Voices of VictoryVoices of Victory

After 6 long years of war, Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allied forces on May 7th, 1945. A day later, the official documentation of surrender was signed, and Allied celebrations erupted around the world to mark Victory in Europe Day on May 8th. To mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, eight veterans of the war remember how they learned of victory, and how they celebrated the momentous occasion. On September 10th, 1939, Canada declared war on Germany in the aftermath of Hitler's invasion of Poland. For six long years, Canadian service members, men and women, fought to secure victory on land, air, and sea. At home, Canadian civilians waited anxiously for the return of loved ones and supported the war effort in their communities. May 8th, 1945, Victory in Europe Day, signified the first conclusion of the war: the end of nearly six years of brutality and violence in Europe. This video is produced by the Memory Project, a program of Historica Canada, using testimonies from the Memory Project Archive.