The World War II lasted from September 1, 1939 to September 2, 1945. It involved 61 states, 80% of the world's population. That war was the most destructive in our history.Ukraine was in the epicenter of the hostilities between Germany and the USSR. Ukraine lost from 8 to 10 million people killed. On the other side, the Ukrainians made significant contribution to victory over Nazism. In some units of the Red Army, from 50% to 70% of soldiers were from Ukraine. The Red Army officer Oleksiy Berest commanded the squad who mounted the banner over the Reichstag in Berlin. Kuzma Derevyanko, the Soviet general of the Ukrainian descent, signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the USSR in September 1945.National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War is the leading Ukrainian museum devoted to those tragic events.