In spring there are many countries that celebrate the end of WWII and as it happens I’ll be visiting Rome during their liberation day during the entire *ponte*. (So *that’s* why it was so hard to find a place to stay for the entire period!) I don’t know what to expect, but I’m ready to experience and embrace it. It got me thinking though: how does everyone celebrate nowadays?
In the Netherlands we kick of on 4 May with a day of remembrance. It is actually 2 minutes silence at 20.h with the king and queen and various dignataries present and solemn trumpet (last post?) and wreath laying, speeches and veterans and survivors and their descendents. Remembrance is extended to commemorate other events too, especially current affairs and lack of freedom in other crisis situations not just WWII.
5 May is the day of liberation and celebration. There will be lots of music festivals and some places will have a special focus. Rotterdam for example will have lights to show where the city centre was bombed and set ablaze. Where the 4 May is not a day off, this day is, but only once every 4 or 5 years. It’s so infrequent that I forget. The biggest thing on television is that there will be an artist that plays lots of festivals across the country and is transported by helicopter to get to all of them. Lots of films about war (Her name was Hannah will probably be on somewhere, like Schindler’s list and Zwartboek and Oorlogswinter). They also put on this cool informative docu-style program with a story teller that tells it partly in interviews, diary fragments and like a modern day news report and partly in old newsreels.
How does your country celebrate? Which conflict is focused on most? Should we come over to help you celebrate?
32 comments
The only real note is on May 4th, to remember the end of the occupation during WW2. There typically not some major celebration; there’s typically a solemn wreath-laying in Ryvangen which was where the Germans executed prisoners, and which is now a memorial park, where the Prime Minister (and/or other leading politicians) speak, though it is, for the most part, not explicitly party-political speeches such as on Constitution Day or May 1st.
Other than that, most people only mark it by putting lights in their windows, as a symbolic callback to the end of the occupation, as during the occupation the Germans enforced a blackout.
It is not a national holiday or anything, but ~~it~~ _the day after, May 5th_, is a “flag day,” i.e. public flag staffs will fly the national flag.
There is no celebration. November 11th is Armistice Day, originally commemorating the end of World War I and the people who have fallen in that war. Later it became a day for commemoration of the fallen in every war. It is a rather solemn event.
Not as the other European. In the former gdr the 8. Of Mai was a holiday. In the frg not so much. Certain federal staates have it a holiday like, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg and Hamburg but nothing beyond that.
End of WW2 meant only beginning of another war that we lost.
Lithuania celebrates the Freedom Day on 31st August, commemorating exit of last Russian occupation troops in 1993. It is not a holiday, but some military parades do happen.
Cyprus didn’t directly participate in WW2, but it has adopted some of Greece’s national holidays including the one related to WW2.
Somewhat uniquely, Greece (and by extension Cyprus) does not officially celebrate the end of the WW2, [but the start of the country’s resistance to the Italian forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohi_Day).
This anomaly is often remarked negatively, but to be honest, it makes sense. Immediately following the end of Axis occupation, Greece descendent into a horrible period of civil strife whose consequences are still felt today (and their echoes were also felt in Cyprus). In contrast, the start of resistance is a much more unifying rally point.
Unofficially, it was so far very common for most, if not all, left-of-centre political groups to commemorate the 9h of May as the Day of the People’s Antifascist Victory. The usual form of commemoration would be public gatherings where speeches are read and parallels with modern authoritarian tendencies are drawn, followed by a call for vigilance and resistance.
So far this was uncontroversial for everyone except for people who were sad the Nazis lost, but change is probably afoot because of how modern-day Russia has co-opted that landmark date for contemporary political use.
There are a few military flag days in the spring that commemorate for example fallen soldiers but they’re not tied to any dates that are about the end of WWII as Finland wasn’t on the winning side. The Independence Day December 6 is largely about winning the freedom and defending independence.
8.5. Day of Victory over Fascism – in my region it’s celebrated by bonfires called Vatra in villages. Used to be big thing when I was a kid.
29.8. Slovak National Uprising Anniversary – officials(president, prime minister etc…) visit the memorial and there might be military parade.
17.11. Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day – Commemorating the student demonstration against Nazi occupation in 1939 and in 1989 beginning of Velvet revolution. This one tends to be hijacked by politicians a lot and there is almost always some sort of protest during this day.
We don’t really have one here, unfortunately. We didn’t join WWII so it’s not a major thing here. I mean for those of us who care it’s still a day of remembrance, especially for those Irish families who had members join the British military but it’s just not publically celebrated (e.g decorations, lights, etc.).
We also don’t celebrate our independence from Britain which is strange to me but maybe because there is a tinge of bitterness there since the war of independence ended with us becoming a dominion still tied to the crown rather than full independence. We only achieved total independence in 1948 and that was by a stroke of a pen when the Dail voted to declare Ireland a republic so I guess there’s not much to glorify there. Maybe there was a sense back then that we wouldn’t be fully independent without all 32 counties so the government didn’t both to encourage an independence day.
I dont know what Sweden is doing… I do know we did something 200 celebration of our loss to Russia on Swedish soil.
Last war we started was against Norway and that is officially last war we was in.
November 11th (or the Sunday closest to it really) is Armistice / Remembrance Day and is a solemn occasion for wreath laying and church services commemorating those who fell in WWI specifically and all service deaths in conflict more generally.
The run up to November 11th has taken on a more bizarre tone in recent years as it has become something of a celebration of remembrance as much as anything. The main Armed Forces charity, The Royal British Legion (and Poppy Scotland) sell all sort of poppy related merchandise as fundraising. There are large scale [art installations](https://www.google.com/search?q=tower+of+london+poppy+sea&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjou-rBxf79AhVnmycCHbXSDHgQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=tower+of+london+poppy+sea&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECCMQJzoHCAAQigUQQzoICAAQgAQQsQM6BQgAEIAEOgoIABCKBRCxAxBDOgYIABAIEB46BAgAEB46BwgAEIAEEBhQqxFY7zxgrEJoAHAAeACAAWaIAewOkgEEMjUuMZgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=e9IiZKiSNee2nsEPtaWzwAc&bih=577&biw=1280) and small scale decorations of shop windows in towns and villages. People crochet [toppers](https://www.google.com/search?q=postbox+topper+remembrance+day&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwid8c_5xP79AhX7sCcCHVhtAVQQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=postbox+topper+&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQARgCMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIECAAQHjIGCAAQBRAeMgYIABAFEB4yBwgAEIAEEBgyBwgAEIAEEBg6BAgjECc6BwgAEIoFEEM6CAgAEIAEELEDOgoIABCKBRCxAxBDUKQJWO08YMxNaAVwAHgAgAGFAogB_g-SAQYxNy4yLjKYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=5NEiZJ3vGvvhnsEP2NqFoAU&bih=577&biw=1280) for postboxes and drivers repaint their [lorries](https://www.google.com/search?q=lorry+remembrance+day&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj9roqlxf79AhWFmicCHao-AMQQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=lorry+remembrance+day&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECCMQJzoICAAQBRAHEB46CAgAEAgQBxAeUL0IWL4PYM8XaABwAHgAgAGnAYgBogWSAQMzLjOYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=P9IiZL2TI4W1nsEPqv2AoAw&bih=577&biw=1280#imgrc=BLicbAjyXQTMIM).
The unionist side of Northern Ireland embrace it especially. They have a very strong affinity with the British Armed Forces and also seek to differentiate themselves from the Republic of Ireland who celebrate the beginning of their independence wars with the UK in 1916.
I personally find the whole thing quite odd but the UK does not have any particular days of celebration of its founding such as Bastille Day or the Fourth of July so this has been co-opted by people who would like one and here it is.
The Austrian freedom didn’t come immediately after the war, but 10 years later. On May 15 1955, the [Austrian State Treaty](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_State_Treaty) (de: Österreichischer Staatsvertrag) was signed by the allied occupation powers and the Austrian government and marked the begin of the second republic.
Some people believe that the treaty was signed on our national holiday, the 26th of October, but that was just the first day after the last Allied soldier officially left the country.
The Dutch have first the 4th of may, in which we commemorate all of those lost to war (it used to be just WW2 but has since some time now become more general).
The 5th of may is to celebrate our freedom and independence, it is seen as a national holiday.
We don’t. We used to celebrate April 4th as the day of “Liberation” by the Soviet Union. This was a historical lie and we went from one totalitarian regime to the next.
Our traditional celebrations of liberty are March 15 when we commemorate the 1848 revolution against the Habsburgs and October 23 when we commemorate the 1956 revolution against the Soviets.
However because the current regime actively spits in the face of these events the celebrations are very subdued and the historical context is not mentioned because of unease parallels between then and now.
Just to illustrate this here’s a story from this year:
Our most famous national poet, Petőfi wrote a very simple but strong poem in december 1848 titled “Hang all the kings.” A highschool principle chose to cancel the March 15 celebration because the students wanted to read this poem because he thought people would think of Orbán and the state party.
There was a newspaper article about it and nothing else noteworthy because we are all floored by the apathy induced by the daily assaults on our liberty, prosperety, dignity and basic decency.
On November 4, the National Unity and Armed Forces Day, are held some celebrations by the institutional figures (President, Ministries, Armed Forces, etc.) to commemorate the end of WW1 and the completion of the Italian unification while celebrating the Armed Forces. Outside of that, nothing else isn’t really done, as it is still a normal working day. All celebrations for the citizens (if actually done) are held on the first sunday of November.
As you saw, on 25 April here in Italy it’s Liberation Day, the celebration of the liberation of Italy from nazifascism begun on 25 April 1945 when the Committee of National Liberation for Northern Italy proclaimed the general insurrection against the remaining German occupation forces and the Italian fascists. Being a national holiday, it isn’t a working day, so people stay at home, institutional figures take part in commemorations at the various monuments throughout Italy and many people take part in gatherings and or marches in remembrance of the partisans.
We have several commemoration/celebration days.
* End of Winter War on 13 March
* End of Lapland War on 27 April, not that commonly remembered
* Civil War ended on 15 May, but it isn’t really celebrated, only remembered
* Commemoration Day of Fallen Soldiers on the 3rd Sunday in May
* Flag Day of the Finnish Defence Forces on 4 June
* End of the Continuation War on 19 September
* Independence day on 6 December
Portugal doesn’t really have a day like that. Portugal didn’t take part in WWII and, although it did take part in WWI, the war wasn’t fought on Portuguese soil. So there isn’t really a recent memory of war against a foreign invader – I think the Napoleonic Wars was the last time that happened.
The only war in living memory is the Colonial War, where Portugal was fighting against independentist movements in the African colonies, but it’s a bit more complicated as Portugal is seen as the aggressor in this war. We do celebrate the fall of the fascist regime on the 25th of April, which in turn ended that war, and I guess is this the closest we have in Portugal to a rememberance of that war, especially since the conscripted soldiers who fought in on Portugal’s side are considered to have been victims of the regime as well.
From Noway here. We don’t specifically celebrate the end of war, but rather or own country’s independence and constitution after being under other countries (more specifically Denmark) rule. We were at war with Germany during WW2 and we were also occupied by them for a while until the nazi-regime lost in 1945.
Our liberation day is 17th of May where we celebrate our constitution which took place in 1814 after being long under Danish rule.
We celebrate by wearing our national costume and have children walk in these kind of parades throughout town. This is something very unique to our country because most celebrate liberation with military marches, but we celebrate with happy children waving flags.
The day for a normal family with children is; wake up at 7-ish, have a good breakfast, dress up yourself and the kids in either national costume or other nice formal clothes, drive to the place in town where the children of the school your kid goes to and place them in the group there, watch the looooong train of children (and other people that wants to join) as they walk around and sing and wave the Norwegian flag. Then when the parade is done you pick up your kids, get them ice cream, drive home, eat dinner, then drive to their school where they have arranged different types of games and fun for the kids, then drive home and maybe have cake or something. Depends on each family ofc but this is quite standard. Young adults usually celebrate together with wine and good food and such, and graduating teens get to drive around in party buses that cost half a million and make noise all night to every college student with looming exams nightmare. In the capital the royal family is present at their balcony and waves at the children’s parade as they walk by. This is the only day you can walk outside in Norway and see literally every citizen dressed up.
Overall, we take our national liberation day very seriously in Norway, we dress up in our finest clothes, eat as much ice cream and hot dogs as we can manage, and celebrate and have fun.
We don’t, really. The end of WWII was a complicated situation, because of us being in the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence.
We had entered the war on the side of the Axis, and changed allegiance in the second half. Our king, a teenager at the time, took the decision, with the help of his advisors ofc, and staged a coup to depose the Axis oriented government. However, the threat of the Soviet Union was hanging over our heads and it wasn’t a happy prospect.
During communism, the day we changed allegiance was celebrated as sort of a liberation day. It’s no longer the case. There is no moment of WWII that could be regarded as really positive to us.
We dont celebrate anything. Because War beginning or the end is not worth celebrating.
We do have “dia de la Hispanidad” (Hispanic day), but that is the day we celebrate the spanish empire and the discovery of America. So the government decided to make a military parade to go along with it.
People dont like it because it resembles Franco’s Regime or military everywhere.
Anything Military in Spain (except Airsoft) is considered a little bit taboo, we just dont talk about it.
9th of May is a national holiday and a pretty big one. With a big parade in the center of Moscow, fireworks, numerous local events… Unfortunately, in the last 15 or so years it’s been slowly going downhill: propaganda gradually shifted the focus of the holiday from rememberance and relief to bragging about military power, “we can do this again” and other things like these. In the end we got… the thing we got.
Hungary – we don’t, really, considering that we didn’t really get to be free at the end of WWII, due to being occupied by the Soviet Union for pretty much until 1990, which also came with its own brutalities and oppressions. So there’s not much to celebrate. (Of course during the occupation May 9 *was* the Day of Victory and all that, but even then nobody was very enthusiastic about it.)
Funnily enough, though, we don’t celebrate our eventual freedom from the Soviet Union either. OK, technically we didn’t fight for that, but even so one would think it’s a bigger deal than it’s being treated as. I guess this shows how deeply Hungarians just don’t care…
The end of the war is celebrated on the 27th of April, the day WW2 ended for Finland. In the form of the veteran’s day. Celebrations are quite minimal, as flowers are left at the “Graves of heroes” and that’s about it.
Freedom and independence is celebrated on, well… Independence day, the 6th of December. That day isn’t exactly a party either, as it’s a day of rememberance and respect to the fallen, and most importantly thanksgiving for the freedom they gave us.
We moved a bank holiday back in 2020 to commemorate the 75th VE Day. It’s not usually a big celebration but after the initial covid waves and relaxation of some measures it was celebrated en mass that year.
We don’t celebrate the end of WW2, because for us it was just replacing one foreign totalitarian regime with another. May 8th is celebrated, but as an informal “European Union Day”.
We do celebrate November 11th, as the Independence Day, in memory of Nov 11, 1918, coinciding with the end of WW1.
Sweden didn’t participate in any of the world wars, and the last war we were in we won and got Norway (semi-got anyway). What we commemorate is our independence from Denmark in 1523, and we do this on June 6th.
We have oxi (no) day on October 28th that we celebrate our refusal to accept Italian subjugation and the subsequent counterattack and resistance to the invaders. We don’t celebrate the end of ww2 because there was a huge civil war before ww2 even ended
I live in Greece. This last weekend we celebrated the beginning of the Greek revolution. On 28 October, we celebrate the beginning of Greece’s involvement in the 2nd World War. So no celebrating end of war but the beginning…
>there are many countries that celebrate the end of WWII
We don’t celebrate it in Greece because there was a fucking civil war after that (ie nothing to celebrate). We celebrate however in 28th of October our involvement in the WWII, ie [the ohi day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohi_Day)
In addition to Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day that others have mentioned, we obviously don’t celebrate our independence from anyone, but we do celebrate VE day (Victory in Europe Day – the day that the Nazis surrendered). It’s common for people or villages to dress up for the day like it was the 1940s and listen to old music from the time, and show off old cars and motorbikes from the time and stuff. In our village we have like a procession of 1940s cars and motorbikes that my best friend’s grandad organises. All the men will go and watch them drive down the main street while the women drink gin in the sun listening to old Vera Lynn records.
It’s dying out though. There was a big one in 2020 for the 75th anniversary, but it has been getting less common.
We aren’t in Europe but we don’t celebrate but rather mourn on Yom HaShoah which is the 27th of the Hebrew month of Nisan which is usually in April or May. In Israel, everyone stops what they are doing for 2 minutes as a siren goes off in the whole country for a moment of silence for the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Although only half the Jews in Israel are of Ashkenazi heritage the entirety of Israel mourn such a tremendous loss of our people. Generations that will never recover from the genocide because of such hatred of Jews in Europe.
In Croatia we don’t celebrate the end of World War II, but we commemorate the victims of our war for independence which happened in the 90s. We do celebrate the beginning of the anti fascist movement in Yugoslavia during WWII on June 22nd.
In Ukraine we have to gain a victory and freedom again before celebrating the victories of the past.
But we had changes in 2015 to shift soviet perspective of a “great patriotic war” and war itself to the role of Ukrainians in WW2 and honoring the price we and the world paid in this war. It also means smaller parades, no nazi of communist symbols and the sad mood of remembrance.