9^th of May, Day of Victory Over Fascism

After a period of colossal destruction, marked by the cruelest human suffering and war crimes, until then unheard of in human history, on the 9^th of May 1945 Germany agreed to an unconditional surrender. During the Second World War, over 50 million people lost their lives.

At the very start of the 9^th of May 1945, at 00:16 in Berlin, the treaty was signed marking the unconditional and final surrender of the German Armed Forces. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signed on behalf of the defeated Nazi German forces. The unconditional surrender of the Germans, on behalf of the members of the anti-fascist coalition, was accepted and signed by Soviet Marshal Georgi Zukov and British General Arthur Tedder.

Since then, the 9^th of May has been commemorated as the Day of Victory over Fascism (in the UK, France and elsewhere in western Europe, Victory in Europe Day is celebrated on the 8^th of May because the time difference means that the treaty was signed the day before in those countries). In the following 66 years, Victory Day has witnessed more transformations.

Five years on from the end the Second World War, on the 9^th of May 1950, the French government unveiled the Declaration on the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community between France and Germany. This project, known as the Schumann plan because of the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schumann, represented the first step towards the creation of the European Economic Community, the precursor of the European Union. Because of this, the 9^th of May is also celebrated as the Day of European Integration, in Serbia known as Europe Day (Dan Evrope).

RITAM EVROPE! 2010.

RITAM EVROPE! 2009.