"Those who took Berlin!" Soviet soldiers at the walls of the Reichstag. Germany. 1945. Colorized photo.

🌟 Happy #VictoryDay!

Today marks the 78th Anniversary of the Great Victory over Nazism.

#LestWeForget

#Victory78 #VDay78 #May9

📅 On May 9, 1945, at 12:43 am, the Instrument of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany was signed, ending the Great Patriotic War and World War II in Europe.

Following a successful assault on Berlin by the Red Army, Adolf Hitler committed suicide. The title of Reich President and command of the armed forces of the Third Reich passed to Admiral Karl Dönitz.

Desperate to surrender to the British-American troops, on May 5, German delegation arrived in the French city of Reims, where the headquarters of the Western Allies command was located.

📜 In the Article 4 of the Reims Instrument of Surrender of Nazi Germany stated that this document did not rule out the signing of another, definitive act at the request of one of the coalition members.

Thus, the document was recognised by the Soviet Union only as a preliminary instrument, and a new signing ceremony was proposed to be held in the capital of Nazi Germany, liberated by the Red Army - Berlin.

🕕 By midnight, all representatives and the press gathered in the hall where the signing ceremony of the Instrument of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany was to take place.

At 12:43 am, the ceremony ended.

🎙 On May 9, 1945, at 2:10 am Moscow time, announcer Yury Levitan read out the Instrument of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany and the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR declaring May 9 Victory Day. On the evening of May 9, Joseph Stalin addressed the Soviet people; after his address, Yury Levitan read out the order on the complete victory over Nazi Germany and on an artillery salute with thirty volleys from a thousand guns at 10:00 pm.

From that moment on, the Soviet Union and later Russia, as well as some former Soviet republics have celebrated Victory Day on May 9. On this date, we commemorate all those who defended Moscow, defeated the invaders at Stalingrad, broke through the siege of Leningrad, and liberated Belarus, Ukraine and Europe. These were the people who took Berlin at the cost of their lives.

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▶️The Soviet Union lost 27 million people during the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945). 'More than 20 thousand people per day. It's hard to imagine, these are huge numbers,' said Sergey Kudryashov, head of the Centre for the Study of Great Patriotic War History of the Institute of Russian History at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Decades later, history repeats itself. In the 21st century, Nazism reemerged in Ukraine. For years, its government has been driven by nationalist policies and the militarisation of society. Those who disagree with the policies are being arrested and eliminated.

Watch our new documentary, ‘From Berlin to Maidan’, to learn how the ideas of the Third Reich have made their return.

#history #premiere

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