In the context of large-scale military operations of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and mass population movements, the epidemiological situation at the front and in the rear sharply worsened. Infectious diseases such as typhus and typhoid fever, dysentery, and others have become a serious threat to the army’s combat capability and the health of the civilian population. The purpose of the study is to analyze the sanitary and epidemiological situation at the front and in the rear, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of measures taken by Soviet medicine to combat epidemics. Materials and methods. Retrospective and comparative analyses and synthesis. Results. In the USSR, vaccination was actively used to prevent typhoid and typhus among the military and civilians. In Germany, unlike in the USSR, vaccination was mainly carried out among the military. Conclusions. During the Second World War, infectious diseases did not spare anyone, affecting people regardless of army, nationality or status. The Soviet and German approaches to vaccination differed in accessibility, coverage, and priorities: while the former tried to reach the military and civilians as much as possible, the latter concentrated almost all their efforts on the military.