In May 1995, the Pottsville Republican published remembrances from Schuylkill County residents about V-E Day on the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Among the Coal Region veterans interviewed was Anthony Kupko of Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania.
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V-E Day – Victory in Europe Day – was originally celebrated on May 8, 1945 after German forces unconditionally surrendered, ending the World War II in the European Theatre of the conflict. In Kupko’s remembrance of the day, he sat at at a brewery in Heidelberg, Germany and toasted the end of the war among his comrades.
The memories of the horrors he witnessed in liberating one of Germany’s most infamous concentration camps in the final days of the war always lingered in his mind, however, even after five decades – the Holocaust’s aftermath vivid in the minds of those who experienced it firsthand.
V-E Day was the best of times for the United States and its allies, the worst of times for Germany, and a sweetly ironic time for Schuylkill Haven’s Anthony R. “Andy” Kupko.
“On V-E Day, I was in Heidelberg Germany. We were at a German brewery, drinking beer,” he said in recalling the end of… World War II.
Kupko enjoyed using the enemy’s own beer to toast its defeat and remembers fellow members of the 213th Anti-Aircraft Battalion joyously singing after learning of Germany’s surrender in history’s greatest war.
It was May 8, 1945, that the news was announced, although unconditional surrender had been signed the day before.
When Schuylkill County’s civilians celebrated Victory in Europe Day at home, its soldiers took time to revel overseas in the Nazis’ defeat…
Even after the celebrating, Kupko still remembers seeing the evils of Nazism. He helped liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp and cannot shake the thoughts of the survivors of the tortures that killed millions.
“I still remember seeing those people, Oh, my God! When you see those poor skeletons, those people, you still remember,” he said.
One thought, however, predominated over all others in his mind: returning home.
“Oh man, I was happy to come home,” said Kupko, who had ben in Africa and Europe since November 1942. “I was discharged in July 1945. We were one of the first ones back because we were over so long.”
Kupko returned to Schuylkill Haven. He passed away in June 2016 at the age of 97 and is buried at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery.
Read more about the American liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp
Read more stories about World War II and the Coal Region
Letters from War – Irvin Schwartz’s V-E Day letter to the West Schuylkill Press-Herald – May 8, 1945
A Coal Region WAVE urges the purchases of war bonds | 1944
War Department Film Highlights Coal Region’s Role in WWII | 1942
“Look at that smoke coming up” – Williamstown airman killed in plane crash during Second World War
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Jake – I really like what you do, a big thank you. I recently came across a WW II story about an American regiment who talked the Germans to surrender an entire city. A young soldier from Lykens, PA, PVT. Richard Grimm was part of convincing the Germans to surrender, which they did. A great story!!
Thank you for sharing! – Jake