Elbe Day: The Historic Handshake Between the Red Army and U.S. Forces in Defeated Germany
July 2, 2025 - Reading time: 4 minutes
Soviet and American soldiers shake hands on the Elbe River, April 25, 1945 — a powerful symbol of Allied unity in the final days of World War II.
On April 25, 1945, near the town of Torgau, on the banks of the Elbe River, two mighty armies met. From the east — the Red Army, surging across a shattered Third Reich. From the west — American troops, pushing deep into Nazi Germany. Their rendezvous wasn't just a tactical milestone — it was a historic handshake that told the world: the war was all but over.
Captured in this timeless photograph is a moment of humanity amid devastation. Soviet and American soldiers, weary from years of brutal combat, smile and clasp hands on the remains of a bridge. Behind them: rubble. Ahead of them: victory.
To the right stands, presumably, Guards Senior Sergeant Ivan Makarovich Mumladze (b. 1914), commander of a submachine gun platoon in the 175th Guards Regiment, 58th Guards Rifle Division. His weathered face tells a thousand stories — and yet in this moment, he smiles.
The "Elbe Day" meeting was not merely symbolic. It physically split the German forces, cutting off any hopes of regrouping. It also marked the beginning of a post-war alliance — brief, but potent — forged in shared blood and sacrifice.
For the ordinary soldiers — the farm boys from Iowa and the miners from Donbass — it was a chance to look into the eyes of men they had only known through political abstractions. And what they saw, more often than not, was the same: exhaustion, relief, and the simple desire to survive.
The meeting of Allies on the Elbe has been commemorated in books, monuments, and official ceremonies. But nothing captures the raw truth of that day better than this candid photo — two soldiers, from opposite ends of the world, united by one goal: the end of fascism.
📷 Technical photo data:
📅 Date: April 25, 1945
📍 Location: Elbe River, Germany
👥 Subjects: Soviet and American soldiers; (possibly) GSS Ivan M. Mumladze
📚 Source: A. S. Silvashko (participant in the Elbe meeting)
📜 Source of information about the photo: pamyat-naroda.ru