Who accepted the surrender of the USSR on May 7, 1945. How the first act of surrender was signed in Reims. Military surrender of Germany

Eisenhower agrees with this note. The document was signed and sent to Moscow. As Shtemenko writes, “in the meantime, a counter dispatch was already coming from there, which stated: do not sign any documents!” The message of surrender is not being circulated, documents show. On May 11, Susloparov was urgently recalled to Moscow and required to write an explanatory note. Stalin learns that no one violated his order - the telegram was just late. The Supreme Commander has no complaints against Susloparov. But his name rarely appears on the pages of military historical literature.

The document obliged German military personnel to cease resistance, surrender personnel and transfer the material part of the armed forces to the enemy, which actually meant Germany’s exit from the war. The Soviet leadership did not arrange such a signing, therefore, at the request of the USSR government and personally Comrade Stalin on May 8 ( May 9, USSR time) the Act of Surrender of Germany was signed for the second time, but in Berlin, and the day of the official announcement of its signing ( May 8 in Europe and America, May 9 in the USSR) began to be celebrated as Victory Day.

Act of unconditional surrender of the German armed forces. (wikipedia.org)

The idea of ​​Germany's unconditional surrender was first announced by President Roosevelt on January 13, 1943 at a conference in Casablanca and has since become the official position of the United Nations.

Representatives of the German command approach the table to sign the surrender. (pinterest.ru)

The general capitulation of Germany was preceded by a series of partial capitulations of the largest formations remaining with the Third Reich: On April 29, 1945, the act of surrender of Army Group C (in Italy) was signed in Caserta by its commander, Colonel General G. Fitingof-Scheel.

On May 2, 1945, the Berlin garrison under the command of Helmut Weidling capitulated to the Red Army.

On May 4, the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, Fleet Admiral Hans-Georg Friedeburg, signed the act of surrender of all German armed forces in Holland, Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein and North-West Germany to the 21st Army Group of Field Marshal B. Montgomery.

On May 5, Infantry General F. Schultz, who commanded Army Group G, operating in Bavaria and Western Austria, capitulated to the American General D. Devers.

The leadership of the USSR was dissatisfied with the signing of the German surrender in Reims, which was not agreed upon with the USSR and relegated the country that made the greatest contribution to the Victory to the background. At Stalin's suggestion, the allies agreed to consider the procedure in Reims a preliminary surrender. Although a group of 17 journalists attended the surrender signing ceremony, the US and Britain agreed to delay the public announcement of the surrender so that the Soviet Union could prepare a second surrender ceremony in Berlin, which took place on 8 May.

Signing of the surrender in Reims. (pinterest.ru)

The Soviet representative, General Susloparov, signed the act in Reims at his own peril and risk, since instructions from the Kremlin had not yet arrived at the time appointed for signing. He decided to put his signature with a reservation (Article 4) that this act should not exclude the possibility of signing another act at the request of one of the allied countries. Soon after signing the act, Susloparov received a telegram from Stalin with a categorical ban on signing the surrender.

After signing the act of surrender. (wikipedia.org)

For his part, Stalin said: “ The treaty signed in Reims cannot be canceled, but it cannot be recognized either. Surrender must be carried out as the most important historical act and accepted not on the territory of the victors, but where the fascist aggression came from - in Berlin, and not unilaterally, but necessarily by the high command of all countries of the anti-Hitler coalition».

The Soviet delegation before signing the act. (pinterest.ru)

The building in the suburbs of Berlin where the signing ceremony was held. (pinterest.ru)

Zhukov reads out the act of surrender. (pinterest.ru)

On May 8 at 22:43 Central European time (at 00:43, May 9 Moscow) in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, in the building of the former canteen of the military engineering school, the final Act of the unconditional surrender of Germany was signed.

Keitel signs the surrender. (pinterest.ru)

The changes in the text of the act were as follows:

In the English text, the expression Soviet High Command was replaced by a more accurate translation of the Soviet term: Supreme High Command of the Red Army.

The part of Article 2, which deals with the obligation of the Germans to hand over military equipment intact, has been expanded and detailed.

The indication of the act of May 7 was removed: “Only this text in English is authoritative” and Article 6 was inserted, which read: “This act is drawn up in Russian, English and German. Only Russian and English texts are authentic.”

After signing the act of unconditional surrender. (wikipedia.org)

By agreement between the governments of the USSR, USA and Great Britain, an agreement was reached to consider the procedure in Reims preliminary. This is exactly how it was interpreted in the USSR, where the significance of the act of May 7 was belittled in every possible way, and the act itself was hushed up, while in the West it is regarded as the actual signing of capitulation, and the act in Karlshorst as its ratification.

Lunch in honor of the Victory after signing the terms of unconditional surrender.

Having accepted the surrender, the Soviet Union did not sign peace with Germany, that is, formally remained in a state of war. The decree to end the state of war was adopted by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR only on January 25, 1955.

The vast majority of our fellow citizens know that on May 9 the country celebrates Victory Day. A slightly smaller number know that the date was not chosen by chance, and it is connected with the signing of the act of surrender of Nazi Germany.

But the question of why, in fact, the USSR and Europe celebrate Victory Day on different days baffles many.

So how did Nazi Germany actually surrender?

German disaster

By the beginning of 1945, Germany's position in the war had become simply catastrophic. The rapid advance of Soviet troops from the East and Allied armies from the West led to the fact that the outcome of the war became clear to almost everyone.

From January to May 1945, the death throes of the Third Reich actually took place. More and more units rushed to the front not so much with the goal of turning the tide, but with the goal of delaying the final catastrophe.

Under these conditions, atypical chaos reigned in the German army. Suffice it to say that there is simply no complete information about the losses that the Wehrmacht suffered in 1945 - the Nazis no longer had time to bury their dead and draw up reports.

On April 16, 1945, Soviet troops launched an offensive operation in the direction of Berlin, the goal of which was to capture the capital of Nazi Germany.

Despite the large forces concentrated by the enemy and his deeply echeloned defensive fortifications, in a matter of days, Soviet units broke through to the outskirts of Berlin.

Without allowing the enemy to be drawn into protracted street battles, on April 25, Soviet assault groups began advancing toward the city center.

On the same day, on the Elbe River, Soviet troops linked up with American units, as a result of which the Wehrmacht armies that continued to fight were divided into groups isolated from each other.

In Berlin itself, units of the 1st Belorussian Front advanced towards government offices of the Third Reich.

Units of the 3rd Shock Army broke through to the Reichstag area on the evening of April 28. At dawn on April 30, the building of the Ministry of the Interior was taken, after which the path to the Reichstag was opened.

Surrender of Hitler and Berlin

Located at that time in the bunker of the Reich Chancellery Adolf Gitler"capitulated" in the middle of the day on April 30, committing suicide. According to the testimony of the Fuhrer's comrades, in recent days he was most afraid that the Russians would fire shells with sleeping gas into the bunker, after which he would be put in a cage in Moscow for the amusement of the crowd.

At about 21:30 on April 30, units of the 150th Infantry Division captured the main part of the Reichstag, and on the morning of May 1, a red flag was raised over it, which became the Banner of Victory.

Germany, Reichstag. Photo: www.russianlook.com

The fierce battle in the Reichstag, however, did not stop, and the units defending it stopped resisting only on the night of May 1-2.

On the night of May 1, 1945, he arrived at the location of Soviet troops. Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, General Krebs, who reported Hitler's suicide and requested a truce while the new German government took office. The Soviet side demanded unconditional surrender, which was refused at about 18:00 on May 1.

By this time, only the Tiergarten and the government quarter remained under German control in Berlin. The refusal of the Nazis gave the Soviet troops the right to begin the assault again, which did not last long: at the beginning of the first night of May 2, the Germans radioed for a ceasefire and declared their readiness to surrender.

At 6 o'clock in the morning on May 2, 1945 commander of the defense of Berlin, artillery general Weidling Accompanied by three generals, he crossed the front line and surrendered. An hour later, while at the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army, he wrote a surrender order, which was duplicated and, with the help of loudspeaker installations and radio, delivered to enemy units defending in the center of Berlin. By the end of the day on May 2, resistance in Berlin ceased, and individual German groups that continued fighting were destroyed.

However, Hitler's suicide and the final fall of Berlin did not yet mean the surrender of Germany, which still had more than a million soldiers in the ranks.

Eisenhower's Soldier's Integrity

The new government of Germany, headed by Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, decided to “save the Germans from the Red Army” by continuing fighting on the Eastern Front, simultaneously with the flight of civilian forces and troops to the West. The main idea was capitulation in the West in the absence of capitulation in the East. Since, in view of the agreements between the USSR and the Western allies, it is difficult to achieve capitulation only in the West, a policy of private capitulations should be pursued at the level of army groups and below.

May 4 in front of the British army Marshal Montgomery The German group capitulated in Holland, Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein and North-West Germany. On May 5, Army Group G in Bavaria and Western Austria capitulated to the Americans.

After this, negotiations began between the Germans and the Western Allies for complete surrender in the West. However, the American General Eisenhower disappointed the German military - surrender must happen in both the West and the East, and the German armies must stop where they are. This meant that not everyone would be able to escape from the Red Army to the West.

German prisoners of war in Moscow. Photo: www.russianlook.com

The Germans tried to protest, but Eisenhower warned that if the Germans continued to drag their feet, his troops would forcefully stop everyone fleeing to the West, whether soldiers or refugees. In this situation, the German command agreed to sign unconditional surrender.

Improvisation by General Susloparov

The signing of the act was to take place at General Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims. Members of the Soviet military mission were summoned there on May 6 General Susloparov and Colonel Zenkovich, who were informed of the upcoming signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Germany.

At that moment no one would envy Ivan Alekseevich Susloparov. The fact is that he did not have the authority to sign the surrender. Having sent a request to Moscow, he did not receive a response by the beginning of the procedure.

In Moscow, they rightly feared that the Nazis would achieve their goal and sign a capitulation to the Western allies on terms favorable to them. Not to mention the fact that the very registration of surrender at the American headquarters in Reims categorically did not suit the Soviet Union.

The easiest way General Susloparov at that moment there was no need to sign any documents at all. However, according to his recollections, an extremely unpleasant conflict could have developed: the Germans surrendered to the allies by signing an act, and remained at war with the USSR. It is unclear where this situation will lead.

General Susloparov acted at his own peril and risk. He added the following note to the text of the document: this protocol on military surrender does not preclude the future signing of another, more advanced act of surrender of Germany, if any allied government declares it.

In this form, the act of surrender of Germany was signed by the German side Chief of Operations Staff of the OKW, Colonel General Alfred Jodl, from the Anglo-American side Lieutenant General of the US Army, Chief of Staff of the Allied Expeditionary Forces Walter Smith, from the USSR - representative of the Supreme High Command Headquarters under the Allied command Major General Ivan Susloparov. As a witness, the act was signed by the French brigade General Francois Sevez. The signing of the act took place at 2:41 on May 7, 1945. It was supposed to come into force on May 8 at 23:01 Central European Time.

It is interesting that General Eisenhower avoided participating in the signing, citing the low status of the German representative.

Temporary effect

After the signing, a response was received from Moscow - General Susloparov was forbidden to sign any documents.

The Soviet command believed that the German forces would use the 45 hours before the document came into force to flee to the West. This, in fact, was not denied by the Germans themselves.

As a result, at the insistence of the Soviet side, it was decided to hold another ceremony for signing the unconditional surrender of Germany, which was organized on the evening of May 8, 1945 in the German suburb of Karlshorst. The text, with minor exceptions, repeated the text of the document signed in Reims.

On behalf of the German side, the act was signed by: Field Marshal General, Chief of the Supreme High Command Wilhelm Keitel, Air Force spokesman - Colonel General Stupmph and the Navy - Admiral von Friedeburg. Unconditional surrender accepted Marshal Zhukov(from the Soviet side) and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces British Marshal Tedder. They put their signatures as witnesses US Army General Spaatz and French General de Tassigny.

It is curious that General Eisenhower was going to arrive to sign this act, but was stopped by the objection of the British Winston Churchill's premiere: if the allied commander had signed the act in Karlshorst without signing it in Reims, the significance of the Reims act would have seemed insignificant.

The signing of the act in Karlshorst took place on May 8, 1945 at 22:43 Central European time, and it came into force, as agreed back in Reims, at 23:01 on May 8. However, Moscow time, these events occurred at 0:43 and 1:01 on May 9.

It was this discrepancy in time that was the reason why Victory Day in Europe became May 8, and in the Soviet Union - May 9.

To each his own

After the act of unconditional surrender came into force, organized resistance to Germany finally ceased. This, however, did not prevent individual groups solving local problems (as a rule, a breakthrough to the West) from entering into battle after May 9. However, such battles were short-term and ended with the destruction of the Nazis who did not fulfill the conditions of surrender.

As for General Susloparov, personally Stalin assessed his actions in the current situation as correct and balanced. After the war, Ivan Alekseevich Susloparov worked at the Military Diplomatic Academy in Moscow, died in 1974 at the age of 77, and was buried with military honors at the Vvedenskoye Cemetery in Moscow.

The fate of the German commanders Alfred Jodl and Wilhelm Keitel, who signed the unconditional surrender in Reims and Karlshorst, was less enviable. The International Tribunal in Nuremberg found them war criminals and sentenced them to death. On the night of October 16, 1946, Jodl and Keitel were hanged in the gym of Nuremberg prison.

In fact: Both capitulations took place with the participation of representatives of all countries of the anti-Hitler coalition - the USSR, England and the USA (the French representative was present as a witness). The surrender on May 7, 1945 was signed by the Chief of Staff of the Expeditionary Forces, American General Walter Beddel Smith, and the liaison officer at the headquarters of the Western Allies in Reims, Major General Ivan Susloparov, who, however, made a written reservation about the possibility of a new surrender signing ceremony if required. one of the allied countries. General Eisenhower accepted the clause. On the German side, the Act of Surrender was signed by Colonel General Alfred Jodl. And as a witness - French Major General Francois Sevez.

Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signs the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany. Berlin, May 8, 1945, 22:43 Central European time (May 9 at 0:43 Moscow time).

Legend No. 2(was in circulation in the former socialist camp): In Reims, it was not the Act of Surrender that was signed, but only a preliminary protocol. The real surrender followed on May 8/9 in Berlin.

In fact: In Reims, on May 7, the Act of Surrender, which has legal force, was signed. The text of the document is unambiguous and does not imply any discrepancies. It was also considered by the Soviet Union, which used leaflets to inform German soldiers on the Eastern Front about it. However, after the start of the Cold War, the fact of surrender in Reims was carefully hushed up in Soviet historiography.

Legend No. 3(circulated mainly in the West): After the surrender of the Wehrmacht on May 7 became a fait accompli, Stalin did not want to recognize just such a modest Act of Signing. Because of his objections, the Western allies agreed to a second ceremony - “for the public”, that is, to the Karlshorst Act of Surrender, which was called “ratification”. Major General Susloparov, who signed the surrender in Reims, was, according to some sources, sent to Siberian camps, according to others - shot. “He looks so dashing (I have a color photograph of that event), with large facial features, a powerful physique. He smiles from ear to ear. There is no doubt that he did not know what awaited him in the very near future, namely: execution. ...

“I fully agree with Stalin that the capitulation should have taken place in Berlin - the symbolism of the event demanded it. I can understand his dissatisfaction with Susloparov, who should not have gotten in front of his father. But to be shot for this?.. By shooting his general, put an end to the protocol on victory?" (Vladimir Pozner. “Everything for a person.” “Friendship of Peoples” No. 6, 1998)

Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, signing the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany on the German side, is presented with the text of the Act. To the left, second from the viewer, G.K. is sitting at the table. Zhukov, who signed the Act on behalf of the USSR.

In fact: Yes, Stalin was always afraid that Western countries could deceive him. He treated with the greatest distrust any negotiations between the Allies and the Wehrmacht, especially at the end of the war. After all, even before May 7, German troops had already capitulated in Northern Italy, northwestern Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. Yes, the German delegation in Reims indeed initially made a proposal to capitulate only to the Western allies and to move the situation on the Eastern Front beyond the issues under discussion. And not only, as they claimed, to transport as many soldiers and refugees as possible to the western regions, but rather to pit the allies against each other, cause a split and continue the fight in the East. But General Eisenhower immediately rejected this proposal and demanded general surrender on all fronts. General Susloparov received authority from Moscow to sign the surrender and did not end up in any camp, not to mention execution.



After signing the surrender. In the first row are Susloparov, Smith, Eisenhower, and Royal Air Force Marshal Arthur Tedder (Eisenhower's deputy).

Legend No. 4: The second capitulation was needed only to appease Stalin.

In fact: Undoubtedly, another demonstrative ratification procedure was a gesture towards an extremely distrustful leader. But that wasn't the main thing. More precisely, not the most important thing. In Reims, the capitulation was signed by the chief of the German General Staff, that is, an officer without real command powers. To the British, for example, this signature seemed insufficient. After all, they still remembered the truce of 1918, when, at the insistence of Hindenburg, a ceasefire act was signed by a civilian and a little-known general, which later made it possible for the same Hindenburg to declare: Germany was not defeated on the battlefield, but was stabbed in the back by the revolutionary authorities. In order to avoid a repetition of such a situation, the British needed Field Marshal Keitel, who had real military power. Therefore, the second signing ceremony suited the British quite well.

Representative of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army, commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, who signed the Act of Surrender on the part of the USSR.

Legend No. 5: The act of surrender was signed not during the day, but on the night of May 8-9, because the allies could not agree on the exact text. There are different dates in the Act because in Western Europe it was still May 8, and in Moscow it was already the 9th. And Moscow time had already been introduced in Berlin.

In fact: The postponement of the signing of the Act from afternoon to night was not due to any political motives. The basis is purely technical reasons. In Reims, only the English text of the surrender was signed. The Russian translation of the document was transferred to Berlin incompletely. It took several hours to get the full version. The instrument of ratification was signed at approximately 00.15 Central European Time. By that time, the basic terms of surrender had been in effect for more than an hour. Moscow time was introduced in Berlin by order of the city commandant, General Berzarin, only on May 20 and was in effect for only a few weeks.

Thus, at the time of signing the final act, it was 23.15 in Western European time, 00.15 in Central European time, and 02.15 in Moscow time. The fact that for the USSR the date of surrender is considered May 9 is not related to the time of its signing, but to the time of its announcement to the Soviet people.

Alexey Slavin, “New Time” No. 15/2010

Zhukov reads out the act of surrender in Karlshorst. Next to Zhukov - Arthur Tedder

Signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Germany.

Representatives after signing the Act of Unconditional Surrender in Berlin-Karlshorst on May 8, 1945. The act on the part of Germany was signed by Field Marshal Keitel (in front on the right, with a marshal's baton) from the ground forces, Admiral General von Friedeburg (on the right behind Keitel) from the navy and Colonel General Stumpf (to the left of Keitel) from the air force strength

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Act of unconditional surrender of the German armed forces

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The act of surrender of Germany. "Pravda", May 9, 1945

Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 8, 1945 “On declaring May 9 a Victory Day”

Signing of the surrender in Reims:

Signing of the surrender in Karlshorst:

In 1945, on May 8, in Karshorst (a suburb of Berlin) at 22.43 Central European time, the final Act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and its armed forces was signed. This act is called final for a reason, since it was not the first.

From the moment the Soviet troops closed the ring around Berlin, the German military leadership faced the historical question of preserving Germany as such. For obvious reasons, German generals wanted to capitulate to the Anglo-American troops, continuing the war with the USSR.

To sign the surrender to the allies, the German command sent a special group and on the night of May 7 in the city of Reims (France) a preliminary act of surrender of Germany was signed. This document stipulated the possibility of continuing the war against the Soviet army.

However, the unconditional condition of the Soviet Union remained the demand for the unconditional surrender of Germany as a fundamental condition for the complete cessation of hostilities. The Soviet leadership considered the signing of the act in Reims to be only an interim document, and was also convinced that the act of surrender of Germany should be signed in the capital of the aggressor country.

At the insistence of the Soviet leadership, generals and Stalin personally, representatives of the Allies met again in Berlin and on May 8, 1945 signed another act of surrender of Germany together with the main winner - the USSR. That is why the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany is called final.

The ceremony of solemn signing of the act was organized in the building of the Berlin Military Engineering School and was chaired by Marshal Zhukov. The final Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany and its armed forces bears the signatures of Field Marshal W. Keitel, Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy Admiral Von Friedeburg, and Colonel General of Aviation G. Stumpf. On the Allied side, the Act was signed by G.K. Zhukov and British Marshal A. Tedder.

After the signing of the Act, the German government was dissolved, and the defeated German troops were completely folded. Between May 9 and May 17, Soviet troops captured about 1.5 million German soldiers and officers, as well as 101 generals. The Great Patriotic War ended with the complete victory of the Soviet army and its people.

In the USSR, the signing of the final Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany was announced when it was already May 9, 1945 in Moscow. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in commemoration of the victorious completion of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders, May 9 was declared Victory Day.