page_title: German Instrument of Surrender
section_title: Surrender in Berlin
hierarchical_section_title: German Instrument of Surrender / Surrender ceremonies / Surrender in Berlin
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Генерал-фельдмаршал Вильгельм Кейтель подписывает акт о безоговорочной капитуляции германского вермахта в штабе 5-й ударной армии в Карлсхорсте, Берлин. Български: Генерал-фелдмаршал Вилхелм Кайтел подписва безусловната капитулация на въоръжените сили на Нацистка Германия в Съветската щабквартира - Карлсхорст, Берлин. Čeština: Wilhelm Keitel podepisuje kapitulaci nacistického Německa. Deutsch: Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel unterzeichnet die bedingungslose Kapitulation der Wehrmacht im Hauptquartier der Roten Armee in Berlin-Karlshorst. English: Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel signing the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht at the Soviet headquarters in Karlshorst, Berlin. Español: El mariscal de campo Wilhelm Keitel firmando la rendición incondicional de la Wehrmacht en el cuartel general de la Unión Soviética en Karlhorst, Berlín. Français&#160;: Marshall en chef Wilhelm Keitel signant la capitulation sans condition de la Wehrmacht au quartier général de l'Union Sovietique à Karlshorst, Berlin. Magyar: Wilhelm Keitel aláírja a német csapatok fegyverletételét. Italiano: Il Feldmaresciallo Wilhelm Keitel firma la resa incondizionata della Wehrmacht al quartier generale sovietico a Karlshorst, Berlino. Nederlands: Veldmaarschalk Wilhelm Keitel ondertekent de onvoorwaardelijke capitulatie van de Wehrmacht in het hoofdkwartier van het Rode Leger te Berlijn-Karlshorst.
context_page_description: The German Instrument of Surrender was the legal document that effected the extinction of Nazi Germany and ended World War II in Europe. The definitive text was signed in Karlshorst, Berlin, on the night of 8 May 1945 by representatives of the three armed services of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and the Allied Expeditionary Force together with the Supreme High Command of the Soviet Red Army, with further French and US representatives signing as witnesses. The signing took place 8 May 1945 at 21:20 local time.
  An earlier version of the text had been signed in a ceremony in Reims in the early hours of 7 May 1945. In most of Europe, 8 May is celebrated as Victory in Europe Day; 9 May is celebrated as Victory Day in Russia, Belarus, Serbia and Israel.
  There were three language versions of the surrender document – Russian, English and German – with the Russian and English versions proclaimed, in the text itself, as the only authoritative ones.
context_section_description: Some six hours after the Reims signing, a response was received from the Soviet High Command stating that the Act of Surrender was unacceptable, both because the text differed from that agreed by the EAC, and because Susloparov had not been empowered to sign. These objections were however, pretexts; the substantive Soviet objection was that the act of surrender ought to be a unique, singular, historical event fully reflecting the leading contribution of the Soviet people to the final victory. They maintained that it should not be held on liberated territory that had been victimized by German aggression, but at the seat of government from where that German aggression sprang: Berlin. Furthermore, the Soviets pointed out that, although the terms of the surrender signed in Reims required German forces to cease all military activities and remain in their current positions; they were not explicitly required to lay down their arms and give themselves up, "what has to happen here is the surrender of German troops, giving themselves up as prisoners". Eisenhower immediately agreed, acknowledging that the act of surrender signed in Reims should be considered "a brief instrument of unconditional military surrender", and undertook to attend with correctly accredited representatives of the German High Command for a "more formal signing" of a suitably amended text presided over by Marshal Georgy Zhukov in Berlin on 8 May. Furthermore, he issued a clarificatory statement that any German forces continuing to fight against the Soviets after the stated deadline would "no longer have the status of soldiers"; and hence, if they were to surrender to the Americans or British, would then be handed back into Soviet captivity.
  The effect of the Reims signing was limited to a consolidation of the effective ceasefire between German forces and the Western Allies. Fighting continued unabated in the east however, especially as German forces now intensified their air and ground assault against the Prague uprising, while the seaborne evacuation of German troops across the Baltic continued. Dönitz issued new commands that resistance to Soviet forces should be maintained, taking advantage of the 48-hour grace period to order redoubled efforts to save German military units from Soviet captivity; and it soon became clear that he had authorised the signing of a general surrender at Reims in bad faith, and that consequently neither the Soviet Command nor the German forces would accept the Reims surrender as effecting an end to hostilities between them. General Ferdinand Schörner commanding Army Group Centre, broadcast a message to his troops on 8 May 1945 denouncing "false rumours" that the OKW had surrendered to the Soviet Command as well as the Western Allies; "The struggle in the west however is over. But there can be no question of surrender to the Bolsheviks."
  Consequently, Eisenhower arranged for the commanders in chief of each of the three German armed services in person to be flown from Flensburg to Berlin early on 8 May; where they were kept waiting through the day until 10:00 p.m. when the Allied delegation arrived, at which point the amended surrender text was provided to them. The definitive Act of Military Surrender was dated as being signed before midnight on 8 May at the seat of the Soviet Military Administration in Berlin-Karlshorst, now the location of the German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst. Since Eisenhower as Supreme Allied Commander for Western Europe technically outranked Zhukov, the act of signing on behalf of the Western Allies passed to his deputy, Air Chief Marshal Tedder. The proposed Soviet amendments to the Reims surrender text were accepted without difficulty by the Western Allies; but the identification and designation of the Allied signatories proved more problematic. French forces operated under SHAEF command, but General de Gaulle was demanding that General de Tassigny sign separately for the French High Command; but in that case it would be politically unacceptable for there to be no American signature on the definitive 
caption: Field-Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signing the definitive act of unconditional surrender for the German military in Berlin
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