Meliton Cantaria is one of the most famous heroes of World War II. Many streets and avenues are named after him. Monuments to a soldier of the Red Army are in many cities of various post-Soviet countries.
The photograph where Kantaria and Yegorov hoist the Victory Banner over the Reichstag is one of the
symbols of victory over Nazi Germany throughout the world.
Meliton Cantaria: biography
Meliton was born on October 5, 1920. He lived in the city of Jvari with his family: his mother, three brothers and two sisters. Meliton studied in elementary school for 4 years. Then he worked on a collective farm in the same village. The Kantaria 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 enterprises. For his labor merits, he received the medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus" and others.
With the outbreak of the war, Meliton Kantaria was drafted into the Red Army to combat the fascist invaders. Already in 1941, he became a scout of the 3rd shock army.
Berlin offensive operation
In 1944, the first Belarusian Front was formed. Its composition included the 150th Infantry Division, in which Meliton Kantaria served. The troops of this front liberated the occupied cities of the Soviet Union in Belarus, after which the offensive in Poland began. During the battles, the Polish partisans, members of the Army of Ludova and Craiova, joined the Red Army. The front was commanded by the legendary Marshal Rokossovsky. The 3rd shock army crossed the Vistula.
After the start of the Berlin offensive, it was the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front who were instructed to take Berlin and finally defeat Nazi Germany. In total, 2 and a half million people of the Red Army and about 160 thousand Polish soldiers, 6 thousand tanks and a huge amount of artillery participated in this operation. Ultimately, the operation was completed successfully, which led to the end of the Great Patriotic War.
Making a victory banner
The banner that Meliton Cantaria, along with Egorov and Berest, raised above the Reichstag, was made a few days before. By 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 produce special banners.
The political department of the 150th Infantry Division gave the order to produce 9 special flags that can be used as banners. Stalin personally indicated the object that would symbolize Nazi Germany as much as possible - the Reichstag. Meliton Kantaria was in intelligence, so he constantly participated in battles at the forefront. According to the recollections of one of the participants in the manufacture of the Banner, the flag was made in the basement at night. Following an order from the command, female soldiers sewed a flag from a cloth taken in Berlin. One of the front-line artists - Vasily Buntov - manually drew a sickle and hammer. During the manufacture, many cried, because they first realized that the most terrible war in human history was coming to an end. As a pole, cornices and sawn boards were used.
Raising the Banner of Victory
In the last days of April, the most fierce battles for Berlin flared up. Soviet troops were in the very center of the capital. The enemy was so close that hand grenades and bayonet spades were used. Literally every meter there were bloody battles. On the evening of April 30, units of the 150th Infantry Division approached the Reichstag. In the building itself, fighting began, a fire spread over several floors. Kantaria Meliton Varlamovich was among the group that was given the assault flag.
On May 30, the Red Army broke into the building and captured 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 recognizable all over the world. For the courage and participation in the historical moment, Kantaria was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal.
After the war, he lived in Sukhumi. Kantaria Meliton Varlamovich died in 1993.