World War II Documents: The Berlin Declaration (Illustrated Edition)

Every year, the West celebrates Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day or VE Day), commemorated on May 8, 1945 as the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not until May 9, 1945. 10 days earlier, Hitler committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin, and so the surrender of Germany was authorized by his replacement, President of Germany Karl Dönitz. The administration headed by Dönitz was known as the Flensburg government. The act of military surrender was signed on 7 May in Reims, France, and ratified on 8 May in Berlin, Germany. Less than a month later, the Allies published the Berlin Declaration as the official document making requirements of the state of Germany for the war and its defeat. By way of the Berlin Declaration of June 5th, 1945, (officially the "Declaration regarding the defeat of Germany and the assumption of supreme authority with respect to Germany by the Governments of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the Provisional Government of the French Republic"), the victors of World War II assumed "supreme authority" over the territory of the German Reich and basic administrative issues were addressed. This edition of that historic World War II document is specially formatted with a Table of Contents and is illustrated.