Kazakhstan History

Rakhimzhan Qoshqarbaev

Raqymzhan Qoshqarbayev (Kazakh: Рақымжан Қошқарбаев; Russian:Рахимжан Кошкарбаев, born 1924) is a Kazakh soldier. He and Georgij Bulatov were the first Red Army personnel to raise the Soviet Flag over the Reichstag building in Berlin, on April 30, 1945, during World War II.

Qoshqarbayev was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He commenced active duty in early 1945. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant, and commanded the reconnaissance platoon of the 1st Rifle Battalion, 674th Regiment. His unit was involved in heavy fighting, including the Battle of Berlin.

After the war Qoshqarbaev was the manager of the Alma-Ata Hotel. Unlike another Kazakh hero of the war, Bauyrzhan Momysh-uly, Qoshqarbaev was never awarded the Gold Star. This was due to the supposedly bourgeois background of Qoshqarbayev's father, which was a disadvantage in the Soviet Union.

Kazakhstan and World War II