The 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day was celebrated Thursday across the Continent and in the UK, with thousands of people pausing to remember the fight for freedom in World War II and all that entailed.
They remembered that Hitler’s Nazi Germany had finally been crushed after a half-decade of invading other European powers and delivering genocide, the Holocaust, mass hatred and the murder of millions of innocents.
They saluted the fallen and applauded the brave, happy to solemnly acknowledge how the world was pulled back from the precipice of disaster driven by German Nazism.
“The idea that this was all just history and it doesn’t matter now somehow, is completely wrong,” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
“Those values of freedom and democracy matter today.”
King Charles III and Queen Camilla attend a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey for the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) in London, United Kingdom on May 08, 2025. (Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Rail users are seen next to a VE Day commemoration poster following a two minutes silence in Waterloo station on May 8, 2025 in London. (Peter Nicholls/Getty Images)
WW2 veteran Donald Rose, 110, ahead of a memorial event hosted by the Royal British Legion to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, in Alrewas, Staffordshire. (Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)
Annie Cherry sits in the Ulster Aviation Society’s replica Spitfire at Belfast City Hall to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day. (Liam McBurney/PA Images via Getty)
Reenactors gather at the Arc de Triomphe before ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, Thursday, May 8, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
A veteran at the Cenotaph on Paragon Square in Hull, at a memorial event hosted by the Royal British Legion to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Picture date: Thursday May 8, 2025. (Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump proclaimed Thursday as a day for the United States to celebrate victory in World War II, insisting the country should better recognize its essential role in the war.
“We are going to start celebrating our victories again!” he said.
Lest we forget.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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