By the spring of 1945, the end of the Second World War in Europe was within reach. With Berlin surrounded, Adolf Hitler committed suicide together with his wife in the Führerbunker on April 30th. His successor, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, sought to save as many German soldiers as possible from falling into Soviet hands by negotiating surrender terms with the Western Allies.&nbsp;&nbsp;On May 4, 1945, British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery accepted the surrender of German troops in northwest Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. Three days later, on May 7th, Germany’s unconditional capitulation was formally signed at General Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims (France). With that, it was official: the war in Europe was over. The document, signed by German General Alfred Jodl, wouldn’t take effect in most countries until the following day, but things were different in Britain.The day before VE DayOn the evening of May 7, the BBC interrupted its regular programming with a news flash: Germany had officially surrendered. In the same broadcast, it was announced that the following day, May 8th, would be declared a national holiday called Victory in Europe Day.&nbsp;&nbsp;When the news broke, the British couldn’t wait until the next day to celebrate and instead did so that very evening on May 7th, 1945. After almost six years of rationing, bombing raids and uncertainty, the chance to celebrate peace was for many irresistible.&nbsp;&nbsp;Across the country, people flooded into the streets. In Liverpool, ten year old Joyce Hughes was woken by music and laughter: “There was a big bonfire lit at the bottom of the road, someone had pushed the piano out and everyone was on Vale Road singing and dancing. It was dark but everyone was out, fifty or more people in the street. We waited for mum and dad to come up and get us and they took us down to the bonfire. Everyone was happy, singing and hugging each other.”&nbsp;&nbsp;That spontaneous joy was felt across the country. Street after street got decorated with flags, pubs filled up and people started dancing in the streets. Bonfires were also lit, beer was poured and strangers embraced each other.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;An official day of joy&nbsp;On May 8, 1945, Britain paused everything for the official Victory in Europe Day. Special victory menus and commemorative items, such as VE Day Mugs were produced overnight. Prime Minister Winston Churchill made sure there was enough beer in London and the Board of Trade allowed that red, white and blue bunting could be sold without ration coupons. VE Day could begin!&nbsp;Winston Churchill addressed Britain on a radio broadcast at 3pm with a speech, urging the public to celebrate but reminding them that the war in the Pacific was still going on. Later, he appeared before cheering crowds from the balcony of the Ministry of Health. “This is your victory,” Churchill said. The crowd roared back: “No, it’s yours!” The Royal Family played a role in the celebrations too, waving to crowds from Buckingham Palace.&nbsp;&nbsp;Joan Hall served the Women’s Royal Air Force for four years and celebrated VE Day in London. She recalled: “It was a once in a lifetime feeling of jubilation, the crowds and noise is like nothing I’ve experienced before.”&nbsp;Albert Jarett, originally from Jamaica and serving the RAF, remembered the celebrations vividly as well: “I was overwhelmed at the joy and celebrations going on around me! (...)”&nbsp;&nbsp;The celebrations went on into the night with music and dancing. Ray Smith, served aboard HMS Middleton during the war and recalls his night in London: “VE Day was truly a day of celebration! (...) We ended up going to London and joining in the celebrations right in the middle of Trafalgar Square and ended up partying all day long, meeting some lovely WRENs along the way who we ended up sleeping in a shop doorway with as there were no hotels available- but we didn’t care it had been the best day ever!”&nbsp;A bittersweet day&nbsp;However, not everyone joined the festivities. For many people, VE Day was a bittersweet moment. The war had left losses and extreme sadness. And while victory had come for Europe, the war in the far East and in the Pacific was far from over. Charlotte Webb joined the Artillery Territorial Service (ATS) in 1941 and said: “It was wonderful to hear the war in Europe was over, but it made no difference to my work, I was still working towards the efforts in the Far East.” The official end of the Second World War came on September 2, 1945, with the surrender of Japan.&nbsp;Sources:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-ve-day">https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-ve-day</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-war/ve-day">https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-war/ve-day</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/stories/ve-day-memories">https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/stories/ve-day-memories</a>&nbsp;

From May 7 to May 8, 1945: Britain’s two days of VE Day celebrations

The Campaign: &nbsp;To mark the 80th anniversary of WWII’s end, Europe Remembers is launching a digital storytelling campaign across social media to reflect the wide range of experiences connected to the war’s conclusion. &nbsp;We want to hear stories about how your family, neighborhood, or town experienced the end of the war—and when it really felt like peace had arrived. &nbsp;Call to Action: &nbsp;We invite you to share your story, in your own words or images via a short video. Whether it’s a family memory, a local event, a personal discovery, or a forgotten moment in your community’s history—we want to hear it. &nbsp;You can contribute: &nbsp;<ul><li>Your Family’s Story: Share memories passed down through generations, photos, letters, diaries, or interviews with relatives who remember how it ended. &nbsp;</li></ul><ul><li>Your Neighborhood or Town’s Story: Is there a plaque, monument, or building in your area connected to WWII’s end? Are there untold or overlooked stories worth bringing to light? &nbsp;</li></ul>If you’re not comfortable filming a video, you’re welcome to send a written story. &nbsp;There’s space for creativity! &nbsp; Your contribution can take the form of an interview, a personal reflection in first person, a narrated story in third person, or anything else that pops into your mind. The format is flexible, and we encourage you to get creative in the way you bring the memory to life. &nbsp;Feel free to speak your native language. &nbsp; Stories can be shared in the language that feels most natural to you. If needed, we’ll work with you to add subtitles so your voice can reach as many people as possible. &nbsp;Submission Guidelines: &nbsp;<ul><li>Video format: Vertical, max 1 minute 30 seconds &nbsp;</li></ul><ul><li>Send to: &nbsp; Viola Scalacci – Communication Officer &nbsp; 📧 info@liberationroute.com 📤 Use <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://wetransfer.com/">https://wetransfer.com/</a> for large video files &nbsp;</li></ul>Visibility: &nbsp;Selected stories will be featured on Europe Remembers’ official Instagram, Facebook, and Website as part of our #IRemember series. &nbsp;We also encourage you to share your stories on your own platforms using the hashtag #IRemember to help amplify a more inclusive and diverse remembrance of WWII’s end.&nbsp;Join us in sharing these stories and creating a more inclusive narrative of the end of WWII.

Call for Stories: #IRemember  

The Story of Marie Schmolková&nbsp;Marie Schmolková, born in 1893 in Prague,&nbsp;was one of the leading figures in social work for refugees in Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s. When the Nazis rose to power in Germany in 1933, Marie played a crucial role in assisting refugees, especially German communists and social democrats, by arranging visas, housing, financial aid, and jobs. &nbsp;Due to her experience, she became the president of the National Coordinating Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia and the country’s only representative at the&nbsp;Évian&nbsp;Conference in France. From 6 to 15 July 1938, representatives from 32 countries and observers from 24 voluntary organizations took part in a conference that addressed the Jewish refugee crisis in Évian-les-Bains, on the shores of Lake Geneva.Her meeting with Doreen Warriner and Organising the “Kindertransporte”&nbsp;In September 1938, the Munich Agreement forced Czechoslovakia to give up the Sudetenland region, resulting in a refugee crisis with over 100 000 Czech Jews and political opponents of Nazism. Marie Schmolková gathered evidence and appealed for help, but only the United Kingdom agreed to take in unaccompanied Jewish children.&nbsp;It was during this time that Schmolková met British woman Doreen Warriner, feminist and internationalist with an interest in Eastern Europe. Warriner had arrived in Prague in October 1938 as a representative of the British Committee for Refugees (BCRC). Both women, overwhelmed by the number of refugees needing assistance, turned to Martin Blake and Nicholas Winton to help implement the “Kindertransport” (transport for children) plan that Warriner has developed.Schmolková provided lists of children in danger, and together, they worked urgently to rescue as many children as possible, ensuring their safe passage to the UK. Initially, they focused on political refugees before shifting to Jewish children as Czechoslovakia was facing occupation by Nazi Germany. In total, they managed to evacuate 669 children from Czechoslovakia to Britain. This rescue operation is often associated with Nicolas Winton’s name, but it’s important to recognize that many other brave men and women, including Doreen Warriner and Marie Schmolková, played vital roles in making it happen.Escape to the UK&nbsp;When Nazi Germany annexed Czechoslovakia on March 15, 1939, Marie Schmolková was arrested by the Gestapo (German Secret State Police) and imprisoned for two months, enduring harsh interrogations in adverse circumstances, as she was diabetic. Schmolková was released in May 1939 due to protests from feminist and suffrage activist Františka Plamínková, who was later executed by the Nazis. Doreen Warriner also left Czechoslovakia upon learning that the Gestapo planned to arrest her.&nbsp;In 1941, Warriner was awarded the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her efforts in helping refugees in Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. She continued her meaningful work, including leading the food-supply division of the UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration’s Yugoslavian mission. Later, she returned to academia, teaching at the University of London’s School of Slavic and East European Studies.Overlooked stories&nbsp;Although some historians and history enthusiasts are working on making stories of women more visible, most of the names and deeds remain forgotten or overshadowed by men’s stories. Nicolas Winton, for instance, was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize and celebrated in several films, has often been hailed as the hero of the children’s transports. &nbsp;While Winton unquestionably acted heroically, the majority of those involved in conceiving and organizing the relief work in both Britain and Czechoslovakia were women. Doreen Warriner and Marie Schmolková were among those who helped save thousands of lives. Their courage, dedication, and compassion deserve to be remembered.Sources:&nbsp;&nbsp;Brade, Laura E. and Rose Holmes. "Troublesome Sainthood: Nicholas Winton and the Contested History of Child Rescue in Prague, 1938–1940." History &amp; Memory, vol. 29 no. 1, 2017, p. 3-40. Project MUSE, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2979/histmemo.29.1.0003">https://dx.doi.org/10.2979/histmemo.29.1.0003</a>.&nbsp;Warriner, Doreen. “Winter in Prague.” The Slavonic and East European Review, vol. 62, no. 2, 1984, pp. 209–40. JSTOR, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/4208852">http://www.jstor.org/stable/4208852</a>. Accessed 5 Mar. 2025.London, Louise. "Refugees from Czechoslovakia". Whitehall and the Jews, 1933-1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust. Cambridge University Press. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" class="Hyperlink SCXW266118318 BCX8" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" class="Hyperlink SCXW266118318 BCX8" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-53449-6">0-521-53449-6</a>.&nbsp;Hájková, Anna. “Marie Schmolka and the Group Effort.” History Today, vol. 68. 2018. ISSN 0018-2753.&nbsp;

Two Women Who Helped Save Thousands of Lives in Czechoslovakia 

‘Degenerate’ art: the trial of modern art under Nazism. ‘In particular, it examines the propaganda exhibition Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art), held in Munich in 1937, which showed over 700 works by around a hundred artists representing the different currents of modern art, from Otto Dix to Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, from Vassily Kandinsky to Emil Nolde, from Paul Klee to Max Beckmann, in a setting designed to provoke the visitor's disgust.Entartete Kunst’ was the culmination of a series of infamous exhibitions staged in several museums from 1933 onwards (Dresden, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, etc.) to denounce the artistic avant-garde as a threat to German “purity”, against the backdrop of a methodical “purge” of German collections. More than 20,000 works, including those by Vincent Van Gogh, Marc Chagall and Pablo Picasso, who had been labelled a ‘degenerate’ artist in France and Germany since the 1920s, were withdrawn, sold or destroyed. At the heart of this history, the term ‘degeneracy’, which emerged in the nineteenth century in various disciplines (natural history, medicine, anthropology, art history, etc.) until it crystallised at the heart of the National Socialist ‘world view’, served as a vector for the deployment of racist and anti-Semitic theories within the history of art.

France

Degenerate Art: The Trial of Modern Art under Nazism

At the heart of the exhibition are the lives of six prisoners: Anton, Djajeng, Jane, Jules, Kam Hay, and Meta. Among them are Raden Mas Djajeng Pratomo and his wife Stennie Gret, who fought together against injustice, and the well-known Surinamese resistance fighter Anton de Kom. Also discover the lesser-known stories, such as that of the only Chinese person held in Camp Vught or a Russian chess enthusiast.One thing these six ‘main characters’ share with the other 32,000 prisoners of Camp Vught is that they were all imprisoned behind barbed wire during World War II. For who they were, what they believed, or what they thought, or simply because they did not fit into the ideal image of Nazi Germany. Using a personal item, such as a book or a sewing machine, you will follow the route the prisoners took, sometimes thousands of kilometers. From the perspective of the prisoner, you will listen to their life stories.The texts are in Dutch and English, as are the audio stories.

The Netherlands

Exhibition ‘Crossroads Vught: 36 Nationalities Behind Barbed Wire’

In 2025 we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II (1945-2025). This is why the Historical Research Group of the Rhineland-Palatinate Germany/IG Heimatforschung Rheinland-Pfalz, decided to initiate a special memorial march for all soldiers of World War II in 2025. For soldiers of all nationalities, whether male or female, whether Allied or belonging to the Axis powers: everyone fought for their country, everyone had a family, everyone made great sacrifices. No one will be forgotten! Enemies then, friends today! This is a Remembrance march in the name of international understanding.This 100km remembrance march will be executed as so-called "semi-tactical evasion march", with almost no water, food or gear, except your evasion/survival kit (survival ration, water filter etc.).Many aircraft crews who parachuted out of their aircraft found themselves behind enemy lines after their plane was shot down. Those who could, tried to “fight” (and walk) their way back to their own lines. Their route was almost always long, full of adversities and hardship.The start of the World war II Escape Evasion &amp; Remembrance March is at the crash site of an English bomber that crashed in World War II near Ludwigshafen am Rhein. Only one crew member survived the crash by means of parachute. After the crash site was examined by the IG Heimatforschung, a memorial stone was erected there on September 23, 2023. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.ig-heimatforschung.de/projekte-allg/world-war-ii-memorial-project/">World War II Memorial Project - IG-Heimatforschung Rheinland-Pfalz / Historical Research Community Rhineland-Palatinate Germany</a>The finish will be in Lauterbourg, France (allied lines in 1945)During the march there will be ten checkpoints/coordinates that will lead past Allied, German and French memorials (e.g. various Allied plane crash sites, the former Rheinwiesenlager near Ludwigshafen, the former battlefield in the Bienwald, etc.). At the memorial sites, there is time to pause and pay due respect to the victims before continuing on to the French border. The checkpoints and planned route will be made available to participants via the Komoot hiking app (link) for download and navigation on your cell phones, so that the planned route can be navigated very easily. Additional navigation aids are optional.This 100km march must be completed within 24 hours (similar to well-known 100km marches such as the 100km Totenkopfmarsch/Dodentocht in Belgium, the Mammutmarsch in Germany, etc.). No problem for anyone without physical disabilities. The main thing is to train and prepare.If you have two legs and the right attitude, you can do it.Surprise yourself and your friends. And grow with your progress! If you manage the 100km within 24 hours, nothing else can stop you! Believe in yourself! 100km are hard? Fighting in war is hard! Maybe you can imagine what the men, women and families experienced back then, but only to a certain extent. Show them the respect they deserve by taking part in this march. Leave your comfort zone for just one day and push yourself to the limit!Do you have what it takes to be a 100km Long Distance Evader?Pain is temporary. Pride is forever!Follow the link for more details: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.ig-heimatforschung.de/projekte-allg/100km-24-std-world-war-ii-escape-evasion-remembrance-march/">https://www.ig-heimatforschung.de/projekte-allg/100km-24-std-world-war-ii-escape-evasion-remembrance-march/</a>

Germany

100k/24h Escape Evasion & Remembrance March - 100km/62 miles from Germany to France!

Photo correspondents from the various Soviet republics captured the advance of the Red Army in pictures. In the exhibition, more than 50 photographs document this route at different sections of the front – from Karelia via Estonia and Lithuania, Belarus and the Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Serbia, East Prussia, Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia to the east of the German Reich. They show destruction and human suffering, the Majdanek concentration and extermination camp liberated by the Red Army, the march of German prisoners of war through Moscow, as well as the successive ends of the war in Bucharest, Belgrade, Katowice, Budapest, Königsberg and Danzig.The photographs of the surrender of the Wehrmacht in Berlin-Karlshorst, the victory celebrations in Leningrad and Prague and the meeting of American and Soviet soldiers and officers mark the end of the Second World War in Europe in the exhibition.

The last year of the war. June 1944-May 1945 from the perspective of Soviet war photographers

Various locations, including Burgh-Haamstede, Dishoek, Groede, Middelburg, Sloedam/Lewedorp, Vlissingen and Zoutelande.

Bunker Day 2025

Music and dancing filled the streets, with festivals and concerts in every region. From a Freedom Meal at the Rijksmuseum to the traditional 5 May Concert on the Amstel — attended by royalty and heads of state — here’s a look at what happened in Amsterdam and beyond on May 5.

Liberation Day in the Netherlands: 80 years of freedom

From the moving ceremony at Museum Square to the Silent March toward Dam Square and the national two minutes of silence, we witnessed how people came together to honour all those who lost their lives in wars and peacekeeping missions since WWII.

Commemorate the end of WWII – 80 years later

Featured events

Degenerate Art: The Trial of Modern Art under Nazism

Exhibition ‘Crossroads Vught: 36 Nationalities Behind Barbed Wire’

100k/24h Escape Evasion & Remembrance March - 100km/62 miles from Germany to France!

The last year of the war. June 1944-May 1945 from the perspective of Soviet war photographers

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Bunker Day 2025

100k/24h Escape Evasion & Remembrance March - 100km/62 miles from Germany to France!

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Liberation Day in the Netherlands: 80 years of freedom

Remembrance Day in Amsterdam

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From May 7 to May 8, 1945: Britain’s two days of VE Day celebrations

Call for Stories: #IRemember

Two Women Who Helped Save Thousands of Lives in Czechoslovakia

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