The Second World War ended in Europe on the 8th of May 1945 with the capitulation of the German Wehrmacht. Six years of war had cost the lives of millions of victims and brought with it a previously unknown degree of destruction. War, the occupation regime and mass crimes, flight, expulsions and forced resettlement left a lasting mark on the countries and their populations. Today's Europe cannot be understood without knowledge of the wartime events.On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the capitulation, the Deutsches Historisches Museum is presenting the exhibition "1945 - Defeat. Liberation. New Beginning". The extensive catalogue is accompanying the exhibition and focuses on the situation at the close of the Second World War and during the immediate post-war period in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the Soviet Union.