Meliton Kantaria: Hero's Way of Fighting

Meliton Kantaria is one of the most famous heroes of the Great Patriotic War. In his honor, many streets and avenues are named. Monuments to the soldier of the Red Army are in many cities of various post-Soviet countries. The photo, where Kantaria together with Egorov hoisted the Banner of Victory over the Reichstag, is one of the symbols of victory over Nazi Germany around the world.

Meliton Kantaria: biography

Meliton was born on October 5, 1920. He lived in Jvari with his family: his mother, three brothers and two sisters. Meliton spent 4 years in elementary school. Then he worked on a collective farm in the same village. The Cantary family belonged to the Mingrelian people, who were part of the Georgian nationality, but with some differences. The Meliton brothers died in the late 1990s. One of the sisters lives in Greece.

Father Varlam participated in the so-called rear front. He was engaged in the supply of Soviet troops and worked in the enterprises. For his labor merits, he received a medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus" and others.

With the outbreak of the war, Meliton Kantaria was drafted into the Red Army to fight the fascist invaders. Already in 1941 he became a scout of the 3rd Shock Army.

Berlin Offensive Operation

In 1944, the first Belorussian Front was formed. It included the 150th Infantry Division, in which Melton Kantaria served. The troops of this front liberated the occupied cities of the Soviet Union in Byelorussia, after which the offensive began in Poland. During the fighting, the Polish partisans, members of the Ludovaya Army and Krajowa joined the Red Army. The legendary Marshal Rokossovsky commanded the front. The 3rd Shock Army forced the Vistula.

After the start of the Berlin offensive, it was the troops of the First Byelorussian Front that were assigned to take Berlin and finally to defeat Nazi Germany. Altogether, 2,500 people of the Red Army and about 160,000 Polish fighters, 6,000 tanks and a huge number of artillery participated in this operation. In the end, the operation was completed successfully, which led to the end of the Great Patriotic War.

Making a banner of victory

The banner that Meliton Kantaria, together with Yegorov and Berestom raised above the Reichstag, was made several days before. On Stalin's personal order, the victory over Germany was to end with the raising of the Banner of Victory over Berlin. The leader mentioned this in his famous speech in October 1944. When Soviet troops surrounded Berlin, the command of some divisions began to make special banners.

The political department of the 150th Infantry Division gave the order to make 9 special flags, which can be used as banners. Stalin personally pointed out the object that symbolized Nazi Germany as much as possible - the Reichstag. Meliton Kantariya was in intelligence, so he constantly participated in the battles on the front line. According to the memoirs of one of the participants in the making of the Banner, the flag was made in the basement at night. After the order of the command, female servicemen sewed a flag from the cloth taken in Berlin. One of the front-line artists - Vasily Buntov - manually displayed a sickle and a hammer. During the making, many cried, because for the first time they realized that the most terrible war in the history of mankind is coming to an end. As a pole, cornices and sawn boards were used.

Victory Banner Propaganda

In the last days of April, the most fierce battles for Berlin broke out. Soviet troops were in the heart of the capital. The enemy was so close that hand grenades and bayonet shovels were used. Literally on every meter there were bloody battles. In the evening of April 30, the units of the 150th Infantry Division approached the Reichstag. In the building itself, fighting began, the fire covered several floors. Kantaria Meliton Varlamovich was among the group, who was awarded the assault flag.

On May 30, the Red Army broke into the building and seized several floors. On the morning of May 1, Alexei Berest, Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria raised the Victory Banner over the Reichstag dome. A snapshot of this moment is recognized all over the world. For shown courage and participation in the historical moment of Kantariya was awarded a medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

After the war, he lived in Sukhumi. Kantaria Meliton Varlamovich died in 1993.