Allies & the worldJoyful
· Day 1404 of 1418
Meeting on the Elbe
Torgau, the Elbe
On 25 April 1945 Soviet and American soldiers met at Torgau on the Elbe. They shook hands and swapped badges and souvenirs. Germany had been cut in two.
Scouts met first: soldiers called out to each other across the river and then crossed over, some by boat, some over the wreck of a blown-up bridge. They took photos together, sang and raised toasts to victory.
The meeting on the Elbe became a symbol of the alliance of nations that defeated Nazism. Its participants wrote to each other and visited one another for many years afterwards.
See it on the map