In August 1941, the enemy approached Leningrad and the family was evacuated. A grandmother with three daughters aged 9, 7 and 4 and a one-year-old son in her arms left for Kulunda (Altai Territory). Grandfather arrived a little later and fell ill with typhus. All railway workers were liable for military service. Alexander Fedorovich was called to work as part of the operational group of railway employees, the group was sent to the Rzhevka station near Leningrad. Sick and hungry people worked, Alexander Fedorovich helped the family, sending food that he himself received to the children. In 1942, he died - he was crushed by carriages while working on the railway. They said that this happened somewhere in the area of the Rzhevka station, now it is located within the city of St. Petersburg. The grandmother received notice of her husband's death. The family returned from evacuation after the lifting of the blockade of Leningrad to the village, and the house built by Alexander Fedorovich before the war burned down. The grandmother was offered to send the two youngest children to an orphanage, but she raised them all herself.
Hero of the Soviet Union, Honorary Citizen of Pskov,
participant of the Great Patriotic War
Mikhail Petrovich Minin was born on July 29, 1922 in the village of Vanino, Palkinsky district, Pskov region, into a peasant family. He graduated from 7 classes of Novo-Usitovskaya junior high school, also in the Palkinsky district. In 1938 he entered the Leningrad College, studied excellently, but in connection with the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War on July 30, 1941, he voluntarily enlisted in the people's militia, and then was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army, where he immediately entered into battle with the troops of Nazi Germany. He liberated the settlements of the Pskov region: Velikiye Luki, Nevel, Pustoshka and others. Then he fought in Latvia, Poland and Germany. He took part in the battles in Berlin, in the storming of the Reichstag, in the hoisting of the Red Banner over this citadel of fascism, for which he was nominated for the Order of Lenin and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which was awarded only after the collapse of the USSR - on May 27, 1997.
By decree of the Presidium of the Council of People's Deputies of the USSR. He was also awarded the Order of the Red Banner, two orders of the Great Patriotic War, the Order of the Red Star, and the medal “For Military Merit.” After demobilization in the fall of 1946, he came to the Palkinsky district. He worked there as an executive secretary and editor of a regional newspaper. In 1952 he was again called up to serve in the Soviet Army. In 1959 he graduated from the Kuibyshev Military Engineering Academy and served until 1969 in various positions in the Armed Forces of the USSR.
Resigned from the Soviet Army in 1977. Since 1977, Mikhail Petrovich lived in the city of Pskov, took an active part in the military-patriotic education of youth, and was more than once a participant in the Victory Parade in Moscow. M.P. Minin wrote a book of memoirs about the war, “Difficult Years to Victory,” which was published in 2001.
Bibliography:
On conferring the title “Honorary Citizen of the City of Pskov”: Resolution of the Pskov City Duma dated July 8, 2005 No. 431 // Pskovskaya Pravda. – 2005. – July 20. – P. 4.
Minin, M. The Last Assault: [memories of the storming of the Reichstag] / M. Minin // Book of Memory. T. 2. – Pskov, 1993. – P. 61-86.
Ivanov, A. Pskov standard bearer: Sergeant Minin was the first to hoist the Victory Banner / A. Ivanov // Pskov News. – 1995. – May 9. – P. 3.
Klevtsov, V. Storming of the Reichstag... Who was the first? : [the honor of being the first to raise the Red Banner over the Reichstag went to a native of the village. Vanino, Pskov region. Mikhail Petrovich Minin] / V. Klevtsov //AiF. – 1999. - No. 18 (May). – (Pskov, No. 4, pp. 1, 2).
Bogdanova, N. Restore historical justice: [M.P. Minin, one of the first to hoist the flag over the Reichstag, received a copy of the Victory Banner] / N. Bogdanova // Pskovskaya Pravda. – 2007. – September 25. – P. 1.
In memory of Mikhail Petrovich Minin: obituary / M.V. Kuznetsov, B.G. Polozov // Pskovskaya Pravda. – 2008. – January 12. – P. 1.
Vasiliev, S. Mikhail Minin - the last standard-bearer / S. Vasiliev // Pskovskaya Pravda. – 2008. – January 15. – P. 1,2.
Levin, N.F., Rusanova, L.F. In service to Pskov: Honorary citizens of Pskov: (bio-bibliographic collection) / N.F. Levin, L.F. Rusanova. - Pskov: ANO LOGOS Publishing House, 2008. – P. 106 - 107: photo. - (To the 1105th anniversary of the first mention of Pskov in the chronicle).
Victory Standard Bearer
Our Minin - Standard Bearer of Victory
May 7, 2010 at house No. 48 on Novoselov Street, where M.P. Minin lived
in Pskov, a memorial plaque was installed.
From the biography of Mikhail Petrovich Minin
Mikhail Petrovich Minin was born in the village of Vanino, Palkinsky district, on July 29, 1922. He began working on his native land early: he helped his mother in a vegetable-growing brigade on a collective farm for six years, until he graduated from the 7th grade of Novo-Usitovskaya junior high school.
After graduating from school in 1938, he went to enter the Leningrad technical school. Passed the exams successfully. I studied diligently. During his studies, in his free time from classes, he worked as a laborer unloading freight cars.
On June 21, 1941, he successfully passed all the spring session exams for the third year, as well as all previous ones. After graduating from college, I dreamed of devoting myself to my favorite business.
But on June 22, war broke out... And on June 30, nineteen-year-old Mikhail Minin signed up as a volunteer for the front. Ahead were "difficult roads to victory..."
He had to fight on various fronts. Participant in defensive battles and then offensives. He also participated in the liberation of his native Pskov region: Velikiye Luki, Nevel, Pustoshka. Then he fought in Latvia, Poland, and Germany. He took part in the battles in Berlin, in the storming of the Reichstag, in the hoisting of the Red Banner “over this citadel of fascism.”
Here's how the events unfolded: “Paved the way with grenades and machine gun fire, the assault group moved forward. Against the background of the fire glow, they noticed a sculptural group. On it, despite the artillery shelling, Sergeant M.P. Minin hoisted the Red Banner. He wrote the names on the banner four of his comrades. Then Captain Makov, accompanied by Bobrov, went down and immediately reported by radio to the corps commander, General Perevertkin, that at 22:40 the group was the first to hoist the Red Banner over the Reichstag." This event was the most memorable in the life of Mikhail Petrovich.
His valiant service during the Great Patriotic War is evidenced by his military awards: the Order of the Red Replacement, the Red Star, two Orders of the Patriotic War of the second degree, medals “For Military Merit”, “For the Liberation of Warsaw”, “For the Capture of Berlin”, “For Victory” over Germany" and others. But only in 1995, for hoisting the Red Banner over the Reichstag, Mikhail Petrovich Minin was awarded the Golden Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin.
Having been demobilized in the fall of 1946, Minin M.P. returned to the Palkinsky district. He worked as an executive secretary and editor of a regional newspaper.
Having received the military rank of lieutenant in 1952, he was again drafted into the ranks of the Soviet Army. In 1959 he graduated with honors from the V.V. Kuibyshev Military Engineering Academy. I had to serve in different positions. In 1969, he retired from the Armed Forces with the rank of engineer major.
Since 1977, he lived in the city of Pskov, took an active part in the military-patriotic education of youth, and was more than once a participant in the Victory Parade in Moscow.
About the feat of Mikhail Petrovich Minin
Minin, M.P. Difficult roads to victory: Memoirs of a veteran of the Great Patriotic War / M.P. Minin. - Pskov: Psk. region org.-method. center for the preparation and publication of Books of Memory, 2001. - 255 p. - Mikhail Petrovich carefully kept in his memory everything connected with wartime. And these memories were embodied in his book “Difficult Roads to Victory.” It is intended for a wide range of readers, especially those who are interested in the fate of our fellow countrymen, who bore on their shoulders all the hardships that befell them during the Great Patriotic War.
Alekseev, I. And the banner rose above the Reichstag / I. Alekseev, A. Grishmanovsky // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 1980. - November 4. - P. 2-3. - Pskovich Mikhail Petrovich Minin, who served in the Idritsa 150th Order of Kutuzov Infantry Division, was an intelligence specialist and an experienced party organizer of the battery. He was one of the first to plant a red flag over the Reichstag.
Rakhmanin, D. The last kilometers of the war / D. Rakhmanin // Young Leninist. - 1984. - July 21. - From 4-5. - About Mikhail Petrovich Minin, a participant in the storming of the Reichstag.
Morozov, A. Standard bearers / A. Morozov // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 1991. - May 9. - P. 2. - About the soldiers of the assault group of Captain V. Makov, who hoisted the Red Banner on the roof of the Reichstag at exactly 22:40 on April 30, 1945.
Ivanov, A. Pskov standard bearer: Sergeant Minin was the first to hoist the Victory Banner: A sensation half a century later / A. Ivanov // Pskov News. - 1995. - May 9. - P. 5.
Who raised the banner over the Reichstag: An erroneous report for five long decades prevented the names of the true heroes of the night assault from being named // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 1995. - June 10. - P. 2.
Klevtsov, V. Hero of a non-existent power / V. Klevtsov // Evening Pskov. - 1998. - February 3. - P. 1-2. - Pskovich M.P. Minin stormed the Reichstag. 52 years after the accomplishment of the feat, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Morozov, A. Justice has triumphed / A. Morozov // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 1998. - May 8-9. - P. 2.
Ilyin, B. Time passes, but exploits remain / B. Ilyin // Lnovod. - 1998. - November 27. - P. 2. - About Mikhail Petrovich Minin, a participant in the storming of Berlin.
Minin, M. Standard Bearers of Victory / M. Minin // Lnovod. - 1998. - December 8. - P. 4-5; 11 Dec - P. 6-7. - Memoirs of Minin M. - a Pskovite - participant in the Berlin operation in 1945.
Klevtsov, V. Storming of the Reichstag... Who was the first? / V. Klevtsov // Arguments and facts. - 1999. - May (No. 18). - Appendix: Pskov No. 4. - P. 1,3. - About the difficult fate of a native of the village of Vanino, Pskov region, M.P. Minin, who had the honor of raising the Red Banner over the Reichstag. Memoirs of M.P. Minin.
Klevtsov, V. The last battle of the war / V. Klevtsov // Sterkh. - 2001. - May 9 (No. 19a). - P. 6. - About the group that hoisted the Victory Banner over the Reichstag.
Ilin, B. Participant in the storming of the Reichstag / B. Ilyin // Lnovod. - 2002. - July 26. - P. 4. - Essay about M.P. Minin, a participant in the Great Patriotic War.
Gerasimova, T. Heroes who were kept silent / T. Gerasimova // Ostrovskie news. - 2003. - June 21. - P. 2. - About the meeting of young soldiers of the garrison of Island - 3 with Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Petrovich Minin, who spoke about his participation in the operation to capture the Reichstag in 1945.
Abrosimov, A. Mikhail Minin: “We did not fight for awards” / A. Abrosimov // Arguments and facts. - 2004. - May (No. 18). - P. 2. - (AiF.-North-West; No. 18).
Artemyeva, E. Banners of the Great Victory / E. Artemyeva // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 2005. - February 23-24. - P. 1.7. - About one of the groups of Soviet soldiers and officers who planted Red Flags at the Reichstag - a group consisting of M.P. Minina, G.K. Zagitova, A.P. Bobrova, A.F. Lisimenko.
Yaremenko, V. Who raised the banner over the Reichstag? / V. Yaremenko // Pskov province i. - 2005. - May 11-17 (No. 18). - pp. 12-13. - About the groups that planted banners at the Reichstag, including the group of Captain V. Makov, which included Sergeant M. Minin.
Pavlova, L. What are the changes leading to? / L. Pavlova // Sterkh. - 2005. - June 1 (#42). - P. 3. - On the petition of the regional deputy. Meetings of P. Nikolaev on awarding the title of Hero of Russia to the participants of the Great Patriotic War, who, under the leadership of Vladimir Makov, erected the first banner on the Reichstag. Among them is Mikhail Minin, who lives in Pskov.
Abrosimov, A. The Last Hero / A. Abrosimov // Panorama. - 2005. - July 20. - P. 2. - About the living conditions of Mikhail Petrovich Minin - Hero of the Soviet Union, participant in the installation of the Victory Banner on the Reichstag. Photo. Lives in Palkinsky district.
On conferring the title “Honorary Citizen of the City of Pskov”: Resolution [PGD] # 431 dated July 8, 2005 // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 2005. - July 20. - P. 4. - The honorary title was awarded to Stanislav Andreevich Menshikov; Minin Mikhail Petrovich; Yuger Pavel Yakovlevich.
Dementyev, O. Became honorary citizens / O. Dementyev // Pskov News. - 2005. - July 26. - P. 3. - About the ceremony of conferring the title “Honorary Citizen of the City of Pskov” on July 23, 2005. Photo.
Minin Mikhail Petrovich // Pskov Encyclopedia. 903 - 2007 / Ch. ed. A. I. Lobachev. - Pskov: Pskov regional public institution - publishing house "Pskov Encyclopedia", 2007. - P. 483-484.
In memory of a comrade // Time - Pskov. - 2008. - January 11. - P. 2. - Mikhail Petrovich Minin died (July 29, 1922 - January 10, 2008). Born in the village of Vanino, Palkinsky district.
He hoisted the Victory Banner over the Reichstag // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 2008. - January 11. - P. 1. - Report on the death of Mikhail Petrovich Minin on January 10, 2008.
In memory of Mikhail Petrovich Minin // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 2008. - January 12. - P. 1. - On January 10, World War II veteran Mikhail Petrovich Minin died. He was one of the first to hoist the Victory Banner over the Reichstag on April 30, 1945.
Vasiliev, S. Mikhail Minin - the last standard bearer / S. Vasiliev // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 2008. - January 15. - P. 1-2. - About the funeral of M.P. Minin was one of the first to plant the Victory Banner over the Reichstag.
Dementyev, O. Honorary Citizen of the World / O. Dementyev // Pskov Frontier. - 2008. - January 14-20. - P. 1, 3. - In memory of Mikhail Petrovich Minin (07/29/1922-01/10/2008) - a participant in the Great Patriotic War, who hoisted the Victory Banner over Reistag in Berlin (04/30/1945). Photo.
Milka, A. We are all indebted to him...: our fellow countryman was among those who were the first to break into the Reichstag [Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Petrovich Minin] / A. Milka // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 2009. - January 13. (N 2). - P. 2: photo. - About the solemn meeting dedicated to the anniversary of the death of M.P. Minin.
Aren't we Ivans who don't remember our kinship? Veterans of labor and military service in Pskov demand from the authorities a worthy perpetuation of the memory of Mikhail Petrovich Minin / A. G. Krasnikov [etc.] // Pskov province. - 2009. - April 29 - May 6 (N 16). - P. 14. - From the portrait.
Pskov region. Pskov Regional Assembly of Deputies. Convocation (4). Session (29). On the creation of an organizational committee to perpetuate the memory of Mikhail Petrovich Minin - Honorary Citizen of the city of Pskov: Resolution of the [Pskov Regional Assembly of Deputies] dated June 25, 2009 N 719 // Pskovskaya Pravda. - 2009. - June 30 (N 123). - P. 9.
On April 30, 1945, at 22.40 Moscow time (Berlin time - at 20.40), the assault group of Captain V. Makov hoisted the Red Banner over the Reichstag. Among the 5 scouts was our fellow countryman Mikhail Petrovich Minin. It was this man with a significant surname who climbed the sculptural group “Goddess of Victory” and installed a shaft in the crown of the German giantess. And to prevent the banner from falling, he tied the staff to the crown with ribbons from a torn handkerchief. There was no mocking disdain for the defeated enemy in these ribbons - Minin simply had nothing at hand...
For several minutes while he was planting this flag, he was a perfect target for German snipers, but fate was merciful to him and he survived.
This happened a few hours before, when Alexey Berest, Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria, later recognized as official standard bearers, installed the assault flag of the 150th Order of Kutuzov, II degree, Idritsa Rifle Division, recognized as the Banner of Victory.
But historically and in memory of posterity, we should know that the first Victory Flag over the Reichstag was raised by Pskov sergeant Mikhail Petrovich Minin.
He is the first among equals in this kind of triumvirate of Heroes of the Soviet Union - Standard Bearers of Victory. The right flank is Sergeant M. Minin, followed by Sergeant M. Egorov and Sergeant M. Kantaria.
Honor and glory to them!
From the memoirs of Mikhail Petrovich Minin:
“During the entire day and evening of April 30, Soviet units repeatedly tried to break through the enemy’s defenses, but to no avail. We were four hundred meters from the Reichstag in Himmler’s house when on April 30 in the middle of the day we received a message about the presence of order N06 for the 1st Belorussian Front to take by Soviet troops of the Reichstag on April 30, 1945 at 14:25 minutes In fact, during the day and evening of April 30 there was not a single Soviet soldier in the Reichstag.
On April 30, at 21:30, artillery preparation for the attack began. The assault was carried out at night, when the silhouette of a person could not be seen ten meters away. The first soldiers broke into the Reichstag at night, at the beginning of the eleventh hour. The attack was carried out almost blindly without the support of tanks and artillery escort.
All attackers sought to quickly get inside the Reichstag. V.N. Makov’s group, as the most organized unit, was the first to reach the front entrance, using a log with a ramming blow, broke the lock of the front door, and was the first to break into the Reichstag. Making our way with machine gun fire and grenades, we managed to quickly reach the attic, find a giant cargo winch with the help of a flashlight, use it to climb to the roof and here on April 30, 1945 at 22:40, hoist the first banner, about which V.N. Makov immediately announced radio reported to the command post to the commander of the 79th Corps.
At four o’clock in the morning on May 1, Egorov and Kantaria were brought to the Reichstag with their banners covered...”
It was Mikhail Minin who, late in the evening of April 30, 1945, was the first to hoist a red flag over the Reichstag.
On the cloth he wrote the names of four of his comrades.
In the last days of the war, the center of Berlin was stormed by 9 divisions - and each had a banner that could have appeared above the defeated Reichstag. But the first to break into the building were the soldiers of Captain Makov’s assault group - sergeants Zagitov, Bobrov, Lisimenko and Minin. However, the history books included the names of other Soviet soldiers - Egorov and Kantaria.
from left to right: M.P. Minin, G.K. Zagitov, A.P. Bobrov, A.F. Lisimenko.
Morning of May 1, 1945.
For the feat on April 30, 1945, the group, which included Mikhail Minin, was nominated by the command of the 136th Artillery Brigade to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but received other awards - the Order of the Red Banner.
“In the nineties, few people heard about Mikhail Petrovich Minin, his feat, as well as the fact that the entire group of Captain Makov was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but never received stars. He himself did not tell everyone about this, after being convinced , that any of his stories was perceived with a mixed feeling of distrust and awkwardness. After all, everyone knew from school that the first Standard Bearers of Victory were Yegorov and Kantaria (they visited the Reichstag only a few hours later), and the appearance of new heroes somehow did not fit into the general picture. Minin was acutely aware of the injustice against himself and his fighting friends. And they passed away one after another...
He traveled to Moscow, wrote to the Ministry of Defense, the Institute of Military History, and newspapers, trying to raise the issue of restoring the real picture of the storming of the Reichstag. And he wasn't alone. The Leningrad organization of veterans and fellow soldiers petitioned for the intelligence officers to be awarded the title of Heroes, only now not of the Soviet Union, but of Russia. The petition was supported by the Institute of Military History, which confirmed that “... on the basis of archival documents, it has been established that the group of Captain Makov was the first to hoist the Red Banner on the Reichstag building.” The veterans never became heroes of the Russian Federation. The petition was rejected in 1994. But this story had an unexpected continuation. Mikhail Petrovich nevertheless received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but not from the new authorities, but from the then already dissolved Supreme Soviet of the USSR, headed by Sazhi Umalatova.
For the old soldier, it was a joyful holiday, but also a bitter one, as he became convinced of when he came to the military registration and enlistment office with an award certificate. “What are you talking about, dad?” they told him. “What Hero of the Soviet Union? There is no such country anymore...” (from the article by V. Klevtsov “Our Minin...” (Pskov province, 2010, January 14).
It took 52 years to “prove” his feat to Soviet and Russian officials, starting in 1945!
Mikhail Petrovich Minin was a modest, sympathetic and very decent person. Laconic. But if he promises, he will always do it. He never showed any resentment towards the state, which attributed his feat to other people.
M.P. Minin wrote a book of memoirs about the war, “Difficult Years to Victory,” which was published in 2001.
Minin, M.P. Difficult roads to Victory: Memoirs of a veteran of the Great Patriotic War / Mikhail Minin. – Pskov, 2001. – 255 p.
His experiences during the war formed the basis of his memoirs, which he wrote for many years, hoping that someday they would be published. And now Mikhail Petrovich Minin’s book “Difficult Roads to Victory” was published. It is intended for a wide range of readers, especially those who are interested in the fate of our fellow countrymen, who bore on their shoulders all the hardships that befell them during the Great Patriotic War. In the book, he tells in detail, based on available archival documents, research by historians, and his own memories, how the events of April 30, 1945 developed.
“Well, I’ve done my job to the end,” he said, referring to his book. And he was proud that he managed to mention, to tell in the book about all the people close and dear to his heart who had already passed away, confident that the written, printed word would not now leave their names in oblivion.
