You really should add in the 18 million from WWI since WWII was really just the continuation of WWI. Comparing the casualties for the Germans, it's evident they learned their lessons.
This makes it very clear why we call our WWII generation the "Greatest Generation." No other generation has had to deal with so much and stepped up and did it. My father is alive at 96. His stories are incredible.
Timely, too, since I just found this a few days ago. Cliff Long is my grandmother's brother and the youngest pilot of the Flying Tigers. He and Shirley are both still alive.
It is interesting how good graphics can make complex numbers come alive. The video makes the losses of the Russians clear in a way that numbers in a list fail to achieve.
One of my favorite infographics is this map by Charles Joseph Minard portrays the losses suffered by Napoleon's army in the Russian campaign of 1812. Beginning at the Polish-Russian border, the thick band shows the size of the army at each position. The path of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow in the bitterly cold winter is depicted by the dark lower band, which is tied to temperature and time scales.
When numbers are portrayed graphically, they take on an immediacy that hits home.
