33 miljoen lijkt me te hoog...
According to the Soviet Union's own estimates, the Red Army losses in the war totaled more than 11 million troops, over 100,000 aircraft, more than 300,000 artillery pieces, and nearly 100,000 tanks and self-propelled guns. Other authorities have put the losses of military personnel far higher, as high indeed as 26 million.
—Richard J. Evans
Een niet onbelangrijke nuance:
Red Army troops were untrained, uneducated, often unprepared. The losses continued unabated right to the end of the war: indeed, more tanks were lost every day in the final battle for Berlin than had been lost even in the Battle of Kursk. Stalin sought victory at any price, and the price his men paid was astronomically high. Red Army officers were told to obey order without question and to avoid undertaking anything on their own initiative. Instead of mounting tactically sophisticated attacks, they often stormed enemy lines in frontal assaults, incurring losses so heavy that it took time even with the vast resources at the Red Army's disposal to replace them. The result is that the war on the Eastern Front took far longer to win than it would have done with more intelligent and less profligate military leadership.
—Richard J. Evans
Ondersteuning voor deze claim:
The Germans had taken about five months to cover a stretch from Brest-Litovsk to the outskirts of Moscow. The Red Army by contrast, needed more than three years for it's counter-offensive, despite its constant superiority in manpower and supplies, even as it moved further from its industrial base, and despite its having the most powerful allies on earth. This might explain why the military competence of the Wehrmacht, though serving a criminal regime, still managed to command the respect of its foes right up to the end of the war, even after suffering catastrophic defeats.
—Rolf-Dieter Müller
Een opmerkelijk gegeven:
For Stalin, the partisans were particularly important for keeping the population in his German-occupied hinterland under pressure. Partisans killed more Soviet citizens than German soldiers did.
—Rolf-Dieter Müller