Aidonian's blog

The 8th of may is the day the world remembered the surrunder of Nazi Germany and marked the end of the world war. In most countries tha day is a day of festivities, but not in my country of Belgium. The end of the second world war is joined with that of the first one on 11th of november. Why? Wel it has to do with the fact that in Belgium, especially in Flanders, the collaborators during the WO2 were also seen as victims, which is why the fortress of Breendonk wasn’t changed into a museum until the 70’s. With the survivors of the second world war mostly gone by now, we are at a turning point in history where fascism is rearing its head again, just like 100 years ago. In Flanders we have the 8thmaycoalition who want to turn the 8th of may into a national holiday so that people wouldn’t forget what happened during the second world war. The events leading up to the second world war are not easily explained because its rather complex.

World War II was the deadliest military conflict in history. An estimated total of 70–85 million people perished, or about 3% of the 2.3 billion (est.) people on Earth in 1940.Deaths directly caused by the war (including military and civilian fatalities) are estimated at 50–56 million, with an additional estimated 19–28 million deaths from war-related disease and famine. Civilian deaths totaled 50–55 million. Military deaths from all causes totaled 21–25 million, including deaths in captivity of about 5 million prisoners of war. More than half of the total number of casualties are accounted for by the dead of the Republic of China and of the Soviet Union. The tables below give a detailed country-by-country count of human losses. Statistics on the number of military wounded are included whenever available. The USSR has the highest casualities of any other country, followed by China. The estimated toll for the USSR is about 26.6 milion people who died , a 8-9 milion died due to famine and diseases. From these deaths, a high number of them occured in Ukraine.

Some former soviet countries celebrate it on the 9th, but most will celebrate it on the 8th of may like the rest of the world. During these celebrations on the 8th of may, you will most likely not find a politician of the Belgian political parties like N-VA or Vlaams Belang because they are the heirs of the collaborators, those who joined willingly with the Nazi’s when they invaded Belgium. They are likely the ones who will oppose this memorial turned into a national holiday. We can never forget the horrors of that war and what misery it brought. Especially now that we might be at the precipice of world war 3.