At the end of World War II the effects were everywhere. It affected every country, and every family in some way or form. Ukraine is one of the countries who had suffered the most from the war and the consequences of it. From the ruling of the Germans (1941–1944) and the Soviets (1922- 1941, 1944 - 1991) Ukraine is considered to be "the greatest victim of World War II" (http://www.infoukes.com/history/ww2/page-01.html, Andrew Gregorovich) due to the fact of having the greatest human losses and greatest material damage. From the actions of World War II the Ukrainian nation had to rebuild their economy, population and find a way to still maintain their culture under the influence of the Soviet Union.
Ukraine was the country who had suffered the most material damage in World War II, meaning that they were left in an economic crisis. The military occupation of the Nazis and the "Scorched Earth" policy enforced both by Hitler and Stalin had left Ukraine's economy and cultural wealth in ruins. The total damage during the war was 1000 billion US$ throughout the nation including the destruction of 16 000 industrial enterprises, 714 towns/cities, 28 000 state farms, etc. The road to recovery wasn't that easy in the beginning due to the famine of 1946, but steadily improved with the Soviets "Five-Year" plans.
Not only had Ukraine suffered the destruction of their country, but they also suffered the destruction of their people. The millions of deaths were caused by Stalin and Hitler because they considered Ukrainians as "sub-humans" and found that they got in the way of the future of both of their countries. Ukraine had a population of 41.9 million in the beginning of World War II and after six long years their population had decreased by 25%, making Ukraine have the greatest human losses in the War. These 10.5 million (1 Ukrainian out of 4 population) were killed through starvation, the occupation of Nazis, disease or they were sent as slave labourers to Nazi Germany or were deported as political prisoners to the Soviet Union.
