25 April 1945
First Meeting of Soviet and American Troops at Torgau
By late April most of Germany was in Allied hands, with the British in the northwest, the Americans in the southwest, and the Soviets moving in from the East toward Berlin. On April 25 elements of the 273rd U.S. Infantry Regiment encountered the 175th Soviet Rifle Regiment in the town of Torgau, northeast of Leipzig, which the Americans had captured only a few days earlier. A brief celebration ensued, as everyone knew that the war in Europe would not last much longer.

History:
Central Europe

Campaign Map:
Final Operations, 19 April – 7 May 1945

Personal Accounts:
Rutgers Oral History Archive: Interview with Livy Goodman
Rutgers Oral History Archive: Interview with Andrew J. Ciampa

Photographs:
With torn picture of his fuehrer beside his clenched fist, a dead general of the Volkssturm lies on the floor of city hall, Leipzig, Germany
Happy 2nd Lt. William Robertson and Lt. Alexander Sylvashko, Russian Army, shown in front of sign [East Meets West] symbolizing the historic meeting of the Russian and American Armies, near Torgau, Germany, April 25, 1945