Signing of the Instrument of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany

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, like a number of other leaders of the Third Reich, committed suicide, fearing just retribution from the victors. The title of Reich President and command of the armed forces of the Third Reich passed to Admiral Karl Dönitz. Other potential successors, Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler, were banished by the Fuhrer shortly before his suicide for trying to negotiate with the Allies behind his back.

The Western powers developed and agreed on a document regarding the unconditional surrender of Germany, which was approved by the US government on August 9, 1944, the Soviet government on August 21, 1944 and the British government, on September 21, 1944. The text comprised 14 articles, which, in addition to the act of military surrender, also stated the surrender of all the German government’s powers and authority to the USSR, the United States and Britain, including the power to issue “additional political, administrative, economic, financial, military and other requirements.”

Immediately after taking command, Dönitz ordered his troops to retreat to the west, fighting their way through, if necessary, to surrender to the British-American forces. The Germans feared revenge from the Red Army for all the atrocities that the Nazis had carried out in the USSR. The truth about Soviet soldiers, who were going to Germany to liberate, not to kill and torture, had been hidden by propaganda imposed on society for years. Therefore, the remnants of the German war machine were primarily guided by fear, as well as a hope that they might be able to strike a deal with the Americans and the British.

Desperate to surrender to the British-American troops, on May 5, Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg arrived in the French city of Reims, where the headquarters of the Western Allies command was located. The Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, Dwight Eisenhower, informed the Soviet command that he would not accept surrender unless it was an immediate, simultaneous and unconditional surrender on all fronts.

Upon arrival, the Americans told Friedeburg that there could be no negotiation; only unconditional surrender. It turned out that the German representative was not authorised to sign such documents; therefore, he requested help. Dönitz additionally sent General Alfred Jodl to negotiate. At that moment, it became clear to everyone that the Germans were just playing for time. So the Allies made it known to the German delegation that, in the absence of a complete surrender, they would close British and American lines to surrendering German forces. Realising that his situation was hopeless, Dönitz stopped trying to drag out the process and authorised Jodl to sign the instrument of unconditional surrender.

The ceremony took place on May 7 in Reims. On the German side, the act was signed by Alfred Jodl, while General Walter Bedell Smith signed on behalf of the Allied Expeditionary Force, head of the Soviet military mission at the headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force General Ivan Susloparov, on behalf of the USSR, and Deputy Chief of Staff of the National Defence Major-General François Sevez, on behalf of France. At the same time, the Soviet representative signed with a reservation, made in Article 4, stating that this act did not rule out the signing of another, definitive act at the request of one of the coalition members. In addition, the Reims document included only four articles instead of the 14 agreed in 1944.

After signing the Reims Act, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin declared:

The treaty signed in Reims cannot be abrogated, but it cannot be accepted either. The act of surrender ought to be a unique, singular, historical event, held not on a liberated territory, but at the place from where that German aggression sprang – Berlin – and not to one party, but to the high command of all the members of the anti-Hitler coalition.

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

Dwight Eisenhower wrote in his memoirs:

The second ceremony was, as we understood it, to symbolise the unity of the Western Allies and the Soviets, to give notice to the Germans and to the world that the surrender was made to all, not merely to the Western Allies. For this reason, we were directed to withhold news of the first signing until the second could be accomplished.

Because it was difficult to find an undamaged building in Berlin, the best choice was the canteen of German Army Engineering School in the Berlin district of Karlshorst.

On the afternoon of May 8, Allied representatives arrived at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, on three planes. They were met by Marshal Georgy Zhukov’s deputy, Army General Vasily Sokolovsky, the first commandant of Berlin, Colonel-General Nikolai Berzarin, a member of the Military Council of the Army, Lieutenant-General Fyodor Bokov and other Red Army officers. From there they travelled to Karlshorst. German representatives – Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg and Luftwaffe Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff – were brought from Flensburg to Tempelhof under British escort.

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. The document was drawn up in nine copies (three copies each in Russian, English and German).

On the German side, the Act was signed by Wilhelm Keitel, Hans-Georg von Friedeburg and Hans-Jürgen Stumpff. Marshal Georgy Zhukov accepted unconditional surrender on behalf of the USSR, and Marshal Arthur William Tedder, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, on behalf of the Allies. US General Carl Spaatz and French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny signed the document as witnesses. At 12:43 am, the ceremony ended.

Under the Instrument of Surrender, Germany pledged to completely cease military resistance, order the troops to surrender and transfer the surviving military equipment and weapons in full order and safety.

One copy of the Instrument was immediately handed to Keitel. Another original copy of the document was delivered by plane to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army on the morning of May 9. A complete copy of the Instrument, as well as the original document signed by Dönitz to certify the authorisation of Keitel, Friedeburg and Stumpff, is stored in the collection of international treaty acts of the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation. Another original copy of the Instrument is in the US National Archives in Washington.

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 of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief 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.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

💬 We take pride in the unconquered courageous generation of the victors, we are proud of being their successors, and it is our duty to preserve the memory of those who defeated Nazism and entrusted us with being vigilant and doing everything to thwart the horror of another global war.

We honour all soldiers of the allied armies – the Americans, the English, the French, Resistance fighters, brave soldiers and partisans in China – all those who defeated Nazism and militarism.

(remarks at the military parade marking the 77th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War)