FEATURE

The soldier who

By EDUARD PODNOCHEVNY

On Apr. 30, 1945, at 2:25 p.m. Berlin
time, the first groups of Soviet soldiers burst
into the Reichstag. At that moment neither

‘Mikhail Yegorov nor Meliton Kantaria
could imagine that their heroic deed would
go down in history, and the red banner they
set up on the Reichstag would become the
symbol of the victory over Nazi Germany.

Forty years have passed since then, but
Hero of the Soviet Union Meliton Kantaria
still remembers every minute of that historic
day.

“Mikhail Yegorov and I were in a recon-
naissance unit under Ilya Syanov’s com-
mand. Our task was to fly the banner of
victory over the Reichstag. To do this we
had to fight the last 300 metres separating us
from the fascist citadel.

“We hid on the ground floor of the Ger-
man ministry of the interior. As if anticipat-
ing our final attack, the German soldiers
opened violent fire at the walls and windows
of the building. Our artillery returned fire
and under this cover we dashed to the
square in front of the Reichstag.

“Ahead of us were two battalions under
Captains Stepan Neustroyev and Vasily
Dayvodov’s command. We were following
them. Making dashes from one shell-hole to
another and crawling across trenches, we
took one metre after another from the fas-
cists, until we finally reached the canal,
threw rails over and rushed forward.

“Meanwhile, German guns were deliver-
ing running fire at the streets and the Moltke
Bridge, and the trench which was blocking
our way to the square. Only at 2:25 p.m. did
we burst into the Reichstag. We fought for
every room and for every stairwell. At the
very beginning of the battle, Soviet soldiers
fixed a red cloth at the entrance, on a

10 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JUNE 5, 1985

column scarred with bullets and shell frag-
ments. Several more red banners now
showed in different parts of the black build-
ing of the Reichstag.

“Fighting continued on the second floor
and then on the third. Our banner fluttered
wherever there was fighting. Several times
the enemy tried to seize it, but we rebuffed
their attacks. Our soldiers made a hole to
the attic and we got onto the roof. Below,
enveloped in smoke, lay Berlin.

“The Germans were now shelling the
roof. Misha Yegorov and I wanted to fix the
red banner in a place which could be seen
from all parts of Berlin. The cupola of the
building was destroyed, so we climbed up
the remaining iron frame. We tried to avoid
looking downward to that smoking abyss.

“Finally, we reached the top and the red
banner rippled in the spring breeze. The
battle, which seemed to us to take a matter
of minutes, continued till the dawn of May
i.

“There was no fear really,” Meliton Kan-
taria continued. “It was just that we did not
want to die on the last day of the war. None
of us wavered, however. We were aware
that every metre, every building and every
square won from the enemy was bringing us
closer to the great victory. At that moment I
suddenly recalled my native town and my
family, ruined Soviet towns and cities, and
my friends killed in action. In fact, all of us
felt the same, because launching one attack
after another, we were risking our lives.
When one was killed, another took his
place. We knew that we were fighting for a
right cause, for our homeland, for victory.

“The red banner of victory was fluttering
over Berlin, but the German troops con-
tinued to offer frantic resistance in the dis-
tricts adjoining the Reichstag. It was not

until the morning of May 2 that the Berlin
grouping surrendered.

“Soon our officers, Yegorov and I were
summoned to the headquarters of the First
Byelorussian Front. There we learned that
we would go to Moscow to participate in
the parade of victory. Also we were to bring
the banner of victory to the Soviet capital.

“Units of the Moscow garrison lined up
along the landing ground of the Moscow
Airport. When we produced the banner,
loud sounds of music and salvoes rolled
through the air. We handed the banner over
to the guard of honor and four days later it
was carried through Red Square. On the
next day, June 25, in the presence of repre-
sentatives of the general headquarters and
guards of honor, the banner was presented
to the central museum of the USSR armed
forces.”

Meliton Kantaria was born in the town of
Ochamchira in Abkhazia, an autonomous
republic in Soviet Gerogia. He now lives
and works in Sukhumi, the capital of Abk-
hazia. He is chief shop assistant in a Suk-
humi food store. No job could be more
peaceful than his. This food store is espe-
cially popular in Sukhumi because its resi-
dents and guests come here to meet the
legendary hero of the Great Patriotic War.

Kantaria often meets with schoolchild-
ren, students, workers and Soviet army
soldiers, and tells them about the war, about
his comrades in arms, and 4ll those who
were not destined to live to see the victory
celebrated.

“All Soviet people have the same attitude
toward war,” Meliton Kantaria.says. “It
brought destruction to our country, slowed

down its development by several dozen >
years, and, what is most horrible, took 20 -

million lives. There is not a single Georgian

raised the flag over the Reichstag

family which has not lost a father, a son, a
brother; a mother or a sister, Among the
defenders of the Soviet country were
700,000 Gerogian men and women. More
than 300,000-of them fell fighting against
the fascists. We shall always remember
them and we must do everything to safe-
guard peace for the young generation.”
Humankind has never known such fierce
and large-scale battles as those waged by the
Soviet people, the nations of Europe and
our allies against the fascist invaders. The
world conflict of 1939-1945 can only evoke
a feeling of revulsion and hatred of war. The
tragedy of World War II must never occur
again.
— Novosti Press

Meeting to mark
40th anniversary

B.C. Communist Party leader
Maurice Rush, who was in the Soviet
Union May 8 for the celebration
marking the 40th anniversary of the
victory over fascism, and labor histo-
rian Ben Swankey are scheduled to
address a public meeting June 13 on
“The Victory over fascism and its sig-
nificance today.”

Both Rush and Swankey are World
War II veterans.

The meeting, sponsored by the
Greater Vancouver Regional Com-
mittee of the Communist Party, is set
for 7:30 p.m. in the Russian Hall, 600
Campbell Ave.

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