In 1945, on May 8, in Karshorst (a suburb of Berlin), at 22.43 CET, the final Act of the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and its armed forces was signed. It is not by chance that this act is called final, since it was not the first.
From the moment the Soviet troops closed the ring around Berlin, the historical question of preserving Germany as such arose before the German military leadership. For obvious reasons, the German generals wanted to capitulate to the Anglo-American troops, continuing the war with the USSR.
To sign the surrender to the allies, the German command sent a special group and on the night of May 7 in the city of Reims (France) a preliminary act of Germany's surrender was signed. This document stipulated the possibility of continuing the war against the Soviet army.
However, the unconditional condition of the Soviet Union remained the demand for the unconditional surrender of Germany as a fundamental condition for the complete cessation of hostilities. The Soviet leadership considered the signing of the act in Reims only an interim document, and was also convinced that the act of surrender of Germany should be signed in the capital of the aggressor country.
At the insistence of the Soviet leadership, the generals and Stalin personally, the representatives of the allies gathered again in Berlin and on May 8, 1945, they signed another act of surrender of Germany together with the main winner, the USSR. That is why the Act of Germany's unconditional surrender is called final.
The ceremony of solemn signing of the act was organized in the building of the Berlin military engineering school and was chaired by Marshal Zhukov. The final act of unconditional surrender of Germany and its armed forces is signed by Field Marshal V. Keitel, Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, Admiral Von Friedeburg, and Colonel General of Aviation G. Stumpf. On the part of the allies, the Act was signed by G. K. Zhukov and British Marshal A. Tedder.
After the signing of the Act, the German government was disbanded, and the defeated German troops completely laid down their arms. In the period from May 9 to 17, Soviet troops took prisoners about 1.5 million German soldiers and officers, as well as 101 generals. The Great Patriotic War ended with a complete victory for the Soviet army and its people.
In the USSR, the signing of the final Act of Germany's unconditional surrender was announced when it was already May 9, 1945 in Moscow. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in commemoration of the victorious end of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders, May 9 was declared Victory Day.
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