Did the soviets actually make efforts to save their wounded?

Question

We know what kind of man Stalin were, I am wondering if it makes 'economical' sense for him to save the lives of many apparently wounded soldiers who might remain as cripples for rest of their lives than to spend all his resources to send troops upfront.

What's your thoughts?

Answer 1

The staggering number of casualties suffered by the Red Army during WW2 might create an impression of reckless waste of manpower and of insensitivity to the toll of casualties on the part of Stalin and his regime. This impression might be reinforced by exaggerated German claims, explaining away their defeats with the falsehood that they were beaten by sheer numbers, attacking in relentless sub-human waves, regardless of casualties.

But this impression is wrong. Caring for the wounded is a matter of common sense. Armies cannot afford to waste the lives of their soldiers. This has nothing to do with the regime and the government, nor with the political leadership. It is strictly a utilitarian approach.

The standard of the Soviet Medical Service in WW2 was not high in comparison with the British or American equivalents, partly because of shortages of critical medicines and drugs. But it was high enough to convince the soldiers of the Red Army that they were looked after and cared for. That factor is of huge importance in any army: no soldier will deliver his utmost efforts in battle, unless he believes that his army will take care of him if he is wounded.

Given the extraordinarily difficult battlefield and logistics conditions of the Russian Front, the Soviets went to great lengths to try to care for their wounded and sick. Experience at Khalkin-Gol and in the Winter War revealed big inadequacies in pre-war planning for the Medical Service.

The Soviets were still involved in reorganizing the Medical Service when Barbarossa hit them. Barbarossa destroyed around 50% of the Red Army’s Medical Service in the space of two months. But the Medical Service was then rebuilt and expanded. Here are the numbers for fully qualified Medical personnel: -

Doctors: July 42 = 44,729; May 45 = 67,507.
Nurses: July 42 = 37,435; May 45 = 48,186.
Dentists / Pharmacists: July 42 = 10,980; May 45 = 11,362.

In addition, the Medical Service hospitals were staffed by approx. 500,000 semi-qualified nursing personnel (mainly female).

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Some other statistics may help to prove the reality of the Soviet commitment to caring for their wounded: -

Red Army Hospital Beds: -
Available for forces involved in the December 1941 Moscow counter-offensive = 101,200.
Available for forces involved in the August 1943 Smolensk offensive = 157,750.

Numbers of wounded soldiers treated in Red Army hospitals: -
1941 = 1,713,000
1942 = 3,625,400
1943 = 4,124,100
1944 = 3,520,200
1945 = 1,703,000
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The big, abiding problem for the Red Army was not providing good hospital treatment for the wounded once they were brought into hospital. It was evacuating wounded soldiers from the battlefield itself. But that problem was true for all other WW2 armies. Little progress was made on that problem until the Vietnam War, where massive numbers of helicopters were used to carry the wounded away from the firefight as quickly as possible.
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Excellent source on this topic: “The Value of Human Life in Soviet Warfare” by Amnon Sella; 1992. It contains a very detailed account of the history, structure and experience of the Soviet Medical Service.

I also used (mainly for statistics) “Colossus Reborn” by David M. Glantz.

Answer 2

Treating of the wounded is of absolute paramount to the morale. When soldiers see that the wounded are not being treated, their morale will drop. It does not matter whether the wounded recover from the treatment they receive, but the fact that they are treated is what matters to the soldiers. A good example is Japan. Japanese troops were known to be fanatical. However, in China where their logistic system broke down and wounded soldiers did not receive proper medical treatment, their morale suffered and there were significant number of desertion.

As such, Russia did all it can to provide proper treatment to the wounded, regardless of where it would be effective or not (Large number of wounded died).

Answer 3

It is easy to demonize Stalin and too view the Soviets (dare we say Russians) with abhorrence in view of the amount of casualties, reports of cannibalism, the supposed sheer brutality of life in Soviet Russia.
That said -------------
YES - - -

People have a tendency to save comrades & friends, there has never been a people on Earth so brutalized & insensitive that they wouldn't give a fallen comrad a sip of water from their canteen or staunch a gash with a swath of their shirt. Hurt is hurt no matter color of skin or political ieology.

Actually the Soviets had a good medical corp, when available, the usual snafus made things difficult but those doctors that served served well. IN fact in one key area the Soviets were ahead of the West, they had Female Doctors!!
The Soviets didn't believe in barring a person from practicing medicine simply because they had a vagina....

As for 'cripples,' weeks into active warfare a large chunk of an Army is walking wounded. A one armed man can still pull a trigger, a one eyed guy can kill as well, and after the war there were many 'cripples' in Russia who would be proud to show you their stumps...

Wish I could give you scholarly links but info on this topic is scarce. A Majority of people love to fantacize about Soviet soldiers eating each other but few care to read about Soviet Women Doctors amidst the H^ll of Stalingrad..

This first link is controversial - - - a speech by Bill Clinton a man most peace loving Christian Evangelicals would like to see burned at the stake....
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=49161
"""In 1944, Joseph Beyrle parachuted into France with the 101st Airborne Division only to be captured and taken to a prison camp in Germany. But he escaped, joined advancing Russian troops, and fought as a member of a Russian army unit as it drove toward Berlin.
While manning a Russian tank gun, Joseph Beyrle was wounded, but Russian doctors saved his life. I'm especially grateful to them because Joseph survived the war and went on to have a son. His son, John works here in the White House as one of my advisors on Russian Affairs.""

Final word, War is a boom to medicine. Soviet Doctors learned a lot during World War Two and improved as their material needs improved. Despite Stalin's rep for being an evil monster even evil monsters can be compassionate..

Peace...................

Answer 4

I think the men who fought with those who were wounded did their best to help their wounded. There were field hospitals and the like. What he did for them after the War I don't know. The Russians greatest advantage was their numbers - they could "afford" to lose millions. I'll bet their mothers thought differently.
Gromm's got it right.

Answer 5

Yes.

I knew a diplomat who spent a lot of time in the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and early 1960s - he commented more than once on the numbers of amputees from the war seen all over the country - missing arms & legs - and many wearing their war decorations, and working - selling train tickets, on admission desks in museums, etc - he said they were greatly honoured and given the dignity of work.

Answer 6

sure, Soviet leaders probably used the chilly conflict to justify their undemocratic rule of the country. They mandatory to have exterior enemies as a fashion to accuse their political fighters of being traitors in situations of threat for the country. It replaced into their way of conserving means. yet Soviet Union collapsed specifically because of the fact its leaders which includes Gorbachev and Yeltsin lost faith interior the Soviet device of government. specific, there replaced into financial cave in. yet this cave in replaced into the end results of all of the adjustments and reforms Gorbachev and Yeltsin presented. the main important weak point of the Soviet device replaced into its lack of ability to do away with ineffective and incompetent leaders. that they had no limits on how long a frontrunner ought to stay in means. that they had no helpful tests and balances on the means of their chief. and that that they had no democratic elections in which the individuals ought to replace a frontrunner they did no longer like. that's an inherent weak point of all undemocratic sorts of government. too plenty relies upon on the selections of one guy. and because no person lives continuously. faster or later, an incompentent guy finally leads to means and severly damages his u . s . a ..

Answer 7

Remember he'd said, "A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are statistics." So I don't think they bothered, because it was too cold. You could die of cold or die of no medicine.

Answer 8

Oh yes, so they could have something to eat later on.

Answer 9

Yes,they were saved where possible so they could be redeployed

Answer 10

yep my man