Liberation Day

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Colonel-General Jodl , authorized by President Dönitz , signs the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht on May 7, 1945 at the Allied headquarters in Reims

May 8th is a day of remembrance as the day of liberation in various European countries , on which the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht and thus the end of the Second World War in Europe and the liberation from National Socialism is commemorated as the anniversary of May 8, 1945 . It is celebrated partly as a silent day of remembrance and partly as a public holiday with great public participation. The abbreviation VE-Day ( Victory in Europe Day ) is common in the USA and the three Commonwealth countries United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

It was a public holiday in the GDR from 1950 to 1967 and in 1985 (40th anniversary) .

Historical background

During the negotiations at the headquarters of the Allied Armed Forces ( SHAEF ) in Reims on May 7th, the unconditional surrender of all German armed forces was agreed and contractually signed there. May 8, 11:01 p.m. was set as the time for the cessation of all fighting in Europe.

However, German armed forces continued their fighting against Soviet troops. In order to put a binding end to the fighting between Soviet and German troops, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces countersigned the declaration of surrender late in the evening of May 8 at the Soviet headquarters in Berlin-Karlshorst (now the German-Russian Museum ) . This dragged on until shortly after midnight. Since it was already two hours later in Moscow due to the time zones, i.e. 00:01 a.m., May 9 is celebrated as Victory Day in the Soviet Union and its successor states .

A partial surrender of the three German armies operating in northwest Germany was declared on May 4, 1945 on the Timeloberg near Wendisch Evern to the British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery , which came into force the following day at 8 a.m. The signing of the unconditional surrender as well as the partial surrender had previously been authorized by the last Reich President Karl Dönitz , who had left the last Reich government in Flensburg - Mürwik . The Mürwik special area was not occupied until May 23 and the local government was arrested.

Federal Republic of Germany

Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker , 1984

In contrast to the GDR, May 8 was not a point of reference in the politics of remembrance in the early Federal Republic of Germany and otherwise received little public attention. May 8, 1955 was overshadowed by the entry into force of the Paris Treaties (May 5 to 9, 1955) and the regained sovereignty. The tenth anniversary of the military surrender was mentioned in this context “as the beginning of a development that ended with the regaining of sovereignty, but not as an independent date”. On May 8, 1970 , the social-liberal coalition under Willy Brandt was the first federal government to issue an official government declaration on the occasion of the 25th anniversary in the German Bundestag . Representatives of the CDU / CSU opposition tried to prevent this and declared that "defeats are not celebrated" and "shame and guilt deserve no appreciation". On the occasion of the 20th anniversary, Federal Chancellor Ludwig Erhard read a statement on radio and television in which he emphasized on the occasion of the “day of the German surrender” that the “military collapse” was preceded by “spiritual and moral decline”. Only “if injustice and tyranny had been eradicated from the world with the overthrow of Hitler Germany, then all of humanity would have enough reason to celebrate May 8th as a day of remembrance of the liberation”.

In the 1970s, attention increased significantly to May 8th as a political day of remembrance, but according to Peter Hurrelbrink, general recognition of this importance can only be said on the 40th anniversary, May 8th 1985: in the Federal Republic an anniversary of May 8th was accompanied by an extensive and controversial debate ”. The German Bundestag held at a high protokollarischem level a memorial service in the wake of the Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker in his speech to the 40th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe and the Nazi tyranny 8 May as "Liberation Day [...] of the inhuman system of the National Socialist tyranny ”.

Since 1985 there has been increasing discussion in the Federal Republic of what May 8, 1945 stands for: for the total military defeat of Germany or for its liberation from National Socialism . While the aspect of defeat was in the foreground in the post-war period, the aspect of liberation has become increasingly important. Historically, however, the Allies did not wage war against the German Reich to liberate it, but to defeat it militarily. Liberated in the literal sense of the word by Allied troops, hundreds of thousands from political, racial, religious and others. Establish prisoners in prisons, concentration and extermination camps and also non-imprisoned people who did not conform to the NSDAP dictatorship and sometimes fought against it from underground.

Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said on May 8, 2000: "Nobody today seriously denies that May 8, 1945 was a day of liberation - the liberation from National Socialist rule, from genocide and the horror of war."

According to the historian Hubertus Knabe , when using the term Liberation Day, a distinction must also be made between East and West Germany , since East Germans would not have had the chance to build a democracy until 1989. Josef Stalin made a decisive contribution to defeating National Socialism militarily, but used the victory to establish his own dictatorship.

Since March 8, 2002, May 8 has been the state day of remembrance in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as the day of liberation from National Socialism and the end of World War II . In 2005 a “Day of Democracy” took place in Berlin on the occasion of the 60th anniversary.

May 8th has been an official day of remembrance in Brandenburg since 2015. In Berlin, the 75th anniversary on May 8, 2020 was a one-time public holiday. In Schleswig-Holstein, too, May 8th will be the official day of remembrance from 2021. At the beginning of 2020, Axel Drecoll , the director of the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation , spoke out in favor of making May 8, 2020 a national holiday.

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz , the chairman of the Auschwitz Committee in the Federal Republic of Germany, Esther Bejarano , called for May 8 to be declared a public holiday. As early as May 2018, the DGB federal congress decided to advocate a national holiday.

“This day should be a day against racism, exclusion and discrimination of all forms. In addition, efforts should be made to ensure that nationwide events on the subject of anti-fascism are held on this day. "

- DGB : DGB Federal Congress 2018

German Democratic Republic

Delegation of the GDR children's organization Junge Pioneers in 1954 at the Soviet Memorial in Treptower Park

At the events on this public holiday, introduced in 1950 by a resolution of the Volkskammer, which was celebrated in the German Democratic Republic as the day of the liberation of the German people from Hitler's fascism , the special importance of the Red Army at the end of the war in Germany was emphasized, while the contribution of the Western allies it received less attention. In 1967, with the introduction of the five-day week, the day became a working day again along with other public holidays . However, official events continued to take place every year until the end of the GDR. On the 30th anniversary of the end of the war (1975), Victory Day (9 May) was declared a public holiday by the Central Committee of the SED , following the Soviet model . In 1985, on the 40th anniversary, May 8th was again celebrated as a non-working holiday.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands , Bevrijdingsdag is celebrated on May 5th. The evening before, on May 4th, the “Dodenherdenking” takes place with a ceremonial laying of a wreath in memory of the victims of National Socialism and World War II. On May 5, 1945, the Canadian General Charles Foulkes and the German Commander-in-Chief Johannes Blaskowitz negotiated in the presence of Prince Bernhard as commander of the domestic armed forces in the ruins of the largely bombed Hotel de Wereld in Wageningen about the surrender of the Wehrmacht units in the still occupied part of the Netherlands . Blaskowitz asked for 24 hours to think about it. On May 6, 1945, the prepared surrender conditions for the territory of the " Reichskommissariat Netherlands " were signed in the assembly hall of the agricultural college near the hotel.

In 2012, Federal President Joachim Gauck was the first German to speak on the occasion of Liberation Day in the Netherlands.

Other states

Celebrations on May 8, 2010 in Reims (France)

The anniversary of the end of the war in Europe is also celebrated as a public holiday in other countries involved in World War II, for example in France, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In the Soviet Union , Victory Day was celebrated as a public holiday on May 9 , as the surrender to the Red Army did not take place until after midnight CET and the ceasefire according to Moscow time ( UTC + 3 ) did not come into force until May 9. After the collapse of the Soviet Union , May 9 - Victory Day - was retained as a public holiday in some of its successor states. In Ukraine, May 8th was added from 2015 and May 9th was renamed from “Victory Day” to “Victory Day over National Socialism in World War II”.

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing abolished the Liberation Day celebrations in France 1974/75. As a result, there were violent protests from different quarters, which is why François Mitterrand reintroduced this holiday after taking office in 1981.

In Italy, the day of the liberation of Italy is celebrated on April 25th.

See also

literature

further reading

Web links

Commons : Liberation Day  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Law on the introduction of the holidays "Liberation Day" and "Republic Day" of April 21, 1950 (Journal of Laws p. 355)
  2. ↑ Since summer time was in effect in the German Reich , the armistice was actually on May 9th from 0:01 a.m., on this declaration of surrender: The paper that ended the war , Spiegel Online , Panorama , May 8, 2005.
  3. ↑ Florian Altenhöner (1996): May 8th: ( Not ) a holiday. To an exhibition of the student council history. In: Convent of the Philipps University of Marburg (ed.): The Philipps University in National Socialism. Events of the Philipps University on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war on May 8, 1995. Marburg, pp. 79–94, quoted from Peter Hurrelbrink: Liberation as a process. The collective official memory of May 8, 1945 in the Federal Republic, the GDR and in united Germany. In: Gesine Schwan et al. (Ed.): Democratic political identity. Germany, Poland and France in comparison. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 78.
  4. ↑ This was not yet a special session of the German Bundestag on the occasion of commemoration, as became customary in later years, but the last item on the agenda of a regular session. Cf. Peter Hurrelbrink: Liberation as a process. The collective official memory of May 8, 1945 in the Federal Republic, the GDR and in united Germany. In: Gesine Schwan et al. (Ed.): Democratic political identity. Germany, Poland and France in comparison. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 85.
  5. ↑ Peter Hurrelbrink: Liberation as a process. The collective official memory of May 8, 1945 in the Federal Republic, the GDR and in united Germany. In: Gesine Schwan et al. (Ed.): Democratic political identity. Germany, Poland and France in comparison. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 83 ff.
  6. ↑ Ludwig Erhard (1965): A firm will to reconciliation. Declaration by the Federal Chancellor on radio and television on the 20th anniversary of the end of the war on May 7, 1965. In: Bulletin of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government of May 11, 1965. Quoted from Peter Hurrelbrink: Liberation as a process. The collective official memory of May 8, 1945 in the Federal Republic, the GDR and in united Germany. In: Gesine Schwan et al. (Ed.): Democratic political identity. Germany, Poland and France in comparison. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 84.
  7. ↑ Peter Hurrelbrink: Liberation as a process. The collective official memory of May 8, 1945 in the Federal Republic, the GDR and in united Germany. In: Gesine Schwan et al. (Ed.): Democratic political identity. Germany, Poland and France in comparison. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 87.
  8. ^ Richard von Weizsäcker (1985): May 8, 1945 - forty years later. Speech on the 40th anniversary of May 8, 1945, German Bundestag on May 8, 1985. In: Ders .: Bridges for Understanding. Talk. Berlin 1990, pp. 31-46. Quoted from Peter Hurrelbrink: Liberation as a process. The collective official memory of May 8, 1945 in the Federal Republic, the GDR and in united Germany. In: Gesine Schwan et al. (Ed.): Democratic political identity. Germany, Poland and France in comparison. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 89.
  9. ^ Speech by Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition "Jews in Berlin 1938–1945" in the Centrum Judaicum
  10. ↑ Hubertus Knabe: Day of Liberation? The end of the war in East Germany , Propylaeen, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-549-07245-7 , p. 10 ff.
  11. ^ Law on Sundays and Holidays in the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
  12. ↑ Brandenburg has a new day of remembrance , Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung of April 30, 2015.
  13. ↑ Berliner Zeitung : March 8th is now officially a public holiday in Berlin , January 24th, 2019.
  14. ↑ May 8th as a national day of remembrance? , Kieler Nachrichten, June 19, 2020
  15. ↑ Drecoll for public holiday on May 8, 2020 , Deutschlandfunk, January 1, 2020.
  16. ↑ Open letter to those in power and all people who want to learn from history , written on January 26, 2020.
  17. ↑ Resolution A012: May 8th as a national holiday (pdf, 230 KB)
  18. ↑ Federal Agency for Civic Education: Current background: May 8, 1945
  19. ^ Gauck in the Netherlands: Respect for the legal order , Europe Online Magazine. May 6, 2012.