1945 First U.S. Army WWII Map of Meeting Between U.S. and Red Armies in Germany

This is a 1945 G-2 Section First U.S. Army map of eastern Germany commemorating the meeting of the U.S. Army and the Soviet Red Army along the Elbe River. With the Elbe illustrated to the right of center, the map depicts the Fifth U.S.S.R. Army sweeping across Germany from the West while the First U.S. Army charges in from the east, with the Twelfth German Army is sandwiched between them. Large Soviet and American flags mark Soviet and American sectors. A banner situated near the top border announces, 'Elements 69th U.S. Division met elements 58th U.S.S.R. Division at Torgau, Germany 25 April 1945 at 1640B.

Elbe Day - April 25, 1945

The American and Soviet Armies met at Torgau, Germany, on April 25, 1945, an event that is remembered as Elbe Day, and signaled that Germany had been cut in half. American and Soviet patrols made first contact, with the commanding officers of the 69th Infantry Division of the U.S. First Army and the 58th Guards Rifle Division of the Red Army meeting at Torgau the following day. Official 'handshake' photographs were taken and dispersed on the 27th along with statements from London, Moscow, and Washington reaffirming their joint determination to secure the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. Today, monuments to this momentous occasion stand at Torgau, Lorenzkirch, and Bad Liebenwerda in Germany and a 'Spirit of the Elbe' plaque commemorates the event at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Commemorative events also occur in Germany, Russia, and the United States annually.

Publication History and Census

This map was prepared by the G-2 (Intelligence) Section of the First U.S. Army and drafted and reproduced by the 654th Engineer Battalion in April 1945. Two examples are catalogued in the OCLC and are part of the institutional collections at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Texas A and M University. We have found records stating that the U.S. National Archives and the Library of Congress also have an example as part of their respective collections.