The Nazis who surrendered after VE Day
Germany surrendered to the Allies on 8th May 1945, but some of the Nazis tried to fight on. Learn how they ended up surrendering long after Germany lost.
Image: German submarine U-234 surrenders to the US Navy on 14th May 1945, almost a full week after VE Day | Public Domain
This Spring, Sky HISTORY will honour the 80th anniversary of VE Day to mark 80 years since the end of WWII. Tune in for exclusive documentaries and captivating stories that bring this pivotal moment in history to life. Visit our VE DAY 80 hub to find out more.
It’s well known that the defeat and surrender of Nazi Germany is celebrated in most of Europe on 8th May – VE Day. Yet not all of the Nazis actually surrendered on that date.
In some isolated locations, the delayed surrender was just due to logistics. For example, the Nazis’ 'Lorient pocket' stronghold on the French coast officially surrendered on 10th May. But other groups surrendered significantly later – for a variety of different reasons.
As VE Day 80 approaches, our team at Sky HISTORY has been taking a look at some of the surrenders that happened following the VE Day celebrations. Join us as we explore the stories of German forces who waved the white flag after 8th May 1945.
The U-Boats
A number of German submarines, known as U-Boats, were at sea or even underwater at the time of the Nazi surrender. Once their captains got the news of Germany’s loss, they then had to decide where to go and what to do. While some simply sailed to the nearest port and surrendered, others tried to be trickier.
U-234
One of these was U-234, which was carrying nuclear materials. It was submersed and out of radio contact, when Germany surrendered. When it surfaced in the Atlantic and got the news, the Nazi officers on board first didn’t believe they had lost.
Once they realised the Nazi defeat was real, U-234 came up with a scheme. They told the Allies over radio that they would come to Canada to surrender, but they really headed to surrender in the USA. They thought the American forces would treat them more gently.
However, on 14th May, the US destroyer Sutton caught U-234 in the ocean outside Newfoundland. U-234 surrendered to Sutton and was taken to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
U-530 and U-977
Similarly, two submarines called U-530 and U-977 attempted to run away to Argentina and surrender there, hoping to escape the consequences of their loss. They likely thought this because Argentina had strong ties to Germany through a sizeable German population as well as business and trade. Argentina had remained neutral until the waning days of war in Europe. It wasn’t until 27th March 1945 that it declared war on Nazi Germany and the other Axis powers.
So, these two U-Boats made long, slow journeys under the ocean to South America. U-530 arrived in Argentina on 9th July 1945, and U-977 followed up on 17th August. Both submarines surrendered to Argentina after docking.
Unfortunately, their efforts proved pointless. Argentina promptly gave the two U-Boats and their crews to the Allied forces.
Holdouts in the Netherlands
Some Nazi outputs in the Netherlands were not reached by the Allies in early May, so they didn’t surrender until some time later.
Texel
The island of Texel in the Netherlands saw fighting that’s sometimes called the last battle of World War II. Interestingly, this fighting was among the Nazi forces occupying the island. Some of the soldiers on Texel were actually from the country of Georgia and many of them were former prisoners of war who had not joined the Nazis willingly.
On 6th April 1945, the Georgian troops rose up and tried to take control of the island from the Germans. But they did not immediately succeed. The two sides battled over Texel for over a month – until 20th May, long after the German surrender.
Ameland
Ameland, another island in the Netherlands, saw liberation from Nazi control even later. Allied forces simply didn’t get to the island until June, so the Nazis kept military control of it. However, Ameland’s situation was quite unlike Texel’s. While the Nazis did not give up power to the islanders voluntarily, they knew the war was lost. In early June, Allied forces at last arrived, and the Nazis surrendered to them.
A Nazi weather station
It’s often said that the very last Nazis to surrender were those at a weather station on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.
The German military desperately needed accurate weather predictions to help them with fighting on the sea and in the air. So, they sent scientists to Arctic regions to set up weather stations.
One of these was Station Haudegen on the Norwegian island of Nordaustlandet. When the station leader heard of the Nazi surrender, he removed the station’s defences. From then on, the occupants behaved as though they were at a normal scientific outpost. They transmitted their weather information to the rest of the world and continued to make scientific observations.
But they had no way of leaving. It wasn’t until 3rd September that a seal hunting ship called Blåsel, sent by Norwegian authorities, arrived to take them away. The Germans of Station Haudegen invited the ship’s captain in for coffee before surrendering to him. They were then taken to jail in Tromsø.
With these German scientists’ surrender, the Nazi defeat in World War II was complete.
Looking for more fascinating facts about World War II? Get your weekly dose of exclusive news, information, competitions and more by signing up to the Sky HISTORY Newsletter. You’ll also get the latest updates on upcoming TV programmes.
