The Other Shoe

On May 7, 1945, German officials signed the first of several surrenders, marking the end of World War II in Europe. The following day, May 8, was officially designated Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day.

Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Western Allies and the Soviet Union at 2:41 A. M. French time today. [This was at 8:41 P.M., Eastern Wartime Sunday.]

The surrender took place at a little red school house that is the headquarters of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The surrender, which brought the war in Europe to a formal end after five years, eight months and six days of bloodshed and destruction, was signed for Germany by Col. Gen. Gustav Jodl. General Jodl is the new Chief of Staff of the German Army.

The surrender was signed for the Supreme Allied Command by Lieut. Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, Chief of Staff for General Eisenhower.

It was also signed by Gen. Ivan Susloparoff for the Soviet Union and by Gen. Francois Sevez for France.

[The official Allied announcement will be made at 9 o'clock Tuesday morning when President Truman will broadcast a statement and Prime Minster Churchill will issue a V-E Day proclamation, Gen. Charles de Gaulle also will address the French at the same time.]

General Eisenhower was not present at the signing, but immediately afterward General Jodl and his fellow delegate, Gen. Admiral Hans Georg Friedeburg, were received by the Supreme Commander.

Stalin was a bit miffed at the fact that the western allies held center stage at this first surrender so on May 9, Field Marshal Keitel, chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces of Germany,  was flown to Berlin and invited to sign yet another surrender document.

Both Keitel and Jodl would hang at Nuremburg 16 months later. The after-effects of the war they helped start in 1939 echo to this day, reflected in the postwar division of Europe and Germany, divisions healed only in the last decade, and in the ongoing troubles between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

As Colonel Kilgore observed, some day this war's gonna end.

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this