Who really was the first to hoist the flag over the Reichstag? Who is hiding the truth and why? Who benefits from falsehood?

"Days pass, but year after year
Like takeoff, like a bridge to the future
Your feat is in the memory of the people
Stands up to his full mighty height.

You walked forward with an iron step,
Throwing away sleep, forgetting peace,
And over the burning Reichstag
The flag was erected by your hand."

/Alexey Surkov/

“On 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 intelligence officers burst into the Reichstag: V. Provatorov, G. Bulatov. They fixed the flag on the pediment. The flag was immediately noticed by soldiers lying under enemy fire in the square.” Meliton Kantaria

“Kantaria came to Grigory Bulatov and asked for forgiveness. He said in an interview that the first were intelligence officers Sorokin and Grisha Bulatov,” recalls Kirichenko.

On the picture- reconnaissance platoon of the 674th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Idritsa Infantry Division: Pravotorov, Oreshko, Pachkovsky, Lysenko, Gibadulin, Bryukhovetsky, commander S. Sorokin. Ahead is a 19 year old - Grigory Bulatov - Warrior and Hero, who received what he deserved only after death..

On April 30, 1945, the All-Union radio reported that at 14:25 the Victory Banner was hoisted over the Reichstag. Later, this message will be called “untrue”, and it will not go down in history. “... Lieutenant Sorokin, together with private Grigory Bulatov, on April 30, under hurricane fire from the Germans, climbed onto the roof of the Reichstag and hoisted the banner.” Roman Carmen

The fact is that Carmen arrived at the Reichstag for filming on May 2 and asked: “Who was first?” Everyone pointed to young Grisha Bulatov. Carmen called Bulatov for filming, and his commander Sorokin and several other people from another group went with him.

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

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

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

Famous photograph

The photo shows the official "Victory Banner". At first, the homemade Banner did not have a hammer or sickle. An insert made of a different material is visible at the bottom of the flag. This was a ribbon cut to the middle, divided into several pieces - the scouts kept it as a souvenir...

Initially, the Victory Banner should have looked like this. But it turned out to be impossible to deliver it to Berlin. Therefore, several banners are hastily produced. This is the same banner that was removed from the Reichstag and delivered to Moscow in the summer of 1945, on the eve of the Victory Parade. It is exhibited in the Museum of the Armed Forces, under it is a defeated eagle that adorned the Reich Chancellery and a pile of silver fascist crosses made by order of Hitler for the capture of Moscow. The banner itself is a little torn. At one time, some soldiers managed to tear off a piece from it, as a souvenir. “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 canopy are of an unknown type, they were made from ordinary curtains, this is an assault flag,” says Vladimir Afanasyev. At the famous Victory Parade on June 24, 1945, by the way, filmed on good quality trophy film, the assault flag is not visible. According to the recollections of some front-line soldiers, they did not allow Kantaria and Yegorov into the square, because everyone knew that they were not the ones who raised that flag. According to others, it went like this:

“On June 22 there was a dress rehearsal. Egorov and Kantaria were supposed to carry, they did not keep up with the music, they rushed forward, Marshals Zhukov and Rokossovsky did not allow them,” says Afanasiev. Most likely, the Marshal of Victory knew the truth and simply removed them from participating in the Parade.

According to archival documents, the flag appeared over the Reichstag at 14:25 on April 30, 1945. This time is indicated in almost all reports, however, according to Evgeniy Kirichenko, this raises suspicions. “I stopped believing the post-war reports when I saw that they were all being adjusted to one date and one time, which was reported to the Kremlin,” says Yevgeny Kirichenko.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When the assault on Berlin began, photojournalist Evgeniy Khaldei volunteered to go there. He took with him three banners made of red tablecloths, which he borrowed from the canteen of the Union of Journalists. A tailor I know quickly makes banners out of them. The first such flag is taken down by Chaldeans at the Brandenburg Gate, the second - at the airfield, the third - this one - at the Reichstag. When he got there, the fighting had already ended, banners were flying on all floors. Then he asks the first fighters passing by to pose for him, while below there is no trace of the battle that has just died down. Cars drive peacefully.

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

From the documents, for example:

"Final combat report 674sp 150SID, 29.4.45–02.5.45.

...Waging fierce battles, the regiment's units by 5:00 on April 30, 1945. occupied the Ministry of the Interior - Himmler's office and by 9:00 occupied the starting line before the storming of the Reichstag. ...After the artillery barrage, which began at 14:00, the assault on the Reichstag began. At 14:25 30.4.45. broke into the Reichstag building from the northern part of the western facade of the 1st Company and a platoon of the 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion 674SP, with which there were 6 scouts to plant a flag over the Reichstag.
The commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 1st battalion, Jr. Lieutenant Koshkarbaev and a fighter from the regiment's reconnaissance platoon, Bulatov, hoisted a banner over the Reichstag building.

The soldiers of the regiment's reconnaissance platoon showed heroism and courage when hoisting the banner: Art. Sergeant Lysenko, Pravotorov, Oreshko, Red Army soldiers Gabidullin, Pachkovsky, Bryukhovetsky, led by reconnaissance platoon commander Lieutenant Sorokin...

02.5.45 [TsAMO, f.1380(150SID), op.1, d.56, pp.123-124]

Brief biography of Grigory Bulatov

In the photo - in May 2015, a monument to Grigory Bulatov was inaugurated in the central park of Kirov.

Grigory Petrovich Bulatov was born on November 16, 1925 in the village of Cherkasovo, Berezovsky district in the Urals. Mother - Anna Mikhailovna, father - Pyotr Grigorievich. The family moved to Slobodskaya from Kungur when Grisha was 5 years old. The Bulatovs settled in one of the houses on the banks of the Pyaterikha River. At the age of 8 I went to school No. 3 on Beregovaya Street.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Grigory Bulatov was forced to immediately grow up. His family, like many others, began to defend their homeland from fascism. His father went to the front, and Grigory himself went to work at the Red Anchor plant located in Slobodskoye, which during the war produced plywood for the needs of Soviet aviation.
In 1942, the Bulatov family received a funeral for their father. Grisha no longer wanted to be in the rear and went to the military registration and enlistment office to ask to volunteer for the front. But due to his young age, and Bulatov was only 16 years old at the time, he was refused. The boy had to achieve his goal for a whole year. In June 1943, Gregory was drafted into the Red Army. Bulatov was sent to guard military warehouses located near Slobodskoye in the village of Vakhrushi.
Grigory Petrovich came to the front in the spring of 1944. At first he was a rifleman, and then an ordinary reconnaissance officer in the 150th Rifle Division under the command of S. Sorokin, which was part of the First Belorussian Front. In many battles, Grigory Petrovich Bulatov distinguished himself with special courage. Briefly characterizing this stage in the life of a young guy, we can say that together with the division he reached Berlin, took part in the liberation of Warsaw and the battle of Kunersdorf. When Soviet troops broke through to the German capital in the spring of 1945, Bulatov was 19 and a half years old.

Bulatov Grigory Petrovich stormed the Reichstag together with his reconnaissance group, led by Captain Sorokin. It was she who managed to be the first to break through to the building. The Soviet command promised those who could hoist the red banner over the Reichstag before anyone else would be awarded the title of Hero of the USSR. On April 30, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, Bulatov and party organizer Viktor Provatorov were the first to break through to the building. Since they did not have a real Victory Banner, they made a flag from the red fabric they had on hand. The fighters first attached the homemade banner to a window located on the second floor. The division commander, Semyon Sorokin, felt that the flag was set too low and told the guys to climb to the roof. Fulfilling the captain's order, Grigory Bulatov, at 14:25, together with other scouts from his group, climbed onto the pediment of the Reichstag and attached a homemade banner to the harness of a bronze horse, which was part of the sculptural composition of Wilhelm I. The victorious flag hung over Berlin for 9 hours. At the time when Grigory Petrovich Bulatov hoisted the banner over the German parliament, battles were still going on in the city itself. Kantaria and Egorov planted the flag on the same day at 22:20. By that time the fighting for Berlin had ended.
There is another version according to which Bulatov installed a red banner on the Reichstag together with his fellow soldier from Kazakhstan Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev. But even according to this information, Grigory Petrovich was the first who managed to break through to the building. Supported by Koshkarbaev's legs, he hoisted the banner at the level of the second floor. You can read about this event in the book “We Stormed the Reichstag,” written by Hero of the USSR I. Klochkov.

On May 5, Komsomolskaya Pravda wrote about the young intelligence officer’s feat. The article dedicated to him said: after the Germans were forced out of the Reichstag, a snub-nosed soldier from the Kirov region broke into the building. He, like a cat, climbed onto the roof, and, bending down under enemy bullets flying past, attached a red banner to it, announcing victory. For several days Grigory Petrovich Bulatov was a real hero. A photo of the intelligence officer and his comrades against the backdrop of the Reichstag, taken by correspondents Shnaiderov and Ryumkin, was published in Pravda on May 20, 1945. In addition to Bulatov himself, the photo showed the scouts of his group Pravotorov, Oreshko, Pochkovsky, Lysenko, Gibadulin, Bryukhovetsky, and also commander Sorokin. The feat of the first standard-bearer was captured on film by documentary filmmaker Carmen. For filming, the young intelligence officer had to climb onto the roof again and hoist the banner over the Reichstag.

3 days after the feat, Grigory Petrovich Bulatov was summoned to Marshal Georgy Zhukov himself. The commander of the First Belorussian Front solemnly presented the private with his photo card, the inscription on which confirmed the heroic deed of the guy.

The young hero's joy did not last long. Unexpectedly for him, Kantaria and Egorov were announced as the first soldiers to plant the victorious banner on the pediment of parliament, who managed to climb to the roof 8 hours after Gregory. They received the titles of Heroes of the USSR, honors, their names were forever immortalized in history books.
Soon after the end of the war, Grigory Petrovich Bulatov was called to the carpet to Stalin. The guy hoped that it would be to present the award, but his expectations were not met. The leader, congratulating Grisha and shaking his hand, asked him to renounce the title of Hero of the USSR for 20 years, and during this time not to tell anyone about his feat. After this, Bulatov was sent to Beria’s dacha, from where he, deliberately accused of raping a maid, went straight to prison. After spending a year and a half among criminals, Gregory was released. He returned to his native Slobodskaya only in 1949. Covered in tattoos, aged and resentful of life, he kept his word to Stalin for 20 years.

In 1955, Grigory Petrovich married a girl, Rimma, from his town. A year later, his young wife gave him a daughter, Lyudmila. Throughout the post-war period, Bulatov lived in Slobodskoye and worked on timber rafting. 2 decades after the end of the war, Bulatov stopped remaining silent about his feat. He contacted various authorities, hoping that the once promised title of Hero of the USSR would be given to him, but to no avail. No one in the country was going to rewrite official history and remember long-past events. The only ones who believed Grigory Petrovich were the participants in the hostilities. They gave Bulatov the nickname “Grishka-Reichstag”, which stuck with him until the end of his life.

On April 19, 1973, Grigory Petrovich was found hanged. According to the official version, he committed suicide, disillusioned with life and tired of proving his feat to others. But Bulatov’s fellow countrymen say that he was killed. On the day of the death of Grishka the Reichstag, two unknown people in civilian clothes hung around the entrance of the plant where he worked for a long time. After they disappeared, Bulatov was never seen alive again. He was buried at the local cemetery in Slobodskoye.

Local authorities of the Kirov region have repeatedly promised that they will restore historical justice and achieve the awarding of the title of Hero of the USSR to Grigory Petrovich, which he so dreamed of during his lifetime. And although it is not so easy to get to the truth 70 years after the Victory, I want to believe in a happy outcome of this matter.

In the photo - They were the first: commander lieutenant Semyon Sorokin, Pravotorov, Stepan Oreshko, Mikhail Pachkovsky, senior sergeant Ivan Lysenko, Gibadullin, Pavel Bryukhovetsky, in the foreground is 19-year-old Grigory Bulatov.

ENCRYPTION Љ59225 of the headquarters of the 3rd Ud. Army

sent 4/30/45 at 15:15

accepted 30.4.45 at 15:20

To the Chief of Staff of the Front

Colonel General Malinin

14:25 30.4.45 units of 79sk occupied the Reichstag area, the flag of the Soviet Union was raised above the Reichstag building.

Bukshtynovich

(Chief of Staff 3UA, Guard Major General Bukshtynovich Mikhail Fomich)

Transcribed 30.4.45 16:10

Deciphered by Sachkov

1-30.4.45 - 15:15 [TsAMO, f. 233, op. 2307, d. 318, l. 54. Abbreviated from: fund 233, inventory 2307, file 318, sheet 54]

And I'm telling you! I saw him! Personally! That's how you are! He could have pulled a button! - a short man in a stained padded jacket was excited. This vehemence even pushed his cap back on his head.

The interlocutors nodded melancholy in response, sipping beer from large pot-bellied mugs. From time to time, one or the other would relishly hit the table with a roach. And then they carefully cleaned it, scattering the yellow scales on the newspaper. And savoring it, slowly, they popped dried strips of fish meat into their mouths. And again - a sip of beer...

One of them wiped the foam from his bushy mustache:

Well, I saw and saw. You’ve already told me a hundred times how Stalin could be pulled by a button. Why didn’t you pull?

The little man stealthily, so that Glashka the saleswoman wouldn’t see, poured some vodka from the chekushka into his mug:

What are you doing? This is Stalin! STALIN! I couldn’t even imagine that I would see him! And you are a button!

It's you, the button! - the mustachioed man answered to the friendly neighing of the men. - Well, what was he like, Stalin?

And as tall as me. And the mustache is like yours. Only bigger. So pockmarked. And calm. And the look is heavy, oh heavy! What a paw you have, Mikhalych!

Mikhalych took another sip of beer, first dipping a strip of roach into the foam.

And he tells me! Well done, Grisha! Hero! But we need one more feat from you. Like, can you give up your feat for the glory of the Soviet people?

You have hesitated with your exploits, Grishka. You lie and don’t blush. Look, Seryozhka is also a hero - “Glory” of all degrees, but he has not seen Stalin. And you? You blabber, Grishka!

Mikhalych spat and, putting the empty mug on the table, walked gravely towards the exit. The men also finished theirs and one after another went home. April Thursday has ended...

Glashka, do you believe me? - Grishka asked drunkenly.

“Nope,” Glasha answered indifferently. - You can't trust men. Either they will leave the pot-bellied woman, or the debt will not be returned. Grishka, when will you return the three rubles?

Ugh, grandma! - Grishka got angry, hastily finished his ruff and, pushing his cap onto his forehead, went to the door. - I'll return it! I'll pay you back! - quickly, as it seemed to him, he turned in the doorway. - I’ll return it, Glash! You know me!

I know, I know... - Glasha answered peacefully, wiping her hands on her apron. - Get out of here already!

Vodka-vodka was warming up in the inner pocket of his jacket...

Combat report to 79sk headquarters

To the Chief of Staff 79sk

I report: at 14:25 on April 30, 1945, having broken the enemy resistance in the blocks north-west of the REICHSTAG building, 1sb 756sp and 1sb 674sp, stormed the REICHSTAG building and hoisted the RED BANNER on its southern part.

The banner was hoisted by the battalion commanders, Captain NEUSTROEV and Major DAVYDOV.

The clearing of the REICHSTAG building from the enemy groups remaining in it and its basements continues.

Beginning headquarters 150SID Colonel Dyachkov

(Copy is correct: Head of Operations Division 3UA, Colonel Semyonov) - copy from copy.

2-30.4.45 - 18:00 [TsAMO, f.32, op.64595, d.4, l.196]

Grishka drunkenly shook his tattooed fist at the creeping moon in the lilac sky. He didn't like the moon. What remained from the war was not love. Intelligence loves the dark. Oh, how much this moon of blood spoiled for them in the neutral zones of Poland and Germany. But Grishka was lucky. He remained alive and his body intact. But with the soul... But there is no soul - that’s all the priest’s inventions! But on the other hand, what made Grishka ask to join the infantry from riding? And from there to reconnaissance?

Hitler is sitting on a birch tree, and the birch tree is bending! If I hit a birch tree with my dick, Hitler will fuck me! - Grishka suddenly yelled in the evening in April.

April responded with dogs barking from behind high fences. Grishka listened to them, cursed and wandered towards the house. He hated the house. The silence was killing him. I wanted fun, I wanted noise, I wanted to dance! He kicked his wife out so that he wouldn’t interfere with the dancing. Or did she leave on her own, unable to bear the beating? Grishka no longer remembered this. How is your daughter doing with someone else's father? Grishka suddenly began to cry. I cried from a nagging resentment towards everyone and everything, from resentment for myself, from self-pity. But drunken tears - quick tears - suddenly instantly turned into anger. He kicked with all his might the tree that suddenly appeared in his path. And then he washed down the pain in his leg with a sip of vile, stinking vodka. He bit with strong obscenities.

Private Bulatov, who are you, an undercover louse? - Grishka answered bravely.

The darkness roared with cheerful laughter:

Grigory Petrovich! Come here, we’ll treat you to some Portwesh!

In the courtyard of a newly built five-story building, a group of shaggy young people were strumming a guitar. Grishka, still staggering, hobbled towards the sound.

Ahh... Slavka... Andreyka... - Grishka recognized the guys and picked up a cut glass of port wine.

“Vodichka,” he said contemptuously, took out a small bottle with his other hand and, pulling out the cork with his teeth, drank the rest of the vodka. Only after that did he swallow the port wine in one fell swoop.

Why are you walking around, Slavka? Back to work tomorrow! - Grishka tried to command as an elder.

Grigory Petrovich received the award! So I’m celebrating! For the rationalization proposal! Wow! - the guy answered proudly.

The bonus is a good thing... It needs to be washed... Pour it for the bonus... - Grishka held out the glass for the next portion of “water”.

Normal... We drank at the front and fought! There is schnapps, alcohol, and this is just a sneeze.

Ours, these are men,” Slavka said peacefully. - It works for us...

And I took the Reichstag when you were not yet in the projects, I understand,” Grishka hiccupped in his fume at the stranger.

Come on, Uncle Grisha, he took and took... Here... - and Grishka was handed another glass.

Combat report Љ0117 shtapolk 674, 19:00, 02.5.45.

The first units of our regiment broke into the Reichstag at 14:25 on April 30, 1945. The banner was hoisted over the Reichstag at 14:25. The battle in the Reichstag lasted the whole night from the moment of entering the Reichstag. When our units entered the Reichstag, there were no other units there. Our units entered the Reichstag alone...

10-02.5.45-19:00 [TsAMO, f.1380(150SID), op.1, d.61, l.222]

Well, they said - is it necessary? So it’s necessary! The lieutenant and I crawled on our bellies. Oh, and there was fire, oh, and fire. We jump from funnel to funnel like hares. They rode to some ditch and lay down there. I told him: “What are we going to do, Comrade Lieutenant?” And then the lieutenant tells me, let’s at least write the names on the banner, otherwise there will be no order. He takes out a chemical pencil and writes, scribbling it, “Lieutenant Koshkarbaev, Private Bulatov, 674th Regiment, 1st Battalion.” Yeah, on the banner. So it was homemade. Not regimental. I wrote it, that is. Well, we seized the moment and ran to the Reichstag. And the battalion is already behind us. We quickly drove the Germans to the second floor. I stuck the flag out the window - they were shouting that I couldn’t see it, so the lieutenant and I then climbed out onto the roof. There's a man on a horse. Stone, you fool. I attached the Banner to this horse. I hung from the roof and screamed - can you see it now? Apparently, as it turned out, everyone was fine. It was even filmed. Roman Carmen filmed. Have you heard this? You are dark... And I have a photograph. Was. Gone somewhere. They took a photo of us there, yeah. So Koshkarbaev and I were the first. The first ones.

“Well, dad, you’re pouring it,” someone laughed. - Egorov and Kantaria were the first. They even do this in schools!

Grishka cowered as if from a blow to the gut - such was the abruptness of the return from May '45 to April '73. It was silent for a moment, and then muttered:

Slavka, give me three rubles before payday...

Slavka silently handed him a green piece of paper.

I’ll go... I’ll get some moonshine from Klavka...

The anger, melancholy, and tears disappeared somewhere... All that was left was an incomprehensible emptiness. Just like before the rush from “Himmler’s house” to the Reichstag. Only there was Victory shining ahead, and now only half a liter of crappy moonshine...

Final combat report 674sp 150SID, 29.4.45-02.5.45.

Conducting fierce battles, the regiment's units by 5:00 on April 30, 1945. occupied the Ministry of the Interior - Himmler's office and by 9:00 occupied the starting line before the storming of the Reichstag. ...After the artillery barrage, which began at 14:00, the assault on the Reichstag began. At 14:25 30.4.45. broke into the Reichstag building from the northern part of the western facade of the 1st Company and a platoon of the 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion 674SP, with which there were 6 scouts to plant a flag over the Reichstag.

The commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 1st battalion, Jr. Lieutenant Koshkarbaev and a fighter from the regiment's reconnaissance platoon, Bulatov, hoisted a banner over the Reichstag building.

The soldiers of the regiment's reconnaissance platoon showed heroism and courage when hoisting the banner: Art. Sergeant Lysenko, Pravotorov, Oreshko, Red Army soldiers Gabidullin, Pachkovsky, Bryukhovetsky, led by reconnaissance platoon commander Lieutenant Sorokin...

Commander of 674sp Lieutenant Colonel Plekhodanov

11-02.5.45 [TsAMO, f.1380(150SID), op.1, d.56, pp.123-124]

Grishka returned home after midnight. Having somehow pulled off his mud-stained boots, he collapsed on the bed without undressing. But sleep did not come to him. He lay there and remembered. I remembered the war. How I walked to the Reichstag in 1943, how I raised a homemade banner over Hitler’s nest, how I rejoiced at the Victory! Where did it all go? Out of resentment, he then started drinking. Instead of a Hero - the Red Banner. Is it really important? The important thing is that no one believes him. Nobody. And my wife didn’t believe it. In the prison where he was sent for theft, they believed him. True, they believe all fairy tales there.

And here? Who needs you here, Grishka the Reichstag? Who needs your prowess here? Oh, if only we could go back to those days... When I die, will anyone remember me? With these thoughts he fell asleep...

Award sheet for the title of GSS

Bulatov Grigory Petrovich - Red Army soldier, reconnaissance platoon 674sp. born 1925, Russian, non-existent, active army from 04.44

Brief description of the feat: ...Taking every meter of area from the battle, at 14:00 30.4.45. They burst into the Reichstag building, immediately seized the exit of one of the basements, locking up to 300 German soldiers of the Reichstag garrison there. Those who broke through to the top floor, Comrade BULATOV in a group of scouts at 14:25. hoisted the Red Banner over the Reichstag...

Com. 674sp Lieutenant Colonel Plekhodanov 06.5.45

Com. 150SID Major General Shatilov 14.5.45

Com. 79sk Major General Perevertkin 5/27/45

Awarded the Order of the Kr. Banner Љ 259367: order to the troops of 3UA Љ0121/n dated 06/08/45.

26-06.5.45 [TsAMO, f.33, op.686196, d.144, l.22]

Slavka passed through the entrance a few minutes before the beep. My head hurt, but that's okay. I got a hangover from kefir and it’s ok!

Hello, innovator! - Andryukha shouted to him. - Alive? How's your health?

Great! - Slavka almost didn’t lie. - Shall we repeat this evening? Dancing!

Lada! Come in after your shift! I have here... - Andryukha came up and added in a whisper. - I made brass knuckles. Let's hit the furriers today...

Slavka patted his friend on the shoulder and went to the locker room. And for some reason it was quiet there. People stood in a crowd, not approaching the lockers.

Why are you standing up, proletariat! - Slavka shouted. -Who will build developed socialism?

No one responded to the joke or even turned to him. They just stood there and were silent.

Hey, what are you doing?

He approached the men, parting the crowd with his shoulder. And then, pulling it apart, I saw it. A tarpaulin was thrown onto the floor. And on the tarpaulin lay Grishka-Reichstag.

Look how... Grishka hanged himself. In the toilet, on the belt on my...

They distinguished themselves in battle.

The Motherland pronounces the names of heroes with deep respect. Soviet heroes, the best sons of the people. Books will be written and songs composed about their outstanding feat. They hoisted the banner of victory over the citadel of Hitlerism.

Let's remember the names of the brave men: Lieutenant Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev, Red Army soldier Grigory Bulatov. Other glorious warriors fought shoulder to shoulder with them: Pravotorov, Lysenko, Oreshko, Pachkovsky, Bryukhovetsky, Sorokin. The homeland will never forget their feat. Glory to the heroes!

15-03.5.45 [TsAMO, f.1380(150SID), op.1, d.157, l.40: Divisional newspaper "Warrior of the Motherland", 1945, May 3, Љ61]

In the photo - Red Army soldier Grigory Bulatov, who was the first to hoist the red banner over the Reichstag.

Also in the photo: in a leather jacket and cap, platoon commander Lieutenant Semyon Sorokin, on the left side with the Order of the Patriotic War, Sergeant Viktor Provotorov, behind Bulatov (from the butt side) stands senior sergeant Ivan Lysenko, on the far right (with a flashlight on his jacket) Stepan Oreshko .

This material is not simple, and all because for many years there has been a dispute about who was the first to hoist the Victory Banner over the Reichstag. To be honest, it is impossible to answer this question absolutely reliably. "Why?" - you ask. The fact is that, unfortunately, there is too much contradictory data both from documents and from the memories of those who had the chance to storm the Reichstag. But what I personally am sure of is that it was Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria who were the first to hoist the Victory Banner on the dome of the Reichstag. At the same time, I definitely want to note that Grigory Bulatov and Viktor Provotorov, the groups of Captain Makov and Major Bondar, set up their banners on the roof of the Reichstag before them (!). This is my opinion.

Images from the official chronicle of Roman Carmen

Soviet assault group moves towards the Reichstag

Soldiers of Neustroev's battalion on the approaches to the Reichstag with the Red Banner of Victory

Egorov and Kantaria go to the roof of the Reichstag. 05/01/1945

One of the banners installed on the Reistag. 05/02/1945

Berlin. Soviet Victory Banner on the Reichstag

Red flag on the Reichstag

The photographs were taken by Evgeniy Khaldey on May 2, 1945. The soldiers depicted on them did not take part in the storming of the Reichstag.

Photo retouching

A little-known photo of the hoisting of the banner over the Reichstag

Fireworks in honor of the Victory. Soldiers of the battalion under the command of Neustroev. Photo by Ivan Shagin. Photo retouching

Genuine photo WITHOUT PHOTO RETOUCH

Private Grigory Bulatov. Newsreel footage of Roman Karmen

"From the memoirs of Grigory Bulatov:

“Colonel Plekhodanov and political officer Subbotin came to us, the scouts, of the 674th regiment. The Military Council of the 3rd Shock Army established 9 banners that must be hoisted over the Reichstag. The first to hoist the banner will be nominated for the title of hero. The lot did not fall on our regiment. The regiment commander said that the Banner of the Military Council may not necessarily fly over the Reichstag. Find a suitable material - here is the Banner.” The material for the banner was taken “either from under the feather bed or from under the bedside table.” Scouts Bulatov and Provotorov tore it in half and hid it under their tunics... The day began on April 30th.

From the memoirs of intelligence officer Viktor Provotorov: “And then Lieutenant Sorokin gives the command:

One at a time, in short dashes, forward!

A throw, another, a third... I look around - Bulatov is nearby. The rest were cut off by fire... Here is the Reichstag wall. We lay down and looked to see if there was a window somewhere clear of bricks. We find a window. Seizing the moment, we climbed through the window, having first thrown a grenade in there. We went through the corridors to the stairs and climbed to the second floor.

Grisha Bulatov extended his hand out the window, waved the flag, then we strengthened it. At this time, shots, grenade explosions, and the sound of boots were heard below. We prepared for battle. Grenades and machine guns on alert.

But the fight did not take place. It was in our footsteps that Lysenko, Brekhovetsky, Oreshko and Pochkovsky came. Lieutenant Sorokin is with them. He came up to us, shook hands and took down the flag.

It’s hard to see from here, guys,” he said. - We need to get to the roof.

They began to climb higher and higher along the same stairs until they reached the roof. The goal has been achieved. Where to put the flag? We decided to strengthen it near the sculptural group. We planted Grisha Bulatov, and our youngest scout tied him to the neck of a huge horse. We looked at the clock, the hands showed 14 hours 25 minutes.”

Scouts of the 674th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Idritskaya Division. In the foreground is Private Grigory Bulatov. Behind him (first row, from left to right): with the Order of the Patriotic War, Sergeant Viktor Provotorov, in a leather jacket, Lieutenant Semyon Sorokin, to the right of Bullatov is Senior Sergeant Ivan Lysenko, with a flashlight on a kazhanka, Stepan Oreshko.

Victory Banner over the Reichstag

In Berlin against the backdrop of the Brandenburg Gate

On the quadriga of the Brandenburg Gate

At the Brandenburg Gate

Farewell to the Victory Banner in Moscow, 1945

The ceremony of handing over the Victory Banner for sending to Moscow. 20.5.1945

The Victory Banner at the Central Moscow Airfield on the day of its arrival in Moscow from Berlin

In the photo, participants in the storming of the Reichstag, escorting the banner to Moscow on June 20, 1945 (from left to right): Captain K.Ya. Samsonov, ml. Sergeant M.V. Kantaria, ser. M.A. Egorov, Art. serge. M.Ya. Syanov, cap. S.A. Neustroev

Sergeant Mikhail Egorov

I understand that some of you will have a question about Egorov and Kantaria. Read...

“It was getting dark quickly. But although the commandant’s order prohibited active hostilities after dark, no one thought of interrupting them until the Red Banner was strengthened over the Reichstag. It was, of course, clear to everyone - both the command and the soldiers - that neither As the evening progressed, it would not be possible to completely clear the Reichstag of the enemy during the coming night. But it was also clear that the banner must be hoisted at any cost.

It, this treasured banner, was already on the second floor. Egorov and Kantaria, together with the first company, meter by meter, made their way to their cherished goal. Having destroyed up to thirty Nazis and taken about fifty prisoners, the soldiers captured the part of the corridor adjacent to the stairs and several rooms. Having ordered all nearby doors and passages to be taken under fire, Lieutenant A.P. Berest decided, in the name of completing the main task, not to waste time liberating the entire second floor. Leaving the third platoon as cover, he tried to break through with the rest of his forces into the attic.

An unexpected obstacle stood in the way: the stairs on the landing broke off, and no one, of course, knew where the exit to the attic was. After examining many doors leading onto the landing, they finally found one leading to the attic. But as soon as fighter M. Redko knocked her out with a blow from his shoulder, a machine gun burst thundered from above.

Under the cover of light machine gun fire and armed with grenades, the soldiers, together with a group of regimental scouts, entered the attic. Here, scared away by grenade explosions, the Nazis were hiding behind beams and risers. A shootout ensued. After some time, Syanov invited the Volkssturm soldiers defending the attic to surrender. Having finally realized the hopelessness of their situation, they crawled out of their hiding places with their hands raised obediently.

The path was clear. Accompanied by scouts, Egorov and Kantaria climbed onto the roof. Despite the fact that the time was approaching ten in the evening and the sun had set below the horizon, it was not yet dark around.

The scouts with the unfurled banner were clearly visible to all of us.

The Nazis also noticed them. They immediately opened heavy fire from the area of ​​the Brandenburg Gate and the building east of the Reichstag. It seemed impossible to take a single step, much less set up a ladder and climb it to the dome under a hail of bullets and shrapnel. While pondering what to do, Kantaria noticed a sculptural group on the pediment of the building. This place was perfectly visible from everywhere. Having overcome several meters under the whistle of bullets, Egorov and Kantaria carefully strengthened the red banner of the Victory Banner, which fluttered majestically in the night Berlin sky. Fate itself guarded this just act. The brave men remained unharmed, although death was almost nearby. Kantariy’s cap turned out to be shot through, and Egorov’s trousers. One of the bullets split the flagpole.

The History of the Second World War 1939-1945 describes this significant event as follows:

“Early in the morning of May 1, on the pediment of the Reichstag, near the sculptural group, the Red Banner, presented to the commander of the 150th Infantry Division by the Military Council of the 3rd Shock Army, was already waving. It was erected by scouts of the 756th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Infantry Division M.A. Egorov and M.V. Kantaria, led by the deputy battalion commander for political affairs, Lieutenant A.P. Berest, with the support of company machine gunners I.Ya. Syanov. This Banner symbolically embodied all the banners and flags that, during the most fierce battles, were hoisted by the groups of Captain V.N. Makov, Lieutenant R. Koshkarbaev, Major M.M. Bondar and many other soldiers. From the main entrance to the Reichstag and to the roof, their heroic path was marked with red banners, flags and flags, as if now merging into a single Banner of Victory. It was the triumph of the victory, the triumph of the courage and heroism of Soviet soldiers, the greatness of the feat of the Soviet Armed Forces and the entire Soviet people" (11).

To this I just want to add that on May 2, the Victory Banner, which by that time had already been transferred to the dome of the Reichstag, was photographed by Pravda’s war correspondent V. Temin. The photograph was taken by plane to Moscow. On May 3, it was published in the newspaper Pravda, and then went around the whole world."

From the book of Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General of the Reserve I. F. Klochkov “We ​​stormed the Reichstag”

Watch the beginning of the photo epic here:

LIBERATORS. PART 1. LONG MILES OF WAR...

Putin remembered the Victory Banner and gave it the highest honors. But Putin forgot to give the title of Hero of Russia to Grigory Bulatov, who, precisely because he, Grigory Bulatov, hoisted the Victory Banner over the Reichstag and did not remain silent about it, was repressed and exiled to the Gulag. The Victory Banner opened the parade on Red Square - a parade in honor of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. And in general, it was this year, on May 9, 2015, that for the first time in our history the Victory Banner was raised to the proper height in the consciousness of contemporaries. However, Putin did not remember the Victory Banner who hoisted this Victory Banner over the Reichstag - about Grigory Bulatov, who was exiled by Stalin and Beria to the Gulag precisely because he hoisted the Victory Banner and could not and did not want to hide the fact that he did itit was he, and not just a couple of officially appointed heroes - Egorov and Kantaria. Putin could have remembered Grishka the Reichstag on May 9, 2015, but he didn’t. It is necessary to give the title of Hero of Russia to Grigory Bulatov, at least posthumously, at least on the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory. Grigory Bulatov should be reburied in Moscow at the newly opened Federal War Memorial Cemetery. Let his grave be next to the grave of Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov. The ashes of Grigory Bulatov must be transferred from the local cemetery in the hero’s homeland in the town of Slobodskaya, Vyatka Territory, to Moscow and a real monument erected over the grave. It is necessary for historical justice to triumph and shocking historical guilt before Grigory Bulatov, who hoisted the banner of Victory over the Reichstag on April 30, 1945 in Berlin, who accomplished a historical feat in the name of his homeland Russia while still a very young soldier of the Red Army, and after that, instead of being awarded the order and star of the Hero of the Soviet Union sent to jail by Stalin and Beria, this guilt and unpaid debt to him would be corrected. Let Grigory Bulatov rest in the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery as a true hero of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 with all military honors and with a monument to his outstanding heroic feat at a young age, which would be installed in Moscow over his grave. Alexander Bogdanov, Saint Petersburg Federal War Memorial Cemetery (Federal State Institution "Federal Military Memorial Cemetery", FGU "FVMK") - a Russian memorial cemetery located in Mytishchi district Moscow region at the 4th kilometer Ostashkovskoe highway. The cemetery is managed Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation . Victory Banner over the Reichstag. Photo by Evgeny Khaldey. Grigory Bulatov hoists the banner over the Reichstag. Grishka-Reichstag. http://cs5759.vk.me/v5759708/c4c/DPIcFFB NgVs.jpg http://www.sloblib.narod.ru/bylatov/grig orii04.jpg Grigory Bulatov Grishka-Reichstag. When I looked at these photographs, I thought, did Grisha Bulatov fight with his father? The two fighters from different generations standing next to each other in this famous photograph are painfully similar. Maybe just a typical Russian face, or maybe the father took his 14-year-old son with him to war. Such cases happened - they left together and fought together. (A.B.) Award sheet for a Red Army soldier Bulatov Grigory Petrovich: “04/29/1945 The regiment fought fierce battles on the outskirts of the Reichstag and reached the river. Spree comrade Bulatov wasof those who were ordered with artillery support tousing available means to cross the Spree River, break through to the Reichstag building and hoist the Victory Banner over it. Taking every meter of the area from the battle at 14:00 on April 30, 1945. thievesrushed into the Reichstag building and immediately seized the exit of onefrom the basements, locking up to 300 German Garni soldiers thereReichstag zone. Having made his way to the top floor, Comrade. BulaComrade in the reconnaissance group at 14:25. hoisted overReichstag Red Banner. Worthy of the title "HERO OF THE SOVIET UNION"-./ Standard Bearer of Victory Grigory Bulatov - Devotee to the Motherland http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/4883388/post218800100/?tok=

Saturday, May 05, 2012 22:34 + to quote book

Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 756th Regiment, commanded by Captain S.A. NEUSTROEV, planted a red flag on the roof of the Reichstag. On the night of May 1, by order of the commander of the 756th regiment, Colonel F. M. ZINCHENKO, measures were taken to hoist the banner presented to the regiment by the Military Council of the 3rd Shock Army on the Reichstag building. The group of fighters was led by Lieutenant A.P. BEREST. Early in the morning of May 1, the Victory Banner was already waving on the sculptural group crowning the pediment of the building: it was hoisted by scout sergeants Mikhail EGOROV and Meliton KANTARIA. The reconnaissance heroes have been dead for a long time, and Colonel Neustroyev also recently died.
Almost all participants in the hoisting of the Victory Banner were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union; war veterans also asked that Alexei Berest be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. This did not happen, but in Ukraine he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.

Reports from the Sovinformburo said that our infantrymen, having defeated the enemy in close combat, reached Zelten Alley, and then stormed the Reichstag building from the west. At the same time, our units, which reached the Reichstags-Ufer embankment, broke into the Reichstag from the north. The fighting continued unabated throughout the night. At fourteen o'clock, Soviet soldiers took possession of the German Reichstag building and hoisted the victory banner on it. As research by historians shows, at that time the battle around the Reichstag and in the building itself was still in full swing. There were several assault groups, and the names of all the heroes are being established only now, in order to belatedly, but pay tribute to their feat.
Egorov and Kantaria are the heroes of the canonical version. It became such on the eve of the first anniversary of the victory, when they, initially awarded the Order of the Red Banner, were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and from then on began to be considered the first to hoist the victorious banner. But their faces are not present in historical film footage and photographs of the storming and capture of the Reichstag. Without detracting at all from their feat, let us still name those who were actually the first.
In November 1944, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief formulated the main task of the Soviet troops at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War: “Finish off the fascist beast in its own lair and hoist the Victory Banner over Berlin!” The Reichstag was stormed by the 150th Infantry Division of Major General Vasily SHATILOV. Assault groups were formed, some were given pre-prepared banners, others stocked up with homemade ones. Egorov and Kantaria received the banner of the military council of the 3rd Shock Army, which they erected over the Reichstag on the morning of May 1. Whether because of the status of the banner or because one was Russian and the other Georgian, all the honors went to them.
But in combat reports, then in the divisional newspaper “Warrior of the Motherland,” and finally, in the nomination for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, we meet other names. This is Lieutenant Rakhimzhan KOSHKARBAEV and Private Grigory BULATOV - the youngest of the reconnaissance officers of the 674th Infantry Regiment. Having lost several people, their group managed to break into the Reichstag. While their comrades were covering them, the lieutenant gave Bulatov a lift, and he installed a homemade banner on the equestrian sculptural group of the Reichstag. His tired and happy face was captured by a camera filming participants in the assault on the steps of the Reichstag on May 2, 1945 after the surrender of Berlin. They were not given a hero then, they were only presented with the Order of the Red Banner, like all the participants in the assault.
Young and hot, Bulatov did not want to remain silent: “Order the battle to be replayed first! We will prove who was the first to break into the Reichstag and hoist the banner!” Instead of a reward, there was a camp where the criminal “authorities,” having heard about the feat, gave the hero their highest rank—“thief in law.” After being released, I had to give an undertaking to remain silent for 20 years, then desperately fight for recognition of my feat. But the repeated unsuccessful nomination for Hero was followed by new breakdowns, and in April 1973, nicknamed “Grishka the Reichstag,” a tragic ending awaited him. And the third nomination for the title of Hero of Russia (posthumously) was rejected, as in the case of Berest, on the formal grounds that the regulations on state awards do not allow canceling a previously made decision for the purpose of re-awarding.
And while re-reading the materials dedicated to the storming of the Reichstag, I can’t shake the bitter feeling that their authors are ready to give glory only to their hero, at best, not noticing those who were nearby or fought in the neighborhood.

GRIGORY BULATOV - "Grishka - Reichstag"

He was the first to hoist the banner over Hitler's Reichstag. - He was promised the title of Hero. He deserved it, but didn't get it. He was silent for 20 years - making a promise to Stalin. And they persecuted him in every possible way... and he... hanged himself.
In September 2005, the request of the Government of the Kirov Region to be awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously) received another reply (the fourth, since 1945) from the Main Personnel Directorate M.O., repeating everything that they had repeatedly reported, “Awarding the title of Hero Russian Federation Bulatov G.P. subject to the cancellation of the previously made awarding of him with the Order of the Red Banner, it contradicts the “Regulations on State Awards of the Russian Federation” dated 01.06.1995 N9 554, which does not provide for the cancellation of previously made decisions in order to re-award with a higher award.
It has long been known from the published memoirs of participants in the hoisting of the first assault Banners of Victory over the Reichstag, which appeared above its pediment on April 30, 1945, that Egorov and Kontaria were the very last to erect their official banner No. 5 (more precisely, they simply placed it on the dome of the empty Reichstag, two days after the end of all hostilities). It was not Mikhail Egorov, not Meliton Kontaria who did not want this themselves, they were forced to carry out the scenario plan to please the leader, and political instructor Berest drove them there, as eyewitnesses recall. Their flag also did not have any inscriptions indicating that it belonged to one or another military formation, just as all the others did not have them.
All these first assault banners (the group of Lieutenant Semyon Sorokin, which included scouts Grigory Bulatov and Viktor Pravotorov, the groups of Mr. Makov and Mr. Bondar) were installed on a sculptural equestrian composition above the main entrance to the Reichstag. Only a group of artillerymen from Mr. Ageenko, following Lieutenant Sorokin’s scouts, set up their banner above one of the corner towers of the Reichstag.
As Mikhail Minin from Mr. Makov’s group explained in his memoirs published in the magazine “Family and School” No. 5 for 1990, they guarded their established banner all night, and that Egorov and Kontaria could install their banner there only after 5 o'clock in the morning on May 1st. Read more...
Grigory Bulatov smiled to the whole world. (May 9, 2005)
The foreign and Russian press, who came to Moscow for the 60th anniversary of the Victory, were greeted in the official press center of the holiday by a huge portrait of our fellow countryman-hero, smiling Grigory Bulatov against the backdrop of the Reichstag...

GRIGORY BULATOV - HOMELAND DEVOTEE.

E.I. Pema (Slobodskoy).
Grigory Petrovich Bulatov was born in 1926 in the Urals, in the village of Cherkasovo, Berezovsky district, Sverdlovsk region. He came to Slobodskaya from Kungur when the boy was four years old. The family settled in one of the distillery houses on the banks of the Pyaterikha River. I went to school at the age of 8, to the third one on Beregovaya Street. I studied without much zeal, but I didn’t sit at home without work. He provided food for the household, knew the Vyatka forests, mushroom places, especially loved the Vyatka River, and more than once saved drowning people. The fisherman was desperate. He lived together in a gang of factory guys, was a loyal friend, and his courtyard friends are still loyal to this friendship.
On June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began. The Motherland called everyone over 14 years old to the machine - everything for the front, everything for Victory! At the age of 16, Grisha went to work at Krasny Yakor, which produced aircraft plywood.
The funeral from my father came in 1942. At the age of 16, Grisha came to the military registration and enlistment office to ask to go to the front. Got a driver's license. At the age of 17, he finally achieved it, was drafted, and guarded military warehouses in Vakhrushi. In 1943, with a train of horses sent to the front, he reached Velikiye Luki, his native 150th division, and was enlisted as a rifleman. Very soon the brave, savvy guy became a scout.
He fought well! Before the storming of the Reichstag he had awards:
at 19 and a half years old.
1. Order of the Red Banner of Battle - for Kunersdorf,
2. Order of Glory, third degree,
3. Medal for bravery,
4. Medal for courage,
5. Medal for the liberation of Warsaw,
6. Medal for the capture of Berlin,
7. Medal for the victory over Germany,
8. Medal 30 years of the Soviet Army and Navy.
Grigory said: “The commander of the 674th regiment, Colonel Plekhodanov and the political officer Subbotin, came to us, the scouts. The Military Council of the 3rd Shock Army established 9 banners that need to be hoisted over the Reichstag. The first to hoist the banner will be nominated for the title of hero. Our regiment’s lot is not fell out. The regiment commander said that the Banner of the Military Council may not necessarily fly over the Reichstag. Find a suitable material - here is the Banner."
With the battle, a platoon of scouts climbed through the hole onto the roof and on the sculptural group Bulatov, with the support of party organizer Pravotorov, hoisted a victorious homemade banner on the harness of William the First’s horse.
It was at 14 o'clock. 25 min. by Moscow time. This was the only banner that hung for 9 hours! Egorov and Kontaria time is 22 hours. 50 min. placed outside of hostilities.
All these events were filmed during the hostilities by documentary filmmakers Schneider and Carmen. The photographs, known throughout the world, on the pediment of the building - the salute to the Victory Banner - were taken on May 2 by photojournalists Y. Ryumkin and I. Shneiderov. The photograph was published in the Pravda newspaper on May 20, 1945. The photograph is widely known in books, posters, and magazine covers. Here are the names of the heroes: V. Pravotorov, Lysenko, Grigory Bulatov, Sorokin, Oreshko, Bryukhovetsky, Pochkovsky, Gibadulin - reconnaissance platoon of the 674th regiment. The officer in the tunic, Captain Neustroyev, commander of Kontaria and Yegorova from the 756th regiment, who wanted to take a souvenir photo with the Victory standard bearers, has nothing to do with the first Victory banner.
On May 3, in the divisional newspaper “Warrior of the Motherland,” all 7 heroes of the Reichstag are listed: “The Motherland pronounces the names of the heroes with deep respect. Soviet heroes, the best sons of the people. Books will be written about their outstanding feat, songs will be composed. They hoisted the Banner of Victory over the citadel of Hitlerism! Let us remember the names of the brave men - Pravotorov, Bulatov, Sorokin, ... The Motherland will never forget their feat! Glory to the heroes!
Only a year later, on May 8, 1946, the world learned the names of Kontaria and Egorov. A deep injustice committed in the name of the Motherland, which Bulatov defended.
The untruth associated with the name of Stalin and Beria, because... During the hoisting ceremony, they were looking for a fighter of a different nationality to join the Russian, more precisely, a Georgian.
In mid-May, the Berlin operation group led by Marshal G.K. Zhukov was summoned to the Kremlin. Bulatov was waiting for the Golden Star from Stalin's hands. The conversation was one on one. Stalin shook hands, congratulated and said that in connection with the international situation, another heroic act was needed: to renounce the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Temporarily renounce for 20 years. Bulatov was taken from the Kremlin to Beria's dacha. In the room at dinner, according to the script, the flirtatious waitress acted out a scene of violence. Security came in immediately. Grigory woke up in a prison cell.
After 2 years, without trial or investigation, he was released from prison, covered in tattoos of a thief in law and authority. In Germany I drove some major. He was demobilized in 1949 and returned to Slobodskaya in April.
He remained silent for 20 years, true to his word given to Stalin. During this time, dozens of books and hundreds of articles were published, especially by Koshkarbaev, Neustroev, V.E. Subbotin. They all have one source of information, perhaps a goal that is far from the truth, but we all read these books, where Bulatov was mentioned, although offensively.
Realizing that the truth is gone, Bulatov gives 3 thick notebooks of his notes to the writer Ardyshev, proves it to the city committee of the CPSU, writes to Koshkarbaev, meets with the writer V.E. Subbotin, writes to General Shatilov. But it's too late. The only audience who believes him are the war participants. The nickname “Grishka Reichstag” was stamped on him firmly and forever.
In 1965, friends were found and united, the entire platoon of participants in the hoisting of the Victory Banner. Truth will prevail!
In 1973, on April 19, Grigory Petrovich committed suicide. There is an unkempt grave in the cemetery; there is a photograph on it - a salute to the Victory Banner, a photograph of Grisha from the book of Marshal Zhukov.
On TV often, and always by May 9, they show a group of fighters with a homemade banner running along the steps of the Reichstag, and a young guy screwing the pole of the Victory Banner - this is Grigory Bulatov.

Pema E.I. tells

http://www.sloblib.narod.ru/bylatov/arxiv/soldat6.htm
Doctor Emilia Ivanovna Pema is known to many generations of Sloboda residents. Doctor “from God., from the dying descendants of Eemian doctors. The most cultured person. A woman with a dramatic fate. Her soul would ache for her husband, with whom she cannot live, that’s how fate turned out - he is abroad, about her sons who are without a father, about herself - straw... But she is about this unlucky man, to whom she gave the name of Hero with her power, and I still hope that at least my fellow countrymen will recognize him as such...
- He, like others under the Reichstag, was promised the title of Hero. He deserved it, but didn't get it. Who is this Grishka Bulatov to me? No one. I've never seen him. And everyone in the city knew him, this drunkard.
They told me: why do you need this? You walk from corner to corner and think: that’s right, why? Forget! But again - the magazine, again - this photograph, don’t even read it. I wasn't looking for facts. They got into their own eyes. There is nothing of mine here, everything is from books, written by other people. I knocked on that house where there was no one, in the city committee. At first timidly, then annoyingly They asked me: why? They gave you heroes, hung up “icons”: Stalin, Zhukov, so pray to them, and there is no point in dragging out all sorts of drunks. A drunkard, a drunkard, a “convict.” They say that if we say his name out loud, the meticulous pioneers will figure out that he is a vile person.
This was in the 60s. My difficult times... I was on duty at the department. Some kind of military holiday. Suddenly the police bring me two “pigeons”. In suits. A meager number of medals. After drinking, of course. They say they came to the city committee to prove the truth, they demanded the first secretary. Who will let them in! Brought here. A hunted look: “Yes, you know, he is a Hero!” Well, here we go... Who are we talking about? “Grishka is a Hero, no Kantaria, but he was the first to raise the banner over the Reichstag.” I reason: tricks, like how a drunk woman with a dirty hem says: I am the Mother of God... Blasphemy. I got them into a good level of intoxication - and goodbye. They left meekly with the policeman and with the words: “She is the same as everyone else.” What am I like? Then it was forgotten.
It started with this photograph. It seems to be the same, in books, albums, magazines, on posters. Only here and there the angle is different. Yes, I remember this photo from 1945. The same faces. Comrades, this means something!.. Then, at one meeting, someone nearby says: “Does Bulatov work at your plywood mill? Come on, read it." An article, I don’t remember the title, about the last days of the war. Biography of this Bulatov - born... worked... planted the banner over the Reichstag.
After some time, I read an article: a military man writes about how banners were selected for installation above the Reichstag: panels from one piece of red material, And soldiers were selected in several units - Russian and non-Russian. They have a banner and a cover group, everything is described in detail. And suddenly there was a response to this article: why then is the banner in the museum made of two pieces? It hit my heart again.
And another article: it was not those who raised the Banner, who were later named before the whole world, but the guys from the 674th Regiment. From him - Bulatov.
"Arguments and Facts". A photograph, and some meticulous boy writes about it again: they weren’t the first, figure it out, people.
I come to the store. A huge portrait on a poster with these soldiers. Here he is. Do you recognize? No one in those days raised a hand to capture another, to falsify the highest moment.
I wrote “Ogonyok”. After all, there are not many of them in the picture. Someone is still alive. Have to search. The answer came, unsubscribe... I was upset.
The article in the regional newspaper finished me off. I described everything and took it to the editor. But someone wrote before me, and the headline was “The first to burst onto the steps of the Reichstag.” Damn it, I said, if he got to the first step of the Reichstag for the first time in 40 years, then in my lifetime I will never see him get to the last step! What I’m telling you now is the last breath of the old woman; before, I was tireless and passionate.
But there was a last, main article in this whole story. I copied it verbatim. Neva magazine, May 1987, p. 77, Anatoly Oreshko, “They were the first.” Here is this article. It says exactly here: in that photo are soldiers of the 574th Infantry Regiment Viktor Pravotorov, Ivan Lysenko, Stepan Oreshko, Grigory Bulatov, Semyon Sorokin, Pavel Brekhovetsky. The officer with the pistol is the battalion commander of the 756th regiment, Captain Neustroyev, where Egorov and Kantaria served. The son of one of them, a historian, is writing an article; he writes very carefully; real glasnost is still far away. His fellow villagers also did not believe his father, Stepan Oreshko. Half a day earlier than the official announcement, the Victory Banner was above the Reichstag! And our fellow countryman is involved in this! Documents about the atom are in the archives of the Ministry of Defense.
V. Subbotin in the book “How Wars End” writes: “The circle of people who took the Reichstag has been terribly narrowed... One name, one figure was taken, and behind her back a lot of nameless ones are buried... From anniversary to anniversary we talk about some and the same people. So it seems that several people took the Reichstag. What a lie!
I only know about “Grishka the Reichstag” what he told his drinking buddies in “Baby Mountain” or “Blue Danube”.
What did he live with after 1945, what a wound!.. God forbid. You can’t prove anything, and they also laugh: “Grishka is the Reichstag,” Grishka, let’s go have a drink.
It wasn’t mama’s boys who took the Reichstag, but desperate little girls, school C graders and D students. More than a hundred meters high, a “patch” on the dome, remember the photo - he stands with his back to Berlin, to the abyss, clouds below. It could have been the one who... laid the pipe at the plywood mill. Grishka put it down.
As a participant in the war, he was sometimes invited to the presidiums, so he crawled from the presidiums to the buffet and from there to the presidiums, but he returned unsteadily. That's what they told me in the city committee. Here it is - the bitter truth from the life of a national hero.
..On May 9 every year I asked the city leaders: you are carrying a mountain of wreaths, give one wreath from the city to his grave, I’ll take it myself, just give it. They look with ox eyes: - “Emilivaina, another time.” And every next time he, the poor man, doesn’t get it. I came home after all these conversations in offices, and I wanted to slam a glass of vodka from this hopelessness.
There must be truth. Grishka hanged himself. The Hero hanged himself, proving to everyone that he was a good person, and he could not prove it. Got drunk.
His wife left him, took his daughter away...
His comrades erected a monument to him at the cemetery. And the photo is THIS one. And another one, where he’s wearing a hat, awesome. We go to this cemetery with our grandson. There, someone planted a white currant bush for him. Blooms profusely. Roma says: “Can I have one berry?” “One is possible. For strength."
Recorded by T. MELNIKOVA

Triumph of exceptions

Marina Topaz,
General newspaper, December 6-12, 2001
The documentary film "Soldier and Marshal", which was commissioned by the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company "Culture" and was made by director Marina Dokhmatskaya, is an investigation into the dramatic fate of the man who put an end to World War II. Grigory Bulatov, the dashing young standard-bearer of the regiment, was the first to hoist the banner over the Reichstag. It was filmed by Roman Karmen. However, the Stalinist marshals, who came to their senses, decided that it was impossible for a random soldier to become a legend. It seemed more correct to replace him with two others, who also took Berlin. These two chosen ones - Egorov and Kantaria - are the only ones who felt guilt before the sidelined hero. The front-line soldier who returned home did not pretend to anything and did not ask for anything. But his whole life was distorted by the crossed out feat. He was imprisoned for an uncommitted crime. Then they released me. In 1973, he went to Moscow for Victory Day. The police met him at the station and, as if he had been released early from prison, returned him home. After this, the former soldier committed suicide.
http://www.sloblib.narod.ru/bylatov/arxiv/soldat4.htm

P E R E P I S K A
Grigory Bulatov
Moscow October 25, 1965
Hello Grigory Petrovich!
Finally you have been found. Yesterday I received your letter dated October 13, which I was very happy about. True, you date your letter on September 13, but I think that this is a typo.
First of all, I tell you the sad news. Viktor Pravotorov is no longer alive. Three years ago, as a result of an industrial accident, his life was tragically cut short.
Victor's death caused all of us, his loved ones, his friends and especially his brothers, a serious wound that time is powerless to heal. I have never met a person who did not speak warmly of him. He was a cheerful, extremely kind and sympathetic person.
I write about him this way not because he was my brother. No, he really was a sincere, very charming person. This is not my personal opinion, but the opinion of everyone who knew him closely. I think and hope, Grigory Petrovich, that in your memory he remained like this, especially since fate in a certain way connected you... Moreover, I hope and am already sure that Viktor Pravotorov, one of the heroes of hoisting the Banner of Victory over the lair of fascism, will remain for a long time in the memory of not only his loved ones, but also the memory of all noble humanity.
And no matter how our enemies try to erase from the memory of the Soviet people the glorious seven scouts of the 674th regiment, among whom were you, Grigory Petrovich, who were the first to hoist the legendary banner on the roof of the German Reichstag, they will not succeed!
If not in 20 years, then even in 25 years, but the truth will still make its way!”

(From a letter from Provotorov’s brother to G. Bulatov)
“It seems to me (and not only to me) that long before the hoisting of the Victory Banner, if not Stalin himself, then the worst enemy of our people, L.P. Beria, gave instructions to find a person with a surname that would sound the same as his surname . So I found it: Beria, Kantaria... At one time, Beria was rightly thrown into the dustbin of history, but the myth about his protégé, his “countryman”, although already pretty much tarnished, apparently still lives on today. There are still influential friends of Beria somewhere who support the myth about Yegorov and Kantaria, which is harmful to our people.
I remember how my brother, Victor, turned off the TV with a sharp movement of his hand when the chatter began regarding E. and K. How his face changed at the same time, how anger and indignation overwhelmed him then.
Plekhodanov, this glorious commander who “took the REICHSTAG WITH THE FIRST STORM,” as it was written in his award sheet for awarding him the title “Hero of the Soviet Union,” which he never received,” also suffered a lot and hard.
(Letter from the private collection of E.I. Pema.)

Monument to Grigory Bulatov

70 years ago, in the early morning of May 1, 1945, Soviet soldiers hoisted the Victory Banner on the roof of the Reichstag in Berlin. Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria received the glory of the first standard bearers.

But other banners also rose above the Reichstag. According to researchers, more than 20 Victory Banners soared over the Reichstag. The standard bearers did not act alone, but in groups. Thus, the famous Egorov and Kantaria were part of the group of Alexei Berest from the 756th Infantry Regiment. Berest's group was covered by machine gunners from Ilya Syanov's group.
A group of standard bearers under the leadership of captain Vladimir Makov is also known - the banner was hoisted by Baidemir Yaparov; group of Lieutenant Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev - the banner was hoisted by Grigory Bulatov and Viktor Provotorov; group of Major Mikhail Bondar - the banner was hoisted by Gazi Zagitov and Mikhail Minin.

He talks about how the destinies of Gazi Zagitov and Grigory Bulatov turned outBulat Khamidullin, head of department of the Institute of Tatar Encyclopedia of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, one of the authors of the book about the Tatars-standard-bearers of the Victory.

Fighters behind the scenes

In the award sheet of the Tatar from Bashkiria Gazi Zagitov, it is written in black and white that he and his friend installed the first victory banner on the tower of the German parliament. A graduate of a medical school went to the front immediately after the army. Served in an optical reconnaissance platoon. When the assault on Berlin began, senior sergeant Zagitov already had the Order of Glory, III degree, medals “For Courage” and “For Military Merit.” For example, on January 20, 1945, he alone captured ten fascists.

Gazi Zagitov Photo: AiF-Kazan/

On April 30, with a group of soldiers, Gazi Zagitov rushed through artillery fire to the main entrance to the Reichstag. With a flashlight in his hands, he ran up the stairs, lighting the way for his comrades and hitting enemies with grenades. Already on May 1 at 0.40 Gazi Zagitov and Mikhail Minin attached the banner to the crown of a huge sculpture on the roof, which the fighters called the “Goddess of Victory.” The roof was shot from all sides, the Nazis tried to recapture the building. Zagitov was seriously wounded: the bullet passed near his heart, piercing his party card and the block of the medal “For Courage”. But the wounded man guarded the banner until the morning.

This was a feat worthy of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. But Georgy Zhukov, commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, judging by the award documents, decided that the Order of the Red Banner would be enough for Zagitov.

However, Gazi Zagitov was not the first Tatar to hoist the Victory Banner on the Reichstag. He was ahead of Kungur Tatar Grigory Bulatov from the Kirov region. His award list indicates the exact time of the feat - April 30 at 14.25.

Plywood factory worker Grigory Bulatov was called to the front in the summer of 1943. But by the spring of 1945, the intelligence officer already had the Order of Glory, III degree, and two medals “For Courage.”
When on April 30 a group of scouts from the 674th Regiment was ordered to hoist the Victory Banner, Corporal Bulatov attached the flag to the harness of the horse sculpture, which is confirmed not only by the award sheet, but also from the recollections of eyewitnesses - Bulatov’s comrades.

On May 3, Grigory Bulatov became the main character and standard-bearer of a staged film about the capture of the Reichstag. It was filmed with a flag on the roof, but later a voiceover was added: “Here Egorov and Kantaria are hoisting the banner...”! In those days, they also wrote about the standard-bearer Bulatov in the newspapers. He was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but instead of a star, he also received only the Order of the Red Banner. Why? After all, it was his face that the residents of the Union saw on the circulated posters about the destruction of the fascist lair!

Was there a flag?

The fact is that there were only nine banners specially made for raising at the Reichstag. They simply did not get into the regiments where Gazi Zagitov and Grigory Bulatov served, but the commanders decided to use homemade banners. They were made, for example, from the upholstery of German sofas and feather beds. So at the Reichstag red flags stuck out of almost every window. But only those special nine Victory Banners were taken into account. There was confusion.

Grigory Bulatov Photo: AiF-Kazan/ Photo courtesy of Bulat Khamidullin

The famous Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria hoisted banner No. 5. But experts believe that it is not this that is kept in the Museum of the Russian Armed Forces, but a banner sewn by scouts of the 674th regiment, where Grigory Bulatov served. In fact, he hoisted this banner twice. First at about 11 o'clock at the entrance to the Reichstag, and then on the neck of the horse sculpture on the roof. So the scouts' banner was the first to fly. And for several hours I was the only one. Even the standard bearer Kantaria admitted that the scouts Bulatov and Provotorov were the first to strengthen the flag on the pediment. Relatives of Meliton Kantaria more than once said that he came to Bulatov with an apology that he did not deserve the Star of the Hero.

Apart from the “official” standard bearers, others were not needed. That is why after the war Gazi Zagitov never mentioned his feat. In 1947. in his native village of Yanagushevo, he headed the village council and soon got married. Then he worked as a mechanic at a machine and tractor station. On August 23, 1953, under unclear circumstances, he died, falling under the wheels of a car in which he himself went to buy spare parts for collective farm equipment. In the Museum of Military Glory of Bashkiria there is a diorama with a fragment of the Reichstag wall, where a soldier writes the name “Zagitov”. That's all that remains for descendants to remember their grandfather's feat. The Honored Star of the Hero of the USSR was given to Zagitov’s relatives only in 1997, when it had already lost its state status.

It didn’t take long for Grigory Bulatov’s comrades to feel like heroes. Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev from Kazakhstan, with whom Bulatov broke through to the entrance to the Reichstag, lived until 1988, but did not receive the Hero Star. A sad fate awaited Bulatov himself. At the end of May 1945, he was invited to the Kremlin, but instead of the Hero's Star, Joseph Stalin made him understand that there should be other people in his place. They immediately stopped standing on ceremony with the unwanted hero. At night he was taken away on a false denunciation of rape. So Bulatov was locked up in a cell with criminals for 1.5 years. After serving his sentence, he was sent to serve in Germany. He returned home to the plywood mill in Slobodskaya only in 1949. He started a family, a daughter was born, but deep resentment no longer allowed Bulatov to live in peace.

Bust of Gazi Zagitov in the village of Yanagushevo Photo: AiF-Kazan/ Photo courtesy of Bulat Khamidullin

In prison he was nicknamed “Grishka the Reichstag.” Apart from criminals, no one believed his “tales” about the feat. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Victory, he learned that the Kazakh authorities were petitioning to award him, along with Koshkarbayev, the title of Hero. He waited a year for the award, then he started drinking, quit his job, and received a prison sentence for hooliganism. When I came out, I saw my photograph in Zhukov’s “Memories and Reflections” with the caption “The Reich Stag has been taken!” This picture reopened an old wound, and then a new deadline followed. According to the official version, in 1973, Grigory Bulatov hanged himself in the toilet. But there are rumors that he was helped by two unknown Muscovites with whom he spent his last day...

To the point

There is information that other “unofficial” standard-bearers of the Victory - the comrades of Grigory Bulatov - did not suffer by chance. Thus, Ivan Lysenko complained after the war that they were treated unfairly, but soon fell silent. At first he noticed that he was being followed. And then - that accidents happen to comrades. What is this - evil fate or the elimination of undesirables? Experienced electrician Viktor Provotorov was electrocuted in 1962 after allegedly touching a bare wire. Mikhail Gabidullin emigrated abroad in the 60s under his wife’s name and disappeared. In 1974, Mikhail Pachkovsky suddenly died. In 1990, forester Stepan Oreshko was crushed by a falling tree. The group commander, Semyon Sorokin, was found in a noose at his dacha in 1994. The fate of Pavel Bryukhovetsky is still unknown.