Which division hoisted the banner of victory over the Reichstag. How the banner of victory was raised over the Reichstag. What were the approaches to the building?

Victory Banner- assault flag of the 150th Order of Kutuzov, II degree, Idritsa Rifle Division, hoisted on May 1, 1945 on the Reichstag building in Berlin

Symbolizes the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War.
During the assault, several red banners were hoisted over the Reichstag, but the Banner of Victory is considered to be the banner strengthened by Alexei Berest, Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria.

The banner hoisted by Berest, Egorov and Kantaria

On April 29, fierce battles began for the Reichstag, which was defended by more than a thousand people. On April 30, after several attacks, units of the 171st (under the command of Colonel A. I. Negoda) and 150th (under the command of Major General V. M. Shatilov) rifle divisions managed to break into the building. On April 30, at 14:25, the regimental red banner of the 674th Infantry Regiment (150th Infantry Division) was installed on the facade of the building.
The red banner of the Military Council of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front was installed on the Reichstag dome early in the morning of May 1 by Lieutenant Alexei Berest and sergeants Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria.

Currently, the Victory Banner is an exhibit in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces. It was placed in this museum by order of the Main Political Directorate Soviet army dated July 10, 1945.

Famous photo

On famous photo“The Banner of Victory over the Reichstag” is not captured by Berest, Egorov and Kantaria.

The photo was taken on the instructions of TASS Photo Chronicle by photographer Evgeniy Khaldei on May 2, 1945. Before this, he took several photographs of victory banners over the liberated Soviet cities: Novorossiysk, Kerch, Sevastopol.

Chaldean brought with him the banner with the hammer and sickle, depicted in the photograph. According to Chaldea's memoirs, he asked the tailor Israel Kishitser to sew three flags from red tablecloths. Chaldean himself cut out the sickle, hammer and star from white fabric. Arriving in Berlin, Khaldei took photographs with each of the three flags.

The first flag was placed far from the Reichstag, on the roof of the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army, near the sculpture of an eagle perched on globe. Khaldei climbed up there with three fighters and took some photographs.

The second flag was placed over the Brandenburg Gate. According to Khaldei’s recollections, on the morning of May 2, 1945, Lieutenant Kuzma Dudeev, Sergeant Ivan Andreev and he climbed the Brandenburg Gate, strengthened the flag and took a photo. On way back Chaldea had to jump from high altitude, and he lost his legs.

When Khaldei got to the Reichstag, from which the Nazis were knocked out, many flags were already installed there. Having stumbled upon several fighters, he took out his flag and asked them to help climb onto the roof. Having found a convenient point for filming, he filmed two cassettes. The flag was tied by Kiev resident Alexey Kovalev. He was assisted by the foreman of the reconnaissance company of the Guards Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky of the Zaporozhye Rifle Division Abdulkhakim Ismailov from Dagestan and Minsk resident Leonid Gorychev.

Other banners

The Victory Banner hoisted by Berest, Egorov and Kantaria was not the first red banner over the Reichstag.

On April 30, 1945, Lieutenant of the 150th Infantry Division of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front, Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev, who was then only 21 years old, and Private Georgy Bulatov were the first to hoist the battle flag over the Reichstag. The document certifying this event was donated to the Central state museum Republic of Kazakhstan.
On April 30, 1945, at 22:40, soldiers of the 171st Rifle Division, Captain Vladimir Makov, senior sergeants Alexei Bobrov, Gazi Zagitov, Alexander Lisimenko and Sergeant Mikhail Minin hoisted their banner on the sculptural composition “Germany”. This banner has not survived to this day.

The banner was hoisted over the Brandenburg Gate by senior sergeant Andreev and sergeant of the Berezhnaya 416th Infantry Taganrog Red Banner, Order of Suvorov (Azerbaijan) Division.

On the afternoon of May 1, 1945, a six-meter red banner with the inscription “VICTORY” was dropped from an airplane onto the burning Reichstag. Presumably it then burned down.

Law “On the Banner of Victory”

Vladimir Putin signed the federal law “On the Banner of Victory,” adopted by the State Duma on April 25 and approved by the Federation Council on May 4, 2007. In the final version of the law, a copy of the Victory Banner will be equipped with a hammer and sickle, since this is exactly the banner that was hoisted over the Reichstag.

Banners corresponding to the Victory Banner are now called not symbols, but copies. They will have an image of a hammer and sickle, as well as the inscription “150th Order of Kutuzov, second degree, Idritsa Rifle Division”

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Historical reference

Victory Banner over the Reichstag
Was it necessary to storm Berlin?

Russian troops captured Berlin twice. First time during Seven Years' War in 1760. Then the phrase of Field Marshal P. Shuvalov spread all over Europe: “You can’t reach St. Petersburg from Berlin, but you can always get from St. Petersburg to Berlin.” The Russians occupied Berlin for the second time, pursuing the remnants of Napoleon's army, in February 1813. In 1945, the Soviet Army had to take Berlin for the third time. By the way, Marshal V.I. Chuikov believed that Soviet troops could have taken Berlin back in February 1945 and this would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives of our soldiers and officers. However, Marshal G.K. Zhukov judged differently: the troops were tired and the rear were lagging behind - there would be no attack on Berlin. But Stalin, before the opening of the second front in 1944, planned to liberate (subordinate to his influence?) even France. As for the Americans and the British, they, having calculated their possible huge human losses, abandoned the assault on Berlin (they valued the lives of their soldiers!). And in April 1945, the Soviet Army could surround Berlin with a dense blockade ring. Would Berlin then capitulate, deprived of food and subjected to brutal shelling? Of course - it was the end of the war! How insulting it was for tens of thousands of Soviet soldiers to die on the eve of the inevitable Victory over fascism!

Socialist competition: who will take Berlin?

Berlin was doomed, but the Soviet command decided to take it by storm. The offensive came from two sides: from the northeast - the 1st Belorussian Front of Marshal G.K. Zhukov, from the southwest - the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal I.S. Konev.
The two marshals, having abandoned their plans to take Berlin into a tight ring, staged a real race to capture the city, trying to overtake each other and assert the laurels of the winner. On April 16, 1945, the 1st Belorussian Front “rushed” forward and, despite the “cunning” night attack with 140 searchlights and wailing sirens, left 80 thousand dead Soviet soldiers and officers at the Seelow Heights. On April 18, the 1st Ukrainian Front crossed the Spree River on the move.
On April 20, Konev orders his tank crews: “... be sure to be the first to break into Berlin tonight...” And then Zhukov gives the order to his tank crews: “... no later than 4 o’clock in the morning on April 21, at any cost, break through to the outskirts of Berlin and immediately deliver for a report to Comrade Stalin and announcements in the press.”
At any cost! Do not spare the soldier!
Then it was decided to “give” one half of the city, according to the map, to the combat zone of Zhukov’s troops, and the second half of Berlin to the “disposal” of Konev’s troops. But the confusion continued, and their own people died from the fire of their own soldiers.
Konev was the first to come to his senses, suggesting that Zhukov coordinate the actions of both fronts.
And Zhukov... gave a telegram to Stalin, essentially a complaint, reporting that Konev’s units with their offensive created confusion and mixing of Soviet troops and this would lead to difficulties in control.
Rybalko’s tankers were sent from the center of Berlin to the west, and the city center and, of course, the Reichstag now went to Zhukov. The competition ended in his favor. The Berlin operation itself turned out to be bloody: total number killed and wounded Soviet soldiers and officers - 352,475 people and losses of the two Polish armies - 8,892 people. In general, the losses of USSR military personnel during the entire war amounted to 8,668,400 people (including those who died, going over to the side of the Nazis: they served in German army, in the police, etc. about 800 thousand Soviet military personnel, and of these in the elite SS troops - 140 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers. Apparently, there is no such example in world history: hundreds of thousands of men put on the uniform of the enemy and took up arms against their Motherland, their people. Of course, we must take into account, first of all, the repression of the Lenin-Stalin model of barracks socialism in the USSR).

Victory Banners

So, it was decided to storm Berlin, regardless of the inevitable huge losses, when only a few days remained until the end of the war. And the specific goal: the capture of the Reichstag - the building of the former parliament German Empire before the establishment of the fascist dictatorship.
The staff of the 1st Belorussian Front of Marshal G.K. Zhukov in the 3rd Shock Army marching on Berlin made nine Victory Banners in advance - according to the number of army divisions rushing to the Reichstag. Now they are writing about special banners made according to the standard of the State Flag of the USSR. In fact, everything was much simpler. None of the direct manufacturers of the banners really knew what the Victory Banner should be like. There was neither good material like velvet, nor tools for making shafts.
Major G. Golikov, artist V. Buntov and projectionist A. Gabov, having distributed responsibilities, painted the material, sheathed it, turned wood shafts, painting them with red ink! The shafts were crowned with caps taken from the curtains. The banners, I must say, looked modest.
One of these makeshift banners (banner No. 5) was transferred to the 150th division, which led the main battles for the Reichstag. This banner was destined to fly over the Reichstag. The Reichstag was stormed by two rifle regiments of this division - the 674th and 756th. The 756th Regiment had a banner; the 674th Regiment did not have a special (one of nine!) banner. I will add that another division of the 1st Belorussian Front - the 171st Rifle Division under the command of Colonel A.I. Negoda, which had the second Victory Banner (I repeat, one of nine!), also approached the Reichstag.

Shatilov's forgery

Major General V.M. Shatilov commanded the 150th Infantry Division. On April 30, at about three o'clock in the afternoon, Colonel Zinchenko (from Shatilov's division) informed battalion commander Neustroev that a secret (!) order had been received from Marshal Zhukov, which declared gratitude to the troops who hoisted the Victory Banner. Both are at a loss: the Reichstag has not yet been taken, the banner has not been hoisted over it, but gratitude has already been declared. It’s about 300 meters to the Reichstag through Royal Square. The square was crossed by a canal, behind it are bunkers, trenches, and direct-fire anti-aircraft guns. The entire space of the square is at gunpoint. By the time Zhukov’s order appeared (with gratitude!), the soldiers, on their first attempt to overcome the area, were pinned down by heavy enemy fire.
Taking the Reichstag was not at all easy.
But the most amazing thing is that the secret order of Marshal Zhukov spoke about the details of the capture of the Reichstag, about fierce battles inside the building itself and (most importantly!) indicated the exact time (?!) of hoisting the Soviet flag on it: 14 hours 25 minutes on April 30, 1945!
By the way, this time is still mentioned in encyclopedias and history textbooks today!
And the Sovinformburo already announced the hoisting of the Victory Banner over the Reichstag at 2 p.m., although not a single Soviet soldier had yet managed to cross the Royal Square. And at this time, General Shatilov called the regiment commander Zinchenko at the NP and ordered him, in the absence of our soldiers and the Soviet banner in the Reichstag, to take all measures and at any cost (!) to hoist a flag or flag at least on the column of the front entrance. Everything became clear: Divisional Commander Shatilov, fearing that another divisional commander - Negoda - would not report before him about the capture of the Reichstag, had already reported on the hoisting of the Victory Banner over the Reichstag to the commander of the 79th Corps, who - to the commander of the 3rd Shock Army, and who - to Zhukov himself.
Front commanders competed for Berlin, and division commanders competed for the Reichstag.
By the way, after the war, Shatilov published more than one of his books of memoirs and everywhere he “tailored” the capture of the Reichstag to his deception and Zhukov’s order of thanks.
Unfortunately, many direct participants in the storming of the Reichstag followed Shatilov’s lead, since their titles and awards depended on him.
And Neustroev himself succumbed to temptation: after all, in his memoirs, Shatilov “made” him a non-existent “commandant” of the Reichstag.
So, Shatilov gave the order to immediately break into the Reichstag.
Desperate single volunteers, having made homemade flags from red teak German (!) feather beds, rushed to the Reichstag to secure the flags either on a column or in a window of the building. Surprisingly, in any war they first capture the main point, and only then plant their flag. Here everything was the other way around.
By the way, even Zhukov writes in his memoirs that he was informed about the Victory Banner over the Reichstag by 15:00 on April 30, 1945! The tenacious fake Shatilov! Until recently, it was claimed that single volunteers who rushed to the Reichstag with flags after Shatilov’s order died under heavy enemy fire. Everyone died!

The feat of Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev and Grigory Bulatov

It turned out not all. The platoon of the hero of the Kazakh people, Lieutenant Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev, distinguished himself by breaking into the first “Himmler’s house”, and Rakhimzhan was assigned to lead a special group to plant an assault flag on the Reichstag building.
Koshkarbaev was introduced to soldiers from the reconnaissance company of his 674th regiment (regiment commander Plekhodanov): senior lieutenant S. Sorokin, corporal G. Bulatov, private V. Provotorov and others.
The assault flag (a piece of red teak wrapped around a strip torn from the window frame and covered with black blackout paper) was presented to Koshkarbaev. He hid it under his tunic and looked at his watch. It was 11 o'clock in the afternoon (apparently this was the first rush of Soviet soldiers to the Reichstag!). Koshkarbaev commanded the fighters of his group: “Forward, follow me!” - and jumped from the window of “Himmler’s house” onto the paving stones of Royal Square. There is deadly fire all around: bullets, shell fragments. As soon as Koshkarbaev crawled to the shell crater, a fighter fell on top of him. It was Grigory Bulatov, just a boy. And behind them there were already explosions of enemy shells, and it became clear that they were left alone, there would be no support.

The count began not in minutes, but in hours: the square was shot through, and even raising your head was mortally dangerous. So the two of them crawled to the next “dead” zone, to the next cover, where the Germans could not reach them with their fire. I had to lie motionless for a long time: bullets were ringing around me, bouncing off the paving stones. They managed to crawl to the damaged Soviet tank. Three hours have passed, but only 50 meters have been covered.
There were also forward throws, the fighters were lucky: they remained unharmed. And suddenly the Reichstag was covered in smoke and brick dust, and Koshkarbaev and Bulatov managed to rush about 100 meters and jump into a ditch with water. They stood chest-deep in the water and drank dirty but cool water. Then towards the canal we reached an iron bridge. There were 100 meters left to the Reichstag, but the fire intensified on both sides. And dusk was already approaching! However, an hour later, Soviet troops unleashed fire of unprecedented force and power on the Reichstag, and although the attacking soldiers had to lie down, the Reichstag was again covered in smoke and dust. Koshkarbaev and Bulatov broke into a run, and... the marble steps of the entrance to the Reichstag clattered under the soles of their boots! And here the bullet hit Rakhimzhan in the leg. But a nearby brickwork burst from a shell fragment. Koshkarbaev quickly takes out the flag, Bulatov stands on his shoulders and under the window on a ledge, as high as possible, attaches the assault flag! The first assault meter flag flared over the main entrance to the Reichstag! The links of the chain have closed: 28 heroes of the Panfilov division from Kazakhstan on November 16, 1941 in the battle of Moscow - Lieutenant R. Koshkarbaev on April 30, 1945 at the doors of the Reichstag! The clock showed 18 hours 30 minutes.
The first to reach the Reichstag were two soldiers of the 674th regiment, and these 300 meters through Royal Square took more than 7 hours of life from Koshkarbaev and Bulatov. And what about the 756th regiment, albeit from the same 150th division of Shatilov? Don't forget about the 171st Division of Negoda! Captain S. Neustroev's battalion launched a decisive assault (after Shatilov's call to the commander of the 756th regiment Zinchenko). Three attacks were unsuccessful. The 4th attempt to storm the Reichstag was a success. The first to see Koshkarbaev and Bulatov at the entrance to the building were two soldiers and a deputy. commander of the 756th regiment, Major Sokolovsky.
However, there is information that the first to run up the steps of the Reichstag with a flag was Private Pyotr Pyatnitsky, the liaison officer of battalion commander Neustroyev, but was immediately killed. And it was Pyotr Shcherbina, also a private, who tied the flag to the column (as Neustroyev testifies). Was he the first?! Maybe the competition was already going on at the regimental level? After all, banner No. 5 was in the 756th regiment! And you didn’t want to recognize the primacy of Koshkarbaev and Bulatov (from the 674th regiment)?! Apparently, this was exactly the case! And by 7 o’clock in the evening there were already hundreds of soldiers from both regiments of the 150th division at the Reichstag.
Having broken open the front door, they rushed inside the building. So, the Reichstag was taken and decorated with red flags not at 14:25, but on the evening of April 30. By the way, all around in the darkness a furious firefight continued with desperately resisting fascists.

Raising the Victory Banner

As Koshkarbaev testifies, at about 10 pm the commander of the 756th regiment, Colonel Zinchenko, arrived at the Reichstag. Having congratulated the soldiers and officers on the capture of the Reichstag, he ordered Banner No. 5 to be delivered here to be hoisted over the Reichstag. By this time, the battalion banner of Captain Neustroev was already on the second floor of the building. Apparently, Zinchenko ordered the “selection” of two future Heroes of the Soviet Union, M. Egorov and M. Kantaria, to hoist the Victory Banner over the Reichstag.
The commander of the 756th regiment was smart and cunning: of course, the Victory Banner should have been hoisted by Russians and Georgians (naturally, to please I. Stalin). They, the scouts of the 756th regiment, were “found.” By the way, when a few days later war correspondents and writers asked Neustroev who was the first to reach the Reichstag with the flag, Zinchenko quickly interrupted the battalion commander, saying that he was very tired. What was Zinchenko afraid of? The fact that the battalion commander could say that the Reichstag was taken not at 14:25, but in the evening and the Victory Banner was hoisted at about one in the morning, strictly speaking, already on May 1st. The feat of hoisting the Victory Banner over the Reichstag dome was mainly associated with technical and psychological difficulties (akin to the skill of mountaineers and steeplejacks).
What did Egorov say in 1948?
Egorov said that his company (756th Regiment) was already (!) near the canal (on Royal Square) when he and Junior Sergeant Kantaria were presented with the Red Banner, which was to be hoisted on the Reichstag itself (we are talking about Banner No. 5, and after all, Zinchenko ordered it, since it was located at the regimental headquarters, only at 10 pm in the Reichstag itself). Further, Egorov says that they again take down the Banner (from where?!) and get to the roof of the Reichstag above the main entrance. The shells burst, and a shrapnel punches a hole in the belly of the hollow sculpted horse, and he and Kantaria stick the pole of the Red Banner into the hole (from below it looks as if a German rider is holding it in his hands, which in itself is symbolic!). However, when the scouts began to go down, they met a fighter sent by the authorities. He shouted that the banner was visible only from one side and as if in the hands of a rider on a horse.
According to M. Egorov, the fighter said: “I was sent to rearrange it...” But Egorov and Kantaria rearranged the Victory Banner. Where? On the dome of the Reichstag. The dome is broken, the glass has fallen out. The frame (ribs) of the dome are burnt by fire, jagged, and under the ribs there is a deep abyss, blackness. And the shelling continues. So to climb to the top of the dome along the ribs, under fire, at the risk of falling, and to strengthen the Victory Banner at the very top of the Reichstag is certainly a heroic feat, not even to mention the significance of hoisting the Banner over the Reichstag. The scouts tied it tightly to the ribs of the dome with a cover. By the way, their hands (especially Egorov’s) remained forever covered with scars and bumps on the skin. Let me remind you that Egorov and Kantaria were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
This is the official version of the hoisting of the Victory Banner over the Reichstag.

Who hoisted the Victory Banner?!

However, this official version is not true. The Victory Banner, now in the Museum of the Russian Armed Forces, is homemade, sewn from two pieces (!) of very thin material. Moreover: neither the size nor the symbolism of the banner corresponds to the standard of the State Flag of the USSR. One thing is clear that this is not banner No. 5 (one of nine carefully made at the headquarters of the 3rd Shock Army) and it was made in a hurry, literally in a few hours. Since we know that two regiments stormed the Reichstag: the 756th and 674th 150th divisions, and banner No. 5 was in the 756th regiment, then this Victory Banner can only belong to the soldiers of the 674th regiment (in it, between among other things, the two above-mentioned heroes also served: Koshkarbaev and Bulatov).
Researcher A. Sychev, based on archival materials and personal meetings with participants in the storming of the Reichstag, established that the homemade Victory Banner belonged to the group of the platoon commander of the regimental (674th regiment) reconnaissance, Lieutenant S. Sorokin.
Before the start of the assault on the Reichstag, the commander of the 674th regiment, Lieutenant Colonel A. Plekhodanov, called Sorokin, ordered him to select a special group, make a banner and hoist it on the Reichstag.
We remember that at approximately 11 o’clock in the morning during the storming of the Reichstag, Koshkarbaev and Bulatov, who broke out onto Royal Square, were cut off by heavy fire from Sorokin’s group, which remained in “Himmler’s house.” Apparently, Sorokin’s group managed to get through to the Reichstag only in the evening, after 18 o’clock, when Koshkarbaev and Bulatov had already strengthened their assault flag at the entrance to the Reichstag (by the way, they later shared its scraps with their comrades as a souvenir).
The artillery barrage had already driven the Nazis into the basements of the building. Therefore, there was almost no resistance and Sorokin’s group found itself on the roof of the Reichstag in a few minutes.
And now - the main thing.
The homemade banner of the 674th regiment (or rather, the 150th division: that was the inscription on it) was hoisted by the scouts of this regiment (attention!) G. Bulatov and V. Provotorov. Yes, yes, the same Grigory Bulatov, who half an hour ago, together with Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev, attached the first assault flag at the entrance to the Reichstag!
Bulatov and Provotorov secured the Victory Banner on the sculptural group above the main entrance to the Reichstag. Did Koshkarbaev know about this (about G. Bulatov’s participation in hoisting the banner)? Apparently not, and besides, Rakhimzhan, who was wounded in the leg, needed medical attention.
The Victory Banner rose over the Reichstag at about 7 p.m., and Zhukov was informed about this, as we remember, by 3 p.m. (very ahead of schedule!).
The banner of the 674th Regiment's scouts was the first to appear over the Reichstag, and for several hours it was also the only one.
Archival documents of the 674th regiment fully confirm all the evidence of S. Sorokin.
But the final documents of the 756th regiment and the storming of the Reichstag, and the hoisting of the banner over it, are described by Egorov and Kantaria very contradictory (for example, the time of hoisting the banner: either the evening of April 29 (?!), or the evening of April 30.
The scouts of S. Sorokin's group (and G. Bulatov, of course!) immediately after the storming of the Reichstag were nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Their feat was described in detail in award sheets signed by the corps command, but the scouts did not receive Hero Stars. Why? I think it’s clear: together with Egorov he was “appointed” to become the Hero of Kantaria, and no second “hoisters” of the Victory Banner were required.
Although it is necessary to emphasize the courage and heroism of Egorov and Kantaria.

The price of storming the Reichstag

Unofficial statistics say: 63 people died in the battles for the Reichstag! Can you imagine? Desperately, the fascists, well prepared for defense, shot through every meter of the 300-meter (width) Royal Square. Dozens of individual heroes died, groups of Soviet soldiers died. More than once there were decisive but unsuccessful assaults on the Reichstag. What about the battles in the Reichstag itself? On the morning of May 1, 1945, the Nazis broke out of the basements of the building, and the battle in the Reichstag resumed with renewed vigor. And only at about 7 am on May 2, 1945, an unusual silence came: the Germans surrendered. And our losses during the storming of the Reichstag... 63 people?! Stalin once said that during the years of the Great Patriotic War 7 million died Soviet people, then Khrushchev named the number 20 million lives, now official statistics say: 27 million Soviet people died! Will we ever know the whole truth?!

Banner Mystery No. 5

An attentive reader will ask: “Where did divisional banner No. 5 go? But this is a great secret, and I can only express my assumptions (maybe the veterans will clarify and complement my story?!).
Now it is written that Egorov and Kantaria moved the Victory Banner from the pediment to the dome of the Reichstag not on May 1, but on the morning of May 2, 1945. Which banner: homemade by Sorokin’s group or banner No. 5? It is written that Banner No. 5, installed on the Reichstag dome (May 1 or May 2?), was shot down by enemy fire. Apparently, on May 2, Egorov and Kantaria re-installed another banner on the dome to replace the one that had been knocked down. Which?! Banner No. [?!]. On May 3 (or 9?) 1945, the Victory Banner was removed from the Reichstag dome and replaced with a banner.
By the way, in my opinion, when the Reichstag building was restored after the war, it was without a dome, apparently so that it would not remind some people of the Victory Banner above it in May 1945.
Why did the homemade Victory Banner of Sorokin’s group end up in the Museum of the Armed Forces of the USSR (Russia now)? Was it installed on the Reichstag dome? Questions, questions... One thing is clear: if banner No. 5 of the 150th Division had survived, then today it would be in the Museum!

Victory Parade without the Victory symbol

On June 20, the Victory Banner (homemade, “Sorokinsky”) was sent to Moscow, accompanied by Kantaria, Egorov, Neustroev, and at the Tushinsky airfield it (the banner) was solemnly received during the parade by Captain V. Varennikov, now a general, notorious to us from the State Emergency Committee of 1991 . Two days later at the Central airfield there was dress rehearsal Victory Parade. The combined regiments had been preparing for it for a whole month, and the heroes of the storming of the Reichstag had just arrived. Rokossovsky commanded the parade and received Zhukov. By the way, Stalin himself wanted to host the Victory Parade on a white horse, but during training he could not resist riding it (and the horse was ours, Kazakh: the famous Absinthe).
Three people opened the parade (rehearsal): Neustroev with the Victory Banner and on the sides Egorov and Kantaria. When the military march began, Captain Neustroev (at 22 years old, almost disabled: five wounds, a prolapsed liver, broken legs) had the hardest time of all. And in front of the podium he lost his footing, trotted off, and when he stopped, he saw that he was far ahead of the Karelian consolidated regiment marching behind him. As a result... a colonel ran up and declared: “Marshal Zhukov ordered: neither the banner nor the standard bearers will be exhibited at the parade tomorrow!”
On June 24, 1945, the historic Victory Parade took place on Red Square in Moscow.
The symbol of Victory - the Victory Banner - was not at the parade! But it was possible to transport the heroes across Red Square with the Victory Banner in an open car! Who needed them now? Zhukov? Stalin?

By name!

So, Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev and Grigory Bulatov were the first to attach the assault flag at the entrance to the Reichstag.
The first to hoist the Victory Banner (homemade) over the pediment of the Reichstag were G. Bulatov (him again!) and V. Provotorov from S. Sorokin’s group.
The first to move the Victory Banner (which one?) to the dome of the Reichstag were Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria under the leadership of the battalion political officer Alexei Berest.

The fate of the heroes of the capture of the Reichstag

R. Koshkarbaev, an honorary citizen, led a great community work and worked as the director of the Alma-Ata Hotel, but he never received the Hero Star he deserved (unlike Bauyrzhan Momyshuly, who, although posthumously, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1990).
Grigory Bulatov did not receive the Hero's Star and was silent about his feat until 1965, but when he began to declare himself and talk about the storming and capture of the Reichstag, many did not believe and laughed at him, even calling him “Grishka-Reichstag”.
It hurts to write about this, but, unable to withstand the ridicule, G. Bulatov hanged himself.
The fate of V. Provotorov (also without a Star) is unknown to me. S. Sorokin also did not receive a Star.
After the war, M. Egorov cared little about himself, but he helped all applicants: after all, his name was known throughout the country. Unfortunately, he became addicted to drinking. For the 30th anniversary of the Victory, he was given a Volga, and, having driven it for just over a month, on June 20, 1975, Egorov, while drunk at the wheel, died in a car accident, colliding with a refrigerator in his village of Rudnya. He was buried with honor in the center of Smolensk, and his friend M. Kantaria managed to rush from Georgia to Egorov’s funeral.
Kantaria himself died in high esteem in Georgia several years ago.
A. Berest was innocently convicted after the war and served his prison term.
Almost all the heroes had a tragic fate.

Conclusion

Yes, our commanders, such as Zhukov, Konev, Vasilevsky, Rokossovsky, are famous not so much for their military art as for the scale and significance of the operations they carried out. It's no joke: they "moved" millions of soldiers over hundreds of kilometers. But here’s an amazing fact: Zhukov, signing hundreds of documents before the war, “waved” without paying attention to the report on the “Barbarossa” plan, but this is a plan for Germany’s attack on the USSR!
And our infantry met the beginning of the war mainly with Mosin rifles of the 1891/1930 model! But the fact is that the German MP-40 assault rifles are still praised by other authors of research on the war. Of course, it was a reliable, light weapon and the Germans could fire from the hip, but in the MP-40 assault rifles (40 is the 40th year, there were also MP-38) the horn is designed to hold 32 rounds (rarely the horns held 64 rounds), concentrated fire - up to 200 meters, and shooting was carried out only in bursts. But the Soviet PPSh with a drum magazine had 71 rounds, concentrated fire up to 500 meters, and it was possible to shoot not only in bursts, but also in single shots.
These machine guns had to be urgently produced before the war!
By the way, the designer Schmeiser has nothing to do with the MP-40.
I would like to remember A. Suvorov - after all, he won 60 major battles, and only in 3 (!) of them did he have superiority in strength over the enemy!

And finally, about two destinies - Marshal Zhukov and Dwight Eisenhower, who commanded the Anglo-American forces allied to us at the final stage of the war. USSR Defense Minister Zhukov was accused by N. Khrushchev of “Bonapartism” and removed. Until his death in 1974, Zhukov was in disgrace. In addition, due to his problems with his wives and four daughters, at the end of his life he found himself in almost complete oblivion and loneliness and died long and painfully. I will add that the monument to the commander of the Victory in Moscow on Manezhnaya Square is not very successful. The Zhukov figure has disproportionately short legs, and the horse sculpture has a pistol-shaped tail for some reason. And the monument was moved closer to the Historical Museum, as if Zhukov had just “left” it. But D. Eisenhower was elected President of the United States in 1952 and served two terms in this post.
These are such different destinies outstanding commanders in the USSR and the USA.

Member of the Military Council of the 1st Belorussian Front, Lieutenant General K. Telegin said:
“The hoisting of the Victory Banner took on an ugly character...”
And battalion commander S. Neustroyev wrote in 1990:
“In the post-war decades, many different fantasized fables have been written about the storming of the Reichstag, which in Russian are called lies”...
In this article we want to lift the curtain on the true history of the hoisting of the Victory Banner over the Reichstag in Berlin.
All history textbooks report that this banner was hoisted by Junior Sergeant Meliton Kantaria and Sergeant Mikhail Egorov, but this is not at all true.
However, first things first...
The Berlin operation was carried out by troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front (Marshal of the Soviet Union K. Rokossovsky), the 1st Belorussian Front (Marshal of the Soviet Union G. Zhukov), with the participation of part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet (Admiral V. Tributs) and the Dnieper military flotilla counter- Admiral V. Grigoriev.
The goal of the operation was to defeat the enemy group in the Berlin direction (3rd Panzer and 9th Armies of Army Group Vistula, Colonel General G. Heinritz; 4th Panzer and 17th Armies of Army Group Center, Field Marshal F. Schörner), capture Berlin and reach the Elbe River to join the Allied forces.

On April 30, 1945, the battles of the 3rd Shock Army of Colonel General V. Kuznetsov for the Reichstag began.
The Reichstag building was adapted for all-round defense, and its garrison consisted of selected Nazi units and they were well armed. The officers of the garrison received an order from Hitler: stand to the death.
The capture of the Reichstag was entrusted to the 79th Rifle Corps. The corps commander carried out the assault by units of the 150th Infantry Division, Major General V. Shatilov, and the 171st Infantry Division, Colonel A. Negoda.
The fighting for the Reichstag continued until May 2.
On May 1, units of the 3rd Shock Army, advancing from the north, met south of the Reichstag with the troops of the 8th Guards Army advancing towards them. At 0 hours 40 minutes on May 2, 1945, the Berlin defense headquarters radioed for a ceasefire and announced the expulsion of parliamentarians.
At 1 hour 50 minutes, the radio station of the Berlin Defense Headquarters announced the cessation of hostilities.
At 6:30 a.m. on May 2, General Weidling, assigned to last days commander of the defense of Berlin, announced the unconditional surrender of his garrison. He appealed to the German troops to lay down their arms.
At noon on May 2, the Nazi resistance completely ceased, and by 15:00 it was all over.
On May 8, 1945, the Berlin operation ended victoriously. During its course, Soviet troops defeated 70 infantry, 12 tank, 11 motorized divisions and most of the Wehrmacht aviation.
480 thousand German soldiers and officers were captured, up to 11 thousand guns and mortars, more than 1.5 thousand tanks and assault guns, and 4.5 thousand aircraft were captured as trophies.
Red Army losses in Berlin operation amounted to 102 thousand people killed.
Officially, in the first days of May 1945, more than a hundred people were nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for hoisting the Victory Banner!

The history of the Victory Banner itself is also interesting.
Initially, the “Victory Banner” was produced at the Moscow embroidery factory No. 7. It looked like this: a colorful ornament along the edge of the cloth, at the top - the Order of Victory, below it in the center - the Coat of Arms of the USSR, which is framed by Stalin’s words, later minted on the medal: “Our cause is just, we won.”
Despite all this, the rapid advance of the Soviet troops and the unpredictable situations that arose during such a large-scale battle in some cases made significant changes to the plans of the military leaders, so a specially made banner was not used.
Just before the storming of the Reichstag, nine banners were made - according to the number of divisions in the 3rd Shock Army, which was advancing in the center of Berlin.
After all, no one knew how events would unfold...
All produced Banners were numbered.
As a result, the real Victory Banner became the red banner No. 5, which on the night of April 22, 1945, in the suburbs of Berlin, was transferred to the 150th Infantry Division of Major General V. M. Shatilov, and then to the 756th Regiment, which was closer everyone to the Reichstag.
The regiment commander, Colonel F. M. Zinchenko, noted in the order that the banner would be awarded to the battalion that would be the first to break into the Reichstag.
This unit became the 1st battalion of Captain S.A. Neustroeva.
The banner was a red panel measuring 188 x 92 cm. On the left side of the banner there is a five-pointed star, a sickle and a hammer at the top, and the number 5 in the lower corner, near the shaft.
Initially, flag No. 5 was fixed on the pediment of the Reichstag, then moved to the dome.
When organizing the Victory Parade, which was scheduled for June 24, 1945, it was decided to bring the Victory Banner to it. And then there was an embarrassment that few people know about...
The fact is that regiment commander Zinchenko, when moving the unit to a new location, made a duplicate of the Victory Banner and replaced the original on the Reichstag with it. The Victory Banner itself was hidden in a case and taken to the new place where the regiment was billeted.

Perhaps, until now, instead of the real Victory Banner, a duplicate would have been used if Colonel Zinchenko had not read in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper about the decision to send the Victory Banner to Moscow...
The colonel immediately reported his “initiative” to replace the banner to division commander V.M. Shatilov, which, naturally, led to a delay in sending the Victory Banner to the capital: the division had to report the current situation to the corps, from the corps to the army, and only then - to the headquarters of the 1st Belorussian Front, to Marshal Zhukov himself.
On June 19, 1945, Marshal of the Soviet Union G. Zhukov gave an official order to deliver the Victory Banner to Moscow in compliance with military rituals and honors.
On its field was written the following inscription: “150 pages of the Order of Kutuzov, II class. Idritsk. div., 79 SK, 3 UA, 1 BF.”

According to another version, in the same “Himmler’s house”, as if in the Reichsführer’s office, Alexey Berest in an open safe discovered a large number of “award” watches, at one time prepared for the Nazis who would be the first to break into Moscow. And the political officer accepted personal decision: these “awards” should be given to those who were the first to break into the center of Berlin - he began to distribute watches to his soldiers, but refused to give them to an unknown officer who was also in the room - either from a higher headquarters, or from SMERSH.
In response to the outstretched hand, the lieutenant said:
“This is a watch for those who took “Himmler’s house” and will go to the Reichstag.”
Further more. In general, word by word:
“With such long arms you have to stand at the church, they will serve you there...”
Everyone will remember such offensive words, and if necessary, they will remember and act out...
There was also a version that explained Berest’s disgrace as a protest note from neutral Switzerland, whose embassy in Berlin, on the way to the Reichstag, was “captured” by the lieutenant and his soldiers...
What was the fate of Alexei Prokofievich Berest after the Great Patriotic War?
In 1948, after serving as a party organizer of a separate artillery division, secretary of the party bureau of a communications battalion, he was transferred to the reserve from the post of deputy chief for political affairs of the transmitting radio center of the communications center of the Black Sea Fleet.
Alexey Prokofievich, his wife Lyudmila Fedorovna and their daughter Irina went to Lyudmila Fedorovna’s homeland, to the suburb of Rostov-on-Don - the village of Pokrovskoye, Neklinovsky district.
“Life was not easy, including due to the character of Alexei Prokofievich. He was too rough and unyielding. It was cramped for him in peaceful life: he could not fuss, he could not adapt, he did not accept compromises.
He was also “attracted” along “party lines.” Last but not least, this is why he was forced to change jobs frequently. He was the chairman of the Voluntary Society for Assistance to the Fleet in the Proletarsky District, deputy director of the Ostrovyanskaya MTS of the Oryol District, deputy. director for political affairs of the Krasnoarmeyskaya MTS, director of the Neklinovsky film department...
From the memoirs of Pyotr Semenovich Tsukanov, a former police sergeant, p. Pokrovskoye, Neklinovsky district, Rostov region:
- Our neighbor died, and the Berests moved into this hut, with four children. The floor is earthen, the walls are adobe, the roof is reed. The windows are near the ground.
We arrived - a suitcase and a bundle of linen. Well, I could order potatoes and cabbage from the collective farm and share it with them.
He was appointed head. regional film department. Sometimes he will invite me to the cinema booth - we’ll have a drink, we’ll sit, he told me how he took the Reichstag, and even hoisted the banner. And I myself reached Lake Balaton..." 1
One day, an auditor secretly came from Rostov and during a film show he discovered that there were more people in the theater than tickets sold. With all that, this auditor behaved very impudently, so Berest, having flared up, lifted him by the chest and threw him out along with the chair from the second floor...
Of course, he was arrested, and a criminal case was opened against him for embezzlement of 5,665 rubles.
The most eloquent page of the criminal case is Berest’s “Protocol of Inventory of Property.” Under the typographical title: “Name and description of objects,” the investigator’s pencil is marked: “There is nothing.”
They found in the house the bed of the previous owner of the hut and a table with chairs, which was lent to Berest by his neighbor Tsukanov. All!
Despite the fact that 17 witnesses confirmed at the trial that Berest was not involved in the shortage, on April 14, 1953, the district court sentenced him “for theft” to ten years in prison. Based on the amnesty of March 27, 1953, the term was halved.
He did not ask for mercy. Wife wrote in a letter:
“Ask for yourself. I can’t: I don’t admit that I’m guilty...
This means that I was destined to sit in this hell and visit this criminal world...
I have never knelt before anyone and never will.”
Only twenty years later, my wife found that investigator, and he admitted that he was under pressure from above - “either he goes to jail, or you’re thrown out of work.” 1
They sent Alexei Prokofievich to the Perm camps for logging.
After Berest returned from “places not so distant,” the family lived within the boundaries of Rostov in the village of Frunze. Alexey Prokofyevich worked as a loader at the Rostov mill No. 3, as a roller at the Glavprodmash plant...
In the end, he got a job at Rostselmash, as a sandblaster in the steel shop. The work is not easy...
I built the apartment using the “Gorky” method, or, as they said then, the “bloody” method: after my shift I worked on a house construction site, plowing hundreds of hours...
Of course, A. Berest understood that, as a convicted person, he had lost his entire past, but, turning to high military leaders, he asks and demands that historical justice be established.
Once I even sent a letter to N. Khrushchev. He described everything that happened: how they fought their way up to the roof, how they strengthened the banner, how he went to negotiate with the Germans.
In November 1961, the Central Committee of the CPSU, after disputes and even scandals, decided to convene a closed meeting on this issue at the Institute of the History of Marxism-Leninism, to which Berest was also summoned.
This is how he himself talked about it:
“First we were invited to Staraya Square to Suslov’s office. There was the head of the Main Political Directorate of the Army, Marshal Golikov, Colonel General Perevertkin, the former commander of our division Shatilov and many other military and civilians.
Perevertkin spoke and said that of the 34 awarded the title of Hero, almost half were from the 150th division. And no one was left behind with awards.
Shatilov confirmed the same.
I hoped for Neustroyev, because he knew more than anyone about all this, but he was silent, hiding his gaze from me, looking at the table, and when he spoke, he repeated what had already been said.
I couldn’t stand it and exclaimed:
“Do they really not want to hear the truth here?”
In response, Suslov hit the table with his palm:
“I deprive you of words, Berest!”
In the end, we decided not to change anything, to leave it as it was.” 1
After a closed meeting at the institute, where Berest also spoke, more or less truthful lines appeared in the fifth volume of the six-volume “History of the Great Patriotic War”:
“On the night of May 1, by order of the commander of the 756th regiment, Colonel F. Zinchenko, measures were taken to install on the Reichstag building the Banner presented to the regiment by the Military Council of the 3rd Shock Army.
This task was entrusted to a group of fighters led by Lieutenant A. Berest.
Early in the morning of May 1, the Victory Banner was already waving on the sculptural group crowning the pediment of the house: it was installed by scouts - sergeants M. Egorov and M. Kantaria.”
A few years later, the tenth volume of the 12-volume History of the Second World War says a little more about this.
V. Subbotin “This is how wars end”, E. Dolmatovsky “Autographs of Victory”, in his memoirs P. Troyanovsky “On Eight Fronts”, V. Shatilov “Heroes of the storming of the Reichstag”, S. Neustroev in his memoirs “About the Reichstag in his declining years”.
And yet…
On May 15, 1965, in the central newspaper of the USSR Ministry of Defense “Red Star”, under the heading “They signed on the walls of the Reichstag,” a photo report by K. Kulichenko “One of the First” was published. The volume of this material is small, but valuable because in it the press organ of the USSR Ministry of Defense spoke about those who were given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the capture of the Reichstag - Berest, Gusev and Shcherbin.
To restore historical justice in relation to Alexei Berest, representatives of the public turned to K. E. Voroshilov, and to N. S. Khrushchev, and to L. I. Brezhnev. However, the answer was cliché: they are not awarded twice for the same feat...
At that time, Alexey Prokofievich Berest was a foreman of the steel shop at the Rostselmash plant, a shock worker in communist labor.
On November 3, 1970, Alexey Prokofievich took his grandson, five-year-old Alyosha, from kindergarten. It was seven o'clock in the evening, dark. At the Selmash crossing they crossed the railway tracks. A woman and a girl walked ahead.
The train was approaching, and a huge crowd of people rushed to the platform - a crazy herd...
Someone pushed the girl onto the tracks. And the fast train “Moscow - Baku” was rushing along a parallel track.
A multi-voiced cry was heard...
Probably, few people looked back; those who saw froze. And Berest threw himself under the train.
Saved the girl...
The blow was so strong that Berest was thrown far onto the platform.
The doctors could not do anything and he died at four o'clock in the morning at the age of 49...
They say about people like Alexey Berest: “They should erect monuments to them during their lifetime.” He was given after his death...
However, even during his lifetime, there was a monument, as if “made from Berest,” although its prototype was Sergeant Masalov, and Guard Corporal Ivan Azarchenko posed for the sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich.
This monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator stands in Berlin's Treptow Park. The features of Alexei Berest can be discerned in him: his heroic height, the calmness of his sovereign gaze, and the cape on his broad shoulders.
And the sword in one hand, and the rescued girl in the other...
In the USSR and modern Russia Alexey Porfiryevich Berest was never recognized as a Hero...
In 2005, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine initiated the awarding of the title of Hero of Ukraine to Alexey Prokofievich Berest, and the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko spoke on the same issue.
And on the eve of the 60th anniversary Great Victory The award decree was signed:
“Decree of the President of Ukraine
On awarding A. Berest the title of Hero of Ukraine
For military courage in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, personal courage and heroism shown in the Berlin operation, and hoisting the Victory Banner over the Reichstag, I decree:
To award the title Hero of Ukraine with the award of the Order of Gold of Zirka to Lieutenant Alexey Prokofievich Berest (1921–1970) - a native of the village of Goryaystivka, Akhtyrsky district, Sumy region (posthumously).
President of Ukraine V. Yushchenko,
May 6, 2005
Kyiv
No. 753/2005"

And on August 25, 2005, in the Sumy region in the Hero’s homeland - on the 63rd anniversary of the liberation of Akhtyrka from the Nazi invaders - a grand opening of the monument to Alexei Berest took place in the very center of the city.

Information sources:
1. Gorbachev “Berlin Marinesco”
2. Klochkov “We ​​stormed the Reichstag”
3. Neustroev “The Path to the Reichstag”

On this day in 1945, the Victory Banner was hoisted over the Reichstag. However, the well-known Yegorov and Kantaria were not the first to climb the Reichstag dome. Moreover, they secured the banner when the battle was already over.

9 banners were prepared and 9 groups were respectively tasked with trying to install a red banner on the Reichstag dome. The first (at 14:25) to hoist the banner over the Reichstag was Grigory Bulatov, a scout of the 674th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Infantry Division.

Lieutenant Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev and private Grigory Bulatov made their way into the Reichstag under German fire. While their comrades were covering them, the lieutenant gave Bulatov a lift, and he installed a homemade banner on the harness of the horse of the sculptural group of Wilhelm I. His face is captured in the famous photograph of the participants in the assault on the steps of the Reichstag on May 2, 1945 after the surrender of Berlin.

April 18, 1983. Moscow. As soon as Grigory Bulatov left the station building, a policeman stopped him. This newcomer looks very suspicious - overgrown, in shabby clothes. His fears were justified: he does not have a passport, only a certificate of release from the colony. The policeman calls a squad, and Bulatov is forcibly evicted from the city. No one began to listen to him that he was an order bearer, that it was he who took the Reichstag, that it was he who hoisted the famous Banner over it. And I ended up in prison by accident. He just wanted to go to the Victory Parade in Moscow. But after such a reception, returning home, the veteran intelligence officer will commit suicide. The country knew only two heroes - Egorov and Kantaria. Why? Read about this in the documentary investigation of the Moscow Trust TV channel.

Capture of Berlin

They entered Berlin on April 25. In three days the city was almost taken. Boris Sokolov barely has time to change the tapes, it’s a pity, they only record for thirty seconds, so you have to choose what to film. He still remembers everything today like it was yesterday. A graduate of VGIK, Sokolov became one of the first who was entrusted with filming the surrender of Germany. The Reichstag was not his site, but this is what appeared to his eyes when he got there.

“The desert, everything was broken, houses were burning, what was important to us was not the flag, but the Reichstag building itself,” recalls Boris Sokolov.

We know the staged shots. It is clear that there is no fighting, everyone is relaxed. Filming on May 2, 1945. There is evidence that the flag appeared over the Reichstag on the night of April 29.

G.K. Zhukov and Soviet officers in Berlin, 1945. Photo: ITAR-TASS

“The Reichstag building is quite huge, and the Soviet army was advancing on it from all sides. Among those who claim to be the ones who hoisted the banner, this is a group of intelligence officer Makov, they were the first to fortify the building, but the soldiers did not know that this was the Swiss embassy. The Swiss embassy has long been was evacuated, there were already Nazis there, and everyone believed that this was a large Reichstag complex,” says Yaroslav Listov.

Evgeniy Kirichenko is a military journalist who has long been studying the history of the Second World War, especially its blind spots. During his investigation, he saw the storming of the Reichstag differently.

“This is a completely different banner, made of red teak, from the SS featherbed, which Semyon Sorokin’s scouts found in Himmler’s house, ripped open, sewed, and with this banner on the morning of April 30, they began to storm after art preparation,” explains Evgeny Kirichenko.

Reward instead of execution

The first documentary evidence that the flag was hoisted was a photograph by photojournalist Viktor Temin. It was made over Berlin, from an airplane. Dense smoke over the city did not allow us to repeat the flight over the Reichstag. But Temin thinks that he saw the flag and captured it, which he hastens to joyfully tell everyone about. After all, for the sake of this shot, he even had to hijack a plane.

Banner of Victory over the Reichstag. Photo: ITAR-TASS

“He flew around the burning Reichstag, took a photograph of it. Although the banner was not there yet, it just appeared on the second of May. He boarded the plane, said that this was Zhukov’s order, flew to Moscow, newspapers were urgently printed there, he brought a pack back on Douglas, he comes in to Zhukov, and the commandant's platoon was already waiting for him, because Zhukov ordered, as soon as Temin arrived, to arrest him and put him against the wall, because he had deprived him of his only plane. But when he saw the front page of the Pravda newspaper, there was a drawing on the dome retouched a huge banner, not matching in scale, he awarded Temin the Order of the Red Star,” says Evgeniy Kirichenko.

By the time Boris Sokolov is transferred to the Reichstag building, dozens of banners are already flying above him. His task is to film how the main victory banner is taken from the dome and sent to Moscow.

“I saw that the hammer and sickle were clearly drawn there, the flag itself was clean, it couldn’t have been like that. They made a double for transmission; during the battles the banner couldn’t have remained so smooth and clean. They handed it over to the representative of the Museum of the Revolution. They lined it up against the backdrop of the Reichstag guard of honor, and handed over this banner. It was not Kantaria, not Egorov. Officially, all history books will include two standard bearers - Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria, they got all the glory. And although in their group there is an artilleryman and political officer Alexey Berest, o they would prefer to remain silent about him. According to legend, Zhukov himself crossed him off the list for awarding the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - the marshal did not like political workers. It was difficult to object to Egorov and Kantaria," says Boris Sokolov.

“Comrade Stalin was a Georgian, therefore the person who hoisted the banner over the Reichstag should also be a Georgian, we have a multinational Soviet Union, and a Slav should also be together with a Georgian,” says Mikhail Savelyev.

Real Victory Banner

Central archive of the Ministry of Defense. This is where the main military documents of the country are kept. The Reichstag battle reports were declassified only a few years ago. The head of the archive department, Mikhail Savelyev, finds dozens of submissions for the award for hoisting the flag over the Reichstag, this is what follows from them:

“Documents say that each branch of the army had its own Victory Banner and hoisted it in different places: in the windows, on the roof, on the stairs, on its own cannon, on a tank. Therefore, it cannot be said that the banner was hoisted by Yegorov and Kantaria,” believes Savelyev.

So was it a feat? And why is the Reichstag, the building of parliament, so important? In addition, this is one of the largest buildings in the German capital. Back in 1944, Stalin said that we would soon raise the banner of Victory over Berlin. When Soviet troops entered the city, and the question arose of where to place the red flag, Stalin pointed to the Reichstag. From that moment on, the battle of each soldier for a place in history began.

“We see in various stories moments when they are either late with some information or ahead of it. There is a known case when one general, having made his way to the sea in the Baltic States, filled a bottle with water and sent it to Stalin as proof that his army had broken through to the Baltic While the bottle was traveling to Stalin, the situation at the front changed, the Germans threw back our troops, and since then Stalin’s joke has been known: Give this bottle - Then let him pour it into the Baltic Sea,” says Yaroslav Listov.

Victory Banner. Photo: ITAR-TASS

Initially, the Victory Banner should have looked like this. But it turned out to be impossible to deliver it to Berlin. Therefore, several banners are hastily produced. This is the same banner that was removed from the Reichstag and delivered to Moscow in the summer of 1945, on the eve of the Victory Parade. It is exhibited in the Museum of the Armed Forces, under it is a defeated eagle that adorned the Reich Chancellery and a pile of silver fascist crosses made by order of Hitler for the capture of Moscow. The banner itself is a little torn. At one time, some soldiers managed to tear off a piece from it, as a keepsake.

“It was ordinary satin, not factory-made. They made nine identical flags, the artist painted a hammer and sickle and a star. The pole and canopy are of an unknown type, they were made from ordinary curtains, this is an assault flag,” says Vladimir Afanasyev.

At the famous Victory Parade on June 24, 1945, by the way, filmed on good quality trophy film, the assault flag is not visible. According to the recollections of some front-line soldiers, they did not allow Kantaria and Yegorov into the square, because everyone knew that they were not the ones who raised that flag. According to others, it went like this:

“On June 22 there was a dress rehearsal. Egorov and Kantaria were supposed to carry, they did not keep up with the music, they rushed forward, Marshals Zhukov and Rokossovsky did not allow them,” says Afanasiev.

Famous photograph

According to archival documents, the flag appeared over the Reichstag at 14:25 on April 30, 1945. This time is indicated in almost all reports, however, according to Evgeniy Kirichenko, this raises suspicions.

“I stopped believing the post-war reports when I saw that they were all adjusted to one date and one time, which was reported to the Kremlin,” says Yevgeny Kirichenko.

This is what emerged from the memoirs of the commanders who stormed the Reichstag: “The flag was installed on the morning of the 30th, and it was not Yegorov and Kantaria who did it.”

Victory Banner over the Reichstag, 1945. Photo: ITAR-TASS

“Sokolov and his scouts managed to overcome this short distance, about 150 meters, at high speed. The Germans bristled with machine guns and machine guns from the western side, and we stormed from the eastern side. The Reichstag garrison hid in the basement, no one fired at the windows. Victor Provotorov , the party organizer of the battalion, who lifted Bulatov onto his shoulders, and they secured the banner on the window statue,” says Kirichenko.

The time "14:25" appears as a result of the confusion that begins around the flag. The Sovinformburo's report that the Reichstag has been taken is flying around the world. And it all happened because of a joke by the commander of the 674th Infantry Regiment, Alexei Plekhodanov. His regiment and the regiment of Fyodor Zinchenko stormed the Reichstag. The banner was officially issued to Zinchenko’s regiment, but there were almost no people left in it, and he did not risk them.

“Plekhodanov writes that Zinchenko came to him, and at that time he was interrogating two captured generals. And Plekhodanov jokingly said that ours were already in the Reichstag, the banner was raised, I was already interrogating the prisoners. Zinchenko ran to report to Shatilov that the Reichstag had been taken, the banner there. Then from the corps - to the army - to the front - to Zhukov - to the Kremlin - to Stalin. And two hours later a congratulatory telegram arrived from Stalin. Zhukov calls Shatilov that Comrade Stalin is congratulating us, Shatilov is horrified, he understands that the banner can It’s standing, but the Reichstag hasn’t been taken yet,” comments Evgeniy Kirichenko.

Then Shatilov, commander of the 150th division, gives the order: urgently hoist the flag, so that everyone can see it. This is where Yegorov and Kantaria appear in the documents, when the second assault on the Reichstag began.

“After all, it is important not only to deliver the banner, but also that it is not swept away. This is the banner that was installed by Egorov, Kantaria, Berest and Samsonov, and stood there, despite artillery fire, it survived. Although, up to forty different flags were recorded and banners,” explains Yaroslav Listov.

At this moment, it is strategically important to take the Reichstag by the first of May and please the leader with his successes. The film material is also aimed at raising morale.

“To be honest, our work was not for the soldiers, but for the rear: film magazines, exhibitions were in the rear. They were to support the spirit of the entire people, not just the army. I now really regret that we filmed little non-combat footage, the Germans have a lot of such ", says Boris Sokolov.

During the filming of the signing of the act of surrender of Germany, Sokolov will think that everything is over. The day before, he had filmed in a Berlin prison, where he saw torture chambers, guillotines and a series of hooks attached to the ceiling. These documentary footage will later be included in Tarkovsky’s film “Ivan’s Childhood”.

When the assault on Berlin began, photojournalist Evgeniy Khaldei volunteered to go there. He took with him three banners made of red tablecloths, which he borrowed from the canteen of the Union of Journalists. A tailor I know quickly makes banners out of them. The first such flag is taken down by Chaldeans at the Brandenburg Gate, the second - at the airfield, the third - this one - at the Reichstag. When he got there, the fighting had already ended, banners were flying on all floors.

Then he asks the first fighters passing by to pose for him, while below there is no trace of the battle that has just died down. Cars drive peacefully.

“This famous photograph “Victory Banner” was taken by Khaldei on May 2, 1945, and people associate it with this very banner. In fact, it is both a banner and different people,” says Oleg Budnitsky.

Unknown feat

One hundred people were nominated for awards for the capture of the Reichstag and hoisting the Victory Banner. Egorov and Kantaria received Heroes of the Soviet Union only a year later. Zhukov, seeing so many applicants, suspended the process and decided to look into it.

“There is also a story that they don’t like to publish. There was a festive banquet on the occasion of the Victory, to which Shatilov invited only officers, and Egorov and Kantaria. And during the toast to the Victory, the doctor of Plekhodanovsky’s regiment stood up and said that she did not want to participate in this: “ I didn’t see you in the Reichstag,” says Evgeniy Kirichenko.

History proves that Egorov and Kantaria were there; Egorov had scars on his hands for life from the broken dome of the Reichstag.

“There were two commissions. The first hot pursuit investigation was carried out in 1945-46, the second in the 70-80s. The storming of the Reichstag took place over two days. Alexey Berest’s group, which included Egorov, Kantaria and Samsonov, under the cover of fire, she broke through to the exit to the roof of the Reichstag parliamentary building, and there she installed a banner on a column group, which we consider the Banner of Victory. Everything else is the initiative of individuals, their feat, but not purposeful work", says Yaroslav Listov.

Mikhail Egorov, Konstantin Samsonov and Meliton Kantaria (from left to right), 1965. Photo: ITAR-TASS

In 1965, on Victory Day, Egorov and Kantaria with the Victory Banner walk along Red Square. After this, Commander Sorokin’s group conducts an examination of this flag.

“The scouts who survived achieved participation in the examination. They recognized this banner. Proof of the feat of Bulatov and Sorokin’s group is also the numerous filming of front-line cameramen. Roman Karmel made the film. There are no Egorov and Bulatov on the film, there is only the voice of the announcer who calls these names. And Bulatov’s face was cut out,” says Evgeniy Kirichenko.

When the book of Marshal Zhukov's memoirs was published in 1969, it immediately became a bestseller. In the part about Berlin - photographs with Grigory Bulatov. Egorov and Kantaria are not mentioned at all. Zhukov’s book also ended up in the libraries of Bulatov’s hometown, Slobodskaya. For many years his neighbors considered him a criminal.

“The story of rape and something else was fabricated. Shatilov personally came to Slobodskoy, tried to get him out. Kantaria also came to Bulatov, who asked for forgiveness. He said in an interview that the first were intelligence officers Sorokin, Grisha Bulatov,” recalls Kirichenko .

This is confirmed by a note in the division newspaper in the article “Warrior of the Motherland,” which was published immediately after the capture of the Reichstag. Here is a detailed description of how the first flag was placed. But this note is quickly forgotten, as are all the heroes. Their life will not be showered with roses. Mikhail Egorov will die in a car accident when he rushes to a neighboring village at the request of friends in the Volga, which had just been donated by the local administration. Kantaria will live until the mid-90s, but her heart will not withstand the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. He will die on the train on the way to Moscow, when he goes to receive refugee status. Political officer Alexey Berest will die saving a girl from under a train. And Georgy Zhukov himself will remain out of work soon after the Victory.

“I will say this, Egorov and Kantaria were among those who hoisted the banner of Victory over the Reichstag. They were worthy of being awarded. The problem is that other people were not awarded,” says Oleg Budnitsky.

In the spring of 1945, Soviet soldiers stormed the Reichstag again and again. The enemy is fighting with all his might. The news of Hitler's suicide on April 30 quickly spreads across Berlin. The SS sheep who take refuge in the Reichstag building do not expect mercy from the victors, but they take floor by floor. Soon the entire roof of the Reichstag will be covered in red banners. And who became the first - is it so important? In a few days the long-awaited peace will come.

The Victory Banner is a state relic of Russia, the official symbol of the victory of the Soviet people and their Armed Forces over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. It represents the assault flag of the 150th Order of Kutuzov, II degree, Idritsa Rifle Division, hoisted on May 1, 1945 over the Reichstag building in Berlin by Soviet soldiers.

On May 9, 1945, the 3 Victory banner was removed from the Reichstag and on June 20 it was sent to Moscow on a Li 2 plane. Another scarlet banner took its place on the Reichstag.

The Victory Banner was made in military field conditions and is an improvised State Flag of the USSR. It is a single-layer rectangular red cloth attached to the shaft, measuring 82 cm by 188 cm, on the front side of which, at the top of the shaft, a silver five-pointed star, sickle and hammer are depicted; on the rest of the panel, before being sent to Moscow, an inscription in white letters in four lines was added: "150 pages of the Order of Kutuzov II class. Idritsk division 79 S.K. 3 U.A. 1 B.F" (150th Rifle Order of Kutuzov II degree Idritsk Division of the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army 1 of the Belorussian Front), on the reverse side of the cloth in the lower corner of the staff there is the inscription “No. 5”.

The Victory Banner was not carried out at the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945. By order of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army dated July 10, 1945, the Victory Banner was sent to the Central Museum of the Armed Forces for eternal storage.

For the first 20 years it was only an exhibit for public viewing; no one ever took it out of the museum. It was first carried at a military parade on Red Square on May 9, 1965 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Victory. Before the parade, the Victory Banner was restored - a mesh was sewn in place of the torn lower edge.

On April 15, 1996, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree “On the Banner of Victory”, according to which on public holidays Russian Federation, days of military glory (victory days) of Russia, during military rituals, as well as mass events related to the military victories of the Russian people, the Victory Banner should be used along with the State Flag of the Russian Federation. According to the decree, the Victory Banner, hoisted over the Reichstag in May 1945, is carried out only on May 9 - on the Victory Day of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and on February 23 - on the Day of Defenders of the Fatherland, and for other purposes the “symbol” was to be used Banner of Victory", which was a red panel with a length to width ratio of 2:1. On both sides in the upper corner there is an image of a five-pointed star.

On April 15, 2000, additions were made to the decree, according to which the symbol of the Victory Banner can be temporarily exported to the territory of the CIS states by order of the president.

In 2007, an attempt was made to legitimize the status of the symbol of the Victory Banner in the federal law “On the Victory Banner.” However, the concept of “symbol of the Victory Banner” and its inconsistency with the original caused a sharply negative reaction from the public, which prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to make serious adjustments to the law, in particular, to replace the concept of “symbol of the Victory Banner” with “a copy of the Victory Banner.” As a result, by the Federal Law of May 7, 2007, the Victory Banner was assigned the status of an official symbol of the victory of the Soviet people and its Armed Forces over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the status of a state relic of Russia.

According to the law, during celebrations dedicated to Victory Day and other days associated with the events of the Great Patriotic War, as well as for display instead of the Victory Banner if it is removed from display for restoration work, copies of the Victory Banner can be used . The type of copies of the Victory Banner must correspond to the type of the Victory Banner.

The law defines the place and procedure for storing the Victory Banner.

The original Victory Banner is kept in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces. Due to the fragility of the material, it should not be stored in a vertical position. The Victory Banner lies unfolded on a horizontal surface and covered with special paper. For better preservation, all nails were removed from its shaft. Their heads began to rust and damage the fabric.

To attach the Banner to the pole, a “pocket” was sewn. They take it only by wearing gloves. Transported in a special case.
A unique climate-controlled display case was made to store the Victory Banner.

A duplicate of the Banner is currently available for public viewing, displayed in a glass display case in the museum and accurately replicating the original.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources