MOSCOW: The Spirit of the Elbe is a perfect example of how Russia and the United States can work together to achieve a common goal, and that...
MOSCOW: The Spirit of the Elbe is a perfect example of how Russia and the United States can work together to achieve a common goal, and that legacy must be passed on to future generations, Alexander Gusarov, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s North Atlantic Department, noted.
"We consider it important to preserve and pass on to future generations the Spirit of the Elbe as a positive legacy in relations between Moscow and Washington," he noted during a solemn ceremony of laying flowers at the "Spirit of the Elbe" memorial plaque. "The heroic feat of a million people on both sides of the Atlantic, whose leadership united despite the ideological differences of that time, shows that even today Russia and the United States can cooperate for common goals."
In this regard, Gusarov emphasized that the Russian side "sacredly honors the fearlessness and valor" of Soviet and US soldiers. "We bow before the feat of the Soviet soldiers and their US brothers in arms," he stated.
Elbe Day
The first meeting took place around noon on April 25, 1945. A US patrol commanded by First Lieutenant Albert Kotzebue crossed the Elbe near Strehla and met forward units of a Soviet unit led by Senior Lieutenant Grigory Goloborodko. Later, the US side, led by Kotzebue, arrived at the Soviets’ location, where they were met by the commander of the 175th Guards Rifle Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Gordeev.
Another meeting took place on the same day around five in the evening. A US patrol commanded by Second Lieutenant William Robertson met a group of Soviet soldiers commanded by Lieutenant Alexander Silvashko on a destroyed bridge over the Elbe near Torgau. Robertson’s report reached the headquarters of the 1st US Army earlier than Kotzebue's report, which is why the meeting in Torgau is more famous. The photograph of William Robertson and Alexander Silvashko shaking hands went down in history as a symbol of the meeting of the armies of the USSR and the allies.
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