Wilhelm Keitel on His Way to Sign the German Surrender
June 4, 2025 - Reading time: 2 minutes
Wilhelm Keitel getting into the car before signing the Act of Unconditional Surrender in Berlin, May 8, 1945
Location: Berlin, Germany
Date: May 8, 1945
Photographer: Ivan Shagin
German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, having flown in to Tempelhof Airport, is seen getting into a car to be taken to the site of the signing of the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany.
Standing second from left is Colonel of State Security Alexander Mikhailovich Korotkov (1909–1961), head of the 1st Department of the 1st Directorate of the NKGB of the USSR. He led the Soviet team responsible for security and escort of the German delegation.
This was a defining moment in the collapse of the Third Reich, just hours before the official end of the war in Europe.
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