Today in history 5-8

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1945
May 8
Allied nations worldwide celebrate V-E Day

On May 8, 1945, Great Britain, the United States and other Allied countries celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in the U.S., U.K. and Western Europe, along with in the Soviet Union, Canada and Australia, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine during World War II.

The German surrender was realized in a final ceasefire. German General Alfred Jodl had signed an unconditional surrender on May 7.

The eighth of May marked the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms. In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more. Elsewhere, troops stood down in Copenhagen, Denmark; in Oslo, Norway; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark. More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany.

The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp of Soviet forces so as to keep from being taken prisoner. About 1 million Germans attempted a mass exodus to the West when the fighting in Czechoslovakia ended but were stopped by the Russians and taken captive. The Russians took approximately 2 million prisoners in the period just before and after the German surrender.

Meanwhile, more than 13,000 British prisoners of war were released and sent back to Great Britain.

Pockets of German-Soviet confrontation would continue into the next day. On May 9, the Soviets would lose 600 more soldiers in Silesia before the Germans finally surrendered. Consequently, V-E Day was not celebrated until the ninth in Moscow, with a radio broadcast salute from Stalin himself: "The age-long struggle of the Slav nations...has ended in victory. Your courage has defeated the Nazis. The war is over."

Despite being one of the most significant days during World War II, the conflict continued in the Pacific for a few more months. V-J Day on August 14 marked another major celebration as Japan announced it would also surrender.