Home History May 8, 1945

May 8, 1945

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Victory in Europe

Today is VE Day, which stands for Victory in Europe Day. Which was May 8, 1945. The day the Third Reich was Kaput so to speak. Hitler dead, millions freed from imprisonment on the European Continent, Berlin in ruins. Well, a lot of Europe in ruins as well.

It will be interesting to see how much coverage this gets in the media today. As World War II recedes into history’s rear view mirror and the men and women who fought and lived through it pass on, it seems that people care less and less about it.

Despite the years that have passed, the ripples of that war continue to spread and effect current events.

Art looted by Nazis found in German apartment, media report

(CNN)A cache of 1,500 works of art — including masterpieces by Picasso, Matisse and Chagall — confiscated by the Nazis and missing for more than 70 years has been found in Germany, according to German media reports.

The huge haul of paintings, estimated to be worth more than $1 billion, was discovered in an apartment in Munich in the spring of 2011 during a raid by Bavarian tax authorities, but its existence has only just come to light with an article in the German news magazine Focus.

Renoir, Monet paintings among art found in Salzburg apartment

Works by Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir were among the dozens of pieces of art possibly stolen by Nazis and found in an Austrian home, lawyers said.Attorneys for art collector Cornelius Gurlitt said the art works seized at Gurlitt’s Salzburg home this week were of greater significance than those found at his home in Munich two years ago, the BBC reported Friday.

Gurlitt, 81, is the son of the Nazi-approved art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt, who died in 1956.

Was the son of Hildebrand Gurlitt, since Gurlitt the Younger shuffled off this mortal coil a couple of days ago leaving no heirs, but lots of billable hours for lawyers as the court system tries to figure out who rightfully owns the works of art Cornelius was uh, safe keeping. Yeah, that’s what he was doing. Anyway, the people the Germans stole these works of art from are likely long dead, so the inheritance trail will be interesting to say the least.

And of course there are various souvenirs left all over Europe as well,

Suspected World War II-era bomb detonates in Germany, killing one

(CNN)A bulldozer struck what authorities believe was a World War II-era bomb in a western German town Friday afternoon, causing a blast that killed the bulldozer driver, injured 13 other people and damaged homes, police said.

The blast occurred at a rubble storage site in Euskirchen, Germany, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of Cologne, police spokesman Helmut Conrads said.

Information on why police suspected a World War II bomb wasn’t immediately available, though the unearthing of such ordnance in Germany — where unexploded Allied bombs still are being discovered decades after the conflict — wouldn’t be unusual.

The gift that keeps on giving, as the saying goes.

Notice the other headline in the newspaper above. American troops had been on Okinawa since April 1 and the island wouldn’t be secured until June 22, 1945. 82 days of bitter fighting, with VE Day marking about the half way point.

There was still a lot of war ahead.

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I'm a retired paramedic who formerly worked in a largish city in the Northeast corner of the U.S. In my post EMS life I provide Quality Improvement instruction and consulting under contract. I haven't really retired, I just don't work nights, holidays, or weekends.  I escaped the Northeast a couple of years ago and now live in Texas.  I'm more than just a little opinionated, but that comes with having been around the block more than once. You can email me at EMSArtifact@gmail.com After living most of my life (so far) in the northeast my lovely wife and I have moved to central Texas because we weren't comfortable in the northeast any longer. Life is full of twists and turns.

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