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German History in Documents and Images
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After the Unconditional Surrender: Ruins at Brandenburg Gate (May 8, 1945)
After finally being taken by the Red Army on May 2, 1945, the city of Berlin was in complete ruins. This photograph shows a fallen “Reich Eagle,” the symbol of the German Empire, among the ruins at the Brandenburg Gate. The image aptly conveys the atmosphere in the capital immediately after the military surrender.