On this day 75 years ago, the Instrument of Surrender was signed at Rheims by representatives of the German government. It was to be ratified the next day (its actually the 8th already here).
I'm going to repost these from my Europe thread owing to the importance of these couple of days, since we are all in lockdown and not able to go to anywhere significantly connected to this important anniversary.
Berlin: 8 May 1945: In the leafy suburb of Karlshorst in the city's south east, in this incongrouous building at the end of Zwieselerstrasse, World War Two in Europe officially came to an end. In this building, the Soviet Army signed away control of East Germany with the ratification of the DDR in the former RLM building in October 1949. Now, thanks to the Soviets, it is a museum, one of the best in the city, that tells the story of the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany, the capture of the city by the Soviet Army and the impact of all that on its hapless citizens.
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In this room, representatives of the Wehrmacht, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe - the OKW des Heeres HQ'd at the Bendlerblock, now a memorial to plots against the Nazi regime on Stauffenburgstrasse, signed the document that ended the war. It was a ratification of the existing agreement made the day before in Rheims, which is the official reason behind the scurrying of officials from France, to Flugplatz Tempelhof and through the devastated ruins of the city centre to this largely untouched corner of the Reich, but unofficially, the reason for the reconvening at Karlshorst was Stalin. After the signing of the official surrender document at Rheims on 7 May 1945, insisted on by General Eisenhower, who stated that if the Germans did not surrender unconditionally, then bombing of Germany would resume, Stalin was furious. How could the Allies force the Germans to sign a document of surrender with little Soviet participation, after what the Soviet people had been through? That night, everyone was packed into aircraft and flown to Berlin. The room is almost exactly as it was on 8th May 1945, save for the carpet allegedly pilfered from the ruins of the Reichskanzlei on Vossstrasse. Much of the furniture is not original however.
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Here is where the representatives of the Allied countries sat, indicated by their national flags. From left, representing General Eisenhower, the British delegate was Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, The Soviet delegate was Marshal Georgy Zhukov, formal representative of the Red Army Supreme High Command, the United States delegate was General Carl Spaatz, Commander of the United States Strategic Air Forces as a witness, and the French delegate was General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, Commander of the First French Army, as a witness.
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Here is where the Germans sat. From Marshal Zhukov's diary, "The first to enter, slowly and feigning composure, was Generalfeldmarschall [Wilhelm] Keitel, Hitler's closest associate. Keitel was followed by Generaloberst [Hans-Jurgen] Stumpff. he was a short man whose eyes were full of impotent rage. With him entered Generaladmiral [Hans-Georg] von Friedeburg who looked prematurely old. The Germans were asked to take their seats at a separate table close to the door through which they had entered. The Generalfeldmarschall slowly sat down and pinned his eyes on us, sitting at the Presaedium table. Stumpff and von Friedeburg sat down beside Keitel. The officers accompanying them stood behind their chairs."
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The German Instrument of Surrender Document as signed by those present, in a display case in the room.
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Georgi Zhukov's overcoat in the museum.
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