Number of German WWII Deaths by Month

Most of the German soldiers who died in WWII died in late 1944 and early 1945.
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+8
Level ∞
Sep 26, 2021
Most of the Germans who died were killed after the outcome of the war was no longer in doubt. Note that many soldiers continued to die in Russian prison camps for years after the end of the war.
+2
Level 60
Sep 27, 2021
Wait, why are there still deaths into 1947?
+4
Level 82
Sep 27, 2021
People who got severely wounded and survived for a while, before dying due to their wounds. I assume.
+15
Level ∞
Sep 27, 2021
It was mostly Soviet POW camps.
+6
Level 72
Sep 27, 2021
Soviet POW camps, maybe.
+3
Level 75
Sep 27, 2021
Most of the bombing campaigns that decimated cities such as Cologne and Dresden also took place in late 1944 and early 1945. It is a shame really, especially since all of this could have been avoided. There is a book, Last Train from Berlin, published in 1942 by American Journalist Howard K. Smith who reported from Germany until this year. He anaylzed the mood of people on the Berlin subway, the change in food rationing and propaganda messages and a few other things and quickly came to the conclusion that the war was already decided by the point the German campaign in Russia came to a halt in late 1941. We all know that today, but what struck me that this did not only become clear in retrospect - it was already clear back than. How much death and destruction could have been prevented...
+4
Level ∞
Sep 27, 2021
It's true. The Allies didn't want a repeat of WWI so they insisted on unconditional surrender. This probably caused a lot of German deaths. Had the Allies been willing to negotiate, the Germans probably would have quit earlier. That said, it's kind of on the Germans for not surrendering earlier, no?
+1
Level 75
May 11, 2023
Well that depends. Most of the nazi leadership certainly didn't want a surrender, that's why it didn't happen, sure. But not everybody saw it that way. Much of the old military leadership saw the futility and wanted to end the war, at least with the Western Allies. That was the main point of the 20 July plot. Rudolf Hess probably had something similar in mind with his flight to Scotland in 1941, that much is probably true despite all the uncertainties and conspiracy theories surrounding the whole event. We may never know.
+2
Level 65
Sep 27, 2021
What's the blip at the start of 1941?
+1
Level 62
Sep 29, 2021
Not sure, but Operation Barbarosa began at that time, but didn't really "heat up" until mid year. Battle of Moscow was later that year, so that could be a causal effect of more deaths.
+1
Level 67
Apr 25, 2023
Invasion of France.