The following events occurred inMay 1945:

• Reichssender Hamburg'sFlensburg radio station announced thatAdolf Hitler had fallen in Berlin while "fighting for Germany". PresidentKarl Dönitz gave a broadcast that night declaring that it was his task to save the German people "from destruction by Bolshevists."^[1]
• Joseph Goebbels carried out his sole official act as Chancellor of Germany, dictating a letter to the Soviet commander in Berlin advising of Hitler's death and requesting a ceasefire. When the latter was refused, he and his wifeMagda killed theirsix children and committed suicide themselves.^[2] Karl Dönitz appointedLutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk as the newde factoChancellor of Germany, in theFlensburg Government.
• The U.S.Seventh Army reached Hitler's birthplace ofBraunau am Inn, Austria.^[3]
• TheBattle of Halbe ended in Soviet victory.
• Troops of theYugoslav 4th Army, together with theSlovene 9th Corpus NOV, enteredTrieste.
• An estimated 700–2,500 suicides took place inDemmin, after 80% of the German town had been destroyed by the Soviets during the previous three days.
• In thePacific War, theBorneo campaign opened with the beginning of theBattle of Tarakan.
• Born:Rita Coolidge, American singer; inLafayette, Tennessee
• Died:Joseph Goebbels, 47, German Nazi politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda (suicide);Magda Goebbels, 43, wife of Joseph Goebbels (suicide); the sixGoebbels children, 4 through 12 (died by murder with cyanide)

• TheBattle of Berlin ended in decisive Soviet victory.
• AHolocaustdeath march fromDachau to the Austrian border was halted under 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) west ofWaakirchen by the segregated, all-Nisei522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army in southern Bavaria, saving several hundred prisoners.^[4][5]
• Yevgeny Khaldei took the iconicRaising a Flag over the Reichstag photograph, showing Soviet troops raising theflag of the Soviet Union atop the GermanReichstag building in Berlin.
• Admiral Dönitz'sFlensburg Government was formed, centered in the northern port ofFlensburg.
• The AlliedSpring offensive in Italy ended with the official surrender of German forces in Italy.
• Pierre Laval leftBarcelona by air, forced back to Austria by GeneralCharles De Gaulle who intervened with the Spanish. Laval was arrested by U.S. troops who turned him over to the Free French. He would be tried and executed in October 1945.^[1]
• Died:Erich Bärenfänger, 30, German Generalmajor (suicide);Georg Betz, 41, German SS officer (killed trying to cross theWeidendammer Bridge in Berlin under heavy Soviet fire);Martin Bormann, 44, German Nazi official (probable suicide);Wilhelm Burgdorf, 50, German general (suicide by gunshot);Walther Hewel, 41, German diplomat (suicide);Peter Högl, 47, German SS-Obersturmbannführer (died of head wound sustained while crossing the Weidendammer Bridge);Hans Krebs, 47, German general (suicide by gunshot);Ewald Lindloff, 36, Waffen-SS officer (killed crossing the Weidendammer Bridge);Franz Schädle, 38, German commander of Hitler's personal bodyguard (suicide by pistol);Martin Strahammer, 54, German Generalmajor (shot by American forces nearParma, Italy);Joachim von Siegroth, 48, German Generalmajor (believed killed in action)

• The German ocean linerCap Arcona was sunk by British warplanes in theBay of Lübeck with 5,000 concentration camp prisoners aboard. Over 400 SS personnel made it to lifeboats and were rescued but only 350 of the prisoners survived.^[6][7]
• Karl Dönitz arranged to send a surrender delegation toBernard Montgomery's headquarters.^[6]
• The BritishFourteenth Army capturedRangoon.^[8]
• The BritishSecond Army occupiedHamburg unopposed.^[6]
• Irish Prime MinisterÉamon de Valera offered his condolences to the German Minister in Dublin upon learning of the death of Adolf Hitler.^[9]
• At theUnited Nations Conference on International Organization, inSan Francisco four committees began work on a United Nations charter.^[10]
• The government ofPortugal ordered official flags to fly at half-mast in a day of national mourning for the death of Adolf Hitler.^[6][9]
• The romance filmThe Valley of Decision starringGreer Garson andGregory Peck was released.
• Born:Davey Lopes, American baseball player; inEast Providence, Rhode Island

• German surrender at Lüneburg Heath: AtBernard Montgomery's headquarters, Wehrmacht forces in northwestern Germany, theNetherlands andDenmark surrendered to the Allies, effective at 8:00 a.m. on May 5.^[1][9]
• TheSeventh United States Army capturedInnsbruck,Salzburg andBerchtesgaden.^[11] TheHoly Crown of Hungary was recovered inMattsee, Austria, by theU.S. 86th Infantry Division, and eventually taken to theU.S. Bullion Depository (Fort Knox) for safe keeping.^[12]
• Soviet troops liberatedOranienburg concentration camp.^[11]
• Born:N. Ram, Indian journalist; inMadras,British India
• Died:Konrad Barde, 47, German Generalmajor (suicide);Fedor von Bock, 64, German field marshal (killed by a strafing British aircraft while traveling by car)

• Preparation for surrender of German forces inNorway began.^[8] With only some 30,000 Allied troops on hand against 350,000 German troops, a surrender was not immediately accepted by GeneralMontgomery, and was later accomplished through preliminary persuasion and negotiation from SirAndrew Thorne.^[13]
• ThePrague uprising began when theCzech resistance launched an attempt to liberate the city ofPrague from German occupation. TheBattle of Czechoslovak Radio began.
• TheBratislava–Brno Offensive ended in Soviet-Romanian victory.
• TheBattle for Castle Itter was fought in Austria, resulting in Allied victory.
• Japaneseballoon bombs achieved their only success of the war when one killed five children and a pregnant woman nearBly, Oregon.^[14]
• The cartoon characterYosemite Sam first appeared in theBugs Bunny animated shortHare Trigger.
• Born:Kurt Loder, American film critic, author, columnist and television personality; inOcean City, New Jersey
• Died:Otto-Heinrich Drechsler, 50, German Nazi Commissioner of Latvia (committed suicide in British captivity)

• TheSiege of Breslau ended after three months with Soviet victory.
• The16th Armored Division ofGeorge S. Patton'sThird Army capturedPlzeň. Much to Patton's disgust, his men were prevented from advancing any further due to the occupation agreement between the Americans and the Soviets.^[15]
• German submarinesU-853 andU-881 were lost to enemy action in the Atlantic Ocean.
• In the United States, the midnight curfew for all places of entertainment in effect since February 26 was lifted.^[16]
• Born:
  • Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American country musician; inAmarillo, Texas
  • Bob Seger, American musician; inLincoln Park, Michigan

• German generalAlfred Jodl and admiralHans-Georg von Friedeburg signed unconditional surrender documents at 2:41 a.m. at GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower's headquarters inReims.^[15] At 2:27 p.m.Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, Leading Minister in the rumpFlensburg Government, made a broadcast announcing the German surrender. Also this afternoon, American journalistEdward Kennedy broke an Allied embargo on news of the signing.^[17]
• TheBattle of Kuryłówka was fought in southeastern Poland between anti-communists and SovietNKVD units. The battle ended in a victory for the underground Polish forces.
• V-E Day celebrations inHalifax, Nova Scotia, got out of control when several thousand servicemen, merchant seamen and civilianswent on a rampage and looted the city. Tensions had been high in Halifax for years due to the presence of thousands of servicemen straining the city's resources to the limit.
• Soviet newspaperPravda carried the findings of a Soviet commission of enquiry intoAuschwitz concentration camp (described asOświęcim), making many details of the conditions there public for the first time but without mention that the majority of the inmates were Jewish; the report was published the following day in the English-language press.^[18]
• Francoist Spain severed diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany.^[19]
• The U.S. Supreme Court decidedJewell Ridge Coal Corp. v. United Mine Workers of America.
• The British government in India published the report of an official commission of enquiry into theBengal famine of 1943 stating that it could have been prevented by government action.^[18]

• Victory in Europe Day was observed by the Western Allies. At 11:00 p.m. theGerman Instrument of Surrender was signed inKarlshorst,Berlin, signifying the defeat ofNazi Germany.

• At 3:00 p.m. (local time)Winston Churchill announced Germany's unconditional surrender in a radio broadcast from London. "Our gratitude to our splendid Allies goes forth from all our hearts in this Island and throughout the British Empire," Churchill stated. "We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing; but let us not forget for a moment the toil and efforts that lie ahead. Japan, with all her treachery and greed, remains unsubdued. The injury she has inflicted on Great Britain, the United States, and other countries, and her detestable cruelties, call for justice and retribution. We must now devote all our strength and resources to the completion of our task, both at home and abroad."^[20]
• At 9:00 a.m. (local time) U.S. PresidentHarry S. Truman (on his birthday) announced the surrender in a broadcast from theOval Office and declared May 13 to be a national day of prayer. "I call upon the people of the United States, whatever their faith, to unite in offering joyful thanks to God for the victory we have won and to pray that He will support us to the end of our present struggle and guide us into the way of peace," the proclamation read. "I also call upon my countrymen to dedicate this day of prayer to the memory of those who have given their lives to make possible our victory."^[21]
• At 12:30 p.m. (local time) PresidentKarl Dönitz announced the surrender to the German people in a speech broadcast fromFlensburg, mentioning that theNazi Party no longer had any role in government.^[22]
• Hermann Göring gave himself up to the Americans on a road nearRadstadt, Austria. HisMercedes-Benz headed a column of staff cars and lorries carrying expensive luggage, and after being taken into custody he posed happily for photographers, drank champagne and chatted amiably with the American officers. When GeneralEisenhower learned of the friendly reception he became furious, and Göring soon found himself unceremoniously spirited away to a house inAugsburg for interrogation.^[23]
• German submarines were ordered to surface and report to the Allies.^[24]
• ThePrague uprising ended with a ceasefire.
• TheIndependent State of Croatia was disestablished.
• TheMassacre in Trhová Kamenice occurred when German troops in the Czech village ofTrhová Kamenice shot supposed partisans.
• TheSétif and Guelma massacre began when French police fired on local demonstrators at a protest in the Algerian market town ofSétif. Riots that followed would result in a total of 103 deaths in and around the town.
• TheSouth Tyrolean People's Party was founded in northern Italy.
• Born:Keith Jarrett, American jazz and classical pianist and composer; inAllentown, Pennsylvania
• Died:Ernst-Günther Baade, 47, German general (gangrene from wounds sustained in battle two weeks earlier);Paul Giesler, 49, German Nazi official (suicide);Werner von Gilsa, 56, German military officer (suicide after being captured by the Russians);Wilhelm Rediess, 44, German commander of SS troops in Norway (suicide by gunshot);Bernhard Rust, 61, German NaziMinister of Science, Education and National Culture (suicide);Josef Terboven, 46, German Reichskommissar for Norway during the Nazi occupation (committed suicide by detonating dynamite in a bunker)

• The finalWehrmachtbericht (armed forces report) was broadcast in Germany, reporting that "the German Wehrmacht succumbed with honor to enormous superiority. Loyal to his oath, the German soldier's performance in a supreme effort for his people can never be forgotten. Up to the last moment the homeland had supported him with all its strength in an effort entailing the heaviest sacrifices. The unique performance of the front and homeland will find a final appraisal in the later, just judgment of history. The enemy, too, will not deny his tribute of respect to the performance and sacrifices of German soldiers on land, at sea and in the air. Every soldier, therefore, may lay aside his weapon proud and erect and set to work in these gravest hours of our history with courage and confidence to safeguard the undying life of our people."^[25] These last words formed the basis for the legend of the 'clean Wehrmacht'.
• Joseph Stalin issued a V-E Order of the Day,congratulating the Red Army "upon the victorious termination of the Great Patriotic War. To mark the complete victory over Germany, today, on May 9, the Day of Victory, at 10 P.M., the capital of our Motherland-Moscow-on behalf of the Motherland, will salute the gallant troops of the Red Army and the ships and units of the Navy which have won this brilliant victory, by firing thirty artillery salvos from 1,000 guns."^[26] On this day, the Army's1st Ukrainian Front entered Prague.
• TheBattle for Czech Radio in Prague ended in Czech victory.
• GeneralAlexander Löhr, Commander of German Army Group E near Topolšica,Slovenia, signed the capitulation of German occupation troops.
• Liberation of the German-occupied Channel Islands: British forces took the surrender of troops occupying Jersey and Guernsey.^[27]
• Vidkun Quisling and other members of thecollaborationistQuisling regime inNorway surrendered to the Resistance (Milorg) andpolice atMøllergata 19 in Oslo, as part of thelegal purge in Norway after World War II.^[15] The British beganOperation Doomsday when the1st Airborne Division began landing in Norway to act as a police and military force.
• Soviet Foreign MinisterVyacheslav Molotov left the United Nations conference forMoscow with thePolish question still unresolved.^[28]
• Born:Jupp Heynckes, German footballer and manager; inMönchengladbach
• Died:Walter Frank, 40, German Nazi historian (suicide)

• Citizens ofPrague, the last European capital to be liberated, cheered as Soviet troops entered the city.^[8]
• The German garrison atLorient surrendered, accounting for 24,850 prisoners.^[29]
• German GeneralHeinz Guderian surrendered to U.S. troops.^[29]
• Liberation of the German-occupied Channel Islands: Occupation ofSark ended, with British forces taking the surrender of the occupying troops and leaving them under the orders of DameSibyl Hathaway.^[27]
• Died:Richard Glücks, 56, German Nazi official (suicide by cyanide capsule);Konrad Henlein, 47, Sudeten German politician and Nazi (committed suicide while in American captivity by cutting his veins with his broken glasses)

• While supporting the Battle of Okinawa, the aircraft carrierUSS Bunker Hill (CV-17) was badly damaged by Japanesekamikaze attacks and suffered about 600 casualties.
• TheBattle of West Henan–North Hubei ended in tactical stalemate but a Japanese operational victory.
• General Eisenhower ordered that no combat soldiers who had fought in North Africa and Europe were to be sent to the Pacific.^[3]
• Died:Markus Faulhaber, 30, German Waffen-SSSturmbannführer (drowned in a vehicular accident in Austria);Kiyoshi Ogawa, 22, andSeizō Yasunori, 21, Japanesekamikaze pilots killed in the attack on USSBunker Hill

• The United Nations War Crimes Commission indictedHermann Göring,Joseph Goebbels andFritz Sauckel on eight counts.^[7]
• The U.S.Eighth Army capturedDel Monte Airfield onMindanao.^[30]
• The Security Committee at theUnited Nations Conference on International Organization agreed on an eleven-member security council, with non-permanent members chosen by the General Assembly.^[31]
• Rev.Wilbert Awdry'sThe Three Railway Engines, the first book inThe Railway Series for children, was published in the U.K.
• Died:Richard Thomalla, 41, German SS commander andwar criminal (executed byNKVD)^[32]

• TheBattle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations in Burma ended in decisive British victory.
• Winston Churchill gave a radio address telling the British people that "there is still a lot to do" and that "above all we must labor that the world organization which theUnited Nations are creating at San Francisco, does not become an idle name ... We must never forget that beyond all lurks Japan, harassed and failing but still a people of a hundred millions, for whose warriors death has few terrors. I cannot tell you tonight how much time or what exertions will be required to compel them to make amends for their odious treachery and cruelty. We have received-like China so long undaunted-we have received horrible injuries from them ourselves, and we are bound by the ties of honor and fraternal loyalty to the United States to fight this great war at the other end of the world at their side without flagging or failing."^[33]
• Riots took place outside a Catholic church inSantiago,Chile holding a mass in memory ofBenito Mussolini. Several people were injured and four arrests were made.^[7]
• Captain from Castile bySamuel Shellabarger topped theNew York Times Fiction Best Sellers list.
• Born:Kazys Uscila, Lithuanian journalist, translator of Polish and Russian literature; near toVievis,Lithuania

• TheBattle of Poljana began in Yugoslavia.
• The provisional government ofAustria nullified the 1938Anschluss, declared the country to be once more independent and abolished the Nazi Party and all Nazi-era laws.^[7]
• Born:Yochanan Vollach, Israeli footballer; inKiryat Bialik,Mandatory Palestine
• Died:Heber J. Grant, 88, American religious leader and seventh president of the LDS Church;Louis J. Hauge, Jr., 20, U.S. Marine and posthumous recipient of theMedal of Honor (killed in action during the Battle of Okinawa);Wolfgang Lüth, 31, German U-boat ace (accidentally shot and killed by a German sentry)

• TheBattle of Poljana ended in victory for the Yugoslav Partisans.
• The naval engagement known as theBattle of the Malacca Strait began between five British destroyers and one Japanese heavy cruiser and one destroyer.
• Japan abrogated all treaties with Germany, Italy and the other Axis countries.^[34]
• The comic bookMarge's Little Lulu was published, marking the first appearance ofLittle Lulu in comic book form. The character, created byMarjorie Henderson Buell, had first appeared in a series of single-panel cartoons that ran inThe Saturday Evening Post between 1935 and 1944.^[35]
• Born:Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza; inBern, Switzerland
• Died:Kenneth J. Alford, 64, British soldier and composer;Charles Williams, 58, British author

• TheBattle of the Malacca Strait ended in British victory and the sinking of the Japanese heavy cruiserHaguro.
• Born:Nicky Chinn, English-American songwriter and record producer; inLondon, England
• Died:Kaju Sugiura, 49, Japanese admiral (killed in the sinking of theHaguro)

• French troops landed inBeirut to reassert colonial control.^[7]
• Denmark broke diplomatic relations with Japan.^[34]
• A Britishwhite paper outlined postwar independence forBurma.^[9]
• Born:Tony Roche, Australian tennis player; inWagga Wagga
• Died:Bobby Hutchins, 20, American child actor who played Wheezer in theOur Gang comedy short films (aviation accident atMerced Army Air Field in California)

• During theBattle of Okinawa, theTenth United States Army captured Sugar Loaf Hill.^[36]
• The U.S. Department of Justice announced the deportation ofFritz Julius Kuhn to Germany.^[3]
• Died:William Joseph Simmons, 65, American founder of the secondKu Klux Klan

• Australian troops completed the conquest ofTarakan Island.^[7]
• British submarineHMS Terrapin (P323) was depth charged and damaged in theJava Sea by Japanese warships and rendered a constructive total loss.
• The Czechoslovak Extraordinary People's Court distributed over twenty thousand sentences - seven percent of them being for life or the death sentence - to "traitors, collaborators and fascist elements."
• Born:Pete Townshend, English guitarist, singer and songwriter (The Who); inChiswick, London
• Died:Philipp Bouhler, 45, German Nazi official (committed suicide with a cyanide capsule while in a U.S. internment camp)

• U.S. forces capturedMalaybalay onMindanao.^[7]
• TheGeorgian uprising on Texel ended when Canadian forces arrived to enforce the German surrender and disarmed the remaining German troops.
• Died:Fritz Kater, 83, German trade unionist (died of wounds sustained twelve days earlier attempting to defuse a bazooka shell)

• TheAttack on the NKVD Camp in Rembertów took place on the outskirts ofWarsaw. A unit of the pro-independenceHome Army freed all Polish political prisoners from the SovietNKVD camp.
• The BritishLabour Party decided at a meeting inBlackpool to withdraw its support forWinston Churchill's coalition government and force a national election.^[37]
• Born:Richard Hatch, American actor, writer and producer; inSanta Monica, California (d. 2017);Ernst Messerschmid, German physicist and astronaut; inReutlingen

• TheBattle of the Hongorai River in New Guinea ended in Australian victory.

• TheFlensburg Government was dissolved by theAllies and its leaders were arrested, officially bringing to an end the era of theThird Reich.
• Churchill resigned as prime minister at the request of KingGeorge VI and formed acaretaker ministry that would govern until Britain could hold elections on July 5.^[7]
• President Truman performed acabinet reshuffle.Tom C. Clark replacedFrancis Biddle as Attorney General,Lewis B. Schwellenbach succeededFrances Perkins as Labor Secretary andClinton Presba Anderson replacedClaude R. Wickard as Agriculture Secretary.^[3]
• The United Nations Conference inSan Francisco approved veto rights for theBig Five powers (China,France, theSoviet Union, theUnited Kingdom and theUnited States) on the Security Council.^[38]
• The notorious SS CommanderHeinrich Himmler, captured on 21 May, died by cyanide capsule while in a British interrogation center.
• Born:Lauren Chapin, American child actress; inLos Angeles, California
• Died:
  • Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, 49, German admiral (suicide)
  • Heinrich Himmler, 44, German Nazi andReichsführer-SS (suicide)

• During theBattle of Okinawa, the U.S.Tenth Army crossed the Asato River and entered the city ofNaha.^[39]
• 550 U.S. bombers raided Tokyo with 4,500 tons of incendiaries.^[7]
• Born:Priscilla Presley (born Priscilla Wagner), American actress and business magnate; inBrooklyn, New York
• Died:Robert Ritter von Greim, 52, German field marshal, pilot and the last commander of the Luftwaffe (suicide by cyanide capsule)

• TheBattle of Odžak ended in victory for the Yugoslav Partisans.
• American landing shipUSSLSM-135 was sunk by a Japanesekamikaze attack off Okinawa.
• Died:Ishii Kikujirō, 79, Japanese diplomat and cabinet minister (presumably killed during the firebombing of Tokyo)

• Allied headquarters transferred toFrankfurt.^[40]
• TheBerlin Philharmonic gave its first performance since the end of the European war in theTitania Palace Theatre.^[7]
• Born:Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian politician; inBabhalgaon,British India (d. 2012)

• The U.S.Sixth Army onLuzon capturedSanta Fe and attacked aroundWawa Dam.^[41]
• Died:Rudolf Querner, 51, German SS officer and police leader (committed suicide while in captivity)

• The American destroyerUSS Drexler was sunk northwest of Okinawa by a Japanesekamikaze attack.
• BroadcasterWilliam Joyce ("Lord Haw-Haw") was arrested by the British inFlensburg, Germany.^[7]
• Born:Patch Adams, American physician, comedian, social activist and author; inWashington, D.C.;John Fogerty, American guitarist, singer and songwriter (Creedence Clearwater Revival); inBerkeley, California

• 454B-29s of the U.S.Twentieth Air Force dropped 2,570 tons of bombs onYokohama and obliterated 85 percent of the city.^[7][42]
• French forces shelledDamascus as clashes between French troops and natives spread in Syria.^[3]
• Born:Gary Brooker, English singer, songwriter and pianist (Procol Harum), inHackney, County of London (d. 2022)

• TheBrno death march, part of the expulsion of the German minority inhabitants of the Czech city ofBrno, began.
• French troops took over theDamascus parliament building amid continued unrest in Syria.^[7]
• Born:Gladys Horton, American R&B and pop singer; inGainesville, Florida (d. 2011)

• U.S. aircraft carried out theRaid on Taipei, resulting in thousands of dead and wounded despite American efforts to minimize civilian casualties.
• Levant Crisis:Winston Churchill informedCharles de Gaulle that British forces had been instructed to "intervene" inLevant states to end bloodshed and avoid threat to Allied supply lines in the Pacific.^[3]
• Born:Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German film director, screenwriter and actor; inBad Wörishofen (d. 1982);Laurent Gbagbo, 4th President of Côte d'Ivoire; inGagnoa,French West Africa
• Died:Odilo Globocnik, 41, Austrian Nazi (suicide by cyanide capsule after being captured by the British)

• May 1945
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• Months in the 1940s

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