For the first time after the end of the Second World War, it was impossible to count the losses. Scientists tried to keep accurate statistics of the dead of the Second World War by nationality, but the information became really accessible only after the collapse of the USSR. Many believed that the victory over the Nazis was due to the large number of dead. The statistics of the Second World War were not seriously kept by anyone.
The Soviet government deliberately manipulated the numbers. Initially, the number of deaths during the war was about 50 million people. But by the end of the 1990s, the figure had risen to 72 million.
The table provides a comparison of the losses of the two great 20th century:
| Wars of the 20th century | 1 world war | 2 World War II |
| Duration of hostilities | 4.3 years | 6 years |
| Number of dead | About 10 million people | 72 million people |
| Number of wounded | 20 million people | 35 million people |
| Number of countries where fighting took place | 14 | 40 |
| The number of people who were officially called up for military service | 70 million people | 110 million people |
Briefly about the beginning of hostilities
The USSR entered the war without a single ally (1941–1942). Initially, the battles were fought with defeat. The statistics of the victims of the Second World War in those years demonstrates a huge number of irretrievably lost soldiers and military equipment. The main destructive moment was the seizure of territories by the enemy, rich in the defense industry.
The SS authorities suspected a possible attack on the country. But, visible preparations for war were not conducted. The effect of a surprise attack played into the hands of the aggressor. The seizure of the territories of the USSR was carried out with great speed. Military equipment and weapons in Germany were enough for a large-scale military campaign.
The number of deaths during WWII
The statistics of losses in World War II are only approximate. Each researcher has his own data and calculations. 61 states participated in this battle, and hostilities took place on the territory of 40 countries. The war affected about 1.7 billion people. The main blow was taken by the Soviet Union. According to historians, the losses of the USSR amounted to about 26 million people.
At the beginning of the war, the Soviet Union was very weak in terms of the production of equipment and military weapons. However, the statistics of those who died in World War II show that the number of deaths by year by the end of the battle had significantly decreased. The reason is the rapid development of the economy. The country learned to produce high-quality defensive means against the aggressor, and the technique had multiple advantages over the fascist industrial blocs.
As for the prisoners of war, most of them were from the USSR. In 1941, the prison camps were overcrowded. Later, the Germans began to let them go. At the end of this year, about 320,000 prisoners of war were released. The bulk of them were Ukrainians, Belarusians and Balts.
Official statistics of those killed in World War II points to colossal losses among Ukrainians. Their number is much greater than the French, Americans and British combined. As the statistics of the Second World War show, Ukraine lost about 8-10 million people. This includes all combatants (killed, dead, prisoners, evacuees).
The price of the victory of the Soviet authorities over the aggressor could be much less. The main reason is the unpreparedness of the USSR for a sudden invasion of German troops. The stocks of ammunition and equipment did not correspond to the scale of the unfolding war.
About 3% of men born in 1923 survived. The reason is the lack of military training. The guys were taken to the front straight from school. Persons with an average were sent to fast courses for pilots or to train platoon commanders.
German losses
The Germans very carefully concealed the statistics of those killed in World War II. It is somehow strange that in the battle of the century the number of military units lost by the aggressor was only 4.5 million. The statistics of the Second World War regarding the dead, wounded or captured were underestimated by the Germans several times. The remains of the dead are still being dug up in the battlefields.
However, the German was strong and persistent. Hitler at the end of 1941 was ready to celebrate the victory over the Soviet people. Thanks to the allies, the SS was prepared both in terms of food and logistics. The SS factories produced many high-quality weapons. However, losses in the Second World War began to grow significantly.
After a while, the fuse of the Germans began to decrease. The soldiers understood that they could not withstand the popular fury. The Soviet command began to correctly build military plans and tactics. The statistics of the Second World War in terms of the dead began to change.
In wartime around the world, the population died not only from hostilities by the enemy, but also from the spread of various kinds of hunger. The losses of China in the Second World War are especially noticeable. The statistics of the dead is in second place after the USSR. More than 11 million Chinese died. Although the Chinese have their own statistics of those killed in World War II. It does not correspond to the numerous opinions of historians.
Results of the Second World War
Given the scale of hostilities, as well as the lack of desire to reduce losses, it affected the number of victims. It was not possible to prevent the losses of countries in the Second World War, the statistics of which were studied by different historians.
The statistics of the Second World War (infographics) would have been different if it were not for the many mistakes made by the commanders in chief, who initially did not attach importance to the production and preparation of military equipment and technology.
The results of the second world war according to statistics more than cruel, not only in terms of shed blood, but also in the destructive scale of cities and villages. World War II statistics (losses by country):
- The Soviet Union - about 26 million people.
- China - more than 11 million
- Germany - more than 7 million
- Poland - about 7 million
- Japan - 1.8 million
- Yugoslavia - 1.7 million
- Romania - about 1 million
- France - more than 800 thousand.
- Hungary - 750 thousand
- Austria - more than 500 thousand.
Some countries or certain groups of people fundamentally fought on the side of the Germans, as they did not like the Soviet policy and Stalin's approach to leading the country. But, despite this, the military campaign ended with the victory of the Soviet government over the Nazis. World War II served as a good lesson for the politicians of that time. Such casualties could have been avoided in the Second World War on one condition - preparation for an invasion, regardless of whether the country was threatened with an attack.
The main factor that contributed to the victory of the USSR in the fight against fascism was the unity of the nation and the desire to defend the honor of their homeland.
"Washed in blood"? Lies and truth about losses in the Great Patriotic War Victor Zemskov
Losses of the allies of Germany and the USSR on the Soviet-German front
According to the team of G.F. Krivosheev, the total irretrievable losses of the Armed Forces of Germany and its allies on the Soviet-German front amounted to 8649.3 thousand people. But these data, apparently, are noticeably overestimated. First of all, the conspicuous discrepancy in the numbers of irretrievable human losses of Germany and its allies on the Soviet-German front when comparing research data from 1993 and 2001 raises legitimate doubts. Unlike the USSR, in all the warring countries shortly after the war (not later than 1951) population censuses were carried out, so the work to determine the real figures of their losses is based on a much more accurate demographic base than in the USSR. And although in the eight years that have passed between the above-mentioned publications, G.F. Krivosheev, this base has not changed, the total irretrievable losses of the German satellites were clarified by him. They suddenly decreased by 257.6 thousand people. (while the number of those taken prisoner increased by 33.2 thousand), despite the additional inclusion of Slovakia in their number. But, what is even more surprising, just by the same amount, the irretrievable losses of Germany suddenly increased. And at the same time, the number of German prisoners increased immediately by 1004.7 thousand people.
It turns out an extremely interesting phenomenon: the composition of the allies has changed, the figures for the types of losses in both works significantly “walk”, but as a result, the final number of irretrievable losses has remained almost unchanged. Accordingly, the ratio for them remained unchanged - 1: 1.3. Isn't this another clear evidence of the indicator agreed in advance with the "higher authority"?
Heated discussions around the extensive information published by the team of G.F. Krivosheev, have not weakened since the release of his first edition in 1993. But the spears of the arguing break mainly over the magnitude of the losses of the main participants in the battles on the fields of the Great Patriotic War - the Red Army and the Wehrmacht. At the same time, their allies, who fought shoulder to shoulder with them, most often remain in the shadows. Meanwhile, their contribution to the fierce struggle on the Eastern Front is by no means small. This is especially true for Germany's satellite countries. Almost from the very first days of the war, the troops of Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Finland acted on its side. In total, they fielded 31 divisions and 18 brigades against the Soviet Union, which accounted for more than 30% of the Wehrmacht units involved in the first line. And in a matter of weeks, the Italian expeditionary force also joined them.
The military contingents of all these states were operationally subordinate to the German command. However, at the same time, they still retained relative independence and kept their own record of successes, failures and losses. The Red Army soldiers and commanders who fell into the hands of the Finns and, in part, the Romanians, remained in their prisoner of war camps until the withdrawal of these countries from the war. The rest of the foreign citizens who fought on the side of Germany on the Eastern Front, as well as the units, units and formations formed from them, were organically part of the Wehrmacht, so their losses were included in its loss.
On the other hand, the irretrievable losses of the armies of the above countries were noticeably reflected in the general level of losses of the opponents of the USSR. G.F. did not pass by them either. Krivosheev. In his book on p. 514 there is a table entitled "Irretrievable casualties of the armed forces of the countries - allies of Germany on the Soviet-German front from 22.6.1941 to 9.5.1945". Two circumstances connected with it immediately catch the eye: firstly, the amazing detail and accuracy of the figures available there. The vast majority of the data is counted to one person. And secondly - there is not a single reference either to Soviet sources or to foreign ones.
Apparently, most of the information included there was obtained from the reports of the fronts (armies) on the results of the operations carried out. Those who directly worked with the primary documents of TsAMO saw these fantastic figures. If you add them up, then by the beginning of 1944 there should have been no land army left in Germany at all. The only exception here is information about the number of prisoners of war who ended up in Soviet camps and their future fate. Therefore, reliable figures for the losses of the German satellites must be sought in the works of authoritative historians who have devoted solid monographs to their participation in the war. And such historians, of course, exist and are well known to everyone interested in this important topic.
These include, first of all, Mark Axworthy, one of the authors of the monograph “Third Axis Fourth Ally. Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945”, dedicated to the participation of the Romanian army in World War II. The monograph immediately after its publication in 1995 became a universally recognized classic. Since then, not a single serious study on this subject is complete without references to it. And the fundamental study of the Slovak armed forces in the same period of time, Axis Slovakia: Hitler’s Slavic Wedge, 1938-1945, which appeared seven years later, rightfully took a similar place in the topic of this book, which had previously been very little studied.
The issues of the participation of the Hungarian armed forces on the side of Germany in the battles on the Eastern Front are best covered today by the well-known historian Leo Niehorster in his detailed work The Royal Hungarian Army, 1920–1945. His information about the human losses of the Hungarian army was supplemented by the Hungarian scientist Tamas Stark, who published the book “Hungary’s Human Losses in World War II” specifically on this topic. A reliable figure of the losses of the Italian expeditionary force in the USSR was found in the authoritative statistical publication "The World War II Databook", which was prepared by John Ellis. A voluminous collection of documents and materials “Prisoners of War in the USSR. 1939-1956".
Finally, the losses of the Finnish army in 1941-1945. most exhaustively disclosed in the six-volume edition of the official history of this war "Jatkosodan historia", published in Helsinki in 1988-1994. At the same time, the total number of Finnish prisoners of war captured by the Red Army can be found in a good monograph by Professor D.D. Frolov "Soviet-Finnish captivity. 1939–1944 On both sides of the barbed wire. He worked a lot both in the Soviet archives and in the National Archives of Finland, and significantly clarified the previously known data on the number and fate of Finnish soldiers in Soviet captivity. So, if, according to G.F. Krivosheev, there were 2377 of them, of which 403 died, or 17%, then D.D. Frolov counted 3114 captured Finns. 997 of them (32%) did not survive the war.
Information from the above sources is summarized in the following table:
Table 13
Irretrievable losses of the armed forces of Germany's allies on the Soviet-German front
Note: * Excluded from the number of Hungarian prisoners of war were 10,352 people who were released in Budapest during raids, and 70,000 who capitulated after the end of the war.
A serious discrepancy between the total number of irretrievable losses of the armed forces of Germany's allies calculated in the table and the data of G.F. Krivosheev is more than obvious. He got them 1,468,145 people, or 41% more. One of the main reasons for such a significant difference has already been named by us earlier. True to himself G.F. Krivosheev, without further ado, as in the case of the Germans, recorded in the number of prisoners of war taken by the Red Army before May 9, 1945, everyone, including military personnel who capitulated after the end of the war, and even, partially, interned civilians.
Information G.F. Krivosheev about the irretrievable losses of the armed forces of the allies of the USSR on the Soviet-German front is also far from reliable. This applies primarily to his data on the losses of Romania. In addition, the participation of Finland in the war against Germany is not reflected in him at all. But the Finns fought the Germans on the side of the USSR for almost 7 months, from October 1, 1944 to April 25, 1945. These events were called the “Lapland War” in Finland. Interestingly, G.F. Krivosheev carefully took into account the 72 Mongolian soldiers lost in the war with Japan, and for some reason chose to completely ignore the 1036 Finns killed and missing in battles with the Wehrmacht on the extreme northern flank of the Soviet-German front. But they, among other things, captured 2,600 Germans and, in accordance with the agreement, handed them over to the Soviet Union.
Table 14
Irretrievable losses of the armed forces of the allies of the USSR on the Soviet-German front
The total data obtained in the table on the irretrievable losses of the armed forces of the allies of the USSR on the Soviet-German front during the Great Patriotic War differ from the figure of G.F. Krivosheev (76,122 people) more than one and a half times. Moreover, unlike the losses of Germany's satellites, which he significantly exaggerated, the losses of the USSR's allies were underestimated by him to an even greater extent.
The reasons for such distortions are more than clear: the team of G.F. Krivosheeva diligently solved the task set before him to adjust the final ratio of irretrievable losses of opponents on the Soviet-German front to a more or less acceptable value. But the fulfillment of a political order has nothing to do with the search for truth, which conscientious historians should be engaged in.
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In fact, the question of who won the 2nd World War is somewhat strange to ask:
it would seem obvious that it was won by all people of good will who took up arms to destroy the infection of German Nazism; for example, even the Americans won it, taking part in the hostilities with the Germans only when the outcome of the war was already a foregone conclusion.
But when one of the parties decides to attribute the Victory in the Great War only to itself, and if this side is the same American, then you need to answer here.
The answer is that if we consider who exactly earned the Great Victory, who paid for it with their blood, and to whom it actually belongs, it becomes obvious that it does not belong to the United States or Great Britain, not to mention France.
This Victory belongs to Soviet Russia and its people.
The share of the western and eastern fronts in the second world war
In order to assess the significance of the eastern front in the victory over fascist Germany, one can compare the number of German divisions that took part in hostilities on different fronts (Table 2), compare the number of defeated divisions (Table 3). These figures in previous years were widely circulated in our historical and socio-political literature. However, the combat composition of even the same type of divisions could differ somewhat. And what is a defeated division? Allotted for reformation? In what condition (cases of the complete destruction of large units are quite rare)? How much time and resources were required to restore it?
It would be more interesting and representative to compare the losses of personnel and equipment on various fronts. In this aspect, the documents of the so-called secret Flensburg archive (a secret archive found in Flensburg during the war) are extremely interesting ( Whitaker's Almanach, 1946, p.300) and quoted in ( B.Ts. Urlanis. History of military losses. M., St. Petersburg: POLYGON AST, 1995, 558 p.) (Table 1). The archive contained information about losses only up to November 30, 1944, only for ground forces, and, perhaps, the data is not entirely complete. However, the general ratio of losses along the fronts can be determined from them.
Table number 1.
Distribution of losses of the German ground forces on separate fronts until November 30, 1944
As can be seen from the data of the Flensburg archive, by November 30, 1944 over 70% losses of the Nazi troops fell on the eastern front. And that's just the German troops. If we also take into account the losses of Germany's allies, almost all of whom (except Italy) fought only on the Eastern Front, this ratio will reach 75% (it is not entirely clear where in that document the losses of the Wehrmacht in the Polish campaign are attributed, but taking them into account changes the overall balance by only a quarter percent).
Of course, the bloody battles of the end of the war are yet to come. Ahead is the Ardennes, the crossing of the Rhine. But ahead is the Balaton operation, the largest operation to take Berlin. And at the final stage of the war, most of the German divisions are still concentrated on the eastern front (Table 2). So over the last six months of the war, the percentage of casualties on the eastern front could not change much.
It can also be noted that these figures only cover ground force casualties. According to rough estimates ( Kriegstugebuch des Oberkomandos der Wehrmacht Band IV. Usraefe Werlag fur Wehrwessen. Frankfurt ane Main.), the losses of the German Air Force were distributed approximately equally between the Western and Eastern fronts, and 2/3 of the losses of the German Navy can be attributed to the Western Allies. However, more than 90% of all losses of the German armed forces, according to the same archive, fell on the ground forces. Therefore, we can assume that the above figures give a more or less correct picture of the distribution of total losses along the fronts.
Table number 2.
The average number of divisions of Germany and its allies that took part in hostilities on different fronts
(summarized data on
B.Ts. Urlanis. History of military losses. M., St. Petersburg: POLYGON AST, 1995, 558 p.
TsAMO. F 13, op. 3028, d.10, l.1-15.
A brief record of the interrogations of A. Jodl. 06/17/45 GOU GSh. Inv. No. 60481.)
Table number 3. 
The irretrievable losses of the German army (that is, together with prisoners of war) on all fronts amounted to 11 844 thousand people.
Of them 7 181,1
fall on the Soviet-German front ( Russia and the USSR in the Wars of the 20th Century: A Statistical Study. M.: OLMA-PRESS, 2001, 608 p.).
In the West, the battle of El Alamein was compared in its significance to the Battle of Stalingrad. Compare:
Table number 4.
Losses of the Nazi troops and the troops of their allies near Stalingrad and El Alamein
(data on:
History of military art: Textbook for military academies of the Soviet Armed Forces / B.V. Panov, VV.N. Kiselev, I.I. Kartavtsev and others. M.: Voenizdat, 1984. 535 p.
History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945: In 6 volumes, Moscow: Military Publishing House, 1960-1965.)
We note at the same time that the land army of Japan totaled 3.8 million people. Of these, 2 million were in China and Korea. Those. not in the zone of operations of American troops.
In general, as can be seen from the above data, about 70% of the losses of the Nazi troops fell on the Soviet-German front. Thus, the situation with the distribution of losses and, consequently, with the ratio of the intensity of hostilities along the fronts of the 2nd World War was a mirror image of the situation during the 1st World War:
Used data from:
S.A. Fedosov. Victory or Victory (statistical analysis of losses in World War II) // XXV Russian School on Science and Technology, dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Victory (June 21-23, 2005, Miass). Brief Communications: Ekaterinburg, 2005, pp. 365-367..
(in brackets - including officers)
* There are summation errors in the table. - Ed.
Germany was forced to surrender its losses in manpower. In principle, she had enough weapons and equipment, even the newest and most advanced models, such as, say, ballistic missiles, jet aircraft, powerful tanks, etc.
A coalition of allies fought against fascist Germany with its satellites: the USSR, England and the USA. And from the point of view of inflicting decisive losses on Germany, looking at the tables, one can determine which of the allies played the main role in that war.
The losses of the German Navy are undoubtedly determined by the combat operations of the fleets and aviation of England and the USA. And although by December 1944 the Baltic Fleet had not yet said its final word and Captain Marinescu had not yet drowned the entire school of the German submarine fleet and did not become the Fuhrer's personal enemy, but let's give the Allies their due - probably in the end they determined the losses of the Germans at sea by almost 95%. But the human losses of the Germans at sea by the beginning of 1945 amount to just over 2% of their total recorded losses.
In the air, by the middle of the war, England and the United States crushed the Germans with their numerical superiority, it is natural that the main forces of the Luftwaffe were always defending the territory of Germany itself and here they suffered serious losses. Nevertheless, if we sum up the losses of the Luftwaffe only from combat operations (the first four sums of the final column), we get combat losses - 549393, of which 218960 are losses on the Eastern Front, or 39.8% of all combat losses of the German Air Force.
If we accept that the losses of the Luftwaffe airmen on all fronts were proportional, then on the Eastern Front, the Germans would have to lose 39.8% of all their pilots. The number of those killed among the missing is not known, let's assume that half of the flight personnel listed as missing were captured, and half died. Then the estimated amount of the dead flight personnel on 01/31/1945 will be (43517 + 27240/2) = 57137 people, and 39.8% of this number will be 22740 people.
The Soviet Air Force lost 27,600 pilots throughout the war. Considering what kind of aircraft they had to fly in the initial period of the war (in the first 6 months we lost more than 20 thousand aircraft, and the Germans about 4 thousand), then the constantly exaggerated tales of some kind of super superiority of German pilots over Soviet ones do not look convincing . Indeed, to these figures of German losses, one must add the losses after 01/31/45, and the losses of the Finns, Hungarians, Italians and Romanians.
And, finally, the losses of the ground forces of Nazi Germany on all fronts (the top six numbers of the final column of the corresponding part of the table) on 01/31/1945 amounted to 7,065,239 people, of which the Germans lost 5,622,411 people on the Soviet-German front. This accounts for 80% of all their combat losses.
Since the Germans were reluctant to surrender to the troops of the Red Army, it is possible to calculate the proportion of German soldiers killed on the Eastern Front, out of all those killed on 01/31/1945. This proportion is more than 85%. This is for the period from September 1, 1939.
On 01/31/1945, the Germans on all fronts in the air and on the seas lost in battle at least (according to the Navy, let me remind you, the losses are given on 12/31/1944) - 7789051 people. Of these, in battles with the Red Army, the Soviet Air Force and fleets - 5851804 people, or 75% of all German losses. One ally out of three pulled out 3/4 of the entire war. Yes, there were people!
I warn you: a lot of tables and reference material. there are no pictures, so...
To the question with whom and how the Wehrmacht fought in 1945.
According to the presence of German armored vehicles on the Eastern and Western fronts in 1944-1945, there is very reliable information on the number, types of armored vehicles, and their combat readiness. Let us consider in more detail the statistics for the last year and a half of the Second World War. And so that we are not accused of "communist propaganda", we will use only German data.
On June 10, 1944, the inspector general of the armored forces provided A. Hitler with a report on the presence of armored vehicles on the Western Front. However, it must be borne in mind that only three of all the divisions listed were directly on the front line, while the rest were reorganized and received a new materiel. Including those formations that were withdrawn from the Eastern Front.
Thus, at the beginning of June 1944, there were 39 "three rubles", 758 "fours", 655 "panthers", 102 "tigers", 158 self-propelled guns "shtugs" and 179 captured (mainly French) tanks on the Western Front. A total of 1891 armored vehicles. A very high figure, since most of the connections just received new equipment.
There are no less comprehensive data on the Eastern Front: 
* In brackets - received during June 1944.
Thus, on May 31 on the Soviet-German front there were: 176 self-propelled guns "Shtug", 603 "fours", 313 "panthers" and 298 "tigers". Another 92 "things", 123 "fours", 265 "panthers" and 32 "tigers" entered the troops from May 31 to June 30, 1944. As of June 30, there were 1,902 tanks and self-propelled guns in stock, excluding those lost during the Bagration operation by the Soviet troops, due to the specifics of accounting for German armored vehicles, they fell into "no return" in the next two months.
Consequently, even in anticipation of the Allied landings in Normandy, which Hitler so feared, the number of armored vehicles on the Eastern and Western fronts was equal. But if we try to compare these indicators in dynamics, then the picture will be completely different (only tanks without self-propelled guns,).
According to Thomas Yenz, in May 1944:
West: 53 Tigers, 543 Panthers, 759 Fours. Only 1355 units.
East: 307 Tigers, 292 Panthers, 771 Fours. Only 1370 units.
As can be seen, in the month of May, parity was maintained between the West and the East. Already in September (data for September 15, 1944), the situation changes:
West: 45 Tigers, 150 Panthers, 133 Fours. Only 328 units.
East: 267 Tigers, 728 Panthers and 610 Fours. Only 1605 units.
It is obvious that a certain amount of armored vehicles was lost by the Germans on the Western Front during the fighting with the Anglo-American troops. However, it is also clear that the bulk of the new armored vehicles were sent to the Soviet-German front. In particular, the number of "panthers" in the East has grown two and a half times in just three months.
September 30, 1944. West: 54 Tigers, 194 Panthers, 123 Fours. A total of 371 units.
East: 249 Tigers, 721 Panthers and 579 Fours. Only 1549 units.
As can be seen from the statistics, and at the end of September, the main part of the Panzerwaffe combat vehicles, 5/6, is on the Soviet-German front.
October 31, 1944. West: 49 Tigers, 222 Panthers, 243 Fours. A total of 514 cars.
East: 278 Tigers, 672 Panthers, 707 Fours. A total of 1657 cars.
November 15, 1944. West: 88 Tigers, 329 Panthers, 293 Fours. Only 710 units.
East: 276 Tigers, 658 Panthers, 687 Fours. A total of 1621 cars. That is, in November, more than 2/3 of the tanks were on the Soviet-German front.
November 30, 1944. West: 62 Tigers, 285 Panthers, 328 Fours. A total of 675 cars.
East: 246 Tigers, 625 Panthers, 697 Fours. A total of 1568 cars. Again, more than 2/3 of the tanks in the East.
December 15, 1944:
West: 123 Tigers, 471 Panthers, 503 Fours. A total of 1097 cars.
East: 268 Tigers, 737 Panthers, 704 Fours. A total of 1709 cars.
It is clearly seen that the concentration of armored vehicles for the Ardennes operation has ended on the Western Front. However, on the Eastern Front, the Germans are preparing for the January "konrads" - attempts to unblock the garrison of Budapest. On the Soviet-German front, almost every 2 out of 3 German tanks.
December 30, 1944:
West: 116 Tigers, 451 Panthers, 550 Fours. A total of 1117 cars.
East: 261 Tigers, 726 Panthers, 768 Fours. Only 1755 units.
On both fronts, the Germans are advancing (formally, "Konrad I" began on January 2). And again, the ratio of German armored vehicles is 1.5: 1 in favor of the Soviet-German front. Although the Ardennes counteroffensive is already in full swing.
January 15, 1945:
West: 110 Tigers, 487 Panthers, 594 Fours. A total of 1191 cars.
East: 199 Tigers, 707 Panthers, 736 Fours. A total of 1642 units.
The ratio remains 1.4:1.
March 15, 1945, last report:
West: 36 Tigers, 152 Panthers, 257 Fours. Only 445 units.
East: 208 Tigers, 762 Panthers and 1239 Fours. A total of 2209 vehicles.
Every 5 out of 6 German tanks are at war with the Russians!
Even more interesting is the ratio of combat-ready and repairable tanks in the Panzerwaffe, in the West and East, because this criterion reflects the intensity of the battles. So in the West, the number of tanks under repair never exceeded 15-20%, excluding December 1944 and January 1945. When fierce fighting in the Ardennes led to a subsidence of combat-ready "tigers" to 50%, "panthers" to 40%, "fours" to 60-55%.
At the same time, on the Eastern Front, the percentage of combat-ready "tigers" never exceeded 70%, periodically dropping to 50% (October 1944, March 1945). The percentage of combat-ready "panthers" was never higher than 75%, the norm was 60%, and in October 1944 only 50% of the "panthers" were combat-ready, and in March 1945 in general 40%. Oddly enough, the largest percentage of serviceable tanks was in units equipped with the "workhorse" of the Panzerwaffe - Pz.Kpfw IV. This percentage, neither in the West nor in the East, never fell below 55-60%, and only in March 1945 did it fall to 35% in the East.
As of March 15, there is also a report by the Inspector General of the Armored Forces, where the figures are slightly different from the above. But not by much. This does not change the general statistics (see tables 3, 4, 5) 
Thus, according to these documents, in the West in March 1945 there were 483 units of armored vehicles, of which only 193 vehicles were combat ready. In Italy, there were 281 combat vehicles, serviceable - 238. A total of 764 armored vehicles.
At the same time, there were 2,590 tanks and self-propelled guns on the Soviet-German front, of which 1,410 were combat-ready. The ratios between the fronts are 3.3:1. That is, every 3 out of 4 German combat vehicles were on the Eastern Front.
What is most interesting, by April, the Germans managed to further increase the number of tanks and self-propelled guns in the East. So, if in March 1945 the Wisla GA had 95 self-propelled guns "shtug", 140 "fours", 99 tank destroyers "jagdpanzer", 24 ZSU, 169 "panthers" and 55 "tigers". A total of 582 armored vehicles, of which 357 were combat-ready, which accounted for 61.3%. And in April 1945, the Wisla Army Group had 754 combat-ready tanks and self-propelled guns, 30 in short-term and 43 in long-term repairs. This gives a combat readiness of 91% - a very high figure for the final period of the war.
The same picture will appear before us in the GA "Center". If on March 15, 1945, its formations had 194 self-propelled guns "shtug", 163 "fours", 131 "jagdpanzer", 14 ZSU, 159 "panthers" and 1 "tiger", a total of 662 units. That is already in 15 days - March 31, 1945 in the presence of 1209 armored vehicles.
Another person who prefers to believe American textbooks, which claim that the backbone of the German Wehrmacht (including tank units) fought against the US Army, will say that there were so few German tanks in the west because they were destroyed very well there by the valiant American soldiers, but the Russians fiddled, fiddled, all to no avail. So they, stupid, have accumulated so much "unkilled" German equipment. So let's look at the numbers of deadweight losses. So, according to the data of the German General Staff (very incomplete), presented to A. Hitler, irretrievable losses on the Eastern Front from December 1, 1943 to March 31, 1944 amounted to: combat vehicles based on Pz. II - 40 pieces, Pz. III - 121 units, Pz. III Flamm - 21 pcs., Pz. IV of all modifications - 816 units, ammunition transporters based on Pz. IV - 20 pieces, Pz. V "Panther" - 347 units, Pz. VI Ausf E. "Tiger" - 158 units, Pz. VI Ausf B "Royal Tiger" - 8 pcs., command tanks - 184 pcs., StuG self-propelled guns of all modifications - 1085 pcs. Total for 4 months: 2,958 armored vehicles were destroyed on the Eastern Front.
During the same time in Italy it was destroyed: combat vehicles based on Pz. II - 4 pieces, Pz. III - 11 pieces, Pz. III Flamm - 5 pieces, Pz. IV of all modifications - 75 pieces, ammunition transporters based on Pz. IV - 2 pieces, Pz. V "Panther" - 11 pcs., Pz. VI Ausf E. "Tiger" - 8 pcs. , commander tanks - 8 pcs., StuG self-propelled guns of all modifications - 28 pcs. Total: 152 armored vehicles.
The figures of a later period are also interesting: 
* including all modifications
** all modifications
Based on the above figures, the loss of tanks and self-propelled guns for the last 6 months of reporting on the Soviet-German front is 4,421 armored units.
* including all modifications
** all modifications
*** including "royal tigers"
**** for most specials. no data available before September 1944
As can be seen from Table 7, in the last 6 months of 1944, 2,847 armored units were destroyed on the Western Front. Which practically correlates with losses on the Eastern Front as 1.6:1 in favor of the Soviet-German front.
During the same six months, 663 armored units were destroyed in Italy and the Balkans. With this in mind, 1,3 times more German armored vehicles were destroyed on the Soviet-German front than on all other theaters combined. The ratio in 1945 is 1.7:1 in favor of the Eastern Front, until the beginning of April 1945, and even higher thereafter.
Sources:
1. T. Jentz. "Panzertruppen. The Complete Guide to the Creation and Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force. 1943-1945" Shiffer Military History, Atglen PA, 1996 p. 177
2. T. Jentz. "Panzertruppen..." p. 205
3. T. Jentz. "Panzertruppen..." p. 202, 230
4. T. Jentz. "Panzertruppen..." p. 248
5. T. Jentz. "Panzertruppen..." p. 247
6.NARA T311 R171 F7223303-305
7. As of March 31, 1945, Militaergeschichte No. 2/1972, s. 196-197 with reference to TsAMO. f. 6598, op. 12450, d. 305, ll. 60, 61, 63, 65, 67, 76, 78
