Six years of war in Europe ended 75 years ago when Nazi Germany signed an unconditional surrender.  Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, Germany's President, negotiated Germany's surrender while trying to save many Germans as he could from being held by the Soviets; which allowed millions of German soldiers to surrender to the Allied forces. 

On MAY 7TH, General Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, accepted the German's unconditional surrender in Reims, France. The Soviets, having not agreed the text, requested revisions. In addition, some German troops considered the document to require only surrendering to the Allies and not the Soviets, and thus fighting continued on the Eastern Front. As a result, on May 8th, the official surrender documents were signed in Berlin by Field Marshall Keitel, formally ordering the German military to cease operations and ending the war.  The new document required the German military to completely disarm. The surrender was signed late in the day, so time differences resulted in it being 9 May in Moscow; so the Soviets celebrated 9 May as the surrender date.

Following the surrender, the race was on between the Allies and the Soviets for German technology and scientific expertise, as well as looted art and artifacts from countries Germany occupied.

The war was not yet over for many soldiers, POWs and civilians. " Fighting raged in in the Pacific against japan and would not end until August 1945. Of the victory over Germany, Truman said, it was "a victory only half won" and Churchill reminded Britain "We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing (as Japan) remains unsubdued.

Today, let us remember those men and women who sacrificed and served to end the war in Europe.