Yes Sturm, the total German ( not only Wehrmacht ) permanent losses on the Eastern Front were at 10,758,000 out of 13,488,000. Accounting to 80% in the east
(Dead, Missing or Disabled ).

Plus an additional 1,725,000 Axis allies....

This grim toll brought the total Axis losses in the Soviet-German War to the gruesome figure of 12,483,000 soldiers killed, missing, captured or permanently disabled

The total Soviet casualties are actually at 14,700,000

http://www.strom.clemson.edu/publica...g-war41-45.pdf

Pages 13-15

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The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler

Not too many, a great number of Russians were gunned down by German machine guns while trying to "Human Wave" their way to victory.

PS: Don't take what people in the forum say too personally, you are doing just fine.

Actually, there was a significant number of Red Army deaths by their own men. However these were primarily penal units who were ordered to repay the "Motherland" for their sins with their own blood.

As for Human waves...... after 41, this was really no longer the case.

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The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler

Yeah in Antony Beevor's book it says that the Russians executed the equivalent of an entire division of thier own men at Stalingrad alone.

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"Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts." - Cicero

In both of the first hand accounts I've read, the authors stated that that type of assualt was more or less still being conducted late in the war. One of them, Nikolai Litvin, stated that was one of the reasons he did not want to be in the infantry.

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Best Regards,
JW

Unfortunately human waves attacks never ceased completely. However from my knowledge, they were minimal in scale and number compared to 1941, not to metion that even these waves had the backing of Artillery and/or Air Cover.

In later years the majority of human waves ( while still minimal in comparison to 41' ) were predominantly penal units, who were expected to die by the STAVKA. I believe that around 700,000 suffered that fate(?).

As for several hundreds of thousands of men rushing blindly into battle with nothing but a rifle..... well that simply didnt happen after 1941 early 42'

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The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler

Anyone know if the " vodka habbit" continued until the end of war? I recall , I think from "Ivan´s war" that some officer recalled that if the men had not been so fond vodka Germany would have fallen by 1943.

Definitely more courage but not more clever!

Also:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/books/15grim.html

The Russian advances into Germany:She describes an army fueled by rage and vodka, whipped into a frenzy by its political officers.

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From my knowledge im going to say yes, Vodka continued to be part of a soldiers life till the end...... Vodka also contributed to the crimes commited by advancing Red Army soldiers.

Good article, I will try to obtain this book.....

"A Stranger to Myself: The Inhumanity of War, Russia, 1941-1944,", the diaries of Willy Peter Reese, a German soldier who died on the Eastern front, recently published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.)



P.S.

I know have also heard that quote Kai.

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The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler

Do you know why some soldiers drunk Alcohol before going to fight?

Simple. When drinking Alcohol you won't feel pain, adrenaline pumps better and you reflexes are better. That's why some soldiers drunk before they fought.

And MANY Armies used this tactic, which is not know, but it was something that wasn't allowed, since when drinking to much you could die, no reflexes, no adrenaline and you simply don't know what you are doing.

But for those who don't know some soldiers drunk Alcohol before fighting, for the reasons, which I said before.

NOTE: German army didn't used this tactic! It wasn't allowed. Because an Ideal German is Superior to all races and don't need Alcohol for better outcomes. You could've been arrested when doing!

But I'm not sure if some German didn't do this. I think some really did especially young Soldiers because they were to nervous for what will come.

Owyes, I'm not talking about 1 'Kochgeschirr' of wine but a couple of 'Kochgeschirr' of wine. (Not enough to get drunk)

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Also because it helped keep them warm in the winter and was something to look forward to as Vodka was pretty much the only luxury the Russians had in the war.


Germans had Schnapps and indulged whenever the opportunity presented itself. In fact when the Russians would raid German supply bunkers large amount of boxes filled with nothing but Schnapps would be found amoung the supplies as well. The Germans were no different and drank as well.

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The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler

You know that you can die when drinking Alcohol when it is Winter. Indeed, it is warmer but you cool down much faster.


I only said that it wasn't allowed, as myself I said some did.

Many boxes were from officers and not from Soldiers. Everything was kept by the Officers.

On the 'Ostfront' regular Soldiers recieved nothing. Almost everything was kept away from them and was kept in stock. Only officers could get something from it.

That's why many Soldiers shot the Gendarmerie who were guarding those stocks.

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Sturmkreuz, where did you get your info on Degrelle. According to the link below, he only rose to the rank of Obersturmbannfuhrer and the main hand-to-hand combat he had was with a Belgian priest that objected to him wearing his SS uniform during mass...

Léon Degrelle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Of course, Wikipedia is not the best authority, so if you have other links on him, I would be interested in reading more.

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It is sometimes harder to fight my superiors than the French.
-Heinz Guderian

The Nazis preached abstinence in the name of promoting national health. But when it came to fighting their Blitzkrieg, they had no qualms about pumping their soldiers full of drugs and alcohol

Hitler's Drugged Soldiers - TalkLeft: The Politics Of Crime

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The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler

Never use Wikipedia.

Uhm No.

Léon Degrelle went as a Soldier to Eastern front and raised his rank there.

He recieved Nahkampfspange Bronze, Silber & Gold. You only earn them by Hand-to-Hand combat. Bronze = 25 Days, Silber = 50 Days & Gold = 75 Days

He recieved The Deutsche Kreuz in Gold aswell as the Ritterkreuz + Eichenlaub des Eiserneskreuz.

He recieved Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Silber

ASWELL as Verwundetabzeichen in Silber & GOLD!

He was numerious times wounded and If you recieve Verwundetabzeichen in Silber & Gold it means much!

Heinrich Himmler also promoted him, but his stripes were turned in that time so it isn't official.

He was Severly wounded when he flew from Russia to Spain. In Russia his plane was shot!


Never use Wikipedia ... It is BULLCRAP!

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I was talking about Alcohol and from the Ostfront.

At Drugs pills I cannot say anything. So I won't discuss about things I don't know.

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Alcohol, the people's drug, was also popular in the Wehrmacht. Referring to alcohol, Walter Kittel, a general in the medical corps, wrote that "only a fanatic would refuse to give a soldier something that can help him relax and enjoy life after he has faced the horrors of battle, or would reprimand him for enjoying a friendly drink or two with his comrades." Officers would distribute alcohol to their troops as a reward, and schnapps was routinely sold in military commissaries, a policy that also had the happy side effect of returning soldiers' pay to the military.

"The military command turned a blind eye to alcohol consumption, as long as it didn't lead to public drunkenness among the troops," says Freiburg historian Peter Steinkamp, an expert on drug abuse in the Wehrmacht.


The Nazi Death Machine: Hitler's Drugged Soldiers - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

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The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler