Echoes of War. 68 years of the Victory Banner Bashny.Net

Exactly 68 years ago, on April 30, 1945 over the Reichstag has its first red flag.
Red Victory Banner hoisted on the roof of the Reichstag became a symbol of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Officially, the banner of victory was hoisted over the Reichstag May 1, 1945, but the first red flag appeared on the roof of the German parliament has on 30 April. Let's take a closer look at the events of those days.

Tradition put up red flags emerged when the Soviet troops began to liberate occupied by the Nazis settlements.

October 6, 1944, Joseph Stalin at the ceremonial meeting of the Moscow Soviet, which was dedicated to the 27th anniversary of the October Revolution, said that the Red Army and the Soviet people successfully freed native land from "Hitler's evil," and then put before the Soviet soldiers the task to erect over Berlin Victory Banner .

April 9, 1945, when the Soviet Army were coming to Berlin, the management of armies of the 1st Byelorussian Front issued a decree on the need for the manufacture of red flags in each army advancing on Berlin.
via 24smi.org





First in the center of the German capital was the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Byelorussian Front. Its commander, Colonel-General Kuznetsov ordered to make 9 red flags corresponding to the number of divisions in the army. All flags are made of a material, produced one of the shops of Berlin, and a star with a hammer and sickle on them caused by hand using a stencil. It is interesting that initially no one thought over how the building is to be hoisted the red flag. Later, Joseph Stalin decided that the Victory Banner over the Reichstag should be hoisted.

Fierce fighting for the building of the German parliament began April 29, 1945. The first assault, which began April 30 morning, 171 th and 150 th Infantry Division under the command of Colonel Alexei indignant and Major-General Vasily Schatiloff respectively, was successfully repulsed a thousand German soldiers defending the Reichstag.



But the proximity of the long-awaited victory soldiers drove forward. After a long artillery barrage began at 13:30 of the second assault, after which the All-Union Radio has announced that at 14:25 was hoisted over the Reichstag Victory Banner. As the veteran of the Great Patriotic War Arkady Dementyev, the first red flag on the roof of the German parliament was raised Minin, Bobrov, Zagitovym and Lisimenko of 79 Infantry Corps.

But in fact, by the time Soviet troops had not yet captured the Reichstag, and were only able to get into the north-western part, and then go broke just individual groups of fighters.

A truly successful could be called only the third assault. During the fighting, which lasted until late at night, over the Reichstag there were two red flags. But the opportunity to hoist the flag of victory on the roof of the Reichstag appeared only after the Soviet troops completely occupied the parliament building. After midnight local time, soldiers of the Red Army, Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Alexey Berest Kantariya were ordered to hoist the flag of victory on the front of the main entrance of the Reichstag.

How to remember the participants in those events, after some time the soldiers returned depressed and said they could not find a way to the roof, but the commander of the 756 th Regiment Fyodor Zinchenko covered them with "a three-story mat" and sent to carry out combat missions. An hour later, when everything is already decided that Yegorov and Berest Kantariya died under the glass dome of the building observed three dancing figures, but they have not danced for joy, and to avoid the bullets. For example, at 3 am May 1, 1945 Victory Banner was hoisted over the Reichstag.

Day May 1, 1945 correspondent of the newspaper "Pravda" Victor Temin photographed a red flag on the roof of the Reichstag from the aircraft Po-2. The picture is scattered across dozens of the world's newspapers and magazines and has been awarded numerous awards, both in the USSR and abroad.



According to the agreement in effect between the Soviet Union and its allies, Berlin area, which used to house the Reichstag, was to be handed over to the UK, so the Victory Banner was shot, but instead in a solemn ceremony, Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria established a big red flag. It is believed that Kantariya was selected symbolically, because, like Joseph Stalin, he was Georgian.



There is a common misconception that carried the Victory Banner in the first Victory Parade, which was held in Moscow on June 24, 1945. Indeed, for this purpose trained special calculation znamenonostsev consisting of Egorov, Birch, Kantaria and Stepan Neustroeva. But they showed a low level of combat training, while Neustroeva altogether had five injuries, including damage to the feet, so decided to Georgy Zhukov Victory Banner Red Square did not make.

Now the real Victory Banner is stored in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. He is the keeper of World War II veteran Arkady Dementiev. It is placed in a special glass cube, which is supported by design, made in the form of guides for flights shells to rocket launchers "Katyusha". At the base of the structure is destroyed glass swastika, in which there are 20 thousand of German iron crosses, designed to reward the soldiers of Nazi Germany for the capture of Moscow.

Banner of Victory will forever remain a symbol of courage and heroism of our grandfathers in the Great Patriotic War.

That's all I wanted to say.



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