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Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev - a legendary officer of the Great Patriotic War, who during the storming of Berlin was one of the first, along with fellow soldier Grigory Bulatov, to put up a red banner on the facade of the Reichstag building in Berlin. This historic event took place on April 30, 1945. By this feat, the valiant and brave hero of the Kazakh people went down in the history of World War II.
Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev was born in 1924 in the village of Taitobe, Akmola region. He lost his parents early: his mother died when he was four years old, and his father was repressed when he was 13 years old. The boy was sent to an orphanage and then went to study at the Factory school in Balkhash. In 1942, at the age of 18, Rakhimzhan joined the army. Then he was sent to the Tambov General command infantry school, from which he graduated with honors in October 1944. As a junior lieutenant, Rakhimzhan Koshkarbayev arrived at the front in Warsaw.
As part of the active army, R. Koshkarbayev took an active part in the liberation of Warsaw and the crossing of the Oder. A heroic feat was performed by R. Koshkarbaev during the storming of the Reichstag on April 30, 1945, when he and his fellow soldier Grigory Bulatov, risking their lives, were one of the first to raise the Victory flag at the main entrance to the Reichstag. On this day, at 14:25, fighters led by 21-year-old R. Koshkarbaev broke into the main headquarters of the German Reich from the northern part. The hero himself recalled this event as follows: "They said: "It’s necessary to get to the Reichstag. Comrade Lieutenant recommends you." The battalion commander, however, warned me: this is an order, if you want - go, if you don't want – we can send others. Why they said that I understood later: it was due to the fact that the guarantee to stay alive was absolutely excluded." Together with Grigory Bulatov, they crawled for more than seven hours 260 meters of open terrain, risking every second to get a bullet from fascist snipers.
Soviet writer-poet Vasily Subbotin in his diary entries told about the feat of Koshkarbayev and Bulatov. As a correspondent for a divisional newspaper, he was the first to describe the details of the storming of the Reichstag and raising the banners on it. The famous writer Boris Gorbatov also admired the courage and bravery of the brave fighters. He described the feat of heroes in his article in the "Literary Newspaper" of 18 December 1948.
Kazakh writers P. Kazybayev and M. Alimbayev also glorified the great Kazakh batyr in their works. K. Kazybayev in his article "The Kazakh who hoisted the banner over the Reichstag" from February 21, 1958, told about the feat of R. Koshkarbaev and G. Bulatov. After that, he wrote a number of articles about R. Koshkarbaev, on the basis of which he wrote the story "Sacred retribution" in 1965.
War hero Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev actively proved himself in a peaceful post-war life. From 1947 to 1967, he worked in various positions: instructor of the executive committee of the Akmola region, migration inspector at the Department of internal affairs of the Akmola region. Since 1967, he worked as the Director of the hotel "Almaty".
Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of War, the Order of the Great Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the medals "For the capture of Berlin", "For the liberation of Warsaw". War hero R. Koshkarbaev died in 1988. On May 7, 1999, by decree of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, Rakhymzhan Koshkarbaev was posthumously awarded the title "Halyk Kharmany".
The First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev presents the family members of R. Koshkarbaev a document on awarding the posthumous title "Halyk Kakharmany" and hands over the Golden Star and the Order "Otan". Almaty, 17.06.1999.
One of the first to declare the feat of Rakhimzhan Koshkarbayev was a statesman, writer Kakimzhan Kazybayev. His mentor in this important matter was the Hero of the Soviet Union, People's Hero, Panfilov Guardsman, participant of the battle for Moscow, writer Bauyrzhan Momyshuly. K. Kazybayev found a lot of documents-evidence of the heroic act of Koshkarbaev and Bulatov, published his works in foreign publications.
The Library of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Elbassy houses two-volume edition of the writer K. Kazybaev, which includes the novel "Rime", as well as the story of a writer "Naızaǵaıdaı jarqyldap", "Otpen jazylǵan ómіrbaıan" dedicated to the life and deeds of the famous heroes of the Kazakh people Bauyrzhan Momyshuly and Rakhymzhan Koshkarbaev.