Frank Cohn, Witness to Historic Soviet–US Meeting on the Elbe, Dies at 100

Dragon Media News Desk

Colonel Frank Cohn, a US veteran of World War II, has died at the age of 100. Senior diplomats from the Russian Embassy in the United States attended a farewell ceremony held in his honour.

Cohn served on the European front during World War II and participated in the historic meeting between Soviet and American forces near Torgau, Germany, on April 25, 1945.

According to the Russian Embassy in Washington, Cohn was a young lieutenant serving with a forward reconnaissance unit when he crossed the Elbe River and established contact with units of the Red Army.

The meeting on the Elbe is widely regarded as an important symbol of cooperation among the Allied powers, including the Soviet Union and the United States, in the joint struggle against Nazi Germany.

During the farewell ceremony, a letter of condolence from Russian Ambassador to the United States Alexander Darchiev was presented to Cohn’s daughter. The letter expressed sorrow over his death and conveyed sympathy and support to his family.

In the decades following the war, Cohn was repeatedly invited to attend Victory Day parades at Moscow’s Red Square as an honoured guest.

He also regularly participated in commemorative events organised by the Russian Embassy to mark Elbe Day on April 25 and Victory Day on May 9.

The embassy remembered Cohn as a true friend of Russia and a distinguished representative of the generation that secured victory in World War II.

According to the embassy, he made significant efforts to preserve the historical truth about the heroism and sacrifices of the Soviet people in the war against Nazism.

Cohn also worked consistently to keep alive the “Spirit of the Elbe,” representing the cooperation and mutual respect that developed between Soviet and American soldiers during the final stages of the war.

Although relations between Russia and the United States remain strained, the embassy said the spirit of cooperation established on the Elbe is needed today more than ever to help restore bilateral relations to normal.

The meeting of Soviet and American troops on the banks of the Elbe River on April 25, 1945, effectively divided Nazi forces in Europe and signalled that the end of World War II on the continent was approaching.

The historic encounter continues to be remembered as part of the shared legacy of a period when the Soviet Union and the United States fought together as allies against a common enemy.