But they surrendered May 8th to the yanks/brits and May 9th to the soviets. I know because my grandfather, a decorated member of the NSDAP got on a boat to Brazil on May7th because he thought Germans would never surrender and get everybody killed. He returned in 1964, and brought my father who was born in Salvador. He continued his life as politician and joined the CDU which is as close as it gets to his former political party.