|
Long live the victory of communism, victory of humanity over German barbarism - Nazism.
Glory to J. Stalin and his comrades!
Glory to the USSR and CPSU!
Glory to Soviet Peoples!
AN ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE
MAY 9, 1945
Comrades! Fellow countrymen and countrywomen!
The great day of victory over Germany has arrived. Fascist Germany, forced to
her knees by the Red Army and the troops of our Allies, has admitted defeat and
has announced her unconditional surrender.
On May 7 a preliminary act of surrender was signed in Rheims. On May 8, in
Berlin, representatives of the German High Command, in the presence of
representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allied troops and of the Supreme
Command of the Soviet troops, signed the final act of surrender, which came into
effect at 24 hours on May 8.
Knowing the wolfish habits of the German rulers who regard treaties and
agreements as scraps of paper, we have no grounds for accepting their word.
Nevertheless, this morning, the German troops, in conformity with the act of
surrender, began en masse to lay down their arms and surrender to our troops.
This is not a scrap of paper. It is the actual capitulation of the armed forces of
Germany. True, one group of German troops in the region of Czechoslovakia still
refuses to surrender, but I hope the Red Army will succeed in bringing it to its
senses.
We now have full grounds for saying that the historic day of the final defeat of Germany, the day of our people's great victory over German imperialism, has arrived.
The great sacrifices we have made for the freedom and independence of our
country, the incalculable privation and suffering our people have endured during
the war, our intense labours in the rear and at the front, laid at the altar of our
motherland, have not been in vain; they have been crowned by complete victory
over the enemy. The ago-long struggle of the Slavonic peoples for their existence
and independence has ended in victory over the German aggressors and German
tyranny.
Henceforth, the great banner of the freedom of the peoples and peace between
the peoples will fly over Europe.
Three years ago Hitler publicly stated that his task included the dismemberment
of the Soviet Union and the severance from it of the Caucasus, the Ukraine,
Byelorussia, the Baltic and other regions. He definitely said: "We shall destroy
Russia so that she shall never be able to rise again." This was three years ago. But
Hitler's insane ideas were fated to remain unrealized -- the course of the war
scattered them to the winds like dust. Actually, the very opposite of what the
Hitlerites dreamed of in their delirium occurred. Germany is utterly defeated. The
German troops are surrendering. The Soviet Union is triumphant, although it has
no intention of either dismembering or destroying Germany.
Comrades! Our Great Patriotic War has terminated in our complete victory.
The period of war in Europe has closed. A period of peaceful development has
been ushered in.
Congratulations on our victory, my dear fellow countrymen and
countrywomen!
Glory to our heroic Red Army, which upheld the independence of our country
and achieved victory over the enemy!
Glory to our great people, the victor people!
Eternal glory to the heroes who fell fighting the enemy and who gave their lives
for the freedom and happiness of our people!
J. Stalin. |
