Napleon, Hitler and a Russian Winter

Yeah, I don't know the exact numbers as well, but it's something around there.

More like 3 to 7 times that number. Just German, not counting Austrian or Ethnic Germans living in Poland or other regions.
Only civilian casualties.

Total casualties are between 15 or 19 times that numbers.

Most likely you're thinking about Dresden. Which, I'd like to note, is quite wrong.

The bombing of Dresden was one terrible thing.

I did mention the bombing of Dresden maddog. =P

The bombings of the Germans during the second great war where very high well beyond the 380,000 that someone in here mentioned.

The City of Dresden accounted for only +20.000 people lost after the bombing (including cremated remains).
35.000 were first noted as being killed or missing but later 10.000 people were found to be alive.
An independent research committee further acknowledged a total maximum of 25.000 killed.

The Nazi regime used the bombing though and claimed 200.000 to 500.000 killed.

Another reason for Dresden casulities being so high was Soviet military action as well. Becuase of the retribution of red army soldiers on german civilians many fled from the advancing russians and a lot ended up in Dresden.

Horrible thing to happen though makes me glad to be from North Yorkshire.

Yeah as it stands though the Germans really did become fanatics though. I mean the Hitler Youth fought in Normandy and against the Russians. German boys aged 16 and older, some even younger than that.

Well they had to it was fight or die, and everyone with common scene there knew that Hitler was going to pull on old fritz out of his hat. But we also need not forget the mass rape of German women by Soviet troops in Berlin. (tough the German troops did the same thing during the invasion of the soviet union)

Like is said the Germans did the same thing during the soviet union, the point being is that they did and it and some would argue it was Justified its just that it was reported more. Oh and yes rape has been used as a means of warfare since before Babylon.

In the words of my German relatives who fought in world war 2 "we deserved everything you guys did to us, every fucking thing" (said to a soviet relative of mine who fought in Berlin)

but both sides committed rape, tough i would say the Germans did the worse of it doing it first and doing it not out of revenge but out of barbaric there lower then us and thus deserve it.

(Not sure if i'm diging up stuff here)

True the rape the Russians did is always seen as worse but I feel honestly if its rape its bad don't matter who's done it. End of the day Russians enacted revenge on Germany for what they did to/in Russia and well eye for an eye. So I'm with D3adtrap that its really annoying how that part of the war is represented.


Also another interesting fact there is a personal account of a british soldier, fighting in Burma, in which just after th Americans dropped the first Atomic bombs on Hiroshama and Nagasaki he went to his friend and went, "Why they only dropped two bombs? They should've wiped the whole ot of them out." Or to that affect i can never remember fully. So what that point is there for is to say; not all Russians or Germans were as bad as the minority (Or majority for arguments sake) who performed those massive acts of violence. IN the end of it people are all different and each person will do something different to another person.

If he would have prohibited it then why were they deployed to begin with?
Especially alongside the Waffen SS considering their reputation...

The term you're also looking for is Volksgrenadiers.

Could be, but as far as I know the commander of the HY at one point begged Hitler to allow his forces to retreat and cried when he got the casualty numbers when they were finally allowed to retreat during Normandy.

Volkssturm were the militia that were levied when the invasion of Germany began and were more of a 'home guard' type of 'soldiers.
Mostly equipped with most out of date weapons or substitute weapons.

They were recruited in the same way (old men, young boys, wounded veterans, ...) but they were deployed differently.
The Grenadiers were deployed during the Battle of the Bulge and the East Front, to name a few.
While the Sturm only served in the defence of Germany and probably never saw action outside of it's borders.

At the end of the war when the soviets where at the gates of Berlin, Hitler called on everyone to fight and which really meant the old, the sick, and the young would fight against the soviets who by that point where going to win. Hitler was hoping he could pull a Frederick the great and win at the last second.