History

Did the Soviet military intentionally send Armenian soldiers to the most precarious fronts during WWII?

Photo by www.mfa.am

Some 50 million were killed during WWII. In percentages, more Armenians were killed than any other nationality. In the Soviet Union Armenians had the most victims.

About 11% of the population was killed. Belorussia was second with 6.8%. Why were so many Armenians killed? Did the Soviet military intentionally send Armenian soldiers to the most precarious fronts?

In 1939 the population of Artsakh was 150,838 of which 90% were Armenian. During WWII over 45,000 people or 32% of the population of Armenians were drafted. In percentage, more people were mobilized in Artsakh than even in Germany.

By Jirair Tutunjian, Toronto keghart.org

Vigen Avetisyan

View Comments

  • According to the memoir of an Armenian soldier drafted from Yerevan, when he was in basic training in Georgia he and others noted that not significant number of Georgians were drafted compared to them. Noted that Stalin and Beria were Georgians and protected them.

  • I am absolutely positive that the Soviets intentionally did send the Armenian soldiers to the front positions to die in their place, otherwise how come a small country with a small population, suffered 300 thousand casualties??...!!

Recent Posts

Azerbaijan’s Cultural Propaganda Against Armenian Heritage: Evidence, Mechanism, and the Cost to the Peace Process

What independent observers are documenting The most systematic data on the fate of Armenian monuments…

2 days ago

Dadivank and Gandzasar: Two Armenian Monasteries, and the Manufactured Case Against Them

On September 12, 2026, a delegation of some 150 diplomats and representatives from 58 countries,…

4 days ago

The September Days: How the Armenians of Baku Were Massacred in 1918

On September 15, 1918, the oil city of Baku fell to a joint Ottoman-Azerbaijani force,…

6 days ago

From Akroinon to Afyonkarahisar: The Ruined Armenian Church and the Erasure of a 3,000-Year-Old Christian Presence

A case study in the systematic destruction of Armenian heritage in Turkey and Azerbaijan The…

1 week ago

Trampling Through the Centuries: How Baku-Accredited Diplomats “Toured” Gandzasar

On September 11–12, 2026, around 150 diplomats from 58 countries accredited in Baku took part…

1 week ago

Subartu: The Forgotten Northern Deep of Armenian History

A name from the world's oldest archives Long before Urartu, long before "Armenia" appears in…

2 weeks ago