| Original caption: “The Red Army meets units of the United States Army near Torgau on the Elbe on April 25, 1945. Soviet Guard Cossacks talking to soldiers of the Sixty-Ninth United States [Infantry] Division.” From The June 1, 1945, issue of Yank Magazine: A 28-man, 6-jeep patrol of 69th Division Yanks under the command of 1st Lieutenant Albert L. Kotzebue [Y Gandía [October 10, 1923 – March 19, 1987)] of Houston, Texas, and his platoon sergeant, Technical Sergeant Frederick W. Johns(t)on [(January 30, 1911 – May 24, 1990) of Bradford, Pennsylvania, and a Russian cavalry patrol made the 1st link-up between the Eastern and Western Fronts. The meeting took place on a hill outside the village of Zauwitz just before 1330 Hours on April 25. The jeeps roared up the hill smack into the middle of a group of hard-riding Cossacks who were patrolling the area in search of stray pockets of German resistance. Both units recognized each other, so there was none of the confusion that attended some later Russki-Yank meetings. The Cossacks detailed a Russian civilian to guide Lieutenant Kotzebue and [11 of] his men to where the CG of the Russian division [2nd Battalion, 175th Guards Rifle Regiment, 58th Guards Division, 5th Guards Army, 1st Ukrainian Front, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Aleksandr Gordeyev (April 15, 1903 – October 27, 1975)] was waiting to greet them on the other side of the hill. Then they galloped off in search of more Germans. The American patrol crossed the Elbe in jeeps ferried on a platform raft and fell headlong into a lively Russian celebration. A Russian major who spoke a few words of English set the tone of the celebration with a toast. “Today,” he said. “we have the most happy day of our lives. The years 1941 and 1942 were a most difficult time. Germany was at Stalingrad. It was the most difficult time of our lives. At that time we do not think of our lives; we think of our country. “Just now, our great friends and we have met one another and it is the end of our enemy, Long live your great leader. Long live our great leader. Long live our great countries.” Mark Stepanovich Redkin (1908 – 1987), a reporter for Krasnaya Zvezda (“Red Star”), took the photo. Only Soviet journalists were present during this 1st encounter between the United States 3rd Army and 1st Ukrainian Front. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2046.jpg |
| Image Size | 400.19 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2267 x 1489 |
| Photographer | Mark Stepanovich Redkin |
| Photographer Title | Krasnaya Zvezda |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 25, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Torgau |
| State or Province | Saxony |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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