81 Years Since Victory Over the Nazis: That Historic Signing Took Place in Berlin

Moscow. On May 9, 1945, at 0:43 a.m. Moscow time, the Instrument of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany was signed in Karlshorst, Berlin. That great victory of the Soviet people over the Nazi Reich marked the end of the Second World War on European soil and the ultimate collapse of Hitler’s fascism.

The surrender was accepted by Marshal Georgy Zhukov on behalf of the Soviet Union and Deputy Commander of the Allied Forces Marshal Arthur Tedder on behalf of the Western Allies. From the German side, the Instrument was signed by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Colonel General Hans-Jurgen Stumpff, and Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg.

Later that day, at 2:30 a.m. Moscow time, newscaster Yury Levitan announced the text of the German Instrument of Surrender to the Soviet people, proclaiming May 9 as Victory Day. He declared, “The Great Patriotic War, which the Soviet people waged against the Nazi invaders, has been victoriously concluded. Fascist Germany has been crushed. Eternal glory to the Heroes who fell fighting for the freedom and independence of our Motherland.”

Military correspondent Konstantin Simonov wrote in his memoirs, “Zhukov stood up and said: The German delegation may leave the hall. The Germans stood up. Keitel turned on his heel and left. And instantaneously, all tension in the room relaxed, and everybody exhaled in unison. The act of surrender had been signed, and the war was over.”

Before the final surrender in Karlshorst, several local capitulations of Nazi troops had taken place along various frontlines. As early as April 1945, certain Nazi military leaders, aware that their collapse was imminent and fearing justice for their crimes, sought secret talks with the Western command. Although the Act of Military Surrender was signed in the French city of Reims on May 7, the Soviet leadership regarded it merely as a preliminary document. At the Soviet government’s request, the main and final ceremony of surrender was held in Berlin itself, where the Nazi aggression had originated. On the night of May 9, the German Instrument of Surrender was signed in Karlshorst. The Nazi government was dissolved, and the defeated German troops laid down their arms.

This year marks the 81st anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany on May 9. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated, “This day is a celebration of the triumph of life, freedom, and independence for all the peoples of the post-Soviet countries. None of us was meant to survive. But we did survive because our forefathers prevailed. The cost of our common Victory is 27 million lives of our compatriots. We remember them all, and we will keep their memory alive.”