January 2019

Figure 2. A famous photograph of U.S. and Soviet soldiers meeting on the Elbe River in
Germany on April 25, 1945, 13 days before the end of Hitler’s “Thousand-Year Reich.”
River in the German town of Torgau as the Allies pushed the Nazi war machine
back from the eastern and western fronts. Figure 2 shows a photograph of that
event which occurred in the waning days of World War II on April 25, 1945. Joe
Polowsky was one of the troops who met the Soviets, shaking hands and sharing
smiles.
Figure 3. Photograph of U.S. and Soviet soldiers socializing in Torgau. Polowsky is shown
standing up in the back of the jeep in the center of the photo.
Figure 3 shows a second snapshot in which helmeted GIs in a jeep and their
Soviet counterparts in pilotka sidecaps meet and greet in the nearby German town
of Torgau. Polowsky is standing on the back of the jeep at the center of the photo.
News of the meeting on the Elbe was enthusiastically received by all Allied
forces at the time, amidst the euphoria of imminent victory. Figure 4 shows a phila-
JANUARY 2019 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 19