In World War II especially, not only were millions of men in uniform killed, but masses of civilians were also killed in the war zones, particularly by the “saturation bombing” of cities employed by both sides. There are, of course, the victims that all wars produce: the widows and orphans who are left behind when husbands and fathers are killed.

For instance, in the second world war about three million German soldiers were killed. In the Soviet Union, about seven and a half million men were killed. Thus, after the war it was impossible for many millions of women in these countries to find marriage mates because of the shortage of men. The heartache of these women cannot be covered over with phrases that are often used to describe them, such as “surplus women,” as though this was something natural. That “surplus” was very unnatural, created by the mass slaughter of eligible men.