MAY 8 HOLIDAY. This Sunday, May 8, 2022 is a public holiday in France. Commemoration ceremonies are planned everywhere in France in memory of the Victory of the Allies over Nazi Germany in 1945. Learn all about the origin and history of this day off, but also the program of commemorations.
[Mis à jour le 6 mai 2022 à 08h20] Ceremonial weekend in sight for Emmanuel Macron. If Saturday will be synonymous with an investiture ceremony, Sunday will be marked by a commemoration. This Sunday is indeed May 8, a traditional public holiday in France since 1981 and intended to commemorate the German capitulation of 1945 and the end of the Second World War.
May 8 has not always been a public holiday since the end of the conflict. While the decision to make May 8 World War II Remembrance Day was quick, making it a public holiday has been debated many times. Introduced in 1953, the public holiday was abolished and then reinstated in 1981. May 8 has been a day with multiple meanings ever since. It recalls first of all the victory of the Allies on the European theater in the Second World War, and the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945, even if this date is disputed… If May 8, 1945 is an important date in the History of France, for some, it is above all a public holiday. Gardening, family outings, picnics with friends and why not shopping in department stores, which for the most part are still open even on Sundays, unlike the mandatory 1st of May.
If this “128th day of the year” (or 129th, in case of a leap year) often causes one of the “bridges” of the month of May (together with May 1st or theAscent), making it possible to considerably lengthen the weekends of employees, the self-employed or civil servants, this year, May 8 falls on a Sunday. It will be necessary to wait until 2023 for the three-day weekend to make a comeback, since May 8 will be a Monday. All information on the origin, history and meaning of this symbolic date below.
- National commemoration process : The President of the Republic has an appointment in the center of Paris: wreath laying at the foot of the Parisian statue of General de Gaulle on Place Clémenceau in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, then ascent of the Champs-Elysées with the national anthem on Place de l’Etoile and review of the troops. The commemoration ceremony ends with a tribute facing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe. Wearing the cornflower of France in his buttonhole, the Head of State lays a wreath in front of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. “Le Chant des Partisans” is interpreted by the choir of the French army, then the Head of State signs the guestbook of the flame of Remembrance, before greeting the veterans and officials of the General Staff .
- The war memorials of the towns and villages of France are also at the heart of the commemorations of May 8, 1945, corresponding to the end of the Second World War in Europe, with the pure and simple surrender of the German armies to the Allies. In all metropolitan departments as well as in overseas territories, the Prefects and High Commissioners of each department lay a wreath at the war memorial to respect the duty of memory. Mayors are also allowed to lay a wreath at the war memorial in their municipality.
May 8 has been adopted as the day to commemorate Germany’s surrender in World War II. However, the reality is much more complex. Firstly because this event marks the end of the Second World War only in Europe, the conflict still continuing for four months in the Pacific, between Japan and the United States. Then because different acts of capitulation were signed at different times between the 7th and the 9th mayaccording to the chosen temporal referent.
In any case, the beginning of May 1945 marks the collapse of the Third Reich. On April 30, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his chancellery bunker, while Soviet soldiers were in Berlin. Joseph Goebbels attempts to contact the Allies in order to sign an armistice. Unable to establish the link and refusing an unconditional surrender, he killed himself with his wife and children on May 1. The following day, the Battle of Berlin ended with the capitulation of German General Helmuth Weidling and the men in charge of the defense of the capital. From 4 to 6 May, all remaining Nazi forces (in the Netherlands, North Germany, Denmark, Bavaria, Breslau) surrender to the Allies. Herman Göring, the highest living Nazi dignitary, surrenders to American authorities on the German-Austrian border.
There are actually two capitulation documents: the first capitulation of May 7, 1945, in Reims, and the second capitulation of May 8, 1945, in Berlin. The Grand Admiral Karl Donitz was appointed Reich President by Hitler in his will. At the head of a Provisional Reich Government, he attempts to negotiate a series of partial surrenders to Western allies, in order to be able to continue the fight in the east against the Soviet troops. The Americans refuse to compromise. The German general Alfred Jodl, sent by Dönitz, signs the capitulation on May 7 at 2:41 am. This historic moment took place in a hall of the Technical and Modern College of Reimswhich was then the HQ of the Allied forces.
Only, this signature is not to the liking of Stalin, who regrets the absence of high Soviet representatives during this signature. A second capitulation is organized on May 8 in the evening in Karlshorst, near Berlin. This time, it is the Supreme Commander of the Red Army, Georgy Zhukov, who presides over the signing. It was Wilhelm Keitel, supreme commander of the German armed forces, who signed the capitulation. It comes into effect at 11:01 p.m. on May 8. In Moscow time, this time corresponds to May 9 at 01:01 in the morning. Today is May 9 which is celebrated as the day of the German surrender in Russia.
Officially, the name of the holiday corresponding to May 8 is “Victory of 1945”. The use of the word armistice, as in the expression “armistice of 1945”, found on some calendars, is not correct. Indeed, an armistice is a convention signed by governments. It ends an armed conflict in time of war, but does not end the state of war. It is this type of document that was signed on November 11, 1918 in the wagon of Rethondes, starting a cease-fire and the negotiations which will lead to the Treaty of Versailles, signed by Germany and the Allies. In 1945, it is indeed a capitulation of the Third Reich. Indeed, it is a pure and simple surrender of a belligerent, the end of the fighting and the state of war. Hence the name “victory of 1945” and not “armistice of 1945”.
Relive it 1944 landingthe liberation of Paris and the liberation of France, the discovery by the Soviets of the Auschwitz camp and the last days of Adolf Hitler in pictures.
On May 8, 1945, at 3 p.m., the bells rang to mark the end of the Second World War in Europe. General de Gaulle himself announces the German capitulation in a radio address. Everywhere in France, scenes of joy accompany May 8 and May 9, which are exceptionally holidays to celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany. There then remained German soldiers in France (around the ports of Dunkirk, Lorient and Saint-Nazaire, in particular). The question of commemorations arises very quickly. Government and veterans hesitate between establishing a single date – intended to celebrate the victories of 1918 and 1945 – and setting up a ceremony specific to the Second World War.
Law n°46-934 of May 7, 1946 fixes May 8 (if it is a Sunday) or the Sunday following this date as the commemorations of the victory of 1945. Until then, May 8 was associated with the feast of Jeanne D’Arc (to see further). It was in 1953 that May 8 really became a holiday established, in the same way as the November 11th, regardless of the day of the week on which it falls. In 1959, a decree seeking to limit the number of non-working days sends the French back to work. And in 1975, the President of the Republic, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, removes any official character from the date. His gesture seeks to mark Franco-German reconciliation, but irritates many veterans. It is finally François Mitterrand who gives back to May 8 its character of public holiday. The law n°81-893 of October 2, 1981 add this day to the list of non-working days in the labor code. This day is not celebrated in Great Britain, the United States or Germany.
May 8 is also an essential day of remembrance in Franco-Algerian relations. It is indeed on May 8, 1945, the massacres of Sétif, Guelma and Kherrata began, in an Algeria then colonized by France. The drama kicks off on May 8. A demonstration by Algerian nationalists, demanding the independence of their country, is organized on the sidelines of a procession celebrating the victory of the Allies. They demand in particular the release of their leader – Messali Hadj – leader of the PPA (Algerian Popular Party), imprisoned by the French authorities. These demand that the demonstrators carry neither weapons nor the Algerian flag.
During the demonstration, in the city of Sétif, a young Muslim scout brandished an Algerian flag in the heart of a district largely populated by a population of European origin. The police try to remove the flag and shots break out between demonstrators and police. A 26-year-old young man, Algerian flag in hand, is shot dead by a policeman. Panic and confusion increased as indigenous Muslims and populations of European descent exchanged gunfire. The toll exceeds 20 dead on each side. In Guelma, the police shoot, killing a demonstrator. In the countryside, riots against populations of European origin broke out: 102 people were killed. The government, led by General de Gaulle, sends the army on the spot. The crackdown – which lasts until May 22 – is terrible : summary executions, bombardments of villages, ceremonies of “submission” to the French flag. The official toll established by the French authorities reports 1,000 dead. In reality, the balance sheet would be five to ten times higher according to historians.
May 8 is also the date of the feast of Joan of Arc. It was indeed on May 8, 1429 that an army, led by Jeanne D’Arc, managed to deliver the city of Orleans, besieged by the English. Every year, the Johannine celebrations of Orléans celebrate this event, culminating in a grand parade through the streets of the city center on May 8. In 2015, the Centre-Val de Loire region and the town hall of the city requested the integration of these festivities into the intangible heritage of France, before considering a request for classification by Unesco.
In a different genre, May 8 is also a key day for the French nationalist right. At the beginning of the 20th century, the extreme right, led by Action Française, organized its rally on May 8 in front of the statue of Joan of Arc in Paris. In the 1970s, the National Front participated in these processions, before taking the lead. It was Jean-Marie Le Pen who decided to move this annual event from May 8 to May 1 in 1988: it was then a question of holding a meeting to influence the in-between rounds of the presidential election. . Since then, the rally organized by the National Front continues to be held on May Day. Other far-right groups continue to parade on May 8.
Like the majority of public holidays, commemorations of May 8, 1945 or not, shopping enthusiasts can go about their leisure without any problem. Supermarkets or DIY stores, discover them in the list below: