Only on 8 May? Days of liberation in Europe

Since Richard von Weizsäcker’s famous speech in 1985, the 8th of May is primarily celebrated in Germany as the day of liberation. What was liberated, however – over a much longer period that began in 1943 and did not end on 8 May 1945 – were the European countries occupied by Germany, the first concentration and extermination camps, and the victims of the Nazi regime. In European cities, images of the liberation emerged which provide insight into the contradictions of the end of the war. A miniseries.

Part 2: The ends of the war by Yevgeny Khaldei