World War II claimed more victims than any other conflict in human history and had dramatic consequences for the citizens of the countries involved in the war. More than 60 million people died during the six years of war, while civilian losses amounted to nearly 33 million people. Poles participated in most military operations on fronts throughout the world.
To this day, the scale of the losses and the extent of wartime repression are not known precisely. There are still many families in Poland who do not know what happened to their loved ones—people persecuted during World War II under German and Soviet occupation.
Historians estimate that Poland lost nearly six million of its citizens.