Surname of the standard-bearer who hoisted the banner of victory. How many banners were over the Reichstag and which was the first? Short but bright

Many are interested in how and when the flag was hoisted over the Reichstag by Soviet soldiers. Let's figure it out together. Before talking about those who planted the flag over the Reichstag, let us describe in order the events of the last days of April 1945 that preceded this momentous event.

Strictly speaking, it began on April 16th. The operation lasted from that date until 8 May. Its goal was to complete the defeat of Germany, to unite with the allies, to capture Berlin. We will not describe the entire operation in detail. We will only tell about the events that immediately preceded the storming of the Reichstag, which interests us.

What was the Reichstag?

On April 29, the battles for the Reichstag of the 3rd shock army began. This building was one of the main points in the central sector of the Berlin defense. It was surrounded on three sides. Only one bridge over it remained intact. 25 meters was the width of the river. The Reichstag on the fourth side was covered with stone buildings located around the perimeter. The Nazis turned them into fortresses, including the "Himmler House" - the building where the Reichsministry of the Interior was located.

What were the approaches to the building like?

The approaches to the building were open areas. They were shot through with machine-gun fire, as well as heavy guns and numerous anti-aircraft artillery from the park. All windows and doors were barricaded. Only narrow embrasures were left for firing artillery pieces and automatic weapons. The trenches encircling the building in several rows were connected to its cellars.

Who defended the Reichstag?

Thousands of soldiers and officers from various units defended the Reichstag. They were mostly cadets of the naval school, parachuted into the area of ​​the fortress. In addition, there were SS detachments, artillerymen, pilots, and Volksturm. They were armed with a large number of machine guns, machine guns and faustpatrons. Hitler ordered the officers to hold the Reichstag by any means.

It was entrusted to storm it with units of the seventy-ninth rifle corps. It was reinforced with artillery, self-propelled guns and tanks.

Preparations for the assault on the Reichstag

On April 29, closer to midnight, preparations for the assault ended. They crossed the river under the cover of artillery and mortar fire from the 525th Infantry Regiment. They settled on the opposite bank. On April 29, in the morning, artillery and mortar shelling was opened on the "Himmler's house". Units of the 756th, 380th and 674th regiments fought for the ministry throughout the day. Stubborn resistance was offered by the Nazis, who fought furiously for every room, for every floor.

April 30, by 4 hours 30 minutes, the house was completely cleared of the enemy. Breaking his resistance, units of 171 and 150 divisions took their original position in the trench by 12 o'clock (for the assault on the Reichstag). It had high bulk walls, which allowed the Russians to hide from the fire. The Germans repeatedly launched violent counterattacks, supported by artillery and tanks. However, these attempts were repulsed by the Soviet units.

Giving the battles for Berlin exceptional military and political significance, the Military Council of the Third Shock Army established even before the start of the offensive. They were handed over to all rifle divisions.

The first assault on the Reichstag

Around 13:30 the assault began. The enemy opened heavy fire on the attackers from the Tiergarten. They pressed the assault units to the ground, which therefore could not advance to the Reichstag. Many Soviet soldiers received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for this battle.

But the first assault on the Reichstag failed. Reinforcements were sent to the subunits instead of retired officers and soldiers. Artillery was brought up, objects of attack were specified.

Next Assault

The assault was repeated at 18:00. The fighters of the Neustroev battalion, under the cover of artillery, rushed to the attack in a single impulse. It was headed by I. Ya. Syanov, party organizer of the company, A. P. Brest, deputy for political affairs, K. V. Gusev, adjutant of the battalion. Also, the soldiers of the Samsonov and Davydov battalions rushed forward.

The enemy could not withstand the heroic impulse of the Soviet soldiers. They reached the Reichstag in a few minutes, on which red flags appeared. Here the flag of the 756th Infantry Regiment, party organizer Pyotr Pyatnitsky, appeared, however, running up the stairs, the warrior was hit by an enemy bullet. Sergeant P. D. Shcherbina picks up the banner, strengthens it on one of the columns. So for the first time the flag was hoisted over the Reichstag by Soviet soldiers.

Fights inside the building

From the upper floors, from the embrasures, the Nazis poured heavy fire on the Soviet soldiers. However, the soldiers who broke through to the walls of the building found themselves in a dead zone of fire. The front door was bricked up. Soviet soldiers had to break their way with a log. Assaulters burst into the Reichstag building, having already started a fight inside. The soldiers of the battalions acted swiftly: in the halls and corridors they entered into hand-to-hand combat with the Nazis. machine gun fire, faustpatrons, Soviet soldiers forced the enemy to weaken the fire and captured the premises that were adjacent to the entrance lobby. Meter by meter, the assault battalions cleared the first floor of the Germans. One part of the Nazis was driven into vast basements, and the other - to the upper floors.

In exceptionally difficult conditions for Soviet soldiers, the battle took place in the Reichstag building. From the explosions of hand grenades and faustpatrons, a fire broke out in the premises. It began to intensify when the Soviet units began to use flamethrowers to smoke out the Fritz. Fierce fighting ensued on the second floor as well.

Hoisting the banner

Soldiers from Neustroyev's battalion (Lisimenko, Zagitov, Makov, and also Sergeant Minin) broke through to the roof, paving the way for one of the roofs with machine gun fire and grenades. Now they have hoisted the flag over the Reichstag. Two fighters stood out in particular. Their names are usually given when answering the question of who hung the flag over the Reichstag. Let's describe these events in more detail.

Two noted heroes were M. A. Egorov and M. V. Kantaria (scouts of the regiment). It was they who raised the flag over the Reichstag. The soldiers were instructed to hoist the banner of the Military Council of the Third Shock Army. They, with the support of Syanov's company, together with a group of soldiers led by Lieutenant Brest, on April 30, at 21:50, climbed onto the roof. The flag over the Reichstag was hoisted by these Soviet soldiers. For heroism and skillful leadership of the battle, K. Ya. Samsonov, S. A. Neustroev, V. I. Davydov were awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Soviet Union. It was also received by M. V. Kantaria and M. A. Egorov (those who raised the flag over the Reichstag). However, the fighting didn't end there.

Continued fighting inside the Reichstag

So, we figured out who raised the flag over the Reichstag. When it was, we also found out. The Soviet flag was raised over the Reichstag on April 30, at 21:50. Let us now describe further events. Inside the Reichstag, the battle continued until the morning of May 1 with great tension. Separate groups of Nazis, who settled in the basements of the building, did not stop resisting until May 2, until the Soviet soldiers finished with them.

At 6:30 am on May 2, G. Weidling, General of Artillery (Chief of Defense of Berlin), surrendered. He ordered the remnants of the garrison troops to cease resistance. This happened in the middle of the day. Groupings of German troops located southeast of Berlin were liquidated on the same day.

Up to 2,500 enemy soldiers were wounded and killed in the battles for the Reichstag. 2604 people were captured.

In total, the losses on the part of the USSR amounted to 78 thousand people. The enemy lost about one million people, including 150 thousand were killed. In Berlin, Soviet catering to hungry Berliners were deployed everywhere.

Victory

In the same year, on May 3, photographs of the burning Reichstag, over which the Banner of Victory fluttered, were published in Pravda, a Moscow newspaper. Raising the flag over the Reichstag announced to the country that the enemy had been defeated.

On June 24, 1945, the first parade took place on Red Square in Moscow to commemorate the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War.

It was decided to bring the Banner of Victory from Berlin to this parade. It is kept to this day in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces. Those who raised the flag over the Reichstag will never be forgotten in our country. We remember the names of these heroes every year, on May 9, when the anniversary of the Victory is celebrated. It was the raising of the flag over the Reichstag that marked it.

Why is Victory Day celebrated on May 9th?

You may ask: "Why is Victory Day celebrated on May 9, that is, a little later?" The fact is that it was then, at 0:43 Moscow time, that the German Surrender Act was signed. This was carried out by the Field Marshal, and representatives of the German Navy, who received the appropriate authority from Doenitz. Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was present from the Soviet side. A brilliant operation led to the capture of the Reichstag, as well as the courage of Soviet officers and soldiers who fought to end the nightmare of a war that lasted a long and terrible four years.

The Banner of Victory is one of the main symbols of the triumph of the Soviet people in the war against fascism. As befits such a symbol, its history is surrounded by a set of legends and myths. Some of the inconsistencies that were present in the description of the hoisting of the banner over the Reichstag, officially adopted in the USSR, allowed some to doubt that the flag was actually installed. Mikhail Egorov And Meliton Kantaria.

For the first time, the idea of ​​hoisting the Banner of Victory was announced on November 6, 1944. Joseph Stalin at the solemn meeting of the Moscow City Council, dedicated to the 27th anniversary of the October Revolution.

In his speech, the Soviet leader said: “The Soviet people and the Red Army are successfully carrying out the tasks that confronted us during the Patriotic War ... From now on and forever, our land is free from Hitler’s evil spirits, and now the Red Army is left with its last, final mission: to complete, together with armies of our allies to defeat the fascist German army, finish off the fascist beast in its own lair and hoist the Banner of Victory over Berlin.

Of course, the idea of ​​Comrade Stalin was warmly approved, and they switched to its practical implementation already in the spring of 1945, a week before the start of the Berlin operation.

The poles were made from curtain rods

On April 9, 1945, at a meeting of the chiefs of political departments of all the armies of the 1st Belorussian Front, an instruction was given that red flags should be made in each army advancing on Berlin, which could be hoisted over the Reichstag.

In the 3rd shock army, located in the direction of the main attack, 9 such banners were made, according to the number of divisions in the army. Each of the banners was numbered.

The flags were made of plain red material, modeled after the USSR national flag. Stars, hammer and sickle were drawn through a stencil. The poles for the banners were made by an army projectionist from curtain rods. There was no splendor and pomposity in this process, but those who participated in it recalled extraordinary enthusiasm - after all, these simple flags were a symbol of the approaching end of the war.

Interestingly, in Moscow, one of the factories received a secret order to create a ceremonial flag from banner velvet. However, this flag was never sent to the troops.

On the night of April 22, assault flags were presented on behalf of the Military Council of the 3rd shock army to representatives of rifle divisions.

By this time, the first red banner was already flying over the capital of the Reich. On April 21, it was installed on one of the Berlin buildings by a corporal, reconnaissance observer of the 1st battery of the 106th mortar regiment of the 1st mortar Brest brigade of the 5th Artillery Red Banner Kalinkovichi division of the RGK breakthrough Alexander Muravyov.

The question of on which of the Berlin buildings the main Banner of Victory was to be installed was addressed personally to Stalin. The leader pointed to the Reichstag. Of course, Joseph Vissarionovich did not explain the reasons for his choice. Perhaps the reason was that it was with the burning of the Reichstag that Hitler's dictatorship in Germany began, which later turned into a world war.

Flag on the pediment

On April 29, the Soviet units reached the near approaches to the Reichstag. The building was defended by the most fanatical parts of the SS, including units formed from Latvian, French and Scandinavian collaborators. The last defenders of Nazism fought furiously.

On April 30, the storming of the Reichstag was launched by soldiers of the 171st Infantry Division under the command of colonel Alexey Negoda and 150th Infantry Division Major General Vasily Shatilov.

The morning assault was repulsed, and during the afternoon assault, separate groups of Soviet soldiers managed to penetrate the interior of the Reichstag.

It was during this second assault that several groups of fighters from both Soviet divisions managed to reach the facade of the Reichstag at once and set several red flags on it.

According to the combat log of the 150th Infantry Division, at 14:25 on April 30, 1945 Lieutenant Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev And Private Grigory Bulatov“They crept up to the central part of the building in a belligerent way and put a red flag on the stairs of the main entrance.”

The flag on the pediment of the building, which is under the control of the enemy, is difficult to consider as the banner of Victory. Nevertheless, Koshkarbaev and Bulatov were presented with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but received the Order of the Red Banner.

By the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated May 7, 1999, Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev was posthumously awarded the highest degree of distinction - the title of "Halyk Kaharmany" ("People's Hero").

Balancing on the dome

The evening assault on the Reichstag on April 30 turned out to be successful for the Soviet units, when they managed to break inside, after which a fierce battle unfolded in the building.

Mikhail Yegorov (right) and Meliton Kantaria hoisting the Banner of Victory over the Berlin Reichstag in May 1945. Photo: RIA Novosti / Vladimir Grebnev

Immediately several groups of Soviet soldiers were ordered to get to the roof of the Reichstag and set up a banner there. The assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division was presented to a group of Lieutenant Alexei Berest, Sergeant Mikhail Egorov And Junior Sergeant Meliton Kantaria. The banner group was covered with fire by a company of submachine gunners under the command of Senior Sergeant Ilya Syanov.

Initially, this flag was installed on the pediment of the main entrance of the Reichstag - on the eastern part of the building - and attached to the equestrian sculpture William I.

At that time, the building was not yet under the complete control of the Soviet troops - in some of its premises, the Nazis continued to resist.

On the afternoon of May 2, the Victory Banner was transferred to the dome of the Reichstag. The task performed by the same Berest, Egorov and Kantaria was extremely difficult - the glass dome was destroyed, and during the ascent along the metal covers, Egorov almost fell off. However, in the end everything ended well.

First survivor

The fact that the flag set by the group of Alexei Berest was not the first on the roof of the Reichstag is true. This banner was the fourth in a row, but the first three were shot down by the fire of the Nazis who continued to resist.

The flag raised by the soldiers of the 150th Infantry Division was named the Banner of Victory for two reasons. Firstly, it was "numbered", that is, officially issued for establishment, and secondly, it was not shot down by Nazi fire.

The first flag on the roof of the Reichstag was planted by an assault group under the command of Captain Vladimir Makov as part of senior sergeants Gazi Zagitova, Alexandra Lisimenko, Mikhail Minin And Sergeant Alexei Bobrov. Literally with a difference of several minutes, two more groups set up their banners - Major Bondar And Lieutenant Sorokin.

The history of the first three banners on the roof of the Reichstag, shot down by the Nazis, was not a big secret. In particular, it is described in the publication "History of the Second World War", published in 1979.

True, most often, when talking about the Banner of Victory, the Soviet press wrote about Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria, without mentioning the senior banner group, Lieutenant Berest.

Banner of Victory over the Reichstag. Berlin May 1, 1945. Photo: RIA Novosti / Viktor Temin

Lieutenant in the shadow of subordinates

Why did the name of Alexei Berest drop out of the canonical Soviet version? Why was he, unlike Yegorov and Kantaria, not awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union?

There is no exact answer to this question. Moreover, the name of Berest was not erased from the memoirs of veterans, therefore, one could find out about his participation in hoisting the Banner of Victory over the Reichstag, but only in case of great interest in the topic.

According to the most popular version, Alexey Berest was not awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union at the will of the omnipotent Zhukov- the marshal did not like political officers, and Berest held this position. According to another version, the tough character of Berest did not like his immediate superiors. According to the third, at the very top they decided that two ordinary soldiers, a Russian and a Georgian, would look best as the standard-bearers of the Victory, and they decided to sacrifice an officer.

May 6, 2005 for military courage in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, personal courage and heroism shown in the Berlin operation and hoisting the Banner of Victory over the Reichstag, by decree President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko Oleksiy Berest was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Golden Star (posthumously).

How the inscription appeared on the Banner of Victory

Not everyone knows about another interesting moment. Initially, there were no inscriptions on the flag, which became the Banner of Victory. Above the dome of the Reichstag fluttered a red banner with a star, a sickle and a hammer, as well as the number "5" - under this number was the banner issued to the 150th Infantry Division.

The first commandant of Berlin, Colonel General Nikolai Berzarin solemnly escorts the Victory Banner to Moscow. Photo: RIA Novosti / Viktor Kinelovsky

After the flag was removed from the Reichstag, it was kept first at the headquarters of the 756th Infantry Regiment, and then at the political department of the 150th Infantry Division. June 19, on the eve of sending the banner to Moscow, head of the political department of the 150th division, lieutenant colonel Artyukhov ordered to make an inscription on it with white paint: “150 pages of the Order of Kutuzov II Art. Idrits. Div." This meant "150th Rifle Order of Kutuzov, II degree, Idritsa Division."

This initiative was not liked by the one who came to check the banner before being sent to Moscow to the head of the political department of the 79th Rifle Corps, Colonel Krylov.

Artyukhov suggested supplementing the inscription: "79th Corps, 3rd Shock Army, 1st Belorussian Front." However, there was not enough space left on the flag, and only “79 s.k., 3 c.a., 1 b.f.”

Colonel Krylov arranged this option, and the banner was sent to Moscow. In the capital, they decided not to change anything in its appearance. This is how the now familiar view of the Banner of Victory appeared.

On this day in 1945, the Victory Banner was hoisted over the Reichstag. However, the well-known Yegorov and Kantaria were by no means the first to climb the dome of the Reichstag. Moreover, they fixed the banner when the battle was already over.

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

Lieutenant Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev and Private Grigory Bulatov made their way to the Reichstag under German fire. While the comrades covered them, the lieutenant helped Bulatov, and he installed a homemade banner on the harness of the horse of the sculptural group of Wilhelm I. His face is depicted 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.

This event is described in the book of the Hero of the Soviet Union Klochkov I. F. “We stormed the Reichstag”, which says that “Lieutenant R. Koshkarbaev was the first to attach a red flag to the column.”
There is also written imperishable evidence that refutes the fact of the feat of Yegorov and Kantaria. On May 3, 1945, a note was printed in the divisional newspaper "Warrior of the Motherland" in which the names of the heroes were named:
"The motherland pronounces their names with deep respect: Provatorov, Bulatov, Sorokin ...: Soviet heroes, the best sons of the people! Glory to the heroes!"
And on May 5, Komsomolskaya Pravda published the story of an eyewitness of those events, Captain Andreev:
“The way to the Reichstag lay through piles, barricades, through holes in the walls, dark subway tunnels. And the Germans were everywhere: Our fighters went on the attack for the third time and finally broke into the Reichstag, threw the Germans out of there. Then a small, snub-nosed, young soldier from the Kirov region, like a cat, climbed onto the roof of the Reichstag and did what thousands of his comrades were striving for. He fastened the red flag on the ledge and, lying on his stomach, under the bullets, shouted down to the soldiers of his company: "Well, how can everyone see it?"
Bulatov was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The view says:
"04/29/1945, the regiment fought fierce battles on the outskirts of the Reichstag, went to the Spree River, Comrade Bulatov was one of those who were ordered, with the support of artillery on improvised means, to force the Spree River, break through to the Reichstag building and hoist the Banner of Victory over it. Taking every square meter from the battle at 2 pm on April 30, 1945, they broke into the Reichstag building, immediately seized the exit of one of the basements, locking up to 300 German soldiers of the Reichstag garrison there. 25 minutes hoisted the Red Banner over the Reichstag. Worthy of being awarded the title "HERO OF THE SOVIET UNION".
Three days later, Marshal Zhukov handed Bulatov his photo with a dedicatory inscription in memory of the accomplished feat.
However, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and other people were appointed heroes, who then spoke with pride all their lives about their outstanding feat.
By the way, it was Bulatov who was captured on the famous newsreel of Roman Karmen with a flag against the background of bronze horses on the roof of the Reichstag. This report was also staged and filmed three days after the events.

Later, even Kantaria, answering questions from correspondents, said: “On the morning of April 30, we saw the Reichstag in front of us - a huge gloomy building with dirty gray columns and a dome on the roof: The first group of our scouts broke into the Reichstag: V. Provotorov, Gr. Bulatov. They fixed the flag on the pediment. The flag was immediately noticed by the soldiers lying under enemy fire in the square.
According to the official version, on April 19, 1973, Grigory Petrovich Bulatov committed suicide - he was found hanged. However, those who knew Bulatov are sure that he could not voluntarily die. Two suspicious types in civilian clothes were spinning that day at the entrance of the factory where Grigory worked. On the grave of Bulatov, the Banner of Victory over the Reichstag and his photograph from the book of Marshal Zhukov are depicted.

Author: Maxim Maximov, specially for UA-Football.
Posted on Wednesday, June 22, 2011. 04:00 (link to the source - at the end of the article)
I don’t know what else the current Kyiv authorities will come up with, so I copy it without cuts and corrections, although I don’t agree with everything. To stay here.
I only allowed myself to insert a couple of additions [in square brackets].

"On June 22, at exactly 4 o'clock, Kyiv was bombed ... Peacetime ended"

There is a date in our history that should not be forgotten even in the current fast-moving and impetuous time - this is June 22, 1941, when the Nazis attacked the Soviet Union. On this day, a big sports festival was planned in Kyiv: the opening of the Republican Stadium named after the head of the Ukrainian communists - Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, and the holding of a calendar football match of the USSR championship - Dynamo - CDKA.

We didn’t have time - the war broke out ...

The first German bombs exploded in Kyiv before dawn. But, oddly enough, this did not frighten the people of Kiev very much - they probably thought that ordinary army exercises were going on on the outskirts ... And only after some time the words of the song became known to the whole country: “On June 22, at exactly four o’clock, Kiev was bombed, we were announced that the war began”… Unfortunately, every year there are less and less eyewitnesses of those dramatic events.

The idol of the pre-war youth Konstantin Vasilyevich Shchegotsky, a great football player of Dynamo and the USSR national team, who was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for his football skills, which, however, did not prevent him from visiting the cellars of the NKVD, described the events in the book "In the game and out of the game" that tragic day. Unfortunately, the book became a rarity - I had to use the publications of famous football chroniclers Axel Vartanyan and Georgy Kuzmin.

“About six in the morning I was awakened by a phone call. At the other end, I heard the excited voice of my friend, lawyer Gurevich:

- Kostya, war!

Stop your stupid jokes!

- I'm not kidding: the Nazis attacked us!

There was a peaceful life outside the window: the janitor was cleaning the street - everything was quiet, calm, beautiful ... And suddenly explosions were heard in the distance! .. Hastily dressing, I rushed to the Continental Hotel, where coach Mikhail Pavlovich Butusov lived with his family. An acquaintance from Moscow also stopped there - radio commentator Vadim Sinyavsky, who came to report on the Dynamo - CDKA match. He must know something...

Lying on the windowsill, the great commentator and the equally great imitator (in the pre-television era he had no equal in the “painting” of football) shouted into the telephone receiver:

- They shoot anti-aircraft guns! Past ... Shells explode in the sky much higher than the planes. Here, it seems, they hit ... No, again by! ..

He hung up the phone, greeted me and immediately answered my question:

Yes, the war has begun. Fascist evil spirits attacked us!..»

Vadim Svyatoslavovich Sinyavsky could not even imagine that in November 1943, he, one of the first war correspondents who ended up in liberated Kyiv, would have to report from the destroyed city, completely different reports ...

The fighting on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War lasted 1418 days, and finally, on May 8, 1945, at 22:43 Central European Time, the war in Europe ended with the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces. And already on June 24 of the same year, the Victory Parade took place in Moscow. A little later, at the 45th Potsdam Conference of the leaders of the USSR, Great Britain and the USA, held in July-August, agreements were discussed on the post-war structure of Europe ...

All these events were captured by many outstanding Soviet and foreign photojournalists. I was lucky enough to be acquainted with one of them - the legendary photojournalist Yevgeny Chaldei, whose photographs are known to everyone affected by the war ... At least, we can talk about at least a few of them: “The Banner over the Reichstag” is a real symbol of Victory, the famous photograph "The First Day of the War" is the only one filmed in Moscow on June 22, 1941 and the Victory Parade on Red Square. Not to mention long trips to the Northern Fleet and participation in the liberation of the Crimea and a number of European capitals. These frames give a vivid idea of ​​the work of Yevgeny Khaldei.

"Victory Banner over the Reichstag". History of photography

“I think with sadness that one day all this will be thrown into the trash, like this whole era” ... These words just belong to the amazing chronicler of the great war and our countryman Yevgeny Khaldei, the famous military photojournalist of Krasnaya Zvezda, TASS, and later Ogonyok and Pravda, who during his lifetime became a legend in Russian photojournalism. Unfortunately, Evgeny Ananievich's fears were not in vain ...

My father died in 1943 near Dnepropetrovsk, in a terrible Sinelnikovsky nightmare, and the only thing that got in memory of him was yellowed photographs and an officer's pension ... So the military theme has been painfully familiar to me since the time of studying the primer.

At that time I worked in the Ukrainian "subsidiary" version of the Moscow weekly "Football". When in September 1997 it was necessary to go to negotiate with its editor-in-chief Oleg Kucherenko, my friend, who worked in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, clasped her hands and exclaimed: “Do you want to get acquainted with“ my ”Chaldey - I can think of a small package for him?” “And why is it yours?” ... “So who doesn’t know the military photographs of Yevgeny Ananyevich - yes, one banner over the Reichstag is enough for everyone! We have exhibited it so many times, so I often had to travel to Moscow for “free” photographs. The Museum was constantly short of money”…

And so, after negotiations in Football, our “capture group” on September 1st arrived on Onezhskaya Street, not far from the Vodny Stadion metro station, in the holy of holies of the legendary journalist - his small apartment-laboratory, which at the same time also served as museum ... I remember that standing in front of the door, one of us instantly broke out in sweat: “Wait, don’t call - I don’t believe that now I will see a person whose photograph has been hanging over my father’s bed all my life” ...

The door was opened by a big smiling man: behind the thick glasses of glasses - smart and kind eyes ...

- Ah, fellow countrymen! We finally got there - come on in, sit down. Be bolder - I'm alone here ... Not counting, however, my friends ... They are in the photographs.

The legendary photo historian lived among his archive, countless cameras and portraits of long-gone friends. As the guardian and creator of the truth about the war, about the difficult, painfully familiar era from his photographs ... Huge portraits of Zhukov and Simonov hung nearby, a little further away, in the circle of their sworn friends - Stalin with a modest star of the Hero on a white tunic ... On a bookcase - The Nuremberg trials, and large - Goering ... And quite unexpectedly - Charlie Chaplin with a dedicatory inscription.

- And I'm trying to interview Goering. But as soon as he found out that I was from the USSR, he refused. Although we still managed to exchange a few words - he turned out to be a miserable person ... And how is it with us, in Ukraine, - Evgeny Ananievich asked almost without transition.

Countryman

It turns out that Khaldei was born in the small Ukrainian town of Yuzovka - now Donetsk. And once - also Stalino ... A year later, during a Jewish pogrom, the Black Hundreds who burst into the house killed their grandfather and mother, who, dying, covered her little son with herself. The bullet went through her body and stuck in Yevgeny's lung ...

The father married a second time, he had three daughters. During the war, the Germans, retreating, killed many people in Ukraine, and most of all Jews ... Hundreds and thousands of people were thrown into the mines. Among the dead was the father of Yevgeny Khaldei, and, possibly, his three paternal sisters. He learned about this tragedy much later ...

The beginner yunkorr made his camera from a cardboard box and an eyepiece from his grandmother's glasses. I developed the plates under the bed... The church in Yuzovka appeared on the first picture, and when it was blown up, the ruins...

In the thirties, famine began in Ukraine, and the young man got a job as a steam locomotive cleaner in one of the depots. And he continues to take pictures ... Photos appear in the local press, signed - "E. Khaldei", and then the first essay ... about football! And already in 1936, a novice photojournalist was hired by the TASS Photo Chronicle. In Moscow!.. Filmed Magnitogorsk, Dneprostroy, reports about Stakhanov...

And although they were preparing for the war, it began unexpectedly ...

After talking a little about Ukrainian life, we soon switched to the topics of the old war - I wanted to hear from the owner himself about these people who have been inhabiting his apartment for so many years ...

Albums, prospectuses, whole piles of exhibition booklets… Solid war, destroyed cities, attacking marines… And suddenly portraits of the presidential couple Bill and Hillary Clinton with a dedication inscription: “To Eugene Chaldea”…

“I just returned from Argentina – there was a huge exhibition, and before that I traveled around the States…” he says.

- Are they really interested in this: after all, in your photographs there is only our war?

- And you read the review books - the Belgians printed it! ..

Did the war start unexpectedly for you?

- On June 22, 1941, I returned from Tarkhan, where the 100th anniversary of Lermontov's death was celebrated ... I filmed the guys from the rural literary circle there. One boy read poetry: “Tell me, uncle, it’s not without reason that Moscow, burned down by fire ...”, and I asked him to repeat these lines again and again in order to make good doubles ... If only I knew! .. And so I arrived in the morning to Moscow, I go up to the house - and I lived not far from the German embassy, ​​I look - the Germans unload bundles of things from cars and bring them to the embassy. I couldn't understand what was going on. And at ten in the morning they called from Photochronicles and ordered to urgently come to work. At eleven o'clock, Levitan's voice was heard on the radio: "Attention, Moscow says, all the radio stations of the Soviet Union are working ... At 12 o'clock an important government message will be transmitted" ... He repeated this for a whole hour - apparently, everyone in the Kremlin has nerves too were on the edge. Finally, at twelve, the voice of the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Vyacheslav Molotov was heard - he stuttered slightly ... And then we heard a terrible thing: "... our cities of Kiev, Minsk, Bialystok were bombed ...".

From the editorial window, I saw people crowding near the TASS Photo Chronicles building - they were listening to the announcement of the beginning of the war with Germany under the loudspeaker. Grabbing a watering can, he jumped out into the street and managed to click the shutter several times. This is how the photograph, which later became world-famous, appeared, which was called “The First Day” ...

It was from her that my front-line everyday life of a photojournalist began: all the time I was at the forefront, went through the whole war, wore a military uniform - like all war correspondents. With the marines he stormed Novorossiysk and Kerch, liberated Sevastopol, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Austria, Hungary. I managed to fix the collapse of fascism in Berlin ... Finished fighting in Harbin and Port Arthur. He rose to the rank of captain.

Victory Flags

Khaldei's photo masterpiece "The Banner of Victory over the Reichstag", made on May 2, 1945, went around the whole world, became a textbook and is reproduced, perhaps, more often than all other works of the outstanding master. But few people know that he brought the red flag with a hammer and sickle to Berlin with him - he was afraid that suddenly at the right moment the soldiers would not have it ...

– Evgeny Ananyevich, please tell us the history of Berlin photographs.

“In liberated Budapest, I came across a newspaper that published a picture by American photojournalist Joe Rosenthal, in which American marines hoisted a banner on one of the liberated islands in the Philippines ... But I have long been thinking about how to put up my own” point" in the protracted war: what could be more significant - the banner of victory over the lair of the defeated enemy! ..

By the end of the war, I did not return from business trips without photographs with banners over liberated or taken cities. The flags over Novorossiysk, Kerch, Sevastopol, which were liberated exactly one year before the Victory, are perhaps more dear to me than others. The opportunity to be in Berlin and record the hoisting of the red flag over the Reichstag presented itself as soon as I returned to Moscow from Vienna: the editors of the TASS Newsreel ordered to fly to Berlin the next morning. An order is an order, and I began to quickly get ready: it was clear to everyone that the end of the war was near.

What if in Berlin I don’t have a red flag with a star at hand! .. It was lucky that in between business trips I lived with my distant relative, the tailor Israel Solomonovich Kishitser ... That is why it dawned on me! .. I run to the TASS supply manager Grisha Lyubinsky and he “gives” me three red local committee tablecloths ... I rush to Leontievsky lane to Izrail Solomonovich and he immediately sat down at his “zinger” ... I cut out the star, hammer and sickle with my own hands from a white sheet. By morning, all three banners were ready and I rushed to the airfield and flew to Berlin ...

flag number one

In Berlin, I ended up at the location of the 8th Guards Army, commanded by Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov. I met the poet Yevgeny Dolmatovsky there, with whom we never parted. Young people, probably, do not know his songs, in which such heartfelt words sound: “Beloved city can sleep peacefully ...”, “I went on a campaign then ...”, “Oh, Dnepro, Dnepro, you are wide, powerful ...”, “Night short, the clouds are sleeping, and your unfamiliar hand lies in my palm "...
Dolmatovsky was most famous for the songs written to his words (“Random Waltz”, “Song of the Dnieper”, “Volunteers” by M. G. Fradkin, “Sormovskaya Lyric” by B. A. Mokrousov, “My Favorite” by M. I. Blanter, "Second Heart", "Beloved City"

I filmed the advance of troops, battles ... Zhenya spoke to the soldiers and commanders ... Everything was as usual. And suddenly, on the night of May 1, at about five in the morning, Dolmatovsky wakes me up: “Get up soon!” I can’t understand anything: “What happened?” “At the headquarters of Chuikov there is a parliamentarian from Goebbels. We need to go urgently." And we rushed off.

The messenger of Goebbels, and this was General Krebbs, came to the location of our troops early in the morning with a huge white flag. It was he who said that the night before, April 30, Hitler had committed suicide. Everyone took the news of this with regret: they really wanted to take him alive, put him in a cage and take him around the world so that people could see this geek.

Every second I clicked the shutter of my old "watering can" ... For some reason, Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, during negotiations with Krebbs, flatly refused to be photographed ... And then I shifted my attention to the roof of the headquarters of the 8th Army, where a huge figure of an eagle was fixed. A terrible bird, rapaciously clutching its claws, perched on the globe, which was crowned with a fascist swastika. An eerie symbol of world domination. Fortunately, it did not take place! ..

With three soldiers, we climbed onto the roof, fixed the flag, and I took some pictures. It was still a long way to the Reichstag ... Besides, I did not know if I could even get to it.

Then, together with the troops, we, military journalists, made our way forward, forward and forward, and, finally, reached the Brandenburg Gate ... If you only knew how glad I was that these gates survived - after all, a year before the Victory, in Sevastopol, at I saw a picture of a captured German, in which Nazi soldiers marched in orderly rows through the Brandenburg Gate, and people stood in a dense crowd on both sides of the road. Hands are raised in greeting, bouquets of flowers are flying into the soldiers’ ranks, and on the back there is an inscription: “We are returning after the victory over France” ...

flag number two

- Early in the morning of May 2, I saw two of our fighters who, under hurricane fire, climbed onto the Brandenburg Gate. A stairway led up to the top platform. Somehow I got there... And having already gone upstairs, I discovered in the distance, in the smoke of the ongoing skirmish, the dome of the Reichstag. There was no red flag there yet ... Although, there were rumors that the SS men had been driven out of there yesterday.

Lieutenant Kuzma Dudeev, who was directing fire on the Reichstag from the Brandenburg Gate, and his assistant, Sergeant Ivan Andreev, helped me in filming. At first, the lieutenant and I tried to attach a flag on a horse ... Finally, I took a picture. This was already the second Berlin flag shot. It was even more difficult to go down from the Gate than to go up… I had to jump. And the height is decent: I hit hard - then my legs hurt for a long time. But the picture turned out great. Some kind of even cheerful: desperate guys and the flag winds dashingly, victoriously ...

True, that picture did not get into print, but remained in the archive: thanks even in 1972, on the day of the 25th anniversary of the Victory, they remembered him. To be honest, I did not expect that after so many years there would be people whom I photographed then. And suddenly a letter arrives: the pioneers of the Seeker detachment from the camp near Tuapse discovered that the lieutenant, who is holding a banner in the picture on the right, is very similar to their good friend, Uncle Kuzya. It turns out that a brave lieutenant leads their photo club and often talks about the war ... I rummaged through my old notebooks, where many names and surnames have accumulated, found those who were photographed at the Brandenburg Gate: Kuzma Dudeev, already known to me, and next to him a sergeant Ivan Andreev. Having contacted Kuzma Alexandrovich, we began to think how we could find the sergeant. And they found: in 1980: Ivan Petrovich turned out to be a Rostovite - his close neighbor ...

I have one last flag left. And I decided that this one was definitely for the Reichstag.

The last night before the storming of the Reichstag, I spent together with the poet Yevgeny Dolmatovsky with the artillerymen - in the quarters near the Reich Chancellery. Early in the morning with the advancing soldiers moved to the Reichstag ...
[With his personal assault. On May 3, the Reichstag was already taken.]

The Flag That Wasn't

The Berlin operation began on April 16, and two weeks later the Soviet troops were already in the city center. On the morning of April 30, only a wide square separated ours from the Reichstag. But since the Germans flooded the Berlin metro, a large pit filled with water formed on the square. The attackers did not have artillery support at that time, except for three tanks. The Germans managed to knock out two of them, and the third ... drowned in the pit. After several unsuccessful attacks, it was decided to postpone the assault until dark.

- Each assault company had its own standard-bearers - they selected the best of the best there ... Like Gagarin in space: after all, commissars always fought for the "cleanliness of the ranks" ... But, it seemed that before death we were all equal. And if you knew how many banners were hoisted over the Reichstag after the Nazis were driven out of there! ..

- You were not suspected that your "Victory Banner" is an exclusively staged shot?

- There was everything ... I didn’t really mind: after all, I wasn’t the only one running around Berlin with a camera - risking their lives, cameramen and photojournalists often forgot about death, chasing a profitable shot.

In general, an amazing story happened to the Reichstag: desperate lone volunteers, having made home-made flags from the red covers of German featherbeds, rushed to the Main building of the Third Reich in order to fix them at least on a column, at least in the window of the building ... Surprisingly, in any war they first take possession the main point, and only then they hoist their flag. Here everything was the other way around.

- Now it's called extreme ...

- Of course, I wanted to live ... But I really wanted to believe that the war was coming to an end, and nothing bad could happen ... You probably remember that Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria were the first to hoist the Banner of Victory ... But there were several Banners of Victory: they were sewn together in Berlin and distributed to the headquarters of formations that could be lucky - nine divisions went to storm the Reichstag.

But an unexpected incident occurred: one of the regiment commanders “felt” that someone’s flag was already reddening on the roof of the Reich Chancellery ... They hastened to report that the Reichstag had already been taken! .. And even the time was indicated - 14 hours 25 minutes “Moscow time” ... There was nothing to be done: after that, it was necessary to urgently send the most desperate to storm - after all, you would not report to the Headquarters that a mistake had come out! .. Of course, there was no end to the brave men ...

- They say that about 40 different banners were raised over the Reichstag during the assault ...

“I think there were even more people who wanted to. The Banner of Victory is considered to be the banner of the Military Council of the 3rd shock army at number 5, which was carried by scouts Yegorov and Kantaria. They were accompanied by the battalion's political officer, Lieutenant Aleksey Berest, and a group of submachine gunners led by senior sergeant Ilya Syanov, who cleared the way up with their fire... However, only two names were included in the history books - Yegorov and Kantaria... Apparently, the Leader decided so! True, not only they received Heroes of the Soviet Union for this operation, but also senior sergeant Ilych Syanov, senior lieutenant Konstantin Samsonov and captains Vasily Davydov and Stepan Neustroev ...

- And why did they bypass our fellow countryman Alexei Berest? ..

- At first, the command of the regiment introduced him to the Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. They did not forget to indicate in the award list that immediately after the hoisting of the Banner of Victory, Berest personally negotiated unconditional surrender with the Reichstag garrison ... However, Colonel-General Kuznetsov, commander of the 3rd Army, rejected the idea and awarded Berest "only" with the Order of the Red Banner. The real reasons for this decision of the military command are unknown. True, they say that the political officer was "too" brave and independent. There were rumors that Zhukov himself did not really like political workers ...

- So, when was the Banner of Victory hoisted?

- At 10:30 p.m. April 30. First, he was tied with straps to a bronze equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilhelm II - on the pediment of the main entrance, and a little later, having overcome the resistance of the Nazis, they transferred it to the dome of the Reichstag. It became the Banner of Victory, now stored in Moscow, in the Museum of the Armed Forces. They said that the staircase to the dome of the Reichstag was blown up, and our fighters had to build a “circus pyramid”, the base of which, of course, was the hero from Akhtyrka, on Sumshchi, Alexei Berest ...

On the night of May 1 - somewhere around two hours - the shooting subsided for a while. And, disguised as a colonel, since the Nazis were not going to talk to another officer, accompanied by the "adjutant" Neustroev, Lieutenant Berest went to negotiate with the SS men and sailors who had settled in the basements ... His impressive dimensions, fearlessness and uncompromising logic broke the Nazis - an hour later they decided to give up...

Only by seven o'clock in the morning on May 2, the remnants of the garrison capitulated, and the fighting in the Reichstag practically ceased. But then I didn’t know about it yet and didn’t see the red banner, because on the morning of May 2 it was still “hot” in the Reichstag area ... And already on May 3, the kneeling Reichstag was visited by the commander of the First Belorussian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov.

At the same time, in Berlin, climbing onto a tank, Yevgeny Dolmatovsky read poems that he composed right on the go: “Guards are walking through Berlin and remembering Stalingrad ...”. A little later, a photograph appeared: Dolmatovsky with the Fuhrer's head under his arm...

Flag number three is victorious…

So, you didn't manage to come first...

- But I didn’t set such a task for myself: I just had to get on the roof of the Reichstag with my “tablecloth” at all costs ... And with the flag in my bosom, I stealthily went around the Reichstag and made my way into it from the side of the main entrance. There was still fighting in the vicinity. I came across several soldiers and officers. Without saying a word, instead of "hello", he took out his last flag - they were taken aback from amazement: "Oh, starley, let's go upstairs!"

I don’t even remember how we ended up on the roof… The dome was on fire… I immediately started looking for a convenient place to shoot. From below, smoke was billowing in clubs, it was blazing, sparks were pouring - it was almost impossible to get close. And then I began to look for another place - so that the Berlin perspective was visible. I saw the Brandenburg Gate below - somewhere there was my flag ... When I found a good point, I immediately, barely holding on to a small parapet, began to shoot - I shot two cassettes. I took both horizontal and vertical shots. When filming, I stood on the very edge of the roof ... Of course, it was scary. But when I had already gone downstairs and again looked at the roof of the building, where I had been a few minutes ago, and saw my flag over the Reichstag, I realized that I had not risked in vain. After all, thousands of my comrades did not live to see this happy day! .. The fact is that I dreamed of seeing this flag over the Reichstag - for me, as well as for everyone around, it was a symbol of accomplished justice.

- And who were these fighters with whom you climbed onto the roof of the Reichstag?

- There were four of us there, but I remember well your fellow countryman - Alexei Kovalev from Kiev, who was tying the flag. I photographed him for a long time... In different poses. I remember that we were all very cold then ... We were helped 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 Leonid Gorychev from Minsk.

His war consisted of 1418 days of tireless work

Between two historical moments: the first picture of the outbreak of the war - "First Day" and "Banner of Victory" - were no less significant, taken at the crossings and roads of the Smolensk region, among the ruins of Vienna and Berlin, at the first peace conference in Paris ...

Yevgeny Khaldei left to posterity photographs of the meeting between Stalin, Truman and Churchill, photos of the banners of the Nazi regiments thrown at the foot of the Mausoleum, and many others. And the photograph of Marshal Zhukov on a horse, as if flying across Red Square, served as the beginning of the friendship between the marshal and our fellow countryman ...

Once the master admitted that when he was filming on Red Square, how two hundred soldiers were throwing fascist banners and standards to the foot of the Mausoleum, tears filled his eyes with excitement and joy. “I noticed that both the marshals and the soldiers also had tears in their eyes ...”

Military photographs by Yevgeny Khaldei have been included in many books and encyclopedias about the war, and we can no longer imagine our history without his reports from the Victory Parade on Red Square, the Potsdam Conference, and the Nuremberg trials. After the war, Yevgeny Khaldei was looking for the heroes of his photographs, and this work continued throughout his life ...

Half a century after the Victory, in 1996, thanks to the perseverance of the public of Dagestan, the feat of the former foreman of the reconnaissance company of the Guards Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky of the Zaporozhye Rifle Division was also recognized. A historical photograph captured by front-line photojournalist Yevgeny Khaldei helped, and 78-year-old Ismailov was invited to Moscow, where Russian President Boris Yeltsin presented him with the Gold Star of the Hero of Russia "For courage and heroism shown in the Great Patriotic War."

Yevgeny Ananyevich himself was awarded the Orders of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, medals ...

The award has found a hero...

However, in 1949, without explanation, Yevgeny Khaldei was fired from the TASS Photo Chronicle in Moscow. For a long time he could not get a job in any publication, and in 1950, unable to resist, he wrote a letter to the Central Committee. But to Suslov’s request to the relevant authorities: “Where can I use Yevgeny Chaldei?”, The answer was received: “As a photographer, it’s inappropriate”! .. As they said at that time: “The count let me down!”

And the author of "The Banner of Victory" got a job at the "Club and Amateur Art" magazine: he photographed industry, sports, artists ... Only in 1957, Khaldei was again hired by the Pravda newspaper, where he worked until 1972, photographing famous musicians, writers, politicians (Anna Akhmatova, Dmitri Shostakovich, Mstislav Rostropovich and others). But he was also fired from there - the retirement age ... He worked in the "Soviet Culture". But not for long...

As in the last war, the "allies" came to the rescue: in 1995 in Perpignan (France), at the international festival of photojournalism, Chaldea was honored by the whole world - Yevgeny Ananyevich was awarded the most honorable award in the art world - the title "Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature". There were two of them, the newly minted knights: he and Joe Rosenthal. Two old men on the stage supported each other by the arm. Rosenthal had a photo frame with his banner on his chest - American paratroopers on Iwo Jima, Khaldei had his “Victory Banner”.

In 1997, the American publishing house Aperture published the book Witness to History. Photographs by Yevgeny Khaldei” (“Witness to history. Photographs of Yevgeny Khaldei”). And in Paris and Brussels, the premiere of the 60-minute film "Eugene Khaldei - Photographer of the Stalin Era", filmed by Wajnbrosse Productions & Cult Film, took place.

With "Hetman" - for Ukraine!..

When a bottle of “Hetman” brought from Kiev appeared on the table, among photographic films and photographs, the master offered to drink for Ukraine, for the “city of Russian glory” Sevastopol, with which he had so much to do, and for the fact that there would never be a war !.. Khaldei looked around the walls with a warm look, nodded at the portraits of Simonov, Marshal Zhukov, fighter pilot Serov: each of them is milestones in his destiny...

- For the memory! For friendship... fighting... - he said and thought... - It turns out that without our Ukraine it’s impossible: remember, after all, with me on the roof of the Reichstag, fighters from the Guards Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky of the Zaporozhye Rifle Division hoisted the flag! .. And Lesha Kovalev is generally a resident of Kiev …

- Evgeny Ananyevich, what about our other unsurpassed countryman Alexei Berest? ..

- He lived hard: he was undeservedly condemned. Amnestied, worked at a factory in Rostov. He died on November 3, 1970, saving a girl from under the wheels of a train.

More from and also Berlin. Spring 1945

Who raised the Banner of Victory over the Reichstag
"Unsolved Mysteries"

The flag, which was hoisted on May 1, 1945 over the Reichstag, became the official Banner of Victory. All Soviet history textbooks included two standard-bearers Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria, it was they who got all the glory. Meanwhile, 100 people were presented for awards for taking the Reichstag and hoisting the Banner of Victory. Zhukov, seeing such a number of applicants, suspended the process and decided to sort it out. Other "Unsolved Mysteries"

April 18, 1983. Moscow. As soon as Grigory Bulatov left the station building, he was stopped by a policeman. This visitor looks very suspicious - overgrown, in battered clothes. Fears were justified: he does not have a passport, only a certificate of release from the colony. The policeman calls the outfit, 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 him. And he ended up in prison by accident. He just wanted to get to the Victory Parade in Moscow. But after such a reception, returning home, the veteran intelligence officer will commit suicide.
In the spring of 1945, dozens of detachments stormed the building of the German parliament, and dozens of soldiers hoisted the Banner, but who was the first? The country knew only two heroes - Yegorov and Kantaria. Why? The program "Unsolved Secrets" finds out - about this in a documentary investigation of the TV channel "Moscow Trust".
Capture of Berlin

They entered Berlin on 25 April. In three days the city was almost taken. Boris Sokolov barely has time to change cassettes, it's a pity they write only thirty seconds, you have to choose what to shoot. He still remembers everything today, like yesterday. A graduate of VGIK, Sokolov was one of the first to be entrusted with filming the surrender of Germany. The Reichstag was not his area, but this is what he saw when he got there.

“The desert, everything is broken, houses are burning, it was not the flag that was important for us, but the Reichstag building itself,” recalls Boris Sokolov.

We know staged shots. It can be seen that the fights are not going on, everyone is relaxed. Shooting May 2, 1945. There is evidence that the flag appeared over the Reichstag on April 29 at night.

G.K. Zhukov and Soviet officers in Berlin, 1945

“The Reichstag building is quite huge, and the Soviet army was advancing on it from all sides. Among those who claim to have hoisted the banner, this is a group of scout Makov, they were the first to fortify the building, but the soldiers did not know that this was the Swiss embassy. The Swiss embassy for a long time evacuated, the Nazis were already there, and everyone thought that this was a large Reichstag complex," says Yaroslav Listov.

Yevgeny Kirichenko is a military journalist who has long been engaged in the history of the Second World War, especially its white spots. In the course of his investigation, he saw the storming of the Reichstag differently.

"This is a completely different banner, sewn from red teak, from the SS feather bed, which the scouts of Semyon Sorokin found in Himmler's house, ripped it up, sewn it, 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 picture taken by photojournalist Viktor Temin. It was made over Berlin, from an airplane. Dense smoke over the city did not allow repeating the flight over the Reichstag. But it seems to Temin that he saw the flag and captured it, which he is in a hurry to happily inform everyone about. After all, for the sake of this frame, he even had to hijack a plane.

"He flew around the flaming Reichstag, photographed it. Although the banner was not there yet, it only appeared on May 2. He got on a plane, said that this was Zhukov's order, flew to Moscow, newspapers were urgently printed there, he brought a pack back on Douglas, enters to Zhukov, and the commandant's platoon is already waiting for him, because Zhukov ordered, as soon as Temin arrives, to arrest him and put him against the wall, because he deprived him of his only plane.But when he saw the front page of the Pravda newspaper, on the dome was drawn retouched a huge banner, which does not match in scale, he awarded Temin with the Order of the Red Star," says Yevgeny Kirichenko.

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

“I saw that a sickle and a hammer were clearly drawn there, the flag itself was clean, it could not be like that. They made an understudy for the transfer, during the fighting the banner could not remain so smooth and clean. They handed it over to a representative of the Museum of the Revolution. guard of honor, and they passed this banner. It was not Kantaria, not Yegorov. Officially, two standard-bearers - Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria, will enter into all history textbooks, they got all the glory. And although artilleryman and political officer Alexei Berest is listed in their group, oh they will prefer to remain silent. According to legend, Zhukov himself crossed him out of the list for awarding the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - the marshal did not like political workers. It was difficult to argue against Yegorov and Kantaria, "says Boris Sokolov.

"Comrade Stalin was a Georgian, respectively, the person who hoisted the banner over the Reichstag must also have been a Georgian, we have a multinational Soviet Union, and a Slav should also be with a Georgian," says Mikhail Savelyev.

Real Banner of Victory

Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense. It is here that the main military documents of the country are stored. Combat reports on the Reichstag 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, here is what follows from them:

"Documents say that each type of troops had its own banner of Victory and hoisted it in different places: in the windows, on the roof, on the stairs, on their cannon, on the tank. Therefore, it cannot be said that Yegorov and Kantaria hoisted the banner," believes Saveliev.

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

“We see moments in various stories 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 of water and sent it to Stalin as proof that his army had escaped to the Baltic While the bottle was on its way to Stalin, the situation at the front changed, the Germans pushed back our troops, and Stalin's joke has been known ever since: Give this bottle back - Then let him pour it into the Baltic Sea," says Yaroslav Listov.

Banner of Victory

Initially, the banner of Victory should have looked like this. But it was impossible to deliver it to Berlin. Therefore, several banners are hastily made. Here 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 slightly torn. At one time, some soldiers managed to tear off a piece from him, 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 shaft and hanging of an unidentified sample, they were made from ordinary curtains, this is exactly the assault flag,” says Vladimir Afanasiev.

At the famous Victory Parade, 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 let 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 be carried, they do not fall in time with the music, they rushed forward, marshals Zhukov and Rokossovsky did not allow them,” says Afanasiev.

famous photograph

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

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

Here is what emerged from the memoirs of the commanders who stormed the Reichstag: "The flag was set up on the morning of the 30th, and it was not Yegorov and Kantaria who did it."

“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. Viktor Provotorov , the party organizer of the battalion, who put Bulatov on his shoulders, and they fixed 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 whole world is flying around the report of the Soviet Information Bureau that the Reichstag has been taken. 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 was taken, the banner there. Further from the corps - to the army - to the front - to Zhukov - to the Kremlin - to Stalin. And two hours later a congratulatory telegram came from Stalin. Zhukov calls Shatilov that Comrade Stalin congratulates us, Shatilov is horrified, he understands that the banner can and stands, but the Reichstag has not yet been taken, "comments Yevgeny Kirichenko.

Then Shatilov, commander of the 150th division, gave the order: urgently hoist the flag, so that everyone could 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 so that it is not swept away. This is the banner that Yegorov, Kantaria, Berest and Samsonov installed, and stood there, despite the artillery fire, it survived. Although, up to forty different flags were fixed and banners," explains Yaroslav Listov.

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

“Honestly, 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 whole people, not just the army. ", says Boris Sokolov.

While filming 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 Yevgeny 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 familiar tailor quickly makes banners out of them. The first such flag Khaldei removes at the Brandenburg Gate, the second - at the airfield, the third - this one - at the Reichstag. When he got there, the fighting was already over, the banners were fluttering on all floors. Then he asks the first fighters passing by him to pose for him, while there is no trace of the just calmed down battle below. Cars drive around peacefully.

"This famous photograph" The Banner of Victory "was taken by Khaldei on May 2, 1945, and people associate with this very banner. In fact, this banner and people are different," says Oleg Budnitsky.

Unknown feat

One hundred people are presented for awards for taking the Reichstag and hoisting the banner of Victory. Yegorov and Kantaria received the Heroes of the Soviet Union only a year later. Zhukov, seeing such a number of applicants, suspended the process, decided to sort it out.

“There is another 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 Yegorov and Kantaria. And during the toast to the Victory, the doctor of the Plekhodanovsky regiment stood up and said that she did not want to participate in this: " I didn't see you in the Reichstag," says Yevgeny Kirichenko.

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

"There were two commissions. The first investigation in hot pursuit was carried out in 1945-46, the second - in the 70-80s. The assault on the Reichstag took place over two days. Alexei Berest's group, which included Yegorov, Kantaria and Samsonov, under cover of fire, broke through to the exit to the roof of the Reichstag deputy corps, and there set up a banner on the 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 (left to right), 1965

In 1965, on Victory Day, Yegorov and Kantaria with the Banner of Victory pass through Red Square. After that, the group of commander Sorokin conducts an examination of this flag.

"The scouts who survived achieved participation in the examination. They recognized this banner. Evidence of the feat of Bulatov and the Sorokin group is also the numerous filming of front-line cameramen. Roman Karmel made a film. There is 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 Yevgeny Kirichenko.

When Marshal Zhukov's memoirs are published in 1969, they immediately become a bestseller. In the part about Berlin - photos with Grigory Bulatov. Yegorov and Kantaria are not mentioned at all. Zhukov's book also ended up in the libraries of Bulatov's hometown - Slobodskaya. Neighbors considered him a criminal for many years.

“The story of rape and something else was fabricated. Shatilov personally came to Slobodskaya, tried to pull him out. .

This is also confirmed by a note in the divisional 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 set. But this note is quickly forgotten, however, like all heroes. Their life will not be showered with roses. Mikhail Yegorov will die in a car accident when he rushes to the neighboring village at the request of his friends in the Volga, which has 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 Aleksey Berest will die saving a girl from under the train. Yes, and Georgy Zhukov himself will soon be out of work soon after the Victory.

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

In the spring of 1945, Soviet soldiers storm the Reichstag again and again. The enemy fights with all his might. The news of Hitler's suicide on April 30 quickly flies around Berlin. The SS-sheep who take refuge in the Reichstag building do not count on the mercy of the winners, but they take floor after floor. Soon the whole roof of the Reichstag is in red banners. And who was the first - does it really matter. In a few days, the long-awaited peace will come.

"City information channel m24.ru", November 13, 2013 - April 16, 2014 - May 7, 2015