At the onset of World War II, Charles Thau was a Polish Jew from a small shtetl in Poland. During the four years after the Nazi war machine over ran his shtetl, Charles Thau lived one of the most epic stories of human survival using his wit, intellect and inner strengths to survive against all odds. His path culminated on a bridge in a moment in time to help end the war --made famous by the Elbe River bridge handshake re-enacted photo that appeared in New York Times (above the fold) in April 1945.^[1]

Charles Thau was a Polish Jew from Zabłotów, Poland (now Ukraine) living in a shtetl, a small town with large Jewish population. His family had a farm, and his mother taught school, including basic Yiddish, German and Polish languages. During World War II, his hometown was destroyed by the Nazis, who murdered its Jewish inhabitants, including Thau's father, mother and two brothers. As a 20 year old, Thau survived by escaping into the forests, where he lived as a partisan fighter for 19 months, engaging in resistance efforts against Nazi forces.^[2]

From 1939 to 1941, Zabłotów (and the surrounding area known as Galicia) was occupied by Soviet forces under terms of the Hitler-Stalin Pack of 1939. Aside from his existing linguistic skills in Yiddish, German and Polish, he learned conversational Russian during those two years from the Soviet soldiers stationed at his shtetl. Soon after Operation Barbarossa commenced whereby Germany disavowed the pact with Stalin, the Nazi's headed to Moscow. When they came through Zabłotów murdering the Jewish inhabitants, the teenage Thau escaped into the forests and survived as a partisan. Nineteen months later, the Soviet Red Army advancement led them to the forests where Thau was surviving as a partisan. They realized immediately that Thau spoke German, Polish and Hebrew. However, when they noted he spoke Russian as well, a skill he learned during the two years (1939–1941) when his shtetl was occupied by young Russian soldiers stationed there under the Hitler Stalin 1939 Pact, the Soviets unofficially conscripted Thau into the 1st Ukrainian Front. He became Russian citizens automatically.

Thau's linguistic skills allowed him to serve with this T-34 tank unit doubly as a translator, interrogating German prisoners, as the Soviet war machine then steamrolled from Stalingrad into Germany. Those language skills came in handy on the occasion when met Americans for the first time, at the historic Elbe River Bridge Link-up.

On that late April 1945 morning, Thau stated there was heavy fighting from the retreating German regiment near the city of Torgau as the Germans wouldn't give up. However, by the afternoon, it was all over as the Russians made it to the Elbe River. Upon realizing American soldiers just arrived as well, there was some apprehension initially given the soldiers could not understand each other---all they could do was shake hands and wave.

This was the first time Charles Thau cam close to any American. He finally met two American soldiers from the 69th Infantry Division who spoke German, thereby allowing communications between them rather than just shaking hands. This is when Thau learned how wonderful life was in the United States, and how those soldiers praised the United States. To further breakdown any apprehension between these allied fielded forces now that they can converse in German, the Yanks produced cigarettes and chocolate bars, while the Russians had vodka to share.

It was not until the following day was it realized how historic this linkup was between fielded forces of the West and East linking up. So the next day they reenacted the encounter by shaking hands on the destroyed bridge, with the embedded US journalist (Alan Jackson) capturing the event by taking two photographs and sending the film immediately to the AP.

Thus marked the day April 25, 1945, when Thau was present in Torgau, Germany, as the Russian American troops met at the Elbe River on that bridge, marking a key moment when they virtually split Germany in two, helping to bring the war to an end on those closing days of World War II in Europe. (Little did Charles Thau know at the time he would remember what praise those two German speaking Americans had for the United States, which would re-orient the path toward Milwaukee Wisconsin for the rest of his life.)

After the photographs, Thau was off to Berlin with his unit, and thereafter took part in the heavy Berlin street fighting where he was wounded the face by machine gun fire.....Later a Milwaukkee

Thus marked the day April 25, 1945, when Thau was present in Torgau, Germany, as the Russian American troops met at the Elbe River, marking a key moment, splitting Germany in two, haling to bring the war to an end on those closing days of World War II in Europe. (LIttle did Charle^[3]

e(Little did he know he'd spend most of his   thereafter adult life in the United States, living in Milwaukee Wisconsin, raising a family and running a business.)  

nd thus any apprehension and breaking down . Finally they were able to communicate in. Thau used another skill spoke Germany as well, among the other skills he used to survive, he was able to gleam how wonderful it was in the United States. Since they were able The atmosphere turned

On April 25, 1945, Thau was present in Torgau, Germany, when Soviet and American troops met at the Elbe River, marking a key moment in the closing days of World War II in Europe.^[4]

East Meets West: The Link-up on the Elbe |website=The National WWII Museum |date=2017 |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/2017-06/elbe-river-revised-2018.pdf |access-date=2025-02-11 }}</ref> He appeared in the famous Getty photograph showing Soviet and American soldiers shaking hands across the damaged bridge.^[5] This meeting symbolized the impending defeat of Nazi Germany.

After the war, Thau wanted to separate from the Soviets. He made his way to Czechoslovakia, where he was briefly arrested. There Thau escaped Soviet control by disguising himself as a refugee and fleeing to Austria. From there, he joined the underground smuggling Jewish refuges to the area of Palestine. After also fighting in the 1948 Israel Independence War, he eventually emigrated to the United States.

After initially arriving in Sheboygan Wisconsin and later settling in Milwaukee, Thau became an auto mechanic and later auto repair garage owner. There he married wife Ida, and raised three children (Martin, Jeffrey, and Esther).^[6] Thau rarely spoke about his wartime experiences. His youngest son Jeffrey, spent a career in the United States Air Force, rising to the rank of Colonel. It is Colonel Jeffrey Thau who later uncovered details (through archived newspaper articles) of his father's role in the historic Elbe Day (for which the elder Thau rarely spoke about).

• Famous Photograph: Thau's presence in the Elbe Day photograph remains one of the most iconic images of WWII.
• Historical Documentation: His story has been covered in The Milwaukee Journal (1955)and Dayton Daily News (2015).
• Recognized by Scholars: His journey from Holocaust survivor and partisan to Soviet soldier and American immigrant highlights the complex experiences of Jewish survivors of WWII.

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• Chaim Thau at Find a Grave