8 May in Ukraine and around the world: commemorating and honouring the victims of the Second World War

There is a reason why 8 May is not a public holiday in every country in the world. It has a special symbolic meaning. This day marks both the end of hostilities in 1945 and the Allied victory over Nazi Germany. The Kyiv Online article provides details about the celebrations on 8 May in Ukraine and the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II.

8 May in Ukraine

May is a month of public holidays. This year there are 3 public holidays in this month alone. And although each of them, except for 1 May, may not be of particular importance to us, it is worth noting that 8 May has a symbolism that is less well known to everyone. It is the 8th of May that marks the end of hostilities in Europe against Nazi Germany. Strangely enough, it is the only country, along with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, that considered this date symbolic and made it a public holiday.

80 years ago, the bloodiest war of the 20th century ended. A war that claimed the lives of more than 60 million people, including more than 8 million Ukrainians.

At that time, Ukraine was one of the main theatres of hostilities, and today, for the fourth year in a row, it has been resisting Russia’s full-scale aggression.

What is the historical background of the 8 May holiday

8 May 1945 is the day when the fighting in World War II in Europe ended after the surrender of Germany. It happened on the night of 6-7 May. It is worth noting that this unconditional surrender was signed in Reims, where the headquarters of the Allied forces was located, by General Alfred Jodl, the Chief of Staff of the Wehrmacht.

Nazi Germany had lost its leader a few days earlier: on 30 April, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin. From the autumn of 1942, the Allies turned the tide over Germany, and from February 1945, the country was invaded from both the east and the west. The Act of Surrender recorded the cessation of hostilities at 11.01 pm on 8 May. The Second World War truly ended only four months later, with the surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945. Historians estimate the number of victims at between 40 and 50 million people.

8 May in the world

In the UK and the US, 8 May is not a public holiday, although this year, US President Donald Trump has changed the situation and the date of victory will be celebrated solemnly and officially. Americans have always honoured the memory of soldiers who died for their country on the last Monday in May, known as Memorial Day, but this did not make it a public holiday.

In France, a 1946 law stipulated that the victory over Nazi Germany would be celebrated ‘on 8 May each year if that day falls on a Sunday, and if not, on the first Sunday after that date’. This decision quickly caused problems, as the celebrations were competing with or even overshadowed by the Joan of Arc holiday, which fell at the same time.

The Russian Federation celebrates the surrender of Nazi Germany and the end of hostilities on 9 May. In fact, the Germans surrendered for the second time on 9 May, at the headquarters of the Soviet forces in Berlin. It was Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s way of showing the Allies that the Soviet Union was not going to let its victory be taken away from it. Moreover, due to the time difference, the fighting ended on 9 May, not 8 May, Moscow time.

In April, Ukrainians learned the mysterious traditions of celebrating Easter, one of the most important Christian holidays.