Obligatory Quote Investigator link: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/21/death-statistic/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/21/death-statistic/ > In co

Obligatory Quote Investigator link: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/21/death-statistic/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/21/death-statistic/ > In conclusion, the saying was attributed to Joseph Stalin by 1947, but the evidentiary support for the linkage was not clear to QI. Columnist Lyons stated that the words were spoken during a meeting “of the highest ranking Commissars”. Perhaps a statement was made by a witness, but QI has not located such a document at this time. The satirist Kurt Tucholsky placed a similar remark into the mouth of a French diplomat in a piece that was available in German by 1925.