Millions of people poured from their homes and businesses across [View all]

[elleng]

the country and around the world to cheer the Allies' Victory in Europe 79 years ago today. After years of war and tens of millions of deaths, after Hitler's suicide and the unstoppable advance of Allied forces, German General Alfred Jodl signed surrender papers in Reims, France at 2:41 a.m. on May 7 at the headquarters of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Although signed on the May 7, the agreement called for troops under German command “to cease active operations at 2301 hours Central European time, on 8 May."

In Eisenhower’s Victory Order, he remarked to the troops: “The route you have traveled through hundreds of miles is marked by the graves of former comrades. From them has been exacted the ultimate sacrifice; blood of many nations – American, British, Canadian, French, Polish and others – has helped to gain the victory.”