German casualties in World War II

German soldier killed in action

Statistics for German World War Two military casualties are divergent and contradictory. The wartime casualty figures compiled by German High Command are often cited by military historians when covering individual campaigns in the war. The German High Command figures cannot be considered definitive because they cover the period up until January 31, 1945, leaving out major battles at the end of the war, also they include prisoners held by the allies who survived the war. In 1949 the West German government put the total military dead and missing at 3.2 million, a figure that still appears in many reference works dealing with World War Two. In 1961 the West German government published figures that put the military death toll at 4.4 million men, including Austria and conscripted ethnic Germans from eastern Europe. By 1963 the confidential files of the West German military search service Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) were able to identify 4.3 million dead and missing in the war. These figures were to remain unchallenged until the 1990s when Dr. Rüdiger Overmans, a German Army historian, conducted a statistical survey of the records at the military search service Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt). Overmans sought to determine total deaths and their causes, when and in which theatre of war these losses occurred as well as a demographic profile of the men who served in the war. In 2000 Overmans published the findings of his research in the study Deutsche militärische Verluste im Zweiten Weltkrieg (German Military Casualties in the Second World War), that put the total German war dead at 5.3 million. Overmans found that the wartime casualty figures compiled by German High Command were incomplete because the reporting system broke down during the chaos of the war. Overmans also found that the files of the West German military search service Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) included about 1.0 million men who were previously not reported as dead or missing.

The death toll in Germany and Austria due to Allied strategic bombing was estimated at 500,000 in a 1956 West German government report. The German government has also estimated 300,000 Germans (including Jews) were killed by Nazis due to political, racial and religious persecution and that there were 200,000 victims of the Nazi euthanasia program. Civilian deaths due to the Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950) and the Forced labor of Germans in the Soviet Union are sometimes included with World War Two casualties. In 1958 the West German government estimated the death toll at 2.2 million. This figure was to remain unchallenged until the end of the cold war in the 1990s when some German historians put the actual death toll in the expulsions at between 500,000-600,000 confirmed deaths. The German Red Cross still maintains that death toll in the expulsions is 2.2 million.

Military casualties

Wartime Statistics Compiled by German High Command

The casualties figures compiled by the German High Command (OKW) are often cited by military historians. The following schedules summarize the OKW figures published in post war era.

A. OKW Casualty Figures published by Percy Ernst Schramm

OKW Casualty Figures Sept 1, 1939 to Jan. 31, 1945

Description	Dead	Missing & POW	Total	Wounded & Sick
Eastern Front( Army)	1,105,987	1,018,365	2,124,352	3,498,059
North-Norway/Finland (Army)	16,639	5,157	21,796	60,451
Southwest-N Africa/Italy (Army)	50,481	194,250	244,731	163,602
Southeast-Balkans (Army)	19,235	14,805	34,040	55,069
West-France/Belgium (Army)	107,042	409,715	516,757	399,856
Training Forces (Army)	10,467	1,337	11,804	42,174
Died of Wounds-All Fronts (Army)	295,659	-	295,659	-
Location not Given	17,051	2,687	19,738	-
Subtotal (Army)	1,622,561	1,646,316	3,268,877	4,188,037
Navy	48,904	100,256	149,160	25,259
Air Force	138,596	156,132	294,728	216,579
Total Combat-All Branches	1,810,061	1,902,704	3,712,765	4,429,875
Other Deaths(Disease, accidents, etc.)	191,338	-	191,338	-
Grand Total	2,001,399	1,902,704	3,904,103	4,429,875

The following data was published by Percy Ernst Schramm in a multi-volume edition of the official diaries of the High Command. Schramm was responsible for maintaining the official OKW diary during the war. He published these figures in 1949.

Source of Figures: Percy Schramm Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht: 1940 - 1945: 8 Bde. (ISBN 9783881990738 ) Pages 1508 to 1511

Notes:

1-These statistics include losses of the Waffen SS as well as Volkssturm and paramilitary serving with the regular forces.

2-These statistics include casualties of the volunteer forces from the Soviet Union. 83,307 dead; 57,258 missing and 118,127wounded.

3-Included in these statistics are 322,807 POW held by the US and UK.

4-The figures for Army wounded add down to 4,219,211. Schramm put the total at 4,188,057.

5-Figures of missing include POW held by Allies.

B. OKW Casualty Statistics published by the West German government in 1961.

German Casualties reported by OKW from 9/1/1939 to 12/31/1944

Description	Dead	Missing and Prisoners of War	Total	Wounded
Army & Waffen SS	1,750,000	1,610,000	3,360,000	5,026,000
Navy	60,000	100,000	160,000	21,000
Air Force	155,000	148,000	303,000	193,000
Total Wehrmacht	1,965,000	1,858,000	3,823,000	5,240,000

These statistics were published by the West German government in 1961.

Source: Statistisches Jahrbuch für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1960, Page 78

Monthly Field Army (Feldheer) casualtites September 1939 to November 1944 according to OKW data

Year	Casualties	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
1939	Killed	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16,400	1,800	1,000	900
1939	Missing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	400	-	-	-
1940	Killed	800	700	1,100	2,600	21,600	26,600	2,200	1,800	1,600	1,300	1,200	1,200
1940	Missing	-	100	-	400	900	100	-	-	100	100	100	-
1941	Killed	1,400	1,300	1,600	3,600	2,800	22,000	51,000	52,800	45,300	42,400	28,200	39,000
1941	Missing	100	100	100	600	500	900	3,200	3,500	2,100	1,900	4,300	10,500
1942	Killed	44,400	44,500	44,900	25,600	29,600	31,500	36,000	54,100	44,300	25,500	24,900	38,000
1942	Missing	10,100	4,100	3,600	1,500	3,600	2,100	3,700	7,300	3,400	2,600	12,100	40,500
1943	Killed	37,000	42,000	38,100	15,300	16,200	13,400	57,800	58,000	48,800	47,000	40,200	35,300
1943	Missing	127,600	15,500	5,200	3,500	74,500	1,300	18,300	26,400	21,900	16,800	17,900	14,700
1944	Killed	44,500	41,200	44,600	34,000	24,400	26,000	59,000	64,000	42,400	46,000	31,900	-
1944	Missing	22,000	19,500	27,600	13,000	22,000	32,000	310,000	407,600	67,200	79,200	69,500	-

Notes: Figures include Waffen SS, Austrians and conscripted ethnic Germans. Figures for missing include POW held by Allies.

These statistics were published by the West German government in 1961.

Source: Statistisches Jahrbuch für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1960, Page 78

C. OKW Casualty Statistics published by Burkhart Müller-Hillebrand

The West German military historian de:Burkhart Müller-Hillebrand published a study of the German Army in World War Two Das Heer 1933–1945 that listed OKW casualty figures and estimated total German casualties.

Losses Reported by OKW Sept. 1, 1939-April 30, 1945

Period	Killed or Died of Wounds	MIA and Prisoners of War	Total
Actual:Sept 1, 1939- Dec 31,1944	1,965,324	1,858,404	3,823,728
Estimated: Jan 1, 1945 - April 30, 1945	265,000	1,012,000	1,277,000
Total	2,230,324	2,870,404	5,100,728

Source: Müller-Hillebrand Das Heer 1933–1945 Page 262

Field Army (Feldheer) casualties September 1939 to November 1944
according to OKW data.

Year	Dead	Missing
1939/40	76,848	2,038
1940/41	140,378	8,769
1941/42	455,635	58,049
1942/43	413,009	330,904
1943/44	502,534	925,088
1944 until Nov 30.	121,335	215,981
Total	1,709,739	1,540,829

Source: Müller-Hillebrand Das Heer 1933–1945 Page 264

Field Army (Feldheer) casualties September 1939 to November 1944
according to OKW data.

Campaign	Dead	Missing
Poland 1939	16,343	320
Norway 1940	4,975	691
West until May 31, 1944	66,266	3,218
West June 1944-November 30, 1944	54,754	338,933
Africa 1940 - May 1943	12,808	90,052
Balkans 1941 - November 30, 1944	24,267	12,060
Italy May 1943 - November 30, 1944	47,873	97,154
Russia June 1941-November 30, 1944	1,419,728	997,056
Home front 1939-November 30, 1944	64,055	1,315

Source: Müller-Hillebrand Das Heer 1933–1945 Page 265

Müller-Hillebrand maintained that the OKW figures did not present an accurate accounting of German casualties because they understated losses in the final months of the war on the eastern front and post war deaths of POW in Soviet captivity. According to Müller-Hillebrand actual irrecoverable losses in the war were between 3.3 and 4.5 million men. Overall Müller-Hillebrand estimated the total dead and missing at 4.0 million men.

German Casualties Reported by Russian Sources

The Russian military historian G. I. Krivosheev has published figures for the casualties compiled by the German High Command up until April 30, 1945 based on captured German records in the Soviet Archives.

Period	Killed or Died of Wounds	MIA and Prisoners of War	Total	Wounded
Sept 1, 1939- Dec 31,1944	1,965,300	1,858,500	3,823,800	5,240,000
Jan 1, 1945 - April 30, 1945	265,000	1,012,000	1,277,000	795,000
Total	2,230,300	2,870,500	5,100,800	6,035,000

Krivosheev gave a separate set of statistics that put losses at 2,230,000 Killed; 2,400,000 missing and 5,240,000 wounded. According to Krivosheev "The figures in the Wehrmacht documents relating to Germany's war losses are therefore contradictory and unreliable."

Krivosheev put the figures for German losses on the Eastern Front from 1941-1945 at 6,923,700 men : Killed 4,137,100, taken prisoner 2,571,600 and 215,000 dead among Russian volunteers in the Wehrmacht. Deaths of POW were 450,600 including 356,700 in NKVD camps and 93,900 in transit. Soviet sources claimed that “In 1945 the German Army lost more than 1,000,000 men killed on the Soviet-German front alone.”

Demographic Estimates of Military Losses

Estimate by West German government of November 1949 for Germany in 1937 borders was 3,250,000, (1,650,000 killied and 1,600,000 missing). Figures do not include Austria and conscripted ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe

Based on a demographic estimate the West German government in 1960 put the total military losses of the Wehrmacht at 4,440,000; 3,760,000 for Germany in 1937 borders; 430,000 conscripted ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe and 250,000 from Austria.

In 1951 Gregory Frumkin, who was throughout its existence editor of the Statistical Year-Book of the. League of Nations gave the following assessment of German military losses based on a demographic analysis. Total dead and missing 3,975,000: Germany in 1937 borders 3,500,000; Austria 230,000; 200,000 Sudeten Germans from Czechoslovakia; 40,000 France 3,700 the Netherlands; 700 Norway and 398 Denmark

Records of German Military Search Service

The German Red Cross has reported that the records of the military search service Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) list total Whermacht losses at 4.3 million men (3.1 million dead and 1.2 million missing) in World War Two. Their figures include Austria and conscripted ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe.

German Prisoners of War

See also: Forced labor of Germans in the Soviet Union and German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union

The fate German prisoners of war have been a concern in post war Germany. By 1950 the Soviets reported that they had repatriated all German prisoners of war except a small number of convicted war criminals. During the cold war in West Germany there were claims that one million German prisoners of war were held in secret by the USSR. The West German government set up the Maschke Commission to investigate the fate of German POW in the war, in its report of 1974 they found that about 1.2 million German military personnel reported as missing more than likely died as POW, including 1.1 million in the USSR Based on his research Rűdiger Overmans believes that the deaths of 459,000 dead POW can confirmed be in the files of Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)(including 363,000 in the USSR). Overmans estimates the actual death toll of German POW is about 1.1 million men (including 1.0 million in the USSR), he maintains that among those reported as missing were men who actually died as POW. Data from the Soviet Archives published by G. I. Krivosheev put the deaths in the USSR of German POWs at 450,600 including 356,700 in NKVD camps and 93,900 in transit. Since the collapse of communism data from the Soviet Archives has become available concerning the deaths of German POW in the USSR. In recent years there has been an joint Russian-German project to investigate the fate of POW in the war.

German POW deaths- Overmans estimate 2000
Nation holding Prisoners of War	Number captured	Deaths
UK	ca. 3,600,000	c. 2,000
USA	ca. 3,000,000	5-10,000
USSR	ca. 3,000,000	max. 1,000,000
France	ca.1,000,000	more than 22,000
Yugoslavia	ca.200,000	ca. 80,000
Poland	ca.70,000	ca. 10,000
Belgium	ca.60,000	ca. 500
Czechoslovakia	ca.25,000	ca. 2,000
Netherlands	ca. 7,000	ca. 200
Luxemburg	ca. 5,000	15
Total	ca. 11,000,000	ca. 1,100,000

Source of figures-Rűdiger Overmans, Soldaten hinter Stacheldraht. Deutsche Kriegsgefangene des Zweiten Weltkriege. Page 246.

Confirmed POW Deaths
Nation holding POW	Total Dead
USSR	363,000
France	34,000
USA	22,000
UK	21,000
Yugoslavia	11,000
Other nations	8,000
Total	459,000

Source of figures Deutsche militärische Verluste im Zweiten Weltkrieg page 286

German POW Held in Captivity (Per R. Overmans)
Average during Quarter	Held Western Allies	Held by Soviets & their Allies	Total Living POW
4th Quarter 1941	6,600	26,000	32,600
4th Quarter 1942	22,300	100,000	122,300
4th Quarter 1943	200,000	155,000	355,000
4th Quarter 1944	720,000	563,000	1,283,000
1st Quarter 1945	920,000	1,103,000	2,023,000
2nd Quarter 1945	5,440,000	2,130,000	7,570,000
3rd Quarter 1945	6,672,000	2,163,000	8,835,000

Source:Rűdiger Overmans Soldaten hinter Stacheldraht. Deutsche Kriegsgefangene des Zweiten Weltkriege. Ullstein Taschenbuch vlg., 2002 Pages 272-273

Overmans has made the following points in Deutsche militärische Verluste im Zweiten Weltkrieg

• Based on his research Overmans believes that 459,000 dead POW listed in the files of Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) are understated. He maintains that included with the 2.0 million reported as missing and presumed dead(see schedule below) were those in fact dead in custody as POW. He points out that this will not increase the number of German war dead because some of those reported missing would be reclassified as dead POW. He believes further research is needed on the fate of the POW.

• He believes that in addition to the 363,000 confirmed POW dead in the USSR, it seems entirely plausible, while not provable, that 700,000 German military personnel listed with the missing actually died in Soviet custody

• He believes that personnel captured on the battlefield may have died of wounds or in transit before being recorded as POW. He pointed out that this was the case of some Germans in American and British hospitals.

• He maintains "Otherwise viewing the case of France, where the figures of the Maschke Commission are based on official French data; an important point to presume, that from the 180,000 missing on the Western front, many were dead in fact in French custody- or soldiers in Indochina-,

• He pointed out that the heavy death toll estimated by the Maschke Commission of 80,000 German POW in Yugoslavia was based on documented eyewitness accounts.

NKVD special camps in East Germany 1945-1950

The Soviets set up NKVD special camps in the Soviet-occupied parts of Germany and areas east of the Oder-Neisse line to intern Germans accused of alleged ties to the Nazis, or because they were hindering the establishment of Stalinism in East Germany. Between 122,000 to 150,000 were detained and at least 43,000 did not survive.

Study by Dr. Rüdiger Overmans

Dr. Rüdiger Overmans has published the study Deutsche militärische Verluste im Zweiten Weltkrieg (German Military Casualties in the Second World War), which has provided a reassessment of German military war dead based on a statistical survey of German military personnel records. The financial support for the study came from a private foundation. When Overmans conducted his research project he was an officer in the German Armed Forces, he was an associate of the German Armed Forces Military History Research Office from 1987 until 2004 and was on the faculty of the University of Freiburg from 1996-2001. In 1992 when Overmans began the project German military dead in the war listed at the military search service Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) were 4.3 million men (3.1 million confirmed dead and 1.2 missing and presumed dead). Since the collapse of communism previously classified documentation regarding German military casualties became available to German researchers.

The research project involved taking a statistical sample of the confidential German military personnel records located at the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt). The project sought to determine total deaths and their cause, when and in which theatre of war the losses occurred as well as a demographic profile of the men who served in the war. The statistical survey was conducted from the fall of 1992 until the end of 1994, 19 employees at Deutsche Dienststelle assisted in the survey. The personnel records included 3,070,000 men who were confirmed dead in the Death Files and another 15,200,000 men in the General Files who had served in the war including those listed as missing and presumed dead. The total sample pulled for the research consisted of the files of 4,844 personnel dead or missing in military service during the war: The first group 4,137 from Army,Air Force and 172 from Waffen SS and paramilitary organizations including (3,051 confirmed dead from the Death Files and another 1,258 found to be dead or missing in the General Files) The Second Group of 535 men found to be dead or missing was selected from the separate Navy files. Overmans maintains that based on the size of the sample selected that there was a 99% confidence level that the results were accurate. The research by Overmans concluded in 2000 that the total German military dead and missing were 5,318,000. The results of the Overmans research project were published with the endorsement of the German Armed Forces Military History Research Office of the Federal Ministry of Defense (Germany).

The following schedules give a brief overview of the results of the Overmans study.

By Official Status (Per R. Overmans)
Description	Number of Deaths
Confirmed Dead	3,068,000
Declared dead in legal proceedings	1,095,787
Recorded in Records (Registrierfall)	1,154,744
Total Dead	5,318,531

By Official Cause of Death (Per R. Overmans)
Cause of Death	Amount
Killed in Action	2,303,320
Died of Wounds, Illness ect.	500,165
Suicides	25,000
Sentenced to Death	11,000
No Information	12,000
Subtotal-Dead in Active Service		2,851,485
Missing	1,306,186
Final Report "Letze Nachricht"	701,385
Sub-total- Presumed Dead		2,007,571
Confirmed deaths as POW		459,475
Total Dead		5,318,531

Of the 2 million presumed dead Overmans believes 700,000 were actually dead in Soviet custody but not reported as POW.

By Front (Per R. Overmans)
Front	Total Dead
Eastern Front until 12/31/44	2,742,909
Western Europe until 12/31/44	339,957
Final Battles in Germany 1945	1,230,045
Other (including Sea and Air War Germany)	245,561
Italy	150,660
The Balkans	103,693
Northern Europe	30,165
Africa	16,066
Prisoners of War	459,475
Total	5,318,531

Overmans believes that there is not sufficient data to breakout the 1,230,045 deaths in the 1945 Final Battles in Germany between the Western Allied invasion of Germany and Eastern Front in 1945, although he estimates that 2/3 of these casualties can be attributed to the Eastern Front.

Monthly German military casualtites at point of death according Overmans study (Not including Living POW held)

Year	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December	Total
1939	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15,000	3,000	1,000	-	19,000
1940	2,000	-	5,000	3,000	21,000	29,000	7,000	4,000	4,000	5,033	1,000	2,000	83,000
1941	10,000	1,000	4,000	4,000	13,000	29,000	67,132	51,066	53,033	44,099	38,000	42,198	357,000
1942	53,165	52,099	46,132	24,066	44,099	34,033	46,099	74,231	46,033	30,000	38,231	83,792	572,000
1943	185,376	74,363	59,099	21,066	31,099	21,066	79,231	66,198	69,495	61,330	77,396	66,330	812,000
1944	81,330	91,495	112,759	92,363	78,495	182,178	215,013	348,960	151,957	184,089	103,561	159,386	1,802,000
1945	451,742	294,772	284,442	281,848	94,528	20,066	13,000	27,099	22,132	19,000	21,033	10,066	1,540,000
1946	7,000	13,099	14,000	6,000	10,066	3,000	3,000	6,000	5,033	3,000	2,000	4,000	76,000
1947	3,008	2,000	5,033	3,000	1,000	5,033	2,000	5,033	1,000	2,000	3,000	1,000	33,000
After 1947	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	25,000
Total All Years	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5,518,000

Notes: Figures include Waffen SS, Austrians, conscripted ethnic Germans ,Volkssturm and other paramilitary forces. Figures do not include Prisoners held by Allies. Prisoners held during the war are listed in a separate schedule above. Monthly figures do not add because of rounding.

Source:Rűdiger Overmans. Deutsche militärische Verluste im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Oldenbourg 2000, Page 239

Total Missing and Presumed Dead (not including POW) Per Overmans

Year of Death	Amount	(of which on Soviet-German front)
1941 & before	30,000	(26,000)
1942	116,000	(108,000)
1943	289,000	(283,000
1944	845,000	(719,000)
1945	728,000	(400,000)
1946 & later	0	0
Total	2,007,000	(1,536,000)

German military dead Eastern Front (Per R. Overmans)
Total During Year	Total Dead
1941	302,000
1942	507,000
1943	701,000
1944	1,233,000
Total 1941-1944	2,742,000

Soviet sources reported that “In 1945 the German Army lost more than 1,000,000 men killed on the Soviet-German front alone.”

Figures do not include POW deaths of 363,000 in Soviet captivity, these losses were listed separately by Overmans.

By Service Branch (Per R. Overmans)

Branch	Total Dead
Army	4,202,030
Air Force (Including Infantry Units)	432,706
Navy	138,429
Waffen SS	313,749
Volkssturm	77,726
Paramilitary and support forces	153,891
Total	5,318,531

By Nation of Origin (Per R. Overmans)

Nation	Total Dead
Pre-war Germany (1937 borders) and the Free City of Danzig	4,456,000
Austria	261,000
Ethnic Germans conscripted in Eastern Europe	534,000
French	30,000
Volunteers from Western Europe	37,000
Total	5,318,000

Overmans did not include Russian volunteers in the Wehrmacht in his figures. Russian military historian G. I. Krivosheev estimated these losses at 215,000 killed. The statistics of the German High Command put casualties of the volunteer forces from the Soviet Union up until 1/31/1945 at: 83,307 dead; 57,258 missing and 118,127wounded

Comparison of figures at 12/31/1944 of Overmans and German High Command

Overmans maintains that his research project taking a statistical sample of the records of the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) found that the German military casualty reporting system broke down during the war and that losses were understated. The following schedule compares the total dead and living POW according to Overmans at 12/31/1944 with the figures of the German High Command.

Description	-	Total
Total Dead per Overmans @12/31/44	3,643,000
Add:POW held by Allies	1,283,000
Add:Losses of Soviet Volunteers	140,000
Adjusted Losses per Overmans @12/31/1944		5,066,000
Total Dead & Missing per OKW @12/31/1944		3,823,000
Difference		1,243,000

Civilian Casualties

Killed by Allied Aerial Bombardment and in 1945 military campaign

A. Estimates Made in Germany

The estimate by West German government of November 1949 for Germany in 1937 borders was 450,000 killed in bombing and 50,000in ground fighting. Figures do not include Austria.

The West German government in October 1956 estimated 655,000 civilian deaths during war in Germany and Austria, 500,000 killed by strategic bombing, 135,000 in the 1945 flight and evacuations from East Europe. They also estimated 20,000 civilians were killed during the land campaign in Germany. These figures are detailed in a schedule below

Description	Air War	1945 in East	Total
Germany 1937 Borders
Civilians	410,000	127,000	537,000
Foreigners/POW	32,000	-	32,000
Police	23,000	1,000	24,000
Subtotal Germany 1937 Borders	465,000	128,000	593,000
Austria & Annexed Territories
Civilians	26,000	7,000	33,000
Foreigners/POW	7,000		7,000
Police	2,000		2,000
Subtotal Austria & Annexed Territories	35,000	7,000	42,000
Total Third Reich	500,000	135,000	635,000

Sources: Wirtschaft und Statistik October 1956, journal published by Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland.(German government Statistical Office) and The Statistisches Jahrbuch für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1960, Page 78. The Austrian government puts their losses in the air war at 24,000.

A 1990 study by the East German historian de:Olaf Groehler estimated 360,000–370,000 civilians were killed by Allied strategic bombing within the 1937 German boundaries, for the German Reich including Austria, forced laborers, POW and military the total is estimated at 406,000. In 2005 Groehler's figures were published in the authoritative series The German Reich and the Second World War

B. Estimates made by US and UK Governments

The United States Strategic Bombing Survey in 1945 gave two figures for German civilian deaths in the air war: The section Effects of Strategic Bombing on the German War Economy put the losses at 375,000, while the section The Effect of Bombing on Health and Medical Care in Germany gave a figure of 422,000 dead.

The British PM Mr. Attlee in a statement to Parliament on 22 October 1945 put the German death toll in the bombing campaign at 350,000

C. Battle of Berlin

Killed during the fighting in Berlin 22,000

Deaths due to Nazi political, racial and religious persecution

The West German government put the number of Germans killed by the Nazi political, racial and religious persecution at 300,000 (Including 160,000 German Jews)

A 2003 report by the German Federal Archive put the total murdered during the Action T4 Euthanasia program at 200,000

Civilian deaths due to the expulsion of Germans after World War II

See Also: Demographic estimates of the flight and expulsion of Germans and Forced labor of Germans in the Soviet Union

Civilian deaths due to the Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950) and the Forced labor of Germans in the Soviet Union are sometimes included with World War II Casualties. In 1958 the West German government estimated the death toll at 2.2 million. This figure was to remain unchallenged until the end of the cold war in the 1990s when some German historians put the actual death toll in the expulsions at between 500,000-600,000 confirmed deaths. The German Red Cross still maintains that death toll in the expulsions is 2,251,500.

The following studies were published by the West German government estimating expulsion deaths.

1-In 1950 the West German government made an preliminary estimate of 3,000,000 German civilians missing in Eastern Europe (1.5 million from pre war Germany and 1.5 million ethnic Germans from East Europe)whose fate needed to be clarified. This estimate was later superseded by the 1958 German Government demographic study.

2-The Schieder commission from 1953 to 1961 estimated 2.2 million civilian deaths in the expulsions- Details by country Oder-Neisse region 2,167,000(figure includes 500,000 military and 50,000 air raid dead); Poland 217,000, Danzig 100,000; Czechoslovakia 225,600; Yugoslavia 69,000; Rumania 10,000; Hungary 6,000 The statistical information in the Schieder Report was later superseded by the 1958 German Government demographic study.

3- The West German government statistical office issued a report in 1958 that put the number of civilians dead or missing in the expulsions and forced labor in the USSR at 2,225,000( including 1,339,000 for Germany in 1937 borders; Poland 185,000, Danzig 83,200; Czechoslovakia 272,900; Yugoslavia 135,800; Rumania 101,000; Hungary 57,000; Baltic States 51,400. The figures include 127,000 killed in the 1945 military campaign. The figures from this report are often cited by historians writing in the English language. Dr. Rüdiger Overmans pointed out that these figures represent persons whose fate had not been clarified, not necessarily dead as a result of the expulsions.

4-The West German government set up a unified body the Suchdienst (search service) of the German churches working in conjunction with the German Red Cross to trace the individual fates of those who were dead or missing as result of the expulsions and deportations. In 1965 the final report was issued by the search service which was able to confirm 473,013 civilian deaths in Eastern Europe; and an additional 1,905,991 cases whose fate could not be determined. This report remained confidential until 1987. Dr.Rüdiger Overmans revealed a summary of this data at a 1994 historical symposium in Poland.

5-On 28 May 1974, the West German Federal Archive (Bundesarchiv) issued a report to "compile and evaluate information available in the Federal Archives and elsewhere regarding crimes and brutalities committed against Germans in the course of the expulsion". In particular, the report identified deaths due to crimes against international law: the 1958 report of the Federal Office for Statistics listed as "post-war losses" two million people whose fate remained unaccounted for in the population balance, but who according to the 1974 report were "not exclusively victims of crimes against international law" such as post war deaths due to malnutrition and disease. The report estimated 600,000 civilian deaths (150,000 violent Deaths during war in 1945; 200,000 in Forced labor of Germans in the Soviet Union and 250,000 in post war internment Camps and forced labor in Eastern Europe)

6-In 2005 the German Red Cross Search Service still maintained that their research put losses at 2,252,500 persons in the expulsions and deportations. They did not provide details of the figure

Recent research on German expulsion losses:

In his 2000 study of German military casualties Dr. Rüdiger Overmans found 344,000 additional military deaths of Germans from the Former eastern territories of Germany and conscripted ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe. Overmans believes this will reduce the number of civilians previously listed as missing in the expulsions. Overmans did not investigate civilian expulsion losses, only military casualties, he merely noted that other studies estimated of expulsion losses from about 500,000 to 2,000,000. Overmans maintains that there are more arguments for a lower figure of 500,000 rather than the higher figures of over 2.0 million. He believes new research on the number of expulsion deaths is needed since only 500,000 of the reported 2,000,00 deaths have been confirmed.

The German historian Ingo Haar believes that civilian losses in the expulsions have been overstated in Germany for decades for political reasons. Haar argues that during the Cold War the West German government put political pressure on the Statistisches Bundesamt to push the figures upward to agree to the Church Service figure of 2.3 million confirmed dead and missing. Haar maintains that the German Red Cross figure is based on unreliable information and that the actual death toll in the expulsions is between 500-600,000 which is based on confirmed deaths.

The German historians Hans Henning Hahn and Eva Hahnova have published a detailed study of the flight and expulsions that is sharply critical of official German accounts of the cold war era. The Hahn's believe that the official German figure of 2 million deaths is a historical myth that lacks foundation. The Hahn's point out that the figure of 473,013 confirmed deaths includes 80,522 in the post war period; they maintain that most of the deaths occurred during the Nazi organized flight and evacuation during the war, and the Forced labor of Germans in the Soviet Union. They place the ultimate blame for the mass flight and expulsion on the wartime policy of the Nazis in Eastern Europe.

In 2006 The German government reaffirmed its belief that 2 million civilians perished in the flight and expulsion from Eastern Europe. They maintain that the figure is correct because it includes additional post war deaths from malnutrition and disease of those civilians subject to the expulsions State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Christoph Bergner, outlined the stance of the respective governmental institutions in Deutschlandfunk saying that the numbers presented by the German government and others are not contradictory to the numbers cited by Haar, and that the below 600,000 estimate comprises the deaths directly caused by atrocities during the expulsion measures and thus only includes people who on the spot were raped, beaten, or else brought to death, while the above two millions estimate also includes people who on their way to post-war Germany have died of epidemics, hunger, cold, air raids and the like.

Total Population Losses 1939-1946

A. Population Balance for Germany in 1937 borders: May 1939 to October 1946

According to West German Government 1956

Description	Amount
Population May 1939 Census		69,310,000
Live Births	8,670,000
Net Immigration-German Refugees	4,080,000
Subtotal Additions		12,750,000
Civilians-Death by natural causes	(7,130,000)
Civilians Killed in Air war	(410,000)
Civilians Killed in 1945 Land Battles	(20,000)
Military Dead	(3,760,000)
POW held by Allies	(1,750,000)
Germans remaining in Poland	(1,750,000)
Germans Remaining Abroad	(130,000)
Expulsion and Deportation Civilian Dead/Missing	(1,260,000)
Emigrated & Murdered Jews	(200,000)
Net Emigration of Foreign Population	(200,000)
Other, Misc.	(140,000)
Subtotal Reductions		(16,750,000)
Population October 1946 Census		65,310,000

Sources for figures: Wirtschaft und Statistik October 1956, Journal published by Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland. (German government Statistical Office)

Notes:

1-Population May 1939 Census- Figures are for Germany in 1937 borders and does not include Austria and the ethnic Germans of East Europe.

2-Live Births- are those actually recorded from May 1939 until June 1944 and from January to October 1946. The gap in vital statistics between the middle of 1944 and the end of 1945 was estimated.

3-Net Immigration-German Refugees were ethnic Germans of Eastern Europe who lived outside Germany in 1937 borders before the war.

4-Civilian Deaths- These are deaths by natural causes not directly related to the war. Figure includes deaths actually recorded from May 1939 until June 1944 and from January to October 1946. The gap in vital statistics between the middle of 1944 and the end of 1945 was estimated. The German demographer Peter Marschalck estimated the expected deaths from natural causes based on the peacetime death rate at 5,900,000. Marschalck also put the total population loss related to the war, military and civilians, at 6.9 million. The German economist de:Bruno Gleitze from the German Institute for Economic Research estimated that included in the total of 7.1 million deaths by natural causes that there were 1,2 million excess deaths caused by an increase in mortality due to the harsh conditions in Germany during and after the war In Allied occupied Germany the shortage of food was an acute problem in 1946–47 the average kilocalorie intake per day was only 1,600 to 1,800, an amount insufficient for long-term health.,

5-Killed in Air war - Figure for civilians only, does not include 23,000 police and military and 32,000 POW and foreign workers.

6-Killed in 1945 Land Battles- This is a rough estimate for Germany in post war borders, not including the former German territories in post war Poland.

7-Military Dead - Includes Wehrmacht as well as SS/police and paramilitary forces. The Statistisches Bundesamt put the total at 3,760,000. The Overmans study of German military casualties put the total at about 4,4 million.

8-POW still held by Allies- were POW who were from Germany in the 1937 borders, not including Austria and the ethnic Germans of East Europe. Total POW held were about 2.5 million, 384,000 were held in Germany and included in the census figures; about 300,000 were from outside of Germany in 1937 borders. By 1950 almost all POW had been released except for a small number of convicted war criminals.

9-Germans remaining in Poland in October 1946 were 1,750,000, but by 1950 the number had been reduced to 1,100,000 because of expulsions after October 1946. Those remaining in 1950 became Polish citizens but were German nationals in 1939.

10-Germans Remaining Abroad-Includes expelled Germans who had emigrated to other countries or were in Denmark.

11-Expulsion and Deportation Dead - This estimate is for the Oder-Neisse region of Germany in the 1937 borders, not including the ethnic Germans of other Eastern European nations. Figure includes deaths in 1945 military campaign, the forced labor in the USSR as well as excess deaths due to post war famine and disease. The German Church Service put the total of confirmed expulsion dead at about 300,000 for Germany in the 1937 borders, the balance of 960,000 are reported missing whose fate had not been clarified.

12-Emigrated & Murdered Jews- The Statistisches Bundesamt(German government Statistical Office) gave a total of 200,000 Jews who had emigrated or were murdered, they did not estimate those actually who were murdered. Most sources outside of Germany put the Holocaust death toll in Germany at about 150,000 Jews.

13-Net Emigration of Foreign Population - The Statistisches Bundesamt pointed out that this was a rough estimate.

14-Other, Misc. - The Statistisches Bundesamt defined the others as emigrated Germans, POW remaining abroad voluntarily, and German concentration camp deaths (deutsche KZ-Opfer).

15- Population October 1946 Census- Figure of 65,310,000 does not include 693,000 displaced in Germany. Figure includes 853,000 in the Saarland.

B. Population Balance for Austria

The Austrian government provides the following information on human losses during the rule of the Nazis. For Austria the consequences of the Nazi regime and the Second World War were disastrous: During this period 2,700 Austrians had been executed and more than 16,000 citizens murdered in the concentration camps. Some 16,000 Austrians were killed in prison, while over 67,000 Austrian Jews were deported to death camps, only 2,000 of them lived to see the end of the war. In addition, 247,000 Austrians lost their lives serving in the army of the Third Reich or were reported missing, and 24,000 civilians were killed during bombing raids.

C. Population Balance for the ethnic Germans of eastern Europe

In 1958 the West German government statistical office put the losses of the ethnic Germans at 1,318,000 (886,000 civilians in the expulsions and 411,000 in the German military and 22,000 in the Hungarian and Romanian military) The research of Rudiger Overmans puts military losses of ethnic Germans at 534,000 Ingo Haar points out that of the 886,000 estimated civilian dead from east Europe only about 170,000 deaths have been confirmed; the balance are considered unsolved cases.

Controversies over German Losses

The German people paid an enormous price in human lives for their support of the Nazi regime during the war. In post war Germany the fate of civilians and prisoners of war has been a contentious topic, the current view of the German government is that these losses were due to an aggressive war started by the German nation. There are some who attempt to trivialize the crimes of the Hitler period by comparing German losses to the Holocaust. These claims are viewed as an outrage by those who survived the Holocaust and have exacerbated Polish-German relations. The ultra-right in Germany has coined the phrases “Bombing Holocaust” and “Expulsion Holocaust”. The bombing of Dresden and the bombing campaign in general has been a topic of ultra-right in propaganda in post war Germany. The German historian Wolfgang Benz believes that the use of the of the term "Bombing Holocaust" runs contrary to historical fact. “. The fate of over one million missing soldiers in the USSR was a issue in post-war West Germany, some claimed that they were held in secret labor camps by the Soviets. It is now known that they did not survive the war, Rudiger Overmans believes that more than likely they died in Soviet custody. Civilian losses in the expulsions from Eastern Europe are viewed as an enormous human tragedy in Germany, the German government currently places the ultimate blame for the mass flight and expulsion on the wartime policy of the Nazis in Eastern Europe. There are those like Heinz Nawratil who equate the expulsions from Eastern Europe with the Holocaust. The German historian Martin Broszat (former head of Institute of Contemporary History in Munich) described Nawratil's writings as "polemics with a nationalist-rightist point of view and exaggerates in an absurd manner the scale of "expulsion crimes". The Federation of Expellees has represented the interests of Germans from eastern Europe. Erika Steinbach the current President of the Federation provoked outrage when she supported the statements of other members of the expellee organization claiming that Hitler's attack on Poland was a response to Poland's policy. The Federation of Expellees initiated the formation of the Center Against Expulsions which has widespread support in Germany, the current President of Germany Joachim Gauck and the German chancellor Angela Merkel have voiced support for the Center Against Expulsions. However in Poland it is viewed by some as an attempt reopen the wounds of the war and to revert to pre-war borders.

The Canadian author James Bacque a novelist with no previous historical research experience has written a book Other Losses in which he claims that the United States was responsible for the deaths of 800,000 to 1,000,000 German POW. Based on his own research Bacque claims that documents from the US Archives show that there were 800,000 German POW who did not survive US captivity. Bacque alleges that General Eisenhower and the US military deliberately withheld support for the German POW causing their deaths. Bacque presents his arguments with a description of the horrific conditions at the Rheinwiesenlager POW camps and eyewitness accounts of retired US military officers. Bacque maintains that there has been a conspiracy by the United States to cover up these losses. Bacque’s book received wide attention when it was first published in 1989, since then his claims have been challenged by historians who have found his thesis to be unsubstantiated. The US military historian Stephen Ambrose has published the book Eisenhower and the German POWs in which he refutes Bacque’s claims. Ambrose maintains that the figure of 800,000 POW missing from the US records was a bookkeeping error, many POW were released and no records were maintained. Ambrose points out that the US and the UK had cope with a major logistical problem in order to maintain the huge number of surrendered German personnel, he found the claim that Eisenhower and the US military deliberately withheld support for the German POW to be without merit. Rudiger Overmans believes "on the basis of factual individual data, shown before, the thesis of the Canadian James Bacque cannot be supported"