Recently, I participated in a televised discussion on my friend Piers Morgan’s show, where I referenced the civilian death toll caused by Allied forces during World War II—approximately 3 million. I drew this comparison to contextualize the civilian casualties that are occuring in Israel’s military engagements against Hamas. During the broadcast however, Piers Morgan himself intervened, several times, asserting that only around 700,000 civilians had died in WWII.
While he may not have been intended to do so, his highly inaccurate and false fact-checking of me, openly challenging and rebuking me, served to undermine my credibility on vital statistics, and as such as an informed representative of my people.
I am the author, thank God, of an acclaimed and celebrated book on the Holocaust and the Second World War called “Holocaust Holiday.” I take few things as seriously as the Second World War in general and the Holocaust in particular, for obvious reasons.
To present accurate historical context and correct the record, I am citing reliable sources indicating that civilian losses due to Allied military actions were significantly higher, just as I quoted in the show, underscoring the importance of honesty and responsible journalism.
I also request that my friend Piers issue a public apology for challenging the number on a live broadcast, as it shows both historical ignorance and a failure of journalistic integrity.
The facts:
One of the most intensive Allied bombing campaigns in WWII occurred over Germany. According to the United States Strategic Bombing Survey (1945), the total number of German civilian deaths due to strategic bombing reached roughly 305,000, with an additional 780,000 wounded (United States Strategic Bombing Survey, 1945). Later historians, such as Richard Overy, suggest this figure is conservative. In "The Bombing War: Europe 1939-1945," Overy estimates that between 353,000 and 600,000 civilians in Germany were killed by Allied airstrikes (Overy, 2014, pp. 450-460). These bombs were indiscriminate in many cases, flattening entire cities and causing mass civilian casualties.
One of the best-known, and perhaps infamous, examples is the bombing of Dresden in February 1945. While initial postwar claims suggested as many as half a million killed, a detailed examination by the Dresden Historical Commission concluded that approximately 25,000 to 35,000 civilians died (Dresden Historical Commission, cited in Dawsey, 2020). Even with that correction, the assault on the city of Dresden remains one of the most shocking and destructive episodes of civilian targeting by Allied forces.
Civilian Losses in Japan
In the Pacific theater, Allied forces waged devastating air campaigns against Japanese cities. The United States Strategic Bombing Survey (1947) reported an estimated 333,000 civilian deaths and 473,000 wounded due to air raids on Japan, including the incendiary bombing of Tokyo and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (“The Effects of Bombing on Health and Medical Services in Japan,” 1947).
The Tokyo firebombing alone, on March 9-10, 1945, killed between 83,000 and 100,000 civilians in a single night, making it one of the deadliest air raids in history (Encyclopædia Britannica, n.d.).
When combining the civilian death toll in Germany (approximately 300,000 to 600,000) with those in Japan (approximately 300,000), we already arrive at a figure between 600,000 and 900,000. Additional civilian deaths occurred in Italy, France, and other Axis-held territories due to bombings, artillery, and bombing of supply routes—many of which lack precise statistics. Conservative estimates of these additional casualties amount to 100,000-200,000, bringing the total to between 700,000 and 1.1 million. Still, some scholars, including in ligneous analyses, suggest even higher figures approaching 3 million (Fair Observer, n.d.).
When civilian losses from blockades, naval attacks, liberation battles, disease, and famine are considered, the total death toll attributable to Allied actions expands even further. Conservative composite estimates place the total between 1.5 to 3 million civilian deaths, just as I quoted —these are not axiomatic figures inflated by false historical narratives, but grounded in contemporary assessments (United States Strategic Bombing Survey, 1945, 1947; Overy, 2014; Dawsey, 2020; Encyclopædia Britannica, n.d.).
The misrepresentation of history, whether intentional or due to oversight, has serious implications. Misstating historical civilian casualties by tens or hundreds of thousands diminishes our understanding of wartime ethics, accountability, and the burden borne by innocent people. This is not academic nitpicking; it is an urgent moral responsibility. When discussing modern-day conflicts, such as Israel’s operations in Gaza, it is essential that comparisons be grounded in rigorously vetted historical fact. My original mention of 3 million civilians killed by Allied forces was not an exaggeration, but a statement rooted in holistic historical data that includes all theaters and types of collateral consequences.
The history of World War II, especially its darker chapters involving civilian losses, must be treated with precision and humility. While civilian casualties are in no way equal to Nazi atrocities or Holocaust horrors, they are nonetheless tragedies that reflect on the complexity of moral choices in warfare.
Israel faces these moral choices every single day as it seeks to dislodge Hamas from Gaza, where the terrorist organization is inextricably and purposefully intertwined with the civilian population in order to create maximum Palestinian Arab civilian casualties for any military operations run by the Jewish state to liberate the people of Gaza from Hamas and stop Hamas’s genocidal attacks against Israelis.
My reference to 3 million civilian casualties was not hyperbole, it is grounded in an array of official investigations, archival surveys, and independent historical scholarship (United States Strategic Bombing Survey, 1945, 1947; Overy, 2014; Dawsey, 2020; Encyclopædia Britannica, n.d.).
Israel, of course, has not caused even a tiny propotional fraction of such casualties in its nearly two year war against Hamas in Gaza. Indeed, Israel‘s ratio of combat to civilian deaths in Gaza is approximately 1 to 1.5, the lowest ever recorded in urban warfare.
To confront our public discourse with rigor and integrity, corrections must be public and accountability transparent. I remain open to further scrutiny of all data cited and welcome continued dialogue on the responsibilities of journalists and commentators in accurately representing our collective past, and its implications for the ethical conduct of nations today.
In the meantime, there can be no question that my friend Piers Morgan owes me a public apology, and in order to preserve his own credibility, must correct the record. According to all leading historians, the allies killed a minimum of 1.5 million and a maximum of 3 million German civilians, just as quoted. Piers’s number of 700,000 German civilian deaths at the hands of Churchill, and FDR, was a total fabrication, one which he must correct. I know he always wants to be an honest and accurate man and I have confidence he will do so.
References
Dawsey, J. (2020, February 13). Apocalypse in Dresden, February 1945. The National WWII Museum. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/apocalypse-dresden-february-1945
Encyclopædia Britannica. (n.d.). Bombing of Tokyo. In Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved July 17, 2025, from https://www.britannica.com/event/Bombing-of-Tokyo
Overy, R. (2014). The Bombing War: Europe 1939-1945. Allen Lane.
United States Strategic Bombing Survey. (1945). Summary Report (European War). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
United States Strategic Bombing Survey. (1947). The Effects of Bombing on Health and Medical Services in Japan. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
Fair Observer. (n.d.). The Truth About Allied Air Operations in World War II. Retrieved July 17,
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