The signing at Karlshorst seventy-five years ago today

Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov
Born 1896 in Strelkova, died 1974 in Moscow.

Seventy-five years ago today in Berlin-Karlshorst Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signed the German Instrument of Surrender. It was countersigned by Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov on behalf of the Soviet Union.

The previous day in Reims in France, General Alfred Jodl signed the surrender document.

Work War II was over. Approximately 80 million lives were lost.

The anniversary is celebrated annually in The Russian Federation on May 9. The Soviet Union considered the Karlshorst signing the definitive  one. While it was signed in Germany on May 8, it was the next day in Moscow.

Karlshorst is worth a visit. It is on the train line between Schönefled Airport and Berlin City Centre. Though Schönefeld is shortly to be replaced by the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport, it is close to Schönefeld.

Before the Wall came down the Soviets maintained the museum at Karlshorst and there were always soldiers of the Red Army on ceremonial duty at the entrance.

The room in which the signing took place has been preserved, down to the last detail. The seats at the table are in the exact position they were in at 21.20 on April 8, 1945. 

Zhukov became the first commander of the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany.

On June 10, 1945, Zhukov returned to Moscow to prepare for the Moscow Victory Parade of 1945. 

On June 24, 1945, Stalin appointed him commander-in-chief of the victory parade. After the ceremony, on the night of 24 June, Zhukov went to Berlin to resume his command.

Zhukov requested the Soviet government to transport urgently to Berlin 96,000 tons of grain, 60,000 tons of potatoes, 50,000 cattle, and thousands of tons of other foodstuffs, such as sugar and animal fat. 

He issued strict orders that the Red Army was to "hate Nazism but respect the German people," and to make all possible efforts to restore and maintain a stable living-standard for the German population.