Meliton Kantaria; Raised Soviet Flag Over Berlin in 1945

Meliton Kantaria, 74, who for millions symbolized the Soviet Union’s World War II victory over the Nazis. Kantaria was one of the two Red Army soldiers who raised the Soviet flag over the battered Reichstag, or parliament building, in Berlin on April 30, 1945. The Soviets seized control of Berlin on May 2 and announced their victory over Nazi Germany on May 9 after crushing pockets of resistance across Eastern Europe. The Germans officially capitulated a day earlier. Kantaria’s gesture of victory was immortalized in a documentary film seen worldwide. Kantaria’s comrade, Russian Mikhail Yegorov, died years ago. In Tblisi, Georgia, on an unreported date of undisclosed causes.