The war inflicted huge losses and suffering upon the civilian populations of the affected countries. Behind the front lines, atrocities against civilians in German-occupied areas were routine, including the Holocaust. German and German-allied forces treated civilian populations with exceptional brutality, massacring villages and routinely killing civilian hostages. Both sides practiced widespread scorched earth tactics, but the loss of civilian lives in the case of Germany was incomparably smaller than that of the Soviet Union, in which at least 20 million civilians were killed by the Nazis.

Nevsky

A rare color shot (original) of the infamous Dachau death train. I firmly believe that sights like this one were a big part of what lead the liberating GI's to execute the SS guards out of hand. Also, the fact that the SS opened fire on them after surrendering under a white flag probably didn't improve the GI's mood any either.

Dachau liberation

Russian T-34?85 with add on spring type armor. German KIA.