World War II (1941-1945) resulted in the death of over 60 million people making WWII both the bloodiest and deadliest conflict in human history. When the war ended, the Holocaust (the murder of more than 6 million European Jews and target groups defined by Hitler as undesirable) also ended as the survivors of concentration and death camps such as Auschwitz were liberated and millions of slave and forced laborers glimpsed freedom. These notorious facts are well recognized.
However, we want to acknowledge and honor, the unparalleled sacrifices given by the Russian people in the struggle for victory over Nazi Germany. Even today, the magnitude of these sacrifices is difficult to truly comprehend. Consider for a moment that before WWII ended:
Over 25 million Russian citizens lost their lives.
Out of the total WWII casualties of over 60 million people, approximately 25 million people were Russian citizens—41%.
For each American soldier or British soldier killed—76 Russian soldiers died (1:76 ratio).
For every British citizen killed—approximately 300 Russian citizens died (1:300 ratio).
Over 1.2 million Russians starved to death rather than surrender Leningrad which was besieged by the German Wehrmacht from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944, a total of 29 months. The soldiers and civilians of Leningrad refused to surrender and instead died or endured starvation amidst the Wehrmacht firing about 150,000 shells into Leningrad and the Luftwaffe dropping about 100,000 air bombs.
