German Instrument Signed: Berlin Surrenders to Allies

The German Instrument of Surrender signed at Berlin-Karlshorst came into effect on May 8, 1945, ending the European theater of a war that had killed an estimated 70 to 85 million people over six years. The ceremony took place in the officers' mess of a former German military engineering school in the eastern Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, with Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov presiding on behalf of the Allied high command. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signed the document on behalf of the German High Command, flanked by representatives of the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. Keitel reportedly surveyed the assembled Allied officers, saw the French delegation, and muttered something about the French being present too. The Western Allies had already accepted a preliminary German surrender at Reims, France, the previous day, presided over by General Eisenhower's chief of staff. Stalin, however, insisted on a separate, Soviet-hosted ceremony, arguing that the Eastern Front had borne the overwhelming burden of the war against Nazi Germany. The Soviet Union lost an estimated 27 million people in the conflict, more than any other nation. The timing difference between the Reims signing on May 7 and the Berlin ratification on May 8 is why Victory in Europe Day is celebrated on May 8 in most Western countries and on May 9 in Russia. Within hours of the Karlshorst signing, Allied forces began the enormous logistical task of processing millions of German prisoners of war, establishing occupation zones, and confronting the full scale of the Holocaust as concentration camps across Europe were liberated and documented.