1945 saw the end of World War II, and the return of America's young men after four brutal years of fighting abroad. It began as a year of resistance, and finished as a year of celebration.
Here are 25 photos of what the world looked like in 1945.
1
Jimmy Stewart
On the phone at his father’s hardware store, 1945.
2
Welder
Building for WWII, 1945.
3
US Soldiers Returning Home
On board the HMS Queen Mary in 1945 after the end of the war.
4
Judy Garland
With her baby Liza Minelli, 1945.
5
Captain Lewis Nixon of Easy Company
The morning after V-E Day, 1945.
6
Marines On Iwo Jima
After getting word that the Japanese had surrendered, March 1945.
7
Lee Miller
An American combat photographer, taking a bath in Hitler's bathtub in his Munich apartment on April 30, 1945.
8
Shirley Temple
Posing by a painting of young Shirley Temple, 1945.
9
Eugene B. Sledge
At the conclusion of the Battle of Okinawa, 1945.
11
Two Sailors
Exhausted from celebrating the end of World War II, 1945.
12
“My Grandparents Wedding Day in 1945”
They were both Holocaust survivors.
13
Dutch Resistance Members
Celebrating the news of Adolf Hitler's death. May 1945.
14
March 1945
The pig is wearing an SS officer’s hat.
15
Young Men
Getting drafted in 1945.
16
Albert Einstein
“Hanging out with my grandma in her backyard. Around 1945.”
17
Norma Jeane in 1945
Before she became Marilyn Monroe.
18
Jerry Dancing With Gene Kelly
Animated by MGM, for the musical "Anchors Aweigh."
19
A Soviet Soldier
With the head of a statue of Hitler, Berlin, 1945.
20
“My Grandmother”
At her high school graduation in 1945.
21
Hollywood Star Marlene Dietrich
Kissing American soldier Carus Olcott, who was returning to New York during World War ll, 1945.
22
Miss America
Contestants in 1945.
23
Joining the Danish Resistance Movement
Men in May of 1945.
24
Brooklyn, 1945.
Students protesting the "no pants to school" rule.
25
Men of Easy Company
After capturing Hitler's Eagles Nest, 1945.
