The End Of WWII

May 8th 1945 marks the end of WWII. Europe's  population could finally breathe freely again. The persecuted could come out of their hiding places, Nations could start looking into the future again rebuilding their governments.The German military had capitulated. The devastation around people in Germany was unspeakable. 

Over the course of just a few years 6 Million Jews had been killed in a system the world had never seen before, Additionally, millions of citizens from countries all over Europe including Russia had died.

World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history. An estimated total of 70–85 million people perished, which was about 3% of the 1940 world population (est. 2.3 billion).
Deaths directly caused by the war (including military and civilians killed) are estimated at 50–56 million people, while there were an additional estimated 19 to 28 million deaths from war-related disease and famine.

Today, on May 8th, we think of the victims of WWII. And we must be resolute and make sure there will be no WWIII. Our democracies must remain strong. We must guard against dictatorship and abuse of power. We must exercise tolerance towards people of all skin colors and foreign cultures. We must learn the best way how to live with each other, not against each other, or else this world will end in chaos and total destruction. We must take care of our elders, the weak and the sick. There is no higher value to gain than life itself.

This is what we have to think of on this day, May 8th. Today, 75 years earlier the world made a restart into what everybody believed would be a better life.

Has the world become a better place? Do we have a better life now than people had in 1945 or before the war? Probably. But the world as a whole is still full of wars and military stand-offs. We still have starvation, we still have dictatorships around the world and exploitation of the working class and we have massive migrations from poor countries. New threats are global warming, floods and frightening storms, some of which are caused by massive deforestation, pushed for by multi-national companies. We even got a pandemic again, like the Spanish Flu 100 years ago, and like then, we have no vaccine against it.

By now we should be smarter, more educated and pursuing happiness instead of conflict. Maybe we humans are haunted by our own selfishness, our greed and never ending desire of power over others. It's hard to find a different explanation.

Take care, stay safe and healthy.