The tradition of placing the flag on the roof of the conquered settlements appeared in the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War.
The goal is to capture Berlin
October 6, 1944, Joseph Stalin delivered a report in which the main idea was that the Russian land was finally liberated from the Nazi invaders. Now the task of the Red Army is the complete defeat of the enemy army together with the troops of the allies. The goal was set - to hoist the flag of Victory over Berlin.
In 1945, for each army that was supposed to participate in the siege of Berlin, they made a red flag - the banner of Victory, as a result, one of them would probably have hit the top of the Reichstag. A star, a sickle and a hammer were applied to the red canvas. The artist V. Buntov applied them using stencils. On the night of April 22, the flags were issued to representatives of the divisions.
As you know, the flag of victory, which ended up on the dome of the Reichstag, is banner No. 5.
Making the Banner of Victory
G. Golikov, who at that time was the head of the army house of the Red Army, said that it was a great honor to make future banners of the Victory. True, I had to do without any special frills: asThe simplest kangaroo was chosen for the material, but the dimensions and shape were exactly the same as those of the national flag.
Sewed the future Victory flag of a woman with their caring hands. Tears flowed almost all the time, because everyone already understood in the subconscious that this terrible war should end very soon. The projectionist Gabov made numerous poles, for which curtain curtains were mainly used.
Initially, it was not known which flag and which building would need to be hoisted. A little later, Stalin himself said that the flag should be hoisted on the Reichstag building.
Storming Berlin
April 29, 1945, fierce battles take place near the Reichstag. This, the main thing for the Nazis, the building was defended by about a thousand people. The assault began on 30 April. It involves the 150th and 171st rifle divisions under the command of V. M. Shatilova and A. I. Resentment. The first assault attempt was met by the most powerful defense of the Germans. In the afternoon of the same day, the Red Army makes a second attempt.
This afternoon at 13:30 on the allied radio, a message appeared on the air that the Red Army had already hung the flag of Victory over the Reichstag. Of course, this was not true. Correspondents relied on the report of one of the unit commanders. In fact, at this point, Soviet troops had not yet completely captured the Reichstag, only separate groups managed to get inside the building. The command made a mistake by hastening things somewhat. Most likely, they just wanted to believe that their fighters had already managed to capture the key object.
The third attempt to capture the Reichstag was already successful, but the battles continued almost until nightfall. The result was that the Soviet troops managed to capture part of the building, the banners of the Red Army were installed in different places, and not only those prepared for the divisions were used, but also those made independently by the soldiers. At that moment, it became possible to install the Victory flag on the roof of the Reichstag.
Installing the flag on the roof of the Reichstag
On May 1, in the early morning, the Victory Banner was installed on the roof of the building. By the way, before that, Soviet troops had already set up three flags, but they were all destroyed when the Nazis shelled the roof of the Reichstag. From the dome of the building, only the frame remained, but the banner that Yegorov, Berest and Kantaria installed was not destroyed. As a result, the Victory flag appeared on the roof of the Reichstag, the photo went down in history. At first, the banner was installed on a column in front of the entrance to the captured building, but later Kantaria and Yegorov moved it to the roof. Climbing there became very risky, because the stairs were practically destroyed, and there were sharp shards of glass everywhere. Egorov even broke loose, but he was saved by a quilted jacket, which was caught on something. Soldiers Kantaria and Yegorov hoisted the banner of Victory, and Berest was ordered to cover his comrades from fire.
Transportation of the Banner of Victory home
Under an agreement with the Allies, Berlin became an occupied territoryGreat Britain, so the banner of Victory was removed from the roof of the Reichstag and replaced by a larger flag. It was necessary to deliver it to Moscow in order to hand it over to the great leader Stalin.
Before being sent home, the banner of Victory was stored alternately at the headquarters of several divisions, after which an order was given to deliver it to Moscow for the Victory parade. Seeing off the banner of Victory, accompanied by participants in the hoisting of the flag on the roof of the Reichstag, took place on June 20, 1945 at the airfield in Berlin.
It was assumed that the standard-bearer Neustroev would carry the banner of Victory, and Kantaria, Yegorov and Berest would accompany him, but the future standard-bearer already had five serious wounds, including his legs. Of course, the drill training of the soldiers was at a very low level, so Marshal Zhukov decided not to use banners from the dome of the Reichstag in the first Victory parade.
