General observation

[jefflgarrison]

Guys, I just finished the book "Ivan's War" and in chapter 10, Merridale makes the observation that,

Of the generation of young men that was born in 1921, the concripts who had been called up in time for the battles of Kiev and Kharkov, or for the calvary of Stalingrad itself, up to 90 percent were dead.

This along with the knowledge that a high majority of those taken captive in the first part of the war either died in concentration camps where turned to fight against their countrymen or were sent to the gulag after the war.

If so many pre-1943 soldiers died, is it possible to say that we are seeing the end of order below a certain level of numbers?

I see someone post a photo of an award with a low number and watch as it is confimed to be a fake.

Now I am not ignoring the fact that 1% of a million men is still 10,000 but how many died before the fall of communism and the family reluctantly handed back their awards? How many went later to the gulag and had their awards confiscated?

Is this the beginning of the end of awards below a certain level?