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{{Short description|Meeting of advancing Soviet and American troops in 25 April 1945 near Torgau, Germany}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{ref improve|date=April 2017}}
[[File:ElbeDay1945 (NARA ww2-121).jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|In an arranged photo commemorating the meeting of the Soviet and American armies, 2nd Lt. William Robertson (U.S. Army) and Lt. Alexander Silvashko (Red Army) stand facing one another with hands clasped and arms around each other's shoulders. In the background are two flags and a poster.]]

'''Elbe Day''', April 25, 1945, is the day Soviet and American troops met at the [[Elbe|Elbe River]], near [[Torgau]] in [[Germany]], marking an important step toward the [[end of World War II in Europe]]. This contact between the Soviets, advancing from the east, and the Americans, advancing from the west, meant that the two powers had effectively cut Germany in two.

Elbe Day has never been an official holiday in any country, but in the years after 1945 the memory of this friendly encounter gained new significance in the context of the [[Cold War]] between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

{{Campaignbox Campaign of Germany (WW2)}}

==History==
The first contact between American and Soviet patrols occurred at 11:30am on April 25 near [[Strehla]], after [[First Lieutenant]] Albert Kotzebue, an American soldier, crossed the River Elbe in a boat with three men of an intelligence and reconnaissance platoon. On the east bank they first met a Soviet horse rider, belonging to forward elements of a Soviet Guards rifle regiment of the [[First Ukrainian Front]], under the command of [[Lieutenant Colonel]] Alexander Gordeyev. The same day, another patrol under [[Second Lieutenant]] William Robertson with Frank Huff, James McDonnell and Paul Staub met a Soviet patrol commanded by [[Lieutenant]] Alexander Silvashko on the destroyed Elbe bridge of Torgau.<ref>{{cite magazine |first1=Spencer |last1=Davidson |first2=John |last2=Kohan |date=May 6, 1985 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967556,00.html |title=East Germany Elbe Meeting |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210171325/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967556,00.html |archive-date=February 10, 2009}}</ref>

On April 26, the commander of the [[69th Infantry Division (United States)|69th Infantry Division]] of the [[U.S. First Army|First Army]], [[Emil F. Reinhardt]], and the commander of the [[58th Guards Rifle Division]] of the [[5th Guards Army (Soviet Union)|5th Guards Army]], [[Vladimir Rusakov]], met at Torgau, southwest of [[Berlin]].{{Sfn|MacDonald|1973|p=456}} Arrangements were made for the formal "Handshake of Torgau" between Robertson and Silvashko in front of photographers the following day, April 27.

The Soviet, American, British and French governments released simultaneous statements that evening in [[London]], [[Moscow]], and [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], reaffirming the determination of the Allied powers to complete the destruction of the [[Third Reich]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stalin |first1=Joseph |title=Message Broadcast on the Evening of April 27, 1945, to the Officers and Men of the Red Army and of the Armies of the Allies on the Occasion of their Linking up on German Soil |url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1945/04/27.htm |via=[[Marxists Internet Archive]] |access-date=10 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Truman |first1=Harry |title=Statement by the President Announcing the Junction of Anglo-American and Soviet Forces in Germany |url=https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/public-papers/12/statement-president-announcing-junction-anglo-american-and-soviet-forces |via=[[Harry S. Truman Library and Museum]] |access-date=10 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Churchill|first1=Winston |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.211535/page/n191/ 191] |year=1946 |title=Victory: War Speeches by the Right Hon. Winston Churchill |publisher=Cassell & Company Limited | editor-last  = Eade | editor-first = Charles |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.211535/page/n191/}}</ref>

==Commemorations==
[[File:Defense.gov photo essay 100423-N-0696M-188.jpg|thumb|General [[Nikolay Yegorovich Makarov|Nikolay Makarov]] with Admiral [[Mike Mullen]] and Russian ambassador to the United States [[Sergey Kislyak]] at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] during the Elbe Day commemorations in 2010.]]
[[File:Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak bows his head after laying a wreath at The Spirit of the Elbe marker in Arlington National Cemetery (16638416373).jpg|thumb|left|At the 2015 commemoration of Elbe Day, Russian Ambassador [[Sergey Kislyak]] bows his head after laying a wreath at the Spirit of the Elbe marker in [[Arlington National Cemetery]].]]
Monuments at [[Torgau]], [[Lorenzkirch]], and [[Bad Liebenwerda]] commemorate the first encounters between U.S. and Soviet troops on Elbe Day. In the United States, a "Spirit of the Elbe" plaque at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] commemorates the day.

In 1949 the Soviet film studio [[Mosfilm]] commemorated Elbe Day in the black-and-white film ''[[Encounter at the Elbe]]''.

During the [[Cold War]] the meeting of the two armies was often recalled as a symbol of peace and friendship between the people of the two antagonistic superpowers. For example, in 1961 the popular Russian song "[[Do the Russians Want War?]]" evoked the memory of American and Soviet soldiers embracing at the Elbe River.

[[Joseph Polowsky]], an American soldier who met Soviet troops on Elbe Day, was deeply affected by the experience and devoted much of his life to opposing war. He commemorated Elbe Day each year in his hometown of [[Chicago]] and unsuccessfully petitioned the [[United Nations]] to make April 25 a "World Day of Peace". His remains are buried in a cemetery in [[Torgau]].

American singer-songwriter [[Fred Small (singer-songwriter)|Fred Small]] commemorated Joseph Polowsky and Elbe Day in his song "At The Elbe".

In 1988 a plaque titled "''Der Geist der Elbe''" ("Spirit of the Elbe") was mounted on a stone near [[Torgau]] at the site of the encounter between troops of the U.S. 69th Infantry and the Soviet Guards.

In 1995 the [[Russian Federation]] issued a three-ruble coin commemorating the 50th anniversary of Elbe Day.<ref>{{cite web |title= 3Rubles The Liberation of Europe from Fascism. The Meeting on the Elbe |url=https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces24551.html |website=numista.com}}</ref>

By 2010, the 65th anniversary of the event, Elbe Day events in [[Torgau]] were held annually on the weekend closest to April 25, attracting tourists to the city.<ref name="torgau">{{cite web|url=http://www.torgau.eu/p/d2.asp?artikel_id=1170&liste=&tmpl_typ=Detail&l=1|access-date=June 15, 2013|title=Elbe Day - English|last=Vetter|first=Rene|year=2010|archive-date=October 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014215106/http://www.torgau.eu/p/d2.asp?artikel_id=1170&liste=&tmpl_typ=Detail&l=1|url-status=dead}}</ref> Also in 2010, the U.S. and Russian presidents for the first time issued a joint statement on April 25 commemorating Elbe Day.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Magnúsdóttir|first=Rósa|date=March 17, 2018|title=Celebrating the Spirit of the Elbe: From the 1950s Revival of Soviet-American Relations to the Reset of the 2010s|url=https://zeitgeschichte-online.de/themen/celebrating-spirit-elbe-1950s-revival-soviet-american-relations-reset-2010s|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-18|website=zeitgeschichte-online.de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930064303/https://zeitgeschichte-online.de/themen/celebrating-spirit-elbe-1950s-revival-soviet-american-relations-reset-2010s |archive-date=September 30, 2020 }}</ref>

The meeting at the Elbe is represented in the war strategy game ''[[R.U.S.E.]]'', released in 2010 and 2011 and based loosely on World War II events.

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Torgau Denkmal.JPG|Monument to the meeting of Allied forces, [[Torgau]], Germany
File:Torgau Denkmal der Begegnung russisch1.jpg|Russian inscription on Torgau monument
File:Torgau Denkmal der Begegnung en-de1.jpg|German and English inscriptions on the Torgau monument
File:Gedenkstein April 1945 in Lorenzkirch.jpg|Memorial stone for the refugees and civilians killed at the very first meeting spot in [[Lorenzkirch]], Germany
File:Polowsky-Rosen Liebenwerda.JPG|Stele with roses at [[Bad Liebenwerda]], Germany
File:Torgau Gedenkstein Begegnung.jpg|Memorial stone with "Spirit of the Elbe" plaque
File:Elbe Day Memorial Arlington.jpg|"Spirit of the Elbe" plaque, [[Arlington National Cemetery]]
File:RR5011-0017R Освобождение Европы от фашизма. Встреча на Эльбе.gif|Russian commemorative coin, 1995
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Joseph Polowsky]]
* [[Line of contact]]

==Citations==
{{reflist|30em}}

== References ==

* {{Cite book|last=MacDonald|first=Charles B.|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Last/USA-E-Last-19.html|title=The Last Offensive|publisher=Office of the Chief of Military History|year=1973|series=United States Army in World War II: European Theater of Operations|location=Washington, D.C.|oclc=963582}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/a_people_at_war/war_is_over/america_and_russia_meet.html ''The War is Over - American and Russian troops meet at the Elbe''], ''A People At War'', U.S. [[National Archives and Records Administration]]
* Nora FitzGerald, [http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/04/26/elbe_day_commemorated.html Elbe Day commemorated] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708192839/http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/04/26/elbe_day_commemorated.html |date=July 8, 2012 }} 26 April 2010, [[Russia Beyond the Headlines]], article with photos slideshow.
* [http://libraries.ucsd.edu/historyofucsd/#ark:bb5803377p "Remembering War" simulcast between US and USSR / Satellite Linkup to Reunite Soviet and American WW II Vets] - UCSD press release April 29, 1985

{{Soviet Union–United States relations|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Aftermath of World War II in Germany]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United States relations]]
[[Category:Russia–United States relations]]
[[Category:1945 in Germany]]
[[Category:Torgau]]
[[Category:Elbe]]
[[Category:April observances]]
[[Category:April 1945 in Europe]]