January 27 is known as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is a solemn occasion that commemorates the lives lost during World War II of the millions of civilians including some six million Jews who lost their lives at the hands of the Nazis from 1933 to 1945 – all in pursuit of a Socialist and atheistic ideal of racial supremacy.

Here are some important facts you need to know to commemorate these lives properly and respectfully:

70 to 85 million people died in World War II

Piles of Dead Prisoners from a Nazi Concentration Camp (Wikimedia Commons). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WWII_Europe,_Germany,_Concentration_Camps,_%22Piles_of_dead_prisoners%22_-_NARA_-_195344.tif
Piles of Dead Prisoners from a Nazi Concentration Camp. (Wikimedia Commons)

It’s a well-known fact that World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history, with over 70 to 85 million military personnel and innocent civilians dying for the war. Forty million were said to be civilian deaths from genocide, bombings, starvation, and disease.

In terms of casualties by country, it was the Soviet Union who lost the most lives at 27 million people. Ironically, more civilians died when compared to military personnel, with civilian casualties at 19 million and 8.7 million for the Red Army. Germany, on the other hand, sustained 5.3 million military casualties. The Chinese also suffered 7.5 million deaths at the hands of the brutal Japanese Imperial Army, where the Nanking Massacre and Sanko Sakusen killed over 2.7 million people with 300 thousand Chinese civilians raped.