What May 8 Means for Germany
... which took over 27 million Soviet lives. So, what exactly does May 8 mean to today’s Germans whose grandfathers fought in what we here in Russia consider enemy trenches? Despite the 70-year gap between now and 1945, the perception of May 8 in Germany is somewhat shaded, for numerous historical reasons. On the one hand, for over 40 years of the existence of the two German states, as their two different systems were engaged in fierce information warfare, the perception of this victory over National ...