties 5 Charts and graphs 6 See also 7 Footnotes 8 References 9 External links

Total dead

Killing of Jews at Ivangorod, Ukraine, 1942. A woman protects a child with her body as Einsatzgruppen soldiers aim their rifles.

Dead Soviet soldiers, January 1942. Officially, roughly 8.7 million Soviet soldiers died in the course of the war.

World War II fatality statistics vary, with estimates of total dead ranging from 50 million to over 70 million.^[1] The sources cited in this article document an estimated death toll in World War II of 62 to 78 million, making it the deadliest war in world history in absolute terms of total dead but not in terms of deaths relative to the world population.

When scholarly sources differ on the number of deaths in a country, a range of war losses is given, in order to inform readers that the death toll is disputed. Civilians killed totaled from 40 to 52 million, including 13 to 20 million from war-related disease and famine. Total military dead: from 22 to 25 million, including deaths in captivity of about 5 million prisoners of war.

Recent historical scholarship

Recent historical scholarship has shed new insight into the topic of Second World War casualties. Research in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union has caused a revision of estimates of Soviet war dead.^[2] Estimated USSR losses within postwar borders now stand at 26.6 million.^[3] In August 2009 the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) researchers estimated Poland's dead at between 5.6 and 5.8 million.^[4]

The German Army historian Dr. Rüdiger Overmans published a study in 2000 that estimated German military dead and missing at 5.3 million.^[5] War dead totals in this article for theBritish Commonwealth are based on the research of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.^[6] Casualties listed here include about 4 to 12 million war-related famine deaths in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, India that are often omitted from other compilations of World War II casualties.^[7][8]

Classification of casualties

Katyn 1943 exhumation. Photo by Polish Red Cross delegation.

Some nations in World War II suffered disproportionally more casualties than others. This is especially true regarding civilian casualties. The following chart gives data on the number of dead for each country, along with population information to show the relative impact of losses. Military figures include battle deaths (KIA) and personnel missing in action (MIA), as well as fatalities due to accidents, disease and deaths of prisoners of war in captivity. Civilian casualties include deaths caused by strategic bombing, Holocaust victims, Japanese war crimes, population transfers in the Soviet Union, other War Crimes and deaths due to war related famine and disease. Compiling or estimating the numbers of deaths caused during wars and other violent conflicts is a controversial subject. Historians often put forward many different estimates of the numbers killed during World War II.^[9] The distinction between military and civilian casualtiescaused directly by warfare and collateral damage is not always clear cut. For nations that suffered huge losses such as the Soviet Union, China, Poland, Germany and Yugoslavia, our sources can give us only the total estimated population loss caused by the war and a rough estimate of the breakdown of deaths caused by military activity, crimes against humanity and war related famine. The footnotes give a detailed breakdown of the casualties and their sources, including data on the number of wounded where reliable sources are available.

Human losses by country

Total deaths

[hide] Human losses of World War II by country
(When the number of deaths in a country are disputed, a range of war losses is given)
(The sources of the figures are provided in the footnotes)
Country Total population 1/1/1939 Military deaths Civilian deaths due to military activity and crimes against humanity Total deaths Deaths as % of 1939 population  AlbaniaA 1,073,000 30,000 30,000 2.81  AustraliaB 6,998,000 39,800 700 40,500 0.57  Austria (German Controlled)C 6,650,000 Included with German Army 120,000 120,000 (see table below)  BelgiumD 8,387,000 12,100 75,900 88,000 1.05  BrazilE 40,289,000 1,000 1,000 2,000 0.02  BulgariaF 6,458,000 22,000 3,000 25,000 0.38  Burma(British)G 16,119,000 22,000 250,000 272,000 1.69  CanadaH 11,267,000 45,400 45,400 0.40  China I 517,568,000 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 7,000,000 to 16,000,000 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 (1.93 to 3.86)  CubaJ 4,235,000 100 100 0.00  CzechoslovakiaK 15,300,000(See Footnote) 25,000 300,000 325,000 2.12  DenmarkL 3,795,000 2,100 1,100 3,200 0.08  Dutch East IndiesM 69,435,000 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 (4.3 to 5.76)  Estonia (within 1939 borders)N 1,122,000 Included with the Soviet, German, and Finnish Armies 50,000 50,000 4.44  EthiopiaO 17,700,000 5,000 95,000 100,000 0.6  FinlandP 3,700,000 95,000 2,000 97,000 2.62  FranceQ 41,700,000 217,600including colonies 350,000 567,600 1.35  French IndochinaR 24,600,000 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 (4.07 to 6.1)  GermanyS 69,850,000 5,530,000 1,100,000 to 3,150,000 6,630,000 to 8,680,000 (see table below)  GreeceT 7,222,000 20,000 to 35,100 300,000 to 770,000 320,000 to 805,100 (4.44 to 11.15)  HungaryU 9,129,000 300,000 280,000 580,000 6.35  IcelandV 119,000 200 200 0.17  India (British)W 378,000,000 87,000 1,500,000 to 2,500,000 1,587,000 to 2,587,000 (0.42 to 0.68)  IranX 14,340,000 200 200 0.00  Iraq'Y 3,698,000 500 500 0.01  IrelandZ 2,960,000 200 200 0.00  ItalyAA 44,394,000 301,400 155,600 457,000 1.03  JapanAB 71,380,000 2,120,000 500,000 to 1,000,000 2,620,000 to 3,120,000 (3.67 to 4.37)  Korea Japanese ColonyAC 23,400,000 378,000 to 483,000 378,000 to 483,000 (1.6 to 2.06)  Latvia (within 1939 borders)AD 1,951,000 Included with the Soviet and German Armies 230,000 230,000 11.78  Lithuania (within 1939 borders)AE 2,442,000 Included with the Soviet and German Armies 350,000 350,000 14.33  LuxembourgAF 295,000 2,000 2,000 0.68  Malaya(British)AG 4,391,000 100,000 100,000 2.28  Malta(British)AH 269,000 1,500 1,500 0.56  MexicoAI 19,320,000 100 100 0.00  MongoliaAJ 819,000 300 300 0.04  Nauru(Australian)AK 3,400 500 500 14.7  Nepal BG 6,000,000 Included with British Indian Army  NetherlandsAL 8,729,000 17,000 284,000 301,000 3.45  Newfoundland(British)AM 300,000 included with the U.K. 100 100 0.03  New ZealandAN 1,629,000 11,900 11,900 0.73  NorwayAO 2,945,000 3,000 6,500 9,500 0.32  Papua and New Guinea(Australian)AP 1,292,000 15,000 15,000 1.17  Philippines (U.S. Territory)AQ 16,000,000 57,000 500,000 to 1,000,000 557,000 to 1,057,000 (3.48 to 6.6)  Poland (within 1939 borders)AR 34,849,000 240,000 5,380,000 to 5,580,000 5,620,000 to 5,820,000 (16.1 to 16.7)  Portuguese TimorAS 500,000 40,000 to 70,000 40,000 to 70,000 (8.00 to 14.00)  Romania (within 1939 borders)AT 19,934,000 300,000 500,000 800,000 4.01  Ruanda-Urundi(Belgian)AU 4,200,000 0 to 300,000 0 to 300,000 (0.00 to 7.1)  Singapore(British)AV 728,000 50,000 50,000 6.87  South AfricaAW 10,160,000 11,900 11,900 0.12  South Pacific Mandate(Japanese)AX 1,900,000 57,000 57,000 3.00  Soviet Union (see table below)AY 168,524,000 8,800,000 to 10,700,000 12,700,000 to 14,600,000 23,400,000 13.88  SpainAZ 25,637,000 Included with the German Army  SwedenBA 6,341,000 600 600 0.01  SwitzerlandBB 4,210,000 100 100 0.00  ThailandBC 15,023,000 5,600 2,000 7,600 0.04  TurkeyBD 17,370,000 200 200 0.00  United KingdomBE 47,760,000 383,800including colonies 67,100 450,900 0.94  United StatesBF 131,028,000 416,800 1,700 418,500 0.32  YugoslaviaBG 15,400,000 300,000 to 446,000 581,000 to 1,400,000 1,027,000 to 1,700,000 (6.67 to 11.0) Totals 1,995,537,400 22,426,600 to 25,487,500 37,585,300 to 55,883,000 62,171,600 to 79,184,700 (3.17 to 4.00)

• Figures rounded to the nearest hundredth place.

• Population in 1939 - Source: Population Statistics^[10]

• War losses are for the national boundaries of 1939.

• Military casualties include deaths of regular military forces from combat as well as non combat causes. Partisan and resistancefighter deaths forces are included with military losses. The deaths of prisoners of war in captivity and personnel missing in action are also included with military deaths. The armed forces of the various nations are treated as single entities, for example the deaths of Austrians, Soviets, French and ethnic Germans in the Wehrmacht are included with German military losses. There is no reliable breakout of the war dead from Africa and Asia in the armed forces of France and the UK. France and the UK have never published an ethnic breakout of their losses.

• Civilian casualties include deaths caused by strategic bombing, Holocaust victims, Japanese war crimes, population transfers in the Soviet Union, Allied war crimes and deaths due to war related famine and disease. The exact breakdown is not always provided in the sources cited.

• Total Soviet losses in the postwar 1946–91 boundaries^[11] were 26.6 million. (13.5% of the total population of 196.7 million)^[12]

• Total Polish losses in the postwar 1946 boundaries^[13] were about 3,600,000 (15.8% of the total population of 23.3 million)^[14]

• Total Romanian losses in the postwar 1946 boundaries.^[15] were 500,000 (2.5% of the total population of 15.9 million)^[16]

• Total losses of Czechoslovakia in the post war 1946-1991 borders were about 250,000 (1.9% of the total population of 14.6 million.)^[17]

Third Reich

Main article: German casualties in World War II

[hide] Human Losses of The Third Reich in World War II (Included in above figures of total war dead)

Country Population 1939 Military deaths Civilian deaths Total deaths Deaths as % of 1939 population Austria 6,650,000 260,000 120,000 380,000 5.7 Germany (within 1937 borders,Danzig & Memel Territory) 69,850,000 4,450,000 1,050,000 to 2,450,000 5,500,000 to 6,900,000 7.9 to 10.0 Ethnic Germans and other nations 6,700,000 600,000 50,000 to 700,000 650,000 to 1,300,000 9.7 to 19.4 Soviet citizens in the German military 800,000 220,000 220,000 27.5 Totals 84,000,000 5,530,000 1,220,000 to 3,270,000 6,750,000 to 8,800,000 8.0 to 10.5 Sources: See footnotes for Germany and Austria [8]

USSR

Main article: World War II casualties of the Soviet Union

[hide] Human Losses of The USSR in World War II (Included in the above figures of total war dead)

Country Population 1939 Military deaths Civilian deaths Total deaths Deaths as % of 1939 population  Soviet Union (within 1939 borders)[9] 168,524,000 8,800,000 to 10,700,000 14,600,000 to 12,700,000 23,400,000 13.9  Estonia (within 1939 borders) 1,122,000 50,000 50,000 4.5  Latvia (within 1939 borders) 1,951,000 230,000 230,000 11.6  Lithuania (within 1939 borders[18][19]) 2,442,000 350,000 350,000 14.5  Poland Eastern Regions- (figures included with Poland) 11,591,000 2,000,000 2,000,000 17.2  Romania Bessarabia & Bukovina (figures included with Romania) 3,700,000 300,000 300,000 8.1  Czechoslovakia[10]-Carpathian Ruthenia (figures included with Czechoslovakia) 700,000 50,000 50,000 7.1 Less: Population Transfers -Net[20][21][22] (1,237,000) Growth of Population 1939–mid-1941 7,923,000 Soviet deaths included in the German Military 220,000 220,000 Total population of USSR in June 1941, within postwar 1946-1991 borders[11] 196,716,000 8,800,000 to 10,700,000 17,800,000 to 15,900,000 26,600,000 13.5 Source for Population of Poland, Romania and Baltic States is League of Nations Yearbook 1942-1944[23] The borders of the USSR in 1941 are de facto not de jure. The occupation of the Baltic States by the USSR was considered illegal and never recognized by the United States. The formal transfer of the Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union occurred after the war in a treaty of August 1945. The Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union included the Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and the Vilnius region,less Białystok(Population 1,392,000) which reverted to Poland after the war.

The estimated breakdown for each Soviet Republic of total war dead is as follows

Soviet Republic	Population 1940	Military Dead	Civilian Dead	Total	Deaths as % 1940 Pop.
Azerbaijan	3,270,000	210,000	90,000	300,000	9.1%
Armenia	1,320,000	150,000	30,000	180,000	13.6%
Belarus	9,050,000	620,000	1,670,000	2,290,000	25.3%
Estonia	1,050,000	30,000	50,000	80,000	7.6%
Georgia	3,610,000	190,000	110,000	300,000	8.3%
Kazakhstan	6,150,000	310,000	350,000	660,000	10.7%
Kyrgyzstan	1,530,000	70,000	50,000	120,000	7.8%
Latvia	1,890,000	30,000	230,000	260,000	13.7%
Lithuania	2,930,000	25,000	350,000	375,000	12.7%
Moldova	2,470,000	50,000	120,000	170,000	6.9%
Russia	110,100,000	6,750,000	7,200,000	13,950,000	12.7%
Tajikistan (See Note Below)	1,530,000	50,000	70,000	120,000	7.8%
Turkmenistan	1,300,000	70,000	30,000	100,000	7.7%
Uzbekistan	6,550,000	330,000	220,000	550,000	8.4%
Ukraine	41,340,000	1,650,000	5,200,000	6,850,000	16.3%
Unidentified	-	165,000	130,000	295,000
Total USSR	194,090,000	10,700,000	15,900,000	26,600,000	13.7%

• The source of the figures on the table is Vadim Erlikman. Poteri narodonaseleniia v XX veke : spravochnik. Moscow 2004. ISBN 5-93165-107-1 pp. 23–35 Erlikman notes that these figures are his estimates.

• Figure of 15.9 million civilian war dead includes 3-4 million deaths due to war related famine and disease in the interior regions not occupied by Nazi Germany.

• Figures for Belarus and the Ukraine include about 2 million civilian dead that are also listed in the total war dead of Poland.

• The Russian News Agency RIA Novosti puts the military losses of Tajikistan at 90,000 killed^[24]

Holocaust deaths

Further information: The Holocaust

Included in the above figures of total war dead are the victims of the Holocaust

Jewish Deaths

The Holocaust is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II.Martin Gilbert estimates 5.7 million (78%) of the 7.3 million Jews in German occupied Europe were Holocaust victims.^[25] Other estimates for Holocaust deaths range between 4.9 to 6.0 million Jews.^[26]

Statistical breakdown of Jewish Dead:

• In Nazi extermination camps: According to Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) researchers 2,830,000 Jews were murdered in the Nazi death camps (500,000 Belzec; 150,000 Sobibor; 850,000 Treblinka; 150,000 Chełmno; 1,100,000 Auschwitz; 80,000 Majdanek.^[4] Raul Hilberg puts the Jewish death toll in the death camps, including Romanian Transnistria at 3.0 million.^[27]

• In the USSR by the Einsatzgruppen: Raul Hilberg puts the Jewish death toll in the area of the mobile killing groups at 1.4 million.^[27]

• Aggravated deaths in the Ghettos of Nazi-occupied Europe: Raul Hilberg puts the Jewish death toll in the Ghettos at 700,000.^[27]

• Yad Vashem has identified the names of four million Jewish Holocaust dead.^[28]

The following figures are from The Columbia Guide to the Holocaust.^[29]

Country	Pre-War Jewish population	Low Estimate	High Estimate
Austria	191,000	50,000	65,000
Belgium	60,000	25,000	29,000
Czech Republic(Bohemia & Moravia)	92,000	77,000	78,300
Denmark	8,000	60	116
Estonia	4,600	1,500	2,000
France	260,000	75,000	77,000
Germany	566,000	135,000	142,000
Greece	73,000	59,000	67,000
Hungary (borders 1940)[30]	725,000	502,000	569,000
Italy	48,000	6,500	9,000
Latvia	95,000	70,000	72,000
Lithuania	155,000	130,000	143,000
Luxembourg	3,500	1,000	2,000
Netherlands	112,000	100,000	105,000
Norway	1,700	800	800
Poland	3,250,000	2,700,000	3,000,000
Romania (Borders 1940)	441,000	121,000	287,000
Slovakia	89,000	60,000	71,000
Soviet Union (Borders 1939)	2,825,000	700,000	1,100,000
Yugoslavia	68,000	56,000	65,000
Total	9,067,000	4,869,860	5,894,716

Non Jewish dead

Some scholars maintain that the definition of the Holocaust should also include the other victims persecuted and killed by the Nazis.^{[31][32][33][34][35]} Using this definition, the total number of Holocaust victims is between 11 million and 17 million people.^[36]

• Roma: Most estimates of Roma (Gypsies) victims range from 130,000 to 500,000^[34][37][38] Ian Hancock, Director of the Program of Romani Studies and the Romani Archives and Documentation Center at the University of Texas at Austin, has argued in favour of a higher figure of between 500,000 and 1,500,000 Roma dead.^[39] Hancock writes that, proportionately, the death toll equaled "and almost certainly exceed[ed], that of Jewish victims."^[40] In a 2010 publication, Ian Hancock stated that he agrees with the view that the number of Romanis killed has been underestimated as a result of being grouped with others in Nazi records under headings such as "remainder to be liquidated", "hangers-on" and "partisans".^[41]

• Handicapped persons: 200,000 to 250,000 handicapped persons were victims of NaziEuthanasia^[42] A 2003 report by the German Federal Archive put the total murdered during the Action T4 and "14f13," euthanasia programs at 200,000^[43][44]

• Prisoners of War: POW deaths in Nazi captivity totaled 3.1 million^[45] including 2.6 to 3 million Soviet prisoners of war.^[46]

• Ethnic Poles: 1.8 to 1.9 million ethnic Polish civilians were victims during the German occupation. (see Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles).^[47]

• Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians: Sources in the English language estimate 4.5 to 11.7 million Soviet civilians were victims of Nazi ethnic cleansing and the war.^[48][49][50] A report published by the Russian Academy of Science in 1995 put the civilian death toll due to the German occupation at 13.7 million.^[51][52] Contemporary Russian sources use the terms "genocide" and "premeditated extermination" when referring to civilian losses in the occupied USSR. Civilians killed in reprisals during the Soviet partisan war and wartime related famine account for a major part the huge toll.^[53] Russian sources include Jewish Holocaust deaths with total civilian deaths and do not list them separately.

• Homosexuals: 10,000–15,000 gay men perished in Nazi concentration camps.^[54]

• Other victims of Nazi persecution: Between 1,000 to 2,000 Roman Catholic clergy,^[55] about 1,000 Jehovah's Witnesses,^[56] and an unknown number of Freemasons.^[57] "The fate of black people from 1933 to 1945 in Nazi Germany and in German-occupied territories ranged from isolation to persecution, sterilization, medical experimentation, incarceration, brutality, and murder."^[58]During the Nazi era Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats, and trade union leaders were victims of Nazi persecution.^[59]

• Serbs: (See World War II persecution of Serbs.)The numbers of Serbs persecuted by the Ustaše is the subject of much debate and estimates vary widely. Yad Vashem estimates over 500,000 murdered, 250,000 expelled and 200,000 forcibly converted to Catholicism.^[60] The estimate of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is that the Ustaša authorities murdered between 320,000 and 340,000 ethnic Serb residents of Croatia and Bosnia during the period of Ustaše rule, out of which between 45,000 and 52,000 were murdered in the Jasenovac concentration camp.^[61]

Roma losses by country

Included in the figures of total war dead are the Roma victims of the Nazi persecution, some scholars include the Roma deaths with the Holocaust.

The following figures are from The Columbia Guide to the Holocaust.^[62]

Country	Pre-War Roma population	Low Estimate	High Estimate
Austria	11,200	6,800	8,250
Belgium	600	350	500
Czech Republic(Bohemia & Moravia)	13,000	5,000	6,500
Estonia	1,000	500	1,000
France	40,000	15,150	15,150
Germany	20,000	15,000	15,000
Greece	?	50	50
Hungary	100,000	1,000	28,000
Italy	25,000	1,000	1,000
Latvia	5,000	1,500	2,500
Lithuania	1,000	500	1,000
Luxembourg	200	100	200
Netherlands	500	215	500
Poland	50,000	8,000	35,000
Romania	300,000	19,000	36,000
Slovakia	80,000	400	10,000
Soviet Union(Borders 1939)	200,000	30,000	35,000
Yugoslavia	100,000	26,000	90,000
Total	947,500	130,565	285,650

Japanese war crimes

Main article: Japanese war crimes

Included with total war dead are victims of Japanese war crimes.

• R. J. Rummel estimates the civilian victims at 5,424,000. Detailed by country: China 3,695,000; Indochina 457,000; Korea 378,000; Indonesia 375,000; Malaya-Singapore 283,000; Philippines 119,000, Burma 60,000 and Pacific Islands 57,000. Rummel estimates POW deaths in Japanese custody at 539,000 Detailed by country: China 400,000; French Indochina 30,000; Philippines 27,300; Netherlands 25,000; France 14,000; UK 13,000; UK-Colonies 11,000; US 10,700; Australia 8,000.^[8][63]

• Werner Gruhl estimates the civilian victims at 20,365,000. Detailed by country: China 12,392,000; Indochina 1,500,000; Korea 500,000; Dutch East Indies 3,000,000; Malaya and Singapore 100,000; Philippines 500,000; Burma 170,000; Forced laborers in Southeast Asia 70,000, 30,000 interned non-Asian civilians; Timor 60,000; Thailand and Pacific Islands 60,000.^[64] Gruhl estimates POW deaths in Japanese captivity at 331,584. Detailed by country: China 270,000; Netherlands 8,500; U.K. 12,433; Canada 273; Philippines 20,000; Australia 7,412; New Zealand 31; and the United States 12,935^[64]

• The historian Chalmers Johnson has written that “the Japanese slaughtered as many as 30 million Filipinos, Malays, Vietnamese,Cambodians, Indonesians and Burmese, at least 23 million of them ethnic Chinese^[65]

• Out of “60,000" Indian Army POWs taken at the Fall of Singapore, 11,000 died in captivity^[66]

• There were 14,657 deaths among the total 130,895 western civilians interned by the Japanese due to famine and disease.^[67][68]

Repression in the Soviet Union

The total war dead in the USSR includes victims of Soviet repression. The number of deaths in the Gulag labor camps increased as a result of wartime overcrowding and food shortages.^[69] The Stalin regime deported the entire populations of ethnic minorities considered to be potentially disloyal.^[70] Since 1990 Russian scholars have been given access to the Soviet-era archives and have published data on the numbers of persons executed and those who died in Gulag labor camps and prisons.^[71] The Russian scholar Viktor Zemskovputs the death toll from 1941-1945 at about 1 million based on data from the Soviet archives.^[72] The Soviet-era archive figures on the Gulag labor camps has been the subject of a vigorous academic debate outside Russia since their publication in 1991. J. Arch Gettyand Stephen G. Wheatcroft maintain that Soviet-era figures more accurately detail the victims of the Gulag labor camp system in the Stalin era.^[73][74] Robert Conquest and Steven Rosefielde have disputed the accuracy of the data from the Soviet archives, maintaining that the demographic data and testimonials by survivors of the Gulag labor camps indicate a higher death toll.^[75][76] Rosefielde believes that the release of the Soviet Archive figures is disinformation generated by the modern KGB.^[77] Rosefielde maintains that the data from the Soviet archives is incomplete; for example, he pointed out that the figures do not include the 22,000 victims of the Katyn massacre.^[78] Rosefielde's demographic analysis puts the number of excess deaths due to Soviet repression at 2,183,000 in 1939-1940 and 5,458,000 from 1941-1945.^[79] Michael Haynes and Rumy Husun accept the figures from the Soviet archives as being an accurate tally of Stalin's victims, they maintain that the demographic data depicts an underdeveloped Soviet economy and the losses in World War Two rather than indicating a higher death toll in the Gulag labor camps.^[80]

In August 2009 the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) researchers estimated 150,000 Polish citizens were killed due to Soviet repression. Since the collapse of the USSR, Polish scholars have been able to do research in the Soviet archives on Polish losses during the Soviet occupation.^[81] Andrzej Paczkowski puts the number of Polish deaths at 90,000–100,000 of the 1.0 million persons deported and 30,000 executed by the Soviets.^[82] In 2005 Tadeusz Piotrowski estimated the death toll in Soviet hands at 350,000.^[83]

The Estonian State Commission on Examination of Policies of Repression put civilian deaths due to the Soviet occupation in 1940–1941 at 33,900 including (7,800 deaths) of arrested people, (6,000) deportee deaths, (5,000) evacuee deaths, (1,100) people gone missing and (14,000) conscripted for forced labor. After the reoccupation by the U.S.S.R., 5,000 Estonians died in Soviet prisons during 1944–45.^[84]

The following is a summary of the data from the Soviet archives:
Reported deaths for the years 1939-1945: 1,187,783, including Judicial Executions: 46,350; Deaths in Gulag labor camps: 718,804 Deaths in labor colonies and prisons: 422,629.^[85]

Deported to Special Settlements:(figures are for deportations to Special Settlements only, not including those executed, sent to Gulag labor camps or conscripted into the Soviet Army. Nor do the figures include additional deportations after the war).
Deported from annexed territories 1940-41- 380,000 to 390,000 persons including Poland 309-312,000; Lithuania 17,500; Latvia 17,000; Estonia 6,000; Moldova 22,842.^[86] In August 1941, 243,106 Poles living in the Special Settlements were amnestied and released by the Soviets.^[87]
Deported during the War 1941-1945- About 2.3 million persons of Soviet ethnic minorities including: Soviet Germans 1,209,000; Finns 9,000; Karachays 69,000; Kalmyks 92,000;Chechens and Ingush 479,000; Balkars 37,000; Crimean Tatars 191,014; Meskhetian Turks91,000; Greeks, Bulgarians and Armenians from Crimea 42,000; Ukranian OUN members 100,000; Poles 30,000.^[88]
A total of 2,230,500^[89] persons were living in the settlements in October 1945 and 309,100 deaths were reported in Special Settlements for the years 1941-1948^[90]

Russian sources list Axis prisoner of war deaths of 580,589 in Soviet captivity based on data in the Soviet archives(Germany 381,067; Hungary 54,755; Romania 54,612; Italy 27,683; Finland 403 and Japan 62,069)^[91] However some western scholars estimate the total at between 1.7 and 2.3 million.^[92]

Military casualties by branch of service

[hide] Casualties of World War II by Branch of Service
Country Branch of service Number served Killed/missing Wounded Prisoners of war Captured Percent killed Germany Army[93] 13,600,000 4,202,000 30.9 Air Force(including infantry units)[93] 2,500,000 433,000 17.3 Navy[93] 1,200,000 138,000 11.5 Waffen SS[93] 900,000 314,000 34.9 Volkssturm and other Paramilitary Forces[93] 231,000 Soviet citizens in German military service[94][95] 215,000 Unidentified by branch of service (see note below) 6,035,000[96] 11,100,000[97] Total Germany 18,200,000 5,533,000 6,035,000 11,100,000 30.4 | Japan[98][99] Army1937-1945 6,300,000 1,326,076 85,600 30,000 24.22 Navy1941-1945 2,100,000 414,879 8,900 10,000 19.76 POW dead after Surrender.[100][101][102] 381,000 Total Japan 2,121,955 | Italy All branches of service 3,430,000[103] 291,376[104] 320,000 1,300,000[105] 8.49 | Soviet Union 1939–40 All branches of service[106] 136,945 205,924 Soviet Union 1941–45 All branches of service[107] 34,476,700 8,668,400 14,685,593 4,050,000 25.1 Conscripted Reservists not yet in active service (see note below)[108] 500,000 Civilians in POW Camps (see note below)[109] 1,000,000 1,750,000 Paramilitary and Soviet partisan units[110] 400,000 Total USSR 10,725,345 14,915,517 5,750,000 | British Commonwealth[111][112][113] All branches of service 11,115,000 580,497 475,000 318,000 5.2 | United States[114] Army[115] 11,260,000 318,274 565,861 2.8 Air Force (included with Army)[116] (3,400,000) (88,119) (17,360) 2.5 Navy 4,183,446 62,614 37,778 1.5 Marine Corps 669,100 24,511 68,207 3.66 United States Coast Guard[117] 241,093 1,917 0.78 United States Merchant Marine[118] 243,000 9,521 12,000 3.9 Unidentified by branch of service[119] c.130,000 Total US 16,596,639 416,837 683,846 C.130,000 2.5
Germany The number killed in action was 2,303,320; died of wounds, disease or accidents 500,165; 11,000 sentenced to death by court martial; 2,007,571 missing in action or unaccounted for after the war; 25,000 suicides; 12,000 unknown;[120]459,475 confirmed POW deaths, of whom 77,000 were in the custody of the U.S., UK and France; and 363,000 in Soviet custody. POW deaths includes 266,000 in the post war period after June 1945, primarily in Soviet captivity;;.[121] Dr. Rüdiger Overmans believes that "It seems entirely plausible, while not provable,that one half of the 1.5 million missing on the eastern front were killed in action, the other half (700,000) however in fact died in Soviet custody";[122] Soviet sources list the deaths of 474,967 of the 2,652,672 German Armed Forces POW taken in the War.[123] USSR Estimated total Soviet military war dead from 1941–45 on the Eastern Front (World War II) including missing in action,POWs and Soviet partisans range from 8.6 to 10.6 million.[110] There were an additional 127,000 war dead in 1939–40 during the Winter War with Finland[124] The official figures for military war dead and missing from 1941–45 are 8,668,400 comprising 6,329,600 combat related deaths, 555,500 non combat deaths.[125] 500,000 missing in action and 1,103,300 POW dead and another 180,000 liberated POWs who most likely emigrated to other countries.[126][127][128] Figures include Navy losses of 154,771.[129]Non combat deaths include 157,000 sentenced to death by court martial.[130] Casualties in 1939–40 include the following dead and missing, Battle of Khalkhin Gol in 1939 (8,931); Invasion of Poland of 1939 (1,139); Winter War with Finland (1939–40) (126,875).[106] The number of wounded includes 2,576,000 permanently disabled.[131] The official Russian figure for total POW held by the Germans is 4,059,000; the number of Soviet POW who survived the war was 2,016,000, including 180,000 who most likely emigrated to other countries, and an additional 939,700 POW and MIA who were redrafted as territory was liberated. This leaves 1,103,000 POW dead. However, western historians put the number of POW held by the Germans at 5.7 million and about 3 million as dead in captivity (in the official Russian figures 1.1 million are military POW and remaining balance of about 2 million are included with civilian war dead).[126][132] Conscripted reservists is an estimate of men called up, primarily in 1941, who were killed in battle or died as POWsbefore being listed on active strength. Soviet and Russian sources classify these losses as civilian deaths.[133] British Commonwealth Number served: UK & Crown Colonies (5,896,000); India (2,582,000), Australia (993,000); Canada (1,100,000); New Zealand (295,000); South Africa (250,000).[134] Total war related deaths reported by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission: UK & Crown Colonies (383,786); Undivided India (87,032), Australia (40,464); Canada (45,383); New Zealand (11,929); South Africa (11,903);[111] Wounded: UK & Crown Colonies (284,049); India (64,354), Australia (39,803); Canada (53,174); New Zealand (19,314); South Africa (14,363)[112][135][136] Prisoner of war: UK & Crown Colonies (180,488); India (79,481); Australia (26,358); South Africa (14,750); Canada (9,334); New Zealand (8,415))[112][135][136] The 'Debt of Honour Register' from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists the 1.7m men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died during the two world wars.[137] U.S. Battle deaths were 292,131, Army 234,874, Navy 36,950, Marine Corps 19,733, Coast Guard 574, and United States Army Air Forces (included in Army) 52,173. (185,924 deaths occurred in the European/Atlantic theater of operations and 106,207 deaths occurred in Asia/Pacific theater of operations.)[138][139] The United States Merchant Marine war dead of 9,521 are included with military losses. U.S. Merchant Mariners in “ocean-going service” during World War II have Veteran Status.[140] During World War II, 1.2 million African Americans served in the Armed Forces and 708 were killed in combat. 350,000 American women served in the military during World War II and 16 were killed in action[141]

Commonwealth military casualties

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Annual Report 2010-2011^[142] is the source of the military dead for the British Empire The war dead totals listed in the report are based on the research by the CWGC to identify and commemorate Commonwealth war dead. The statistics tabulated The Commonwealth War Graves Commission are representative of the number of names commemorated for all servicemen/women of the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth and former U.K. Dependencies, whose death was attributable to their war service. Some auxiliary and civilian organizations are also accorded war grave status if death occurred under certain specified conditions. For the purposes of C.W.G.C. the dates of inclusion for Commonwealth War Dead are 03/09/1939 to 31/12/1947.