Tag der Befreiung (Day of Liberation)

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Today would have been Tag der Befreiung (Day of Liberation) in the DDR. This was the start of year zero for Germany and establishment of the Soviet Zone of Occupation that would eventually become the DDR.

[RedBaran11]

I know different people view different dates for the "official" end of WWII, but, correct me if I am wrong, isn't May 9th the day the USSR and currently Russia celebrate Victory Day?

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Yes, Altought the surrender document was signed late in the evening on 8 May it wasn't announced in Moscow until early on 9 May.

[torstenbel]

the official date of celebration in the DDR was the 8th May. Cheers, Torsten.

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Here is a DDR stamp from my collection commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Befreiung vom Faschismus that has the iconic rasing of the Soviet flag on the Reichstag.

"As the sons of the Great October, the soldiers from the land of Lenin, rased the red flag on the Reichstag building, they brought us peace and freedom from fascism. They brought both the universal experience of the first in the world in the land of Lenin victoriously accomplished teaching of Karl Marx back in his birth country."

Erich Honecker

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And the 20 Year Anniversary stamps from my collection...

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10th Anniversary Stamp from my collection...

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40th Anniversary Stamps from my collection...

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20th Anniversary First Day Covers...

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25 Year Anniversary Stamp...

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15th Anniversary First Day Cover...

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25th Anniversary First Day Cover...

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30th Anniversary First Day Covers...

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Now that it's 9 May, the Soviet Victory Day here are a couple of Soviet stamps that I picked up in East Berlin in the 80s...

[Dag]

I know different people view different dates for the "official" end of WWII, but, correct me if I am wrong, isn't May 9th the day the USSR and currently Russia celebrate Victory Day?

It was the 8th in the GDR and still is the 9th in Russia.
The reason for this little 'discrepany' is the fact that Moscow is in a different timezone. The documents were signed on May,8th in Berlin but it was already May,9th in Moscow. So, it is not quite correct that it was 'only announced' on May 9th in Moscow, they simply could not do it on the 8th.

Dag