Battle of the Lower Dnieper: Casualties and losses

SS-Obersturmführer Karl-Heinz Boska

Defeated and broken German Prisoner of War

The Soviet Lower Dnieper Offensive (August 24 1943 – December 23 1943) was one of the costliest operations of World War II. The Soviets mustered about 2,633,000 men according to historian Karl-Heinz Frieser: the Germans about 1,250,000 men (600,000 Romanian and 350,000 German Reinforcements). Casualties during the Battle of Dnieper are still a subject of a heavy debate. The Soviet casualties are estimated at being from 1,300,000 to 1,800,000 including 300,000 to 550,000 killed. The Russian historian Nikolaï Shefov (Russian fights) puts the figure of 1,500,000 total Soviet casualties including 373,000 killed. During this four-month operation, the eastern bank of the Dnieper was recovered from German forces. Subsequently, Kiev was liberated in a separate offensive. German losses, however, are more difficult to evaluate. The simple rule of 3:1 losses during an offensive operation against a heavily defended enemy would lead to a 500,000 total casualties. Credit: Wikipedia inter alia. Left image: a photo of Das Reich officer Karl-Heinz Boska, probably taken in connection with his promotion to SS-Obersturmführer on December 16 1943. On the morning of September 13 1943 near Bolschaja Grab, Soviet infantry mounted a large and dangerous surprise attack on Das Reich's II.Panzer-Abteilung Headquarters. the then SS-Untersturmführer Karl-Heinz Boska, rallied and led five Panzers in a ferocious counterattack that destroyed 12 anti-tank guns, two field guns and killed over 300 Soviet troops, earning him an immediate recommendation for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by the Divisional commander, SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant Walter Krüger. Knight's Cross holder Karl-Heinz Boska died aged 84 on October 22 2004 in Raisdorf near Kiel. Credit: Matthias Ruf. Commons Bundesarchiv. Right image: screenshot from a Russian USSR film showing a defeated Wehrmacht soldier during the Soviet offensives in Ukraine in 1943, possibly staged shoot for Soviet propaganda purposes to glorify the victories of the Red Army. PD.