Elbe Day 75th Anniversary Conference Celebrates the Past and Presents Hope for the Future

This April 24, a major conference took place online to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the iconic Elbe Day embrace of American and Russian troops along the Elbe River organized by the president and founder of the American University in Moscow, Dr. Edward Lozansky.

The Elbe Day event marked not only an inspired moment of symbolic victory over the fascist machine of Hitler but also expressed a hope of greater American-Russian brotherhood so necessary to revive in our present age fraught as it is with the danger of nuclear war and hostility among the USA and Russia.

The press release published in the Washington Times expressed the spirit of this event stating:

"Today, the joyfulness created by that open display of soldier’s comradeship between East and West is needed more than ever. This celebration of this tremendously important historical event provides an excellent opportunity to engage in a long-awaited international dialogue because of unprecedented tensions that threaten the security of the world. The reviving spirit of alliance born through the efforts of our ancestors will serve as an example and guide for today’s leaders."

The online conference featured speakers from over 40 nations representing leaders of non-governmental organizations, academia, military and public sector alike and among those participants included the Rising Tide Foundation and the Canadian Patriot Review.

Rising Tide President Cynthia Chung delivered a short speech at the conference on the importance of Wilhelm von Humboldt’s reforms of the Prussian school system which were revolutionary and led to the founding of the University of Berlin, which became the most prestigious model for universities throughout the Western world in the Nineteenth century. This educational reform was for all levels of society and not just the elite. Her written contribution ‘In Whose Best Interest?’ can be read here. Rising Tide Director and Canadian Patriot founder Matthew Ehret’s written contribution ‘Might the Current Global Crisis Revive the Wallace/FDR Grand Design for Russia-China-USA Cooperation?’ can be read here.

The conference was addressed by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner speaking directly from the International Space Station.

Participants in alphabetical order included: Colonel General Valery Baranov, former Deputy Commander of the Russian Internal Troops Academy; Bruce W. Bean, Professor Emeritus, Michigan State College of Law; Andrei Belyaninov, General Secretary, Eurasian Peoples Assembly; Gennady Bordyugov, President, Association of Researchers of Russian Society; Alexander Burganov, Peoples Sculptor of Russia, Author, "Meeting on the Elbe" sculptural composition; Werner Busch, Honorary President of the International Association of Professors of Philosophy, Germany; Cynthia Chung, President, Rising Tide Foundation, Canada; Lt. General Keith Dayton, Director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies; Gilbert Doctorow, independent international affairs analyst and author, Belgium; Matthew Ehret, Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Patriot Review, Director, Rising Tide Foundation, Canada; David Foglesong, Professor, Rutgers University; Sheldon Lee Glashow, Professor, Boston University and Profesor emeritus, Harvard University, Nobel Laureate in Physics; François Heisbourg, International Institute for Strategic Studies and Special Advisor at Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, France; James George Jatras, former U.S. diplomat andformer foreign policy advisor to the US Senate Republican leadership; Major General German Kirilenko, former member of the Russian General Staff; Jeremy Kuzmarov, Author "The Russians are Coming, Again: The First Cold War as Tragedy, the Second as Farce"; Peter Kuznick, Professor of History and Director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University; Dennis Lamb, retired from the CIA after serving 30 years in its Directorate of Operations as a case officer and intelligence analyst; Edward Lozansky, President, American University in Moscow, Professor of Moscow State and National Research Nuclear Universities; Bernar Loze, Vice-President of French – Russian Dialogue, France; Ray McGovern, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS); Thomas Meaney, Fellow, Max Planck Institute, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Germany; Georgevich Mladjan, Founder, "Our Serbia" and "Serbian Code" organizations; Georgi Muradov, Deputy Chairman, Russian Association for International Cooperation; Natalia Narochnitskaya, President, Foundation for historical outlook, Member of the Russian Public Chamber; Vladimir Pechatnov, Professor, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Author "The Big Three: From the Grand Alliance to Cold War"; Herbert Reginbogin, Professor, Catholic University of America, Institute for Policy Research; Ron Ridenour, Peace activist, Author "The Russia Peace Threat: Pentagon on Alert", Denmark; Sergei Rogov, Academic Director of the Institute of the USA and Canada, Russian Academy of Sciences; Brigadier General Kevin Ryan, former Defense Attache at the US Embassy in Moscow, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Victor Savinykh, Russian cosmonaut, Member, Russian Academy of Sciences; Karen Shakhnazarov, Director, Mosfilm; Martin Sieff, Senior fellow, American University in Moscow, former Senior Foreign Policy Editor of the Washington Times; Dalbir Singh, President, Political and Governance Foundation, India; Valery Ruzin, President, Eurasian Academy of Radio and Television; Svetlana Smirnova, Chairwoman, Council of Assembly of Peoples of Russia; Alexander Smolko, Film producer; Evgeny Tabachnikov, Advisor to Chairman, International Council of Russian Compatriots; General Peter Zwack, former Defense Attache at the US Embassy in Moscow, Senior Research Fellow at the Wilson Center.

The final remarks of the joint communiqué for the event warned of the unprecedented crisis in military confrontation, environmental catastrophe which threaten humanity while also expressing a profound optimism and faith in a better future and a reawakening of the spirit of Elbe Day.

To this end, let us close with the final remarks of the event’s public statement:

"Recalling how newspapers and magazines in both Russia and the West joyfully hailed the meeting at the Elbe 75 years ago, but also recognizing how in recent years mutual demonization in the mass media of both countries has made productive dialogue between their leaders much more difficult, conference participants urged American, Russian, and European journalists to avoid sensational scapegoating of foreign nations and present more responsible, constructive coverage of international affairs. Attendees at the conference expressed confidence that the media can thereby promote an improvement in relations between East and West, as it did in the 1980s, when an earlier round of the arms race was halted and the Cold War ended."

"Remembering the high hopes for a peaceful postwar world that were inspired by the meeting on the Elbe River in 1945, participants in the conference resolved to form an ongoing working group to serve as a hub for the exchange of creative ideas for the solution of political, environmental, and strategic problems facing the world."

Russian news coverage of the event can be watched here and written contributions and notices for upcoming events hosted by the American University in Moscow can be found on the website us-russia.org.

This report was first published on theRising Tide Foundation. The author can be reached at matt.ehret@tutamail.com.