The Press : Cartoonists Draw the Line at Optimism on 50th V-E Day

May 8, 1945, the day that Adolf Hitler’s army surrendered to the Allied forces--Victory in Europe Day--ended one of the most heroic and horrible passages in history. Fifty years later, the anniversary was marked around the world in solemn ceremonies.

Editorial cartoonists, whose work during the war ran from Bill Mauldin’s griping GIs, Willie and Joe, in Stars and Stripes to the thundering, patriotic messages in mainstream newspapers in the United States and abroad, picked up their pens again as the anniversary approached.

If there is a theme to the results, it is the fear that history repeats itself. If there is a watchword, it’s “Never again!” Here are views of today’s cartoonists, marked by a tone of caution on the signs of resurgence on the right and genocidal wars around the world.