Meeting of American and Soviet troops near Torgau by the Elbe River (***Rare Historical Photos***)

On the 25th of April 1945, Soviet and American troops met at the Elbe River, in Torgau in Germany, about 60 miles south of Berlin.

Why was that meeting significant?

With the Soviets advancing from the east, and the Americans from the west, the meeting of both forces at the Elbe River effectively cut Germany in two.

Map showing where American and Soviet forces met by the Elbe River

For most of the war, the Soviets had been fighting the Nazis along the Eastern Front, gradually pushing them back.

On the 6th of June 1944, the Allied forces launched Operation Neptune, or D-Day, the Normandy landings, the largest seaborne invasion in history, part of Operation Overlord, thus opening a second front in Europe, threatening Germany from the west.

As the Western Allied forces and the Red Army advanced towards Berlin from opposite directions, tensions began to rise.

While Joseph Stalin wanted his troops to capture the city, Winston Churchill, a staunch anti-Communist, opposed that plan, but General Dwight Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, believed attacking Berlin would be a military mistake, having been advised that if both Allied and Soviet armies attempted to take Berlin simultaneously, there would be needless casualties from the inevitable friendly fire.

Eisenhower as General of the Army (***W.Commons***)

Also, there didn’t seem much point in attacking a city that would be under Soviet influence after the war as the post-war reorganisation of Germany and Europe had already been discussed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin at the Yalta Conference, held in early February 1945.

For his part, Stalin remained sceptical that the Western Allies would adhere to the terms agreed on at the Yalta Conference and ordered his troops to attack Berlin from various fronts.

Meanwhile, the remaining Western Allied forces were on the north, south, and east of the Ruhr, preparing to make their final advance through Germany, heading towards Leipzig, Magdeburg, and the Elbe River.

Although the Elbe River was the official objective, many American commanders hoped they’d be allowed to head to Berlin.

On the 12th of April, elements of the 9th Army had reached the Elbe southeast of Magdeburg, putting them a mere 50 miles from Berlin.

By the following day, they were on the opposite bank, hoping for permission to continue to Berlin.

But on the 15th of April, Eisenhower ordered that the 9th Army was to remain in position and not push on to Berlin.

On the 16th of April, two Soviet army groups attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third attacked the north of the city.

The following day, the 17th of April, the 273rd Regiment of the 69th Infantry Division, part of the First Army driving eastward from the Rhine, began their conquest of Leipzig.

It would not be an easy task as Leipzig, Germany’s 5th city, was too important to be easily surrendered being the manufacturing and cultural centre of the Reich.

After intense fighting, especially around the monument of the Battle of Nations, heavily defended by several hundred storm troopers, the battle came to an end by 02:00 on the 20th of April when the German commander agreed to surrender to avoid further bloodshed.

With Leipzig under the control of the Western Allied forces, the 273rd Regiment moved out to take up positions along the Mulde River.

Excitement grew among the American soldiers for it was widely known that Soviet and American troops would meet in the area; the signals to be used by both sides had already been agreed on at the Yalta Conference – the Americans were to fire green flares, and the Soviets, red flares.

The next few days saw little activity apart from patrolling as reports indicated that Soviet troops were close, and American soldiers were ordered to only fire if their targets were unmistakably German.

On the 24th of April, Colonel Charles M Adams, the commander of the 273rd Infantry Regiment, sent a patrol, led by First Lt. Albert Kotzebue, to seek out and meet Soviet troops.

Colonel Charles M. Adams (***273rd Infantry Regiment***)

Another 2 patrols, one headed by Major Fred W Craig and the other by Second Lt. William D Robertson, were sent to the same area to search for allied prisoners of war.

Mid-morning on the 25th of April, Lt. Kotzebue’s patrol entered the small village of Leckwitz, near Strehla, which was about 30 miles south of Torgau.

Lt. Albert Kotzebue on the left (***273rd Infantry Regiment***)

To their surprise, they saw a man in a strange uniform on horseback who was later identified as a trooper of a Soviet Guards rifle regiment.

Although this was the first contact between American and Soviet troops, it wasn’t formally recognised probably because American command hadn’t received any details of the meeting.

Later that same day, Lt. William Robertson and his patrol entered Torgau.

He had learned from German prisoners, eager to reach the Americans and not be captured by the Russians, that Soviet troops were at the small town.

It was only when Lt. Robertson and his patrol reached Torgau did he realise he didn’t have flares with him, so they improvised and made a crude American flag from some white cloth.

When they saw the flag, the Soviet troops fired a red flare, and when there was no answering green one, they assumed the flag was a German trick, and fired.

Fortunately, there were no injuries.

With the help of a Soviet prisoner who’d been liberated from a concentration camp on the outskirts of Torgau, the Americans managed to convince the Soviet troops they were who they claimed to be.

Soviet Lt. Alexander Sylvashko sent one of his solders, Sergeant Nikolai Andreyev, to meet Lt. Robertson in the centre of the damaged Torgau Elbe River bridge.

On the 26th of April, Emil F. Reinhardt, the commander of the 69th Infantry Division, met Vladimir Rusakov, commander of the 58th Guards Rifle Division, an elite Guards infantry division of the Red Army, at Torgau.

And on the 27th of April, photographers were present to capture the formal ‘Handshake of Torgau’ with Lt. Robertson and Lt. Sylvashko re-enacting the historic moment.

Lt William Robertson & Lt. Alexander Sylvashko - photo by Pfc. William E. Poulson (***W.Commons***)

That evening, the governments of Britain, America, and Russia released statements recognising the moment and reaffirming their determination to bring the war to an end.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill:
“We meet in true and victorious comradeship and with inflexible resolve to fulfil our purpose and our duty. Let all march forward upon the foe.”

US President Harry S. Truman:
“This is not the hour of final victory in Europe, but the hour draws near, and the hour for which all the American people, all the British people and all the Soviet people have toiled and prayed so long.”

Marshal Joseph Stalin:
“Our task and our duty are to complete the destruction of the enemy to force him to lay down his arms and surrender unconditionally… The Red Army will fulfil to the end this task and this duty to our people and to all freedom-loving peoples.”

Years later, a monument was built in Torgau to commemorate the encounter between the American and Soviet troops, and there’s a ‘Spirit of the Elbe’ plaque at Arlington National Cemetery.

‘Spirit of the Elbe’ plaque at Arlington National Cemetery (***Wikipedia***)

Rare Historical Photos has a great collection of photographs, including the one at the start of this post, showing American and Soviet troops together.

This Day in History - Elbe Day