• January 27, 1945


    Soviet soldiers liberate the Auschwitz concentration camp.

  • April 28, 1945


    Benito Mussolini is captured in northern Italy and executed by communist partisans at Mezzegra, Lombardy. The following day his corpse is taken to Milan and put on display.

  • May 01, 1945


    The German army is defeated in Italy.

  • May 07, 1945


    Germany surrenders to the Allies.

  • May 08, 1945


    The Allies formally accept the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and the end of the Third Reich. Celebrations erupted throughout the western world, with crowds taking to the streets to mark the end of World War II. The day would become known as Victory in Europe Day, or VE Day.

    — Military personnel and civilians celebrating V-E Day on Sparks Street, Ottawa, ON, Department of National Defence, May 8, 1945, Canadian Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-114617

  • July 06, 1945


    Italian Canadian internee Nello Trasciatti is released from the Fredericton Internment Camp. He is most likely the last Italian Canadian internee to be released.

  • August 06, 1945


    The United States Air Force drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

  • August 09, 1945


    The United States Air Force drop an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.

    —  View of the ravaged courtyard at the Nagasaki Medical School and Hospital, located half a mile from where the United States Air Force dropped the second atomic bomb, U.S. Army Air Forces photo, Wash. D.C., 1945, Columbus Centre Collection

  • September 02, 1945


    Japan surrenders to the Allies marking the end of World War II.