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After World War II ended, the main four Allied powers – Great Britain, The United States, France, and the Soviet Union – jointly occupied Germany, with the Allied occupation officially ending in the 1950s. During this time, Germany was held accountable for the Allied occupation's expenses, amounting to over several billion dollars. [21]
The use of slave and forced labour in Nazi Germany (German: Zwangsarbeit) and throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II took place on an unprecedented scale. [2] It was a vital part of the German economic exploitation of conquered territories. It also contributed to the mass extermination of populations in occupied Europe.
German advances through 5 December 1941, with large groups of encircled Red Army soldiers in red. Nazi Germany and its allies invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. [4] [5] The Nazi leadership believed that war with its ideological enemy was inevitable [6] due to the Nazi dogma that conquering territory to the east—called living space ()—was essential to Germany's long-term survival, [7 ...
Until the end of 1942, the SS companies paid 30 pfennig per prisoner per day while private employers paid three and four Reichsmarks. This price included the clothing and food of prisoners as well as SS guard details, but the companies had to pay for accommodation and medical care. Therefore, they had a significant effect on conditions in the ...
Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 and grew up in a poor family in Braunau am Inn, a small Austrian village on the border with the Germany. [2] 3 of his siblings —Gustav, Ida, and Otto— died in infancy due to common childhood diseases. [3] Hitler's mother, Klara, was a homemaker; his father, Alois, unsuccessfully tried to establish a farm. [4]
Many Soviet citizens (Russians and other non-Russian ethnic minorities) joined the Wehrmacht forces as Hiwis (or Hilfswillige). [5] The Ukrainian collaborationist forces were composed of an estimated number of 180,000 volunteers serving with units scattered all over Europe. [ 6 ]
The death rate of German soldiers held by Soviet Union has been estimated at 15% by Mark Edele, [31] and at 35.8% by Niall Ferguson. [35] An even higher estimate of death rate has been suggested for the Italian soldiers held by the Soviet Union: 79% (estimate by Thomas Schlemmer ) [36]: 153 or 56.5%.
The historian Timothy Snyder estimates that "4.2 million Soviet citizens (largely Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians) [were] starved by the German occupiers in 1941–1944". [18] Starvation rates were particularly high among Jews, whom the Nazis forced into ghettos, and Soviet prisoners of war under German control. [ 1 ]