Banner #5.

Written By Nikolay Yamskoy.
Translated from Russian by R.F. Mikael.

Available in LGZ N17-18, 25 April - 1 May, N19-20, 16 - 22 May 2001. www.lgz.ru

History has more than enough life-ruining falsehoods in the last accord of the Great Patriotic War - the storming of reichstag and raising the Victory Banner on top of it.
The falsehoods began from the Victory Banner itself, with its grossly overstated status over reality. This became clear to me after a conversation with a well-informed specialist, an artilleryman in the past, and presently an honourably discharged colonel, senior researcher at the Central Museum of the Armed Forces, Arkadiy Nikolaevich Dementev.
Here is the most important information from his interview:

“The Victory Banner was mentioned for the first time on November 6th 1944 in a speech by I. Stalin at the celebratory meeting of MosSoviet. Summing up the operations of the year, Supreme Commander called soviet warriors to ‘...finish off the fascist beast in his own lair and raise the Victory Banner over Berlin.’
The kind of the banner and the place it was to be raised were decided on April 9th 1945 at the meeting of senior political officers of the 1st Belorussian Front, which was about to capture Berlin. After consulting with G.K. Zhukov and receiving directives from Moscow, each division started preparing victory banners based on the Soviet state flag. Altogether, nine such flags were made in the 3rd Shock Army.
As it happened, spearheading the attach on reichstag were the elements of the 150th “Idritsk” Rifle Division commanded by major-general V. Shatilov. This division had the Banner #5, which was raised by M. Egorov and M. Kantariya.
But there were other banners as well, made directly in the units and elements which were storming reichstag. Not only the soldiers, but their commanders as well for the most part knew nothing about the banners of the army’s Military Soviet, which were kept somewhere in the divisional headquarters. The commanders were sure, and so the soldiers were told, that any banner raised the first would be the Victory Banner.
That is why everyone who ran forward with a flag believing that if he was the first, then his flag would become the one...”

The respected Arkadiy Nikolaevich told me many other interesting things. But even from the text above it is obvious that the initial arrangements made for the Victory Banner were bound to create great confusion, an avalanche of falsehoods and betrayed hopes for a lot of soldiers.

Fascinating Descriptions and Prosaic Numbers.

Us journalists have also contributed to the confusion among the historians and descendants. Almost half a century now the documentary prose is full of fictional descriptions of the capture of the fascist lair. In these stories “tens of thousands of troops, eagerly await the order to begin the assault;” “hundreds of gun barrels aimed at reichstag” and even many “fired at it directly;” “young fanatical hitlerjugends threw themselves upon our tanks.”
In reality, if we look into the 5th volume of the six-volume “History of the Great Patriotic War,” a total of 89 artillery pieces were used in the barrage before the decisive assault on reichstag, mostly firing from concealed positions. Only a few guns were able to fire directly. These were a few forty-five millimetre guns and about ten M-31 rockets, all of which were carried onto the first and second floors of the ministry of the interior building (“Himmler’s House”).
Neither tanks, nor self-propelled guns were present in front of reichstag. Instead, it was the enemy who fought from well-concealed positions and shot right through the King’s Square with his anti-aircraft guns, set up specifically to target ground targets.
Moreover, all across the square a tank trap was prepared - the open air metro line was flooded by the enemy. Two of our tanks that appeared on the King’s Square on April 30th never even reached this “channel” tank trap.
One of them was knocked out with a panzerfaust. The other one was out of action already in the morning when it fell underground about ten meters from the Swiss embassy.

Battalions Request Fire.

Because all the writers love large-scale combat scenes, the readers missed the fact that reichstag was stormed not by two divisions (150th and 171st) and not even by their regiments (756th, 674th, 380th), but by their elements who were at the tip of the spearhead - just three hastily reinforced battalions.
After long stubborn street-fighting, the units were highly reduced in manpower. The lightest casualties were among the artillerymen. That is why, when it was decided to strengthen the assault with two independent units - storm groups. These groups were made from the volunteers primarily among artillery scouts.
I. Syanov’s company, which was assigned to the battalion of Captain S. Neustroev, towards the evening of April 30th also was reinforced from “scratch” - mainly from soldiers returning from hospitals and liberated POW’s. These replacements raised the battalion’s personnel level to the TOE figures.
On the morning of April 30th, when the fighting over buildings of the Swiss embassy and “Himmler’s House” were over, the disposition was as follows.
In the centre, from “Himmler’s House” were the “shatilovtsy”: battalions of S. Neustroev and V. Davydov. Between them was the storm group of V. Makov aimed at the enemy’s lair itself. More to the left was another battalion from the 171st division of the 3rd Shock Army. This battalion was commanded by Senior Lieutenant N. Samsonov and had the second storm group under the command of Major M. Bondar.
Thus, three battalions and two storm groups; no tanks; and not “hundreds”, but fewer than one hundred artillery pieces. Understandably, the first attempt to take reichstag from the run was unsuccessful.
The following daytime fighting did not accomplish anything either...

How Zhukov Corrected Himself.

Then all of a sudden - a miracle! The Front’s headquarters received the following message from the commander of the 3rd Shock Army: reichstag was taken. Here is how this was described by Marshal Zhukov in the first edition of his book “Memories and Reflections” quarter of a century later:
“Commander V. I. Kuztetzov personally watched over this historic event and constantly kept us informed.
At about 1500 on 30th of April he called me and cheerfully reported:
- There is a Red Banner on top of reichstag! Hurrah, comrade Marshal!”

This report, passing through the chain of command, quickly reached Moscow. From there I.Stalin sent his congratulations.
Without any delay the Military Council of the 1st Belorussian Front issued the congratulationary Order #06. The report stated: “The forces of Colonel-General Kuznetzov’s 3rd Shock Army... captured reichstag building and today, 30th of April 1945 at 1425 raised on its top the Soviet Flag. During the fighting over the region and the main reichstag building especially distinguished itself Major-General Perevertkin’s 79th Rifle Corps with its 171st Rifle Division of Colonel Negoda and 150th Rifle Division of Major-General Shatilov.”

At the same time something was happening at King’s Square in front of reichstag that subsequently forced Zhukov to reedit a few lines in his book - the time when the banner was raised and when the joyful report was received was shifted for full seven hours!

“Reichstag is Taken. Prepare for the Assault!”

The unpleasant truth which, apparently, had not been revealed to Zhukov right away was that at 1425 (local time) there were no Soviet soldiers in reichstag. The storm groups, without raising their heads, were lying under the dense fire of the enemy.
How could this happen - the answer was known to the military historian for a long time now. It is much harder to inform the general public.
Here is how this confusion is explained in the memoirs of F. Zinchenko, the commander of the 756th’s Regiment (in it was Neustroev’s battalion), “All the blame belongs to hurried and unchecked reports. The troops, pinned down before reichstag, several times stood up and broke through individually or in groups. Apparently, it appeared to one of the commanders that even if his soldiers had not reached the goal, there were very close to it... You see, everybody wanted to be the first so much!...”

Unsurprisingly - and it is understandable - one of those who not only “wanted” but also to whom it “appeared” was F. Zinchenko himself. Later this wish, unfortunately, took on an epidemic scale covering even the high command.

The most negative and far reaching consequences were of the report made from V.Shatilov’s 150th division to the headquarters of the 79th Corps, sent first by phone and later in writing as well. Here is the first phrase from that report: “Reporting at 1425 30.04.45, having crushed enemy’s resistance to the North-West of reichstag, the 1/756 RR and 1/674 RR took by a storm reichstag building and raised on its south wing’s top the red banner...”

Much is explained by another episode from Zinchenko’s memoirs concerning Shatilov’s phone call at 1500:
Shatilov: “-Why are you not reporting that your men are already in reichstag?
-Neither ours, nor men from other regiments are present in reichstag, - I answered him. - Battalions are lying 150m in front of it.
-What do you mean? General Perevertkin (commander of 79th Corps) reported that 380th Rifle Regiment entered reichstag at 1420, and blamed for wasting too much time in front of it instead of clearing it.”
Next Zinchenko explains the real disposition and asks for artillery support.
And then - I quote this - Shatilov asks:
“-But what if there really are our men inside it?
-There are none, comrade general.
-Good, 15-minute artillery barrage is allowed. Begin at 1815. Prepare for the assault.”

However, even after the barrage at 1815 expected results were not achieved. With all the available fire the enemy was driven inside reichstag. But the enemy still did not allow to get near it.

Meanwhile the Order #06 was being read in the units including in the battalions of Shatilov’s division. There this order had a disheartening impression on the soldiers.

“...and to death - only four steps”

Towards the evening the good news of reichstag’s capture was spread by Moscow radio. Foreign broadcasters immediately spread the news all over the world.
In Berlin it had become evident that realistically our soldiers could get into reichstag only after dark.
At that moment the most important role was that of Captain V. Makov’s storm group made up of artillery-scouts of the 136th Army “Rzhetz” Redbanner Artillery Brigade. Most of these volunteers were experienced in combat, acted well in unsual situations, were well-armed and dressed, and had radios to commucate with their commanders.
During the day at a high risk to his life one of these soldiers, Senior Sergeant G. Zagitov, managed to sneak close to the “channel” and find a place, where several large pipes and columns bridged over the water. It was possible for the soldiers to cross the channel by this path.
At 2200 after a half-hour barrage, when under the cover of darkness the battalions attacked, soldiers from Captain V. Makov’s storm group knew exactly where to go. The first to cross the channel were four soldiers: Sergeants Giya Zagitov, Aleksandr Lisimenko, Aleksey Bobrov and Mikhail Minin. The last one of the four carried the actual banner. Under his leather jacket he carried two sheets: the flag from his artillery brigade and the banner, which together with the order to set it up on top of reichstag, was sent from I. Krylov’s 79th Corps. Besides the flags, Minin, just like the rest of the soldiers, carried in a pocket the last cartridge and the last letter home. Knowing that he was going on truly the last mission, everybody wrote the last letter right beforae assembling. By a soldierly custom, the survivor was to send the letters to the families of the fallen.

“We are Charging To The Top, Not One Step Backwards!”

By they succeeded to cheat death.

Soon after 2200 V. Makov’s group together with other soldiers reached the main entrance on the western side of reichstag. The central two-sided door was locked. A simple solution was quickly found by G. Zagitov. He found some log and, together with A. Lisimenko and other soldiers, promptly started ramming the door. Giya Zagitov and the log were the first ones to fly into the darkness of reichstag...
While the others were ramming the door, Mikhail Minin with the help of A. Bobrov set up one of the flags near the main entrance. Other soldiers set up their flags nearby as well.
Driven by the barrage into the deep cellars the enemy was slow to emerge and engage our soldiers. Our troops easily and almost without casualties infiltrated into the building. Taking advantage of the situation, V. Makov ordered the same “four” of G. Zagitov, A. Lisimenko, A. Bobrov, M. Minin, to charge to the top of the building. Makov himself, S. Neustroev and his battalion remained to clear the first floor.
Next I would like to briefly present the tale told by the only member of that incredible “four” surviving to our day, Mikhail Petrovich Minin:

“Running in front was Giya Zagitov, who had a flashlight with him. That flashlight helped us to pass through the damaged stairs. All the corridors linked to the stairs were cleared by grenades and long submachinegun bursts.
Right before reaching the attic I tore a one and half meter pipe off the wall to serve as a flagpole. After reaching the spacious attic, we faced the problem of getting to the roof. Again G. Zagitov found a solution - with his flashlight he noticed in the darkness a heavy winch and two chains going to the top. We climbed the chains and then through a tiny window got out to the roof somewhere on the western side of the building. There near a barely noticeable column Zagitov and I began setting up our Red Banner. Suddenly an explosion lighted up the roof and Lisimenko found our old reference-point - a sculpture of a bronze horse and a large woman in a crown. It was immediately decided to set the banner on the sculpture.
The guys raised me onto the horse’s back which shook from the explosions, and then I fixed the banner right in the crown of the bronze giantess.
We checked the time. It was 2240 local time.”

A new day had already come in Moscow.

Leadership Race: The Leaders and The Followers.

After climbing to the roof himself, V. Makov promptly reported on the radio to the commander of 79th Corps, Major-General S. Perevertkin.
“Comrade General, - he happily yelled into the receiver. - My boys were the first to raise a red banner on top of reichstag into the crown of some naked whore!”

Fighting continued inside the building, and the “four” several times took part in defense against fascist counterattacks. Zagitov received a bad injury. The bullet, as was later discovered, passed in one centimetre from the heart, penetrated through the party membership card and the “For Valour” medal ribbon. After receiving first aid from Sasha Lisimenko, Zagitov refused to go to the infirmary and stayed with the others, and during rare moments of calm he even managed to climb three times to the roof and guard the banner...

During one of those moments of calm, precisely at 1200 at night (or, how it was noted in the 380th regiment’s log, at two in the morning Moscow time), Senior Lieutenant K. Samsonov’s battalion together with Major M. Bondar’s storm group entered reichstag. M. Minin asked M. Bondar, who was a headquarter officer, to certify the fact that V. Makov’s troops raised the first Red Banner on top of reichstag. Together with the sergeant M. Bondar, escorted by two banner-bearers, they followed the “four’s” route to the top. There, at the rear leg of the bronze horse, the major ordered his own flag to be raised as well.

Well after midnight the commander of the 756th Rifle Regiment Colonel Zinchenko arrived at reichstag. He entered the building with a large group of submachine-gunners and immediately addressed S. Neustroev:
“Where are the banner-bearers with the Army Military Council’s flag?”

Neustroev could not answer anything. After finding out that the bearers with the flag are still in the headquarter bunker near “Himmler’s House,” Zinchenko ordered to quickly bring them into reichstag, and asked Neustroev to “facilitate the raising.” Afterwards, Zinchenko returned back to “Himmler’s House.”

“And soon, - S. Neustroev writes in his memoir’s, - two scouts ran into the hallway, they were Sergeant Egorov and Junior Sergeant Kantariya.”

How long exactly “soon” took, Neustroev does not elaborate. Obviously, it happened already after Colonel’s departure. Also, it was clearly full three-four hours after Makov’s “four” raised their own banner.

Neustroev put Lieutenant A. Berest in charge of the newly arrived scouts and their Banner #5. They were escorted by several troops from Syanov’s company. In the early hours of May 1st this whole procession lead by M. Egorov and M. Kantariya climbed to the roof and on its eastern side fixed the banner to the sculpture of a knight - Kaiser Wilhelm.

Fortune smiled on these men. The Germans slackened their fire at that time. Moreover, the situation stabilized to such a level that by five o’clock in the morning Captain Makov’s group was ordered to exit reichstag.

Persuasive Lieutenant Berest.

After arriving to the Corps headquarters, Makov promptly reported to Corps Commander Perevertkin. Having seen that general, Makov happily informed his troops:
“Commander is very happy with our actions. He ordered to prepare all “four” and myself to receive the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union, and all the other members of the storm group to the Order of Lenin.

Meanwhile, fighting started again in reichstag.

Reichstag caught fire. Battalion Commander S. Neustroev and other commanders decided not to abandon the building but to fight slowly retreating room by room. Bloody hand-to-hand combat raged in the hallways and on the stairs. During the night from May 1st to 2nd S. Neustroev’s battalion alone lost 180 troops killed or wounded.

But the enemy too was exhausted. Being completely blocked in the cellars, Germans decided to negotiate. They had only one condition - they would talk only to a General, or at least a Colonel. The highest ranking officer among our troops was a Major though. A Colonel was created on the spot: A. Berest was given the best leather coat, a cap, some extra medals. A “translator” was also found, and S. Neustroev himself went as an adjutant to find out Germans’ situation.

This envoy risked a lot because Germans were clearly near a nerve breakdown and could have shot anybody. But our troops remained confident. Especially convincing was A. Berest: “Capitulate - we will save your lives! No - in two-three hours we will bomb you to the devil!”

At 0620 in the morning of May 2nd 1945 the enemy threw out a white flag.

This was Victory!

“Soldiers Surrender Towns. Generals Take Them.”

This story could have easily ended with only a few complex circumstances of reichstag’s capture and the raising the Victory Banner.

It could if the commanders, who made the mistake of prematurely reporting reichstag’s capture, admitted their wrongs. It could if the higher ranking officers were interested in the truth. If that happened, then history would not have to be reviewed today.

Yes, it was not the specially prepared banner of 3rd Shock Army’s Military Council that was raised first on top of reichstag. And not the selected men ran at the front of the storm group and raised the banner over the German parliament building. And no, all this did not take place in the “hot” 1425 April 30th 1945, as hastily reported by commanders. But it was much later, during the night of May 1st, in a time of relative calm, when the situation did not ask the selected men of any fighting skill or heroism.

Instead, all these qualities were required of the Makov’s “four” several hours before the arrival of M. Egorov and M. Kantariya. It was the “four” who were first.

And what of the Banner #5?

Undoubtedly, this banner could have received proper attention. It would have been acceptable, for example, to raise it after the German garrison’s capitulation in a special ceremony. A parade could have been organized with all the participants, reporters and cameramen. There could have been other ways to present this banner as a symbol of the national victory, to which not only the units who stormed reichstag were carrying their own banners through fire and blood.

Most importantly, the first should have been deservingly left as the first. The second could have been called among the first. The third - the distinguished participants of the ceremony, also not the last people in history. And everybody - according to particular actions and actual deeds.

But then, those who in May 1945 decided how exactly our history should be, would have to overcome many challenges. Among such challenges were poor understanding of subordination, ugly urge to hide commander’s sins, and even the risk to undermine one’s career, to lose a well-deserved award. In Moscow it was already being decided who among the commanders fighting in Berlin would be awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

Commanders passed through “fire and water,” unafraid to stare in death’s eyes, readily retreated before the “copper pipes” and possible rage of an unintentionally mislead chief. In other words, another approach was chosen. This choice lead to a long soldierly drama, in which some - solely by the will from the above - suddenly rose to the peaks of glory, while others, to whom glory belonged by deed and by right, for many years were “missing in action”...

Storming Reichstag, Missing In Action.

The heroes are where the banner is. In the afternoon of May 2nd 1945, when not even full twenty four hours passed since Reichstag’s fall, tens of flags, banners, colours and even red ribbons were flying everywhere on the building...

Which one of them was raised first? By whom?

To find the answers from the award recommendations, which since May 1st were steadily channeled from numerous headquarters of the 3rd Army’s units, was extremely difficult. In those recommendations everybody raised a flag and, of course, everybody was the first, therefore, claiming the Hero’s Golden Star.

Unsurprisingly, initially the names of M. Egorov and M. Kantariya were not among the recommendations. Even the commander of 150th division V. Shatilov, who had the actual Banner #5 with these two soldiers, at first avoided mentioning their names.

Thus, in his written report of May 2nd 1945 to the commander of the 79th Corps General S. Perevertkin, Shatilov mentions onlya “group of hotshots from 756th regiment,” who “at 1345 30.04.45" raised “a banner at the first floor on the south-western edge of reichstag.”

The corps commander S. Perevertkin was not obsessed about names either. He did not mention either artillery scouts of captain V. Makov’s storm group, nor about his own corps’ flag raised first on top of reichstag. General himself was more interested in the Banner #5. At his own command in the afternoon of May 2nd M. Egorov and M. Kantariya moved that banner from the knight sculpture, where it was fixed at night of May 1st, to reichstag’s cupola. During this risky climb on the twisted reinforcements M. Egorov slipped and would have died if his jacket did not catch on to something...

Exactly a week later Perevertkin ordered the banner to be replaced with a copy. Explaining his actions to the Military Council he wrote the following report on 9.05.45: “The banner, raised on Reichstag on April 30th 1945, I ask Marshal of the Soviet Union Comrade Zhukov, to be handed over to a delegation of the 1st Belorussian Front, 3rd Army and 79th Corps so that this Victory Banner be presented to our great leader and beloved marshal Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin.”

It appears, that the 79th Corps’ commander’s initiative did not receive praise. Nonetheless, the title of the Victory Banner was firmly attached to the Banner #5. And how else could it be? It was created by the 3rd Army’s Military Council itself!

Afterwards, the problem of who was first to raise which flag, without further complications, was quickly resolved: whoever was near the banner is the hero.

Not by chance, Colonel F. Zinchenko acutely aware of the situation followed M. Egorov’s recommendation by another one for M. Kantariya. By the way, he did it violating the procedure: he sent it straight to the army headquarters with only his own signature, bypassing his own divisional and corps commanders.

The only inconsistency that remained was exactly where and when the banner was raised. But 3rd Army’s high command had a reserved answer with the date “1425 30.04.45" invented by themselves as well.

Yes! This time of “capturing reichstag with a red flag on the cupola” did not correspond to reality. But it was precisely this time that was recorded in the Order #6 to the soldiers of the 1st Belorussian Front.

And under that order was the signature of Marshal G. Zhukov...

Paper Miracles.

Not everything was clear for the marshal himself, though. Glancing over the documents, in which the time of raising varied between “1425" and nothing at all, and where the banners were raised all over reichstag, G. Zhukov hardened his face and ordered: nobody is to be awarded the Hero until it has been clarified who exactly deserves it.

As a result of Zhukov’s order, until the situation has been clarified, on May 18th 1st Belorussian Front awarded everybody the Red Banner Order. Among the awarded were the commanders of the three battalions near reichstag, Makov’s “four,” and other troops from the the two storm groups with their commanders (Makov and Bondar), as well as Sorokin’s scouts.

By a separate order, issued by 3rd Army a day later, the Red Banner order was awarded to M. Egorov and M. Kantariya.

The uniqueness of these two soldiers was underlined further twelve days later, in the last days of May. The army’s high command promptly issued new award orders for the same M. Egorov and M. Kantariya. Unlike the first batch, expedited by colonel Zinchenko to a week-long processing, the second batch of award orders traveled from the colonel to the commander of the 3rd Shock Army Colonel-General V. Kuznetsov in just one single day - May 31st 1945. And this happened in spite of the fact that after the army exited from Berlin, the headquarters were separated by tens of kilometers.

But the most surprising thing about these hasty orders was their content. According to the first batch of orders, Meliton Varlamovich Kantariya was in the Red Army “since December 1st 1944;” participated in active combat “since January 4th 1945;” “Was lightly wounded on 15.01.45.” “Had no awards.” In the “Personal Heroid Deed” section had “Was first to raise the Red banner over Berlin.”

Compare this information to what was written in the second award order, the recommendation for the title of the Hero. In Red Army - “since December 1941,” (the last 4 was corrected literally by hand into 1). At the same time “entered combat,” “suffered three wounds (15.02.42; 01.08.42; 18.05.44);” “earned the Red Banner Order.” And, together with Egorov, “accomplished a heroic deed - crawled to reichstag, unfolded the Red banner, and at 2130 raised it on the 2nd floor, and then at 2200 on the cupola of reichstag.”

Quite a miracle!

Both documents are now in the Central archive of the Defense Ministry. Which one of them is closer to reality is a subject of a special investigation, though.

For me the most staggering is this: how could 150th division’s commander V. Shatilov sign all this? Why, was it not, as according to his own reports, that reichstag was taken and the banner raised well before 2200?

Time To Share Glory and Bury Promises.

Nevertheless, neither the confused about numbers V. Shatilov; nor S. Perevertkin who personally promised Makov’s “four” hero stars and eternal glory; nor V. Kuznetsov who signed “Deserved” first under the names of the “four” and a week later under M. Egorov and M. Kantariya names, had to remember any of this anymore.

Everything was already decided and written. Since then in the history of the Great Patriotic War had place only for “right heroes, who raised the right flag at the right time.”

All that remained was to complete the overall picture and put a period at the end this historic chapter.

The first task was quickly and enthusiastically completed by the political department.

On June 3rd 1945 the head of 3rd Army’s political department, colonel Lisitsyn sent to the 1st Belorussian Front a report in which the events of raising the “right” banner was epitomized. According to that story, “among the lead attackers were the soldiers from senior sergeant Syanov’s company,” Neustroev and his troops “beat Germans in a deadly battle,” “while the soldiers from the 1st company junior sergeant Kantariya Meliton Varlamovich, Egorov Mikhail Alekseevich and lieutenant Berest Aleksey Prokopevich fought their way to the cupola...and raised there the Victory Banner.”

“Thus, at 1425 of April 30th a red banner - the Victory Banner was raised over Berlin by our brave troops.”

...K. Samsonov’s battalion was not forgotten either, which, as it then turned out, did not enter reichstag - as was noted in its logbook - at midnight local time, but instead “simultaneously with Neustroev’s battalion entered reichstag.” “Battalion commander himself - writes colonel Lisitsyn, - was among the first to enter and asked his soldiers - ‘Warriors! The whole world is looking at us. It is our honor’s duty to be the first in reichstag! Forward, to victory!”

“Moscow. Kremlin...”

The story was finished by Kremlin on the first anniversary of the Victory. In May 1946 USSR’s Supreme Council awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union to a whole group of soldiers who took part in capturing reichstag and raising the Victory Banner.

Of course, M. Egorov and M. Kantariya were among the recipients.

But Captain V. Makov and his “four” - G. Zagitov, M. Minin, A. Lisimenko and A. Bobrov were totally forgotten: their heroic deed simply did not fit the subsequently created story.

Instead the Golden Star was awarded to eight people from the second storm group commanded by Major M. Bondar. M.Bondar was that same Major whom at midnight of May Junior Sergeant Minin lead to reichstag’s roof to show the first flag raised by the “four.” Back then Bondar ordered to fix his own flag nearby. But according to the award recommendations, they “were first to climb the sculpture... and raise the Soviet flag over reichstag.” Most importantly, unlike the “four,” they did it at the “right time” - at 1425 of 30.04.45.

Overall, the situation, in which still alive men were judged not according to their actions, but to roles determined from the top, lead to a series of bizarre and illogical results.

Deservedly the Hero was awarded to V. Neustroev, whose battalion together with V. Davydov’s battalion fought the most in reichstag. But why together with him his personal assistant Lieutenant A. Berest was not awarded is still unknown. It was precisely A. Berest, who while being seriously wounded, refused to exit combat and subsequently proved himself during the risky negotiations in reichstag’s cellar.

Why the command did not favor A. Berest is even more puzzling because it was him personally who during the night of May 1st expedited the mission of M. Egorov and M. Kantariya.

Apparently, A. Berest was not favored precisely because he witnessed the true events in reichstag.

Berest, by the way, did not elaborate much about these events after the war.

K. Samsonov was treated completely differently. Deservedly, neither him, nor his unit was denied the awards. But why did the historians have to “transfer” M. Egorov and M. Kantariya from their own 756th Regiment to Samsonov’s 38th Battalion is another interesting question. Perhaps, this was most convenient for the scenarists of the Main Political Department. All three of these men have traveled extensively after the war and told their stories. And in 1965, at the parade dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Victory, the same three men carried the Banner #5 on the Red Square.

Decades Without The Right Of Being Themselves.

M. Egorov and M. Kantariya, to their credit, ten years after this parade wrote about Captain V. Makov’s “four” in their “Victory Banner” brochure. They admitted that they were far from the first ones to raise a flag.

Few have read that short book though. The country knew its heroes from mass media and memoirs published by millions of copies.

...The truth emerged only sixteen years after the Victory - in November 1961. It happened because of the initiative of several historians who were completing the fifth volume of the six-volume “History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union in 1941-1945.”

That year almost all the participants of those events met in Moscow for two days. Invited were M. Minin, A. Lisimenko of the “four,” and V. Makov himself. Their testimonies and those of other participants, had clarified beyond doubt what actually was happening in those days in reichstag. The overwhelming evidence even forced V. Shatilov, who initially energetically defended the “1425" scenario, to make several admissions that totally refuted his initial account. Historian I.D. Klimov even loudly proclaimed: “That is exactly how you, Vasily Mitrofanovich, should have started your story yesterday evening!”

It seemed that the truth would soon reach the masses, and Makov’s “four” would no longer need to live with made up biographies constanstly aching for the truth.

Not surprisingly, though, already after the meeting a wise I.D. Klimov personally warned M. Minin: “Be ready for a long and difficult struggle for the truth.”

He was right. A short mention of Makov’s “four” in the new six-volume book, and the “corrected” compromised time of reichstag’s fall “at 1800 30.04.45" was all that resulted from that breakthrough in November.

Afterwards, sad times followed, the things were supposedly called by their own names, but the society still did not know anything, and the discourses of power have not changed.

A few grains of the truth sipped through the newspapers in the 1970's but met no serious response. In the 1980's a sensational report prepared by the Ministry of Defense’s Institute of Military History was lost in obscurity in the pages of a multivolume edition. Only two resolutions - “reject” and “no basis for appellation” - followed the repeated requests of the veterans in the early 1990's to the Ministry of Defense of the USSR and then the Russian Federation to award the Hero title to Makov and his “four.”

Others continued to be the heroes. The younger generations by now knew only such cliches that the banner-bearers did not back down when “Kantariya’s cap was shot through,” and “Egorov’s pants were shot.” Nobody knew anything about the bullet that really did pass a centimetre from the heart of the Senior Sergeant Giya Zagitov, who truly was the first one to enter reichstag and together with his friends to raise the flag on still resisting reichstag...

About the “Classified” Lives.

...At that meeting in November 1961 out of the “four” and Makov himself only three men were present. The two others did not make it.

The valiant Giya Zagitov was the first one to die in 1953. He died in a weird, absurd and tragic accident. After the war he returned home, to Bashkiriya. He worked as a clerk at a moto-caterpillar station. On yet another trip he rode standing in a truck’s rear bed with his raincoat flying in the wind. Then, according to one rumor, a strong wind blew him off the truck. According to another rumor, he hit some wire that was hanging over the road...

The name of the second person missing at the meeting - Aleksey Bobrov - most tried not to remember. By that time he had already served time in jail. After returning home to Leningrad, Bobrov worked in an urban collective enterprise. He was imprisoned “for assaulting his supervisor” - the latter had offended Bobrov verbally, and for that, the former scout, threw an inkstand at him.

After serving his term in jail, Bobrov tried to return to a normal life. Unfortunately, he started drinking and soon afterwards died. His military awards, probably, are still kept in the museum of School #30, which he attended as a teen.

In the late 1970's V. Makov also lost his last battle. He started drinking and indecently behaving himself when drunk. Some say for this “amoral” behavior, some say he returned his membership card himself, but the simple fact was that Makov was thrown out of the Communist Party. Then his family fell apart. All that remained was a small apartment in Zheleznodorozny, a small town near Moscow. The heroic past was too far. Together with it were the friends, also lost by Makov himself. In his last days he had nobody close to call for help.

Makov was found dead in his empty flat in March 1978, four days after he died. He was lying face down with one hand stretched out to the phone.

They Were Lied to, They Were Betrayed, and By That They Were Killed.

A terrible coincidence: almost all the direct participants of reichstag’s capture, ignored in history by the will of the commanders, while having different post-war lives, still had a similar untimely and tragic endings to their lives.

Aleksandr Lisimenko quickly found himself in the post-war world. He worked at top positions at several factories in Klintsy, a town near Bryansk, even had some party duties. In the family album there is a photo made in 1966 during Yuri Gagarin’s visit. On that photo the first cosmonaut of the Earth is addressing an audience from the platform. Behind him are the “founding fathers” of the town. Lisimenko is almost lost between two tall figures. Had Gagarin knew the truth, I think, he would have been honored to stand next to such a man...

The former Guards Sergeant Sasha Lisimenko lived quietly with his secret and his pain. He lived until he got tuberculosis. Later cancer was discovered and... another soldier was killed, but not by enemy bullets, but by somebody’s shining vanity and calculated lying.

Already after Lisimenko’s death, his wife Valentina sent to Sasha’s wartime friend Ivanov a letter. In that letter she included the copies of two award recommendations for M. Kantariya - those same ones that were invented in May 1945. Valentina wrote that in his last years, Sasha was struggling over one question: Who was Kantariya? This question’s implications are all too obvious. M. Kantariya was born in 1920. All the men of this age group were called into the Red Army in June-July of 1941.

According to the first form, whose genuineness was beyond doubt for Sasha, M. Kantariya was at the front only in January 1945. Where was this man, whom the press called “seasoned soldier who fought from the Baltics to Berlin,” while his comrades were fighting four years?

Who else but Sasha Lisimenko, born in 1922, had the right to answer this question. Sasha himself volunteered to the front in the first months of the war. G. Zagitov, M. Minin, A. Bobrov did the same and fought alongside Aleksandr from the beginning to the end of the war.

Of course, Lisimenko knew the answer to this question. He had shared it with his wife Valentina. Unsurprisingly, she ended her letter with the words: “All that is past. And it all will remain as it is. But a heavy residue is still left on one’s heart from all the lies of high and low ranks.”

The Bitterness of the Long-Awaited Victory.

Today only one of Makov’s “four” is still alive - Mikhail Petrovich Minin.

Although life was also bitter, hard and unjust to him, this old soldier had overcome everything.

After the war he was a newspaper editor in Pskov. Later moved to Leningrad, studied in an institute and worked at a factory. He then returned to the army, finished the Military-Engineer Academy of Kuybyshev in Moscow, earned the rank of a Major. In 1969 he was discharged for the second time and worked in an institute in Voronezh.

Today he is a pensioner, and lives in Pskov. His small flat is full of books, documents, letters - all evidence of the long struggle for the historical truth.

In his struggle, this old veteran approached most about everybody. “Ministry of Propaganda,” “General Headquarters,” “Institute of Military History,” “Military-Historical Journal,” “Communist Party Central Committee,” “Personally to Comrade Brezhnev,” - these are just a few names which Minin wanted to listen, to care and to investigate.

In 1959 he made an appointment to see the former commander of the 79th Corps S. Perevertkin - who after the war became Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs. Minin wanted if not to talk, then at least look him in the eye. He did not see the eyes under the thick eyebrows, though. What he heard from the Deputy Minister was full of irritation and annoyance: who are you and how long can this story be bothered?

The same “who are you” and “how long” attitudes can be recognized in all the replies received by Mikhail Petrovich. Both back in the day, and even today in present times.

Truly, as said in a classic song, “there are no prophets in our Homeland.” In April 1999 film-makers from the British BBC invited M.P. Minin to Berlin to take part in a new documentary on the war. The makers of the documentary wanted to hear the story of one of the few surviving veterans who captured reichstag and carried the Victory Banner. They filmed Mikhail Petrovich on the background of the redesigned Reichstag with the preserved autographs of our soldiers. They also filmed his meeting with the only two survivors from the other side who defended reichstag as well. They, by the way, confirmed that during the day of April 30th 1945 there still were no Soviet soldiers inside the building...

Anyways, these facts were known abroad for a long time. And with the help of this documentary foreigners will only be reminded of this story.

But here at home, even if somebody sees the film, few will be surprised. That is simply because too much in our country has remained the same as fifty years ago. The public mind is still dominated by old myths and propaganda cliches.

Silently and immovably, just like the soldiers in unmarked mass graves, tons of classified documents are resting in the endless archives. Only rarely does the historic truth come from a few informed people, only partially is it delivered in rare publications.

All of us live in a country where the discourses of power still have priority, and ideology is incomparably more important than the truth and the people.

That is why even in peacetime our heroes are recognized only posthumously. We almost always meet the joy of seldom and hard victories with tears in our eyes.

P.S. The author, Nikolay Yamskoy, is thankful to the workers of the Central Museum of the Armed Forces, above all to the Senior Research Worker A.N. Dementev for his help in writing this article.