Victory in Europe -- Day was celebrated with parades in towns across Europe while even the leaders of erstwhile mortal enemies are bonding again.

At 2:41 a.m. on May 7, 1945, in a small red schoolhouse in Reims, France, the horrific nightmare of the Second World War came to an end on the European continent. Germany made its official surrender to both the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, in a makeshift building that had come to serve as Gen. Dwight Eisenhower’s headquarters.

Countries across the world will be celebrating the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender in World War II. But this year’s events may be more bittersweet than in the past.