Program for the 80th anniversary of the end of the war - Perspectives from science, art and remembrance

To mark the anniversary, an all-day program will take place at the Akademie der Künste on 8 May. Academic, artistic and controversial contributions will offer different perspectives on the historical date. The focus will be on people's everyday experiences at the end of the Second World War and the question of the significance of commemorative rituals today.

Overview

12:00 pm - Talk

Final war crimes

Talk about the National Socialist crimes of the final phase of the Second World War and the resistance against them. With Prof. Dr. Johannes Tuchel, Director of the German Resistance Memorial Center and Dr. Hanno Hochmuth, ZZF Potsdam

13:00 - Reading

Diary entries from the end of the war

Students of the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts will read diary entries that get under your skin. Authentic experiences from war-torn Berlin.

14:30 - Panel discussion

Commemorating the end of the war in a world full of war

Discussion about the meaning and function of commemoration on public holidays in politically challenging and crisis-ridden times. With Dr. Andrea Riedle, Director of the Topography of Terror Foundation; Uwe Neumärker, Director of the Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe; Frank Ebert, Berlin Commissioner for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship; Moderator: Dr. Hanno Hochmuth, ZZF Potsdam

3:30 pm - Book presentation

“Berlin in the Nazi era - an outline of the city's history”

Presentation of a special everyday history: A panorama of Berlin during the Nazi era is created using typical public, semi-public and private places - from the bed to the drawing board. With  Dr. Christoph Kreutzmüller and Dr. Bjoern Weigel

17:30 - Dance performance

“Barrack and flower waltz - remember again!”

Johanne Timm retraces the history of her grandparents, who were imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen Soviet Special Camp after the Second World War.

All day - Exhibition at Pariser Platz

“... peace at last?!“” 80 years since the end of the war and its consequences

The exhibition paints a historically accurate picture of the liberation of Europe from National Socialism, which required the complete military defeat of Germany, the surrender of the Wehrmacht and the subsequent occupation. How did the last days of the war unfold? What did the end of the war mean for the people? And what far-reaching consequences did the defeat of Nazi Germany have?