May 8, 1945, was the day WW2 Europe officially ended.

In Russia, they call this war the “Great Patriotic War”, and they celebrate the anniversary of this day with huge military parades

Germany also commemorates this day… the day when the Nazi Party’s rule over Germany ended… the day when the bombing raids and artillery fire came to an end... the day when the People of Germany started looking forward to a better future.   This anniversary day is a reminder to never let something like Hitler and the NAZI Party happen again.

When the media write about this day, they usually display that iconic photograph showing a USSR soldier raising the Red Flag on top of the Reichstag building.

Whenever I see this image, I first see the burned out buildings of Berlin in the background.  But then, I remember the stories we heard coming out of Berlin… stories of what the USSR soldiers did to the girls and women of Berlin.

After the war, the Allied Forces than occupied various sections of Germany.  We were lucky… my family lived in Southern Germany… an area occupied by the US Army.   

As a defeated nation, we couldn’t have wished for a nicer conqueror than the American G.I.

The USA then helped rebuild Germany (the Marshall Plan).

I haven’t lived in Germany for quite a while now, but I suspect that the young generation of Germany has forgotten such details