From the Vault: V-E Day
On May 8, 1945, President Harry Truman declared V-E (Victory in Europe) Day, announcing the surrender of Germany and officially ending the European phase of World War II.
See more photos from V-E Day in Baltimore
Video: Sun reporter witnesses German surrender in WWII
- A happy crowd in front of the B&O Building waves copies of the Evening Sun extra announcing the big news. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- Crowds in Baltimore celebrate near Sun Square with flags and confetti. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- V-E Day celebration at Chase and Baltimore Streets. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- Crowds in Baltimore celebrate near Sun Square with flags and confetti. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- File Photo – Hockschild Kohn & Co. Banner V.E. Day 5/8/45, Baltimore, Md.
- Newspapers sold for 5 cents at Park Avenue and Lexington Street. Headline: “All Germany Surrenders.” (A. Aubrey Bodine/Baltimore Sun archives)
- Looking towards Chase and Baltimore Street at the at the Victory in Europe celebration. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- Pvt. William Leon of New Cumberland, PA, on a fine day here jumps back into his old job of selling newspapers. Today’s headline, “ALL GERMANY SURRENDERS” (A. Aubrey Bodine/Baltimore Sun)
- Celebration at Howard and Lexington Streets in Baltimore. (W. M. Sussman/Baltimore Sun archives)
- Polish parade on Broadway Street north of Eastern. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- Looking west, Baltimore Street from Light Street. People celebrate V-E Day. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- Celebration of V-E Day in Baltimore. (W. M. Sussman/Baltimore Sun archives)
- A discharged veteran reading news of surrender while looking at a map he picked up overseas. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- Radio Reporter with portable talkie interviewing sidewalk pedestrians . (A Aubrey Bodine/Baltimore Sun)
- Confetti and ticker tape covered the sidewalk at Baltimore and Light streets today after enthusiastic Baltimoreans celebrated the second day of victory. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- Crowds celebrate V-E Day in Baltimore. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- Photo made on May 8th 1945 during Presidents Truman’s Address at Howard and Lexington Streets. (A Aubrey Bodine/Baltimore Sun)
- A crowd celebrates V-E Day at the Battle Monument. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- Looking towards Chase and Baltimore Street at the at the Victory in Europe celebration. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- These five lieutenants at the Emerson Hotel had a special reason for celebrating. Left to right: Albert R. McCune, Ross Crawford, Dust Rhodes, T. W. Murphy and Howard Copfer. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- The general scene in Whitehall on V-E Day shortly after German surrender. (AP Wirephoto)
- Waving flags of the Allied Nations, celebrating Parisians march out from under the Arc de Triomphe, along the Champs Eleysee, on V-E Day. (AP Wirephoto)
- Citizens of Moscow celebrating after a victory announcement. (AP Wirephoto)
- Members of Congress listen to President Truman’s radio announcement of complete Allied victory over Germany as they eat breakfast in the House office building restaurant. (AP Wirephoto)
- What started out as Royal Canadian AIr Force parade turned into a victory celebration when the news of Germany’s surrender was flashed. (AP Wirephoto)
- This bearded German civilian at Falkenstein, Germany, on May 8, reads of complete surrender of his country’s forces in the “Golden Acorn,” paper of the 87th Infantry Division of the U.S. 1st Army. (AP Wirephoto from Signal Corps RadioPhoto from London)
- The first group of soldiers to return to the United State after news of the surrender of Germany, bow their heads in prayers offered by Capt. Edward J. Barber, Chaplain at the air transport command base at La Guardia field. All of the men were wounded in European campaigns. (AP Wirephoto from Air Transport Command)
- Macclesfield’s Park Green on the evening of V-E Day celebrations. (AP Wirephoto)
- American troops and British civilians by U.S. and English flags on Oxford Street in London to celebrate the news of German surrender. (AP Wirephoto)
- Wounded veterans from the European theater observe V-E Day with prayers in the chapel of the Army’s Crile General Hospital. (AP Wirephoto)
- A crowd assembles in Lafayette Square in anticipation of a presidential V-E Day proclamation. (AP Wirephoto)
- This effigy of Adolf Hitler was dragged along West 50th Street as New Yorkers celebrated V-E Day. (AP Wirephoto)
- Baltimore Street from Light Street. People celebrate V-E Day. (Baltimore Sun archives)
- People crowd Times Square at 42nd Street in New York City on May 8, 1945, as the V-E Day celebration continues into the night. The dim-out and the brownout of the “Great White Way” have been replaced once more by the bright lights of victory following World War II. (AP Photo/Matty Zimmerman)
- This May, 1945 photo “V-E Day” of a crowd on Wall Street by Weegee was provided by the International Center of Photography in New York. (AP Photo/Copyright Weegee/The International Center of Photography)