Ceremonies were held Saturday across Europe to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in the continent.

In the French ancient city of Reims where Germany's surrender documents were signed on May 7, 1945, a ceremony was headed by French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie. Ambassadors from Britain, Russia, Germany and a US official also attended the ceremony.

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin had planned to host the event but was sent to hospital on Saturday for a gallbladder inflammation.

Alliot-Marie visited the room where the surrender documents were signed. The room, having kept as exactly as it was, is the Surrender Museum now.

Later she attended a memorial service at a monument and decorated four war veterans.

Meanwhile in Dunkirk, which is famous for the "Dynamo Operation," old service uniforms, berets and waistcoats constituted the main costume for about 5,000 people who marched Saturday morning despite wind and drizzle to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Europe's liberation in World War II.

"Vive the liberation!" "Vive the liberty!" They cried as they marched forward.

Maurice Lemiere, 71, born in the city, said after the War, 95 percent of the city was destroyed and everybody cried at the day of its liberation. Despite the bitterness they experienced during the war, he has no hatred against the Germans.

"Hate and war are not solutions, but the commemoration yes. We should always commemorate the memory," he said.

Many British, Canadian, French and Czech veterans participated in the parade.

In Prague of the Czech Republic on Saturday, Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek attended a memorial ceremony honoring dead Czech and foreign soldiers at the Olsany cemetery as part of the country's commemoration activities.

Other people attending the event were World War II veterans, several Czech politicians, representatives of the military and foreign delegations.

Their first stop was at the 264 graves of British, Polish, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand soldiers who died in the fight to liberate the former Czechoslovakia or in war camp prisons.

The next stop was the graves and monument to former Soviet soldiers where members of delegations from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine paid their respects.

The event then moved to a monument to Bulgarian troops and to the monument to the Prague Uprising.

"After 60 years, I am surprised to find that one-third of people in polls say that the war is only a distant ripple in their memories," Paroubek said.

He said it is important to remember the war and its victims "because World War II was a war for civilization, a fight for democracy and preserving the fundamental values of civilization."

Paroubek also praised Czechoslovak soldiers who fought in foreign armies. "It was a massive contribution to our statehood that we had important representation in foreign forces. This was important in the development of our country," Paroubek said.

In Berlin of Germany, about 30,000 people participated in a candlelight vigil against neo-Nazis on Saturday night, praying for peace and protesting against a march by a group of neo-Nazis scheduled for Sunday..

Although it was raining and cold, people with candles, flashlights and lanterns made up a 33-km chain that briefly stretched across the city without interruption.

The organizer said the candlelight chain showed German's determination against war, right extremism and racism.

"We want never again the war," a young man holding candles on the June 17 Street told Xinhua.

A two-day "Festival for Democracy" marking the end of the war also started at the Brandenburg Gate on Saturday.

"We want to stand up to these incorrigible people who even today are denying what happened under the Nazi rule," Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit said at the beginning of the event.

"This is our opportunity to take a stand against racism and intolerance," he said.

In Sofia, Bulgaria, President Georgi Parvanov awarded medals to40 Bulgarian veterans who fought in the war, saying he thanks all the Bulgarians who fought in the anti-Nazi war.

The victory of the war was for all the people in the world, said the president, noting it was a victory of justice and democracy.

In Austria, about 500 middle school students gathered on Saturday night at the former Nazi death camp in Mauthausen to commemorate the 100,000 people killed in the camp during the war. The students lighted up 100,000 candles despite rains and clouds. 
It was the last big Nazi death camp still operating when the US army arrived in early May 1945.

(Xinhua News Agency May 8, 2005)