WHO ARE THE HEROES OF TODAY’S GEORGIA?
Part I. Saakashvili is trying to keep up with the Baltics: Georgia is honoring the colleagues of the Lettish and Estonian "legionaries"

Saakshvili is trying to keep up with his Baltic colleagues — Tbilisi initiated another search for new "heroes of Georgia" among the former Hitler’s henchmen. An article, glorifying the "deeds" of the collaborationists who used to serve in the intelligence-subversive Abwehr sub-units "Tamara" and "Bergman", was found in the archive of the Georgian Foreign Affairs Ministry web-site. A lot of noteworthy facts can be picked up from it. It is rather curious that all these materials are also published in Russian.

Georgian legion of Wehrmacht

Saakshvili is trying to keep up with his Baltic colleagues — Tbilisi initiated another search for new "heroes of Georgia" among the former Hitler’s henchmen. An article, glorifying the "deeds" of the collaborationists who used to serve in the intelligence-subversive Abwehr sub-units "Tamara" and "Bergman", was found in the archive of the Georgian Foreign Affairs Ministry web-site. A lot of noteworthy facts can be picked up from it. It is rather curious that all these materials are also published in Russian.

During the war against the USSR, Hitler’s command laid great hopes at the rebellions of the Soviet nations against the "Bolshevism". Caucasian nations had the particular role in these plans.

Caucasian immigrants of the revolutionary period have formed different kinds of the "exiled governments", "national committees" and other fictitious organizations of that sort. German command also used them for the propagandistic needs. However, it denied the claims of the Menshevist leadership of the former "Georgian Democratic Republic" — headed by the "exiled President" Noe Jordania — for the restoration of their power. Authoritative format of the future Georgian puppet-state was much more suitable for the Germans. One of the Bagration-Muhransky dukes was expected to be the "Georgian king".

All in all, eight Wehrmacht battalions were formed out of the Georgian prisoners during 1941-1942. All of them had the continuous numeration of the German infantry units. Every battalion was also named in favor of the outstanding Georgians ("David the Builder", "Queen Tamara", "Shota Rustaveli", "Ilia Chavchavadze" and others). Georgian legionaries wore the Wehrmacht uniform, though, featuring some peculiar distinguishing marks. Although the Wehrmacht Charter prohibited the non-Aryan formations to wear the badge with the eagle and swastika, Georgian legionaries have demonstratively ignored this restriction, urging to prove them to be the "superior race" as well.

According to the historians’ estimate, about 30 thousand Georgians served at the various SS and Wehrmacht formations. In a percentage ratio to the general population, this number was not bigger than the number of Russians in the Wehrmacht and RLA¹ units. Majority of Georgians astride the front line denied the cooperation with an enemy and fought for the freedom and independence of our multi-national Motherland alongside with the other Soviet nations.

Originally, the German command attempted to use the Georgian legion at the Eastern front. But, to the credit of many legionaries, who made a deal with an enemy just for the sake of improving the imprisonment conditions, they’ve urged to seize an opportunity to get back to the Soviet troops. So in October of 1942 there was an attempt to start the mass uprising at the 795th Wehrmacht battalion "Shalva Maglakelidze". It was coordinated with the Soviet command. Murmanidze — one of the squad commander — masterminded this plot. However, the rebellion failed due to the treachery of several legionaries. Only thirty three legionaries managed to go over to the Red Army. Instigators were shot and the very battalion was disbanded.

This case, as well as the single and group legionaries’ escapes that became more frequent made the German command to withdraw the Georgian troops from the Eastern front in winter of 1942/43 and redeploy them to the West. However, even there, due to their low fighting capacity they were mostly used for the security sake at the home front.

The largest protest action of the Georgian legionaries against their masters took place at the very end of the war. On the night from the 5th to 6th of April, 1945, the 822nd Wehrmacht battalion "Queen Tamara" — deployed at the Dutch Texel Island — started an armed revolt, killed all the Germans and took the island under their control. Later Germans have destroyed most part of the Georgian battalion soldiers but still were unable to completely occupy the island again. According to the published data, Germans lost about 2000 soldiers there. This numbers were taken from the Georgian immigrant sources and they are, certainly, a bit exaggerated. Soviet historians are giving a rather modest number of 200 Germans that were killed by the Georgians. Fights at Texel were still on even after the signing of capitulation treaty by Germany.

After the war Georgian "collabos" who surrendered to the Englishmen and Americans were extradited to the Soviet Union where they were properly convicted for the high treason. The exception was made for the survived participants of the Texel uprising: Soviet leadership decided that they’ve expiated their guilt with this act.

At the service of the "brown" masters

Georgian contingents that were much more loyal to the Reich were used at the subversive "Tamara" and "Bergman" ("Highlander") groups — Abwehr started to form them beforehand, even prior to the invasion to Russia.

There was a distinctive prehistory to the Germany-scheduled employment of Georgians in the undermining activities against the Soviet Union — not connected to the "Barbarossa" plan at all. It is well-known, that in spring of 1940 English-French command was preparing the air bombings of the oil fields in the South of the USSR. On the 22nd of March, 1940 General Gamelin, French Commander in Chief, sent a note to Reynaud, the Third Republic Prime Minister, where he offered to perform an air strike of Baku in order to disable the Soviet largest oil production centre. The document provided that this action was to have not only military but also the political meaning, having sown the seeds of doubt of Moscow strength among the Caucasian nations.

Plans of the Anglo-French war against the USSR at the Caucasus were further developed. At the meeting of Allied Chiefs of Staffs Coordination Committee on the 4th and 5th of April, 1940 the decision to also include Batumi and Poti into the list of to-be-bombed objects — it were the Soviet ports of the Georgian Socialistic Republic, which were used for the export of the oil and oil products — was made. Widening scale of the supposed intervention into the USSR has led the French command to the thought to extensively use the espionage and subversive warfare tactics.

Due to the initiative of General Weygand — command of the French armed forces at the Middle East — creation of the special services Georgian battalion, which was intended to be used against the USSR, started. Its main goal was the psychological influence upon the Georgian population via the subversions and acts of terror.

Volunteers from the Russian White Guard émigré became the personnel of the Georgian battalion. By May of 1940 battalion was formed and started its trainings at the Barkar camp (Eastern Pyrenees department). But the rapid defeat of the French Army didn’t allow them to use the Georgian battalion as a part of the French army.

Thus, Germans obtained the ready-made squads of the Georgian desperados that were willing — due to the order of any foreign master — to kill their fellow Soviet compatriots for the sake of their peculiar interpretation of the "Georgian independence". As the editors of the Georgian Foreign Affairs Ministry archives proudly denote, Georgian immigration bureau in Paris — headed by Mikhail Kedia — were closely cooperating with Abwehr for the sake of creation of the saboteur-terroristic Wehrmacht units from the Georgian natives.

On the 20th of June, 1941, two days prior to the offensive at the USSR, Wilhelm Canaris, Abwehr chief issued an order to create a special organization named "Tamara" that was charged with the mission "to prepare the uprising at the Georgian territory using the Georgian citizens". "Tamara" was to be subdivided into two sub-units. "Tamara-1" was a part of a special saboteur "Brandeburgh-800" regiment and was intended to carry out the "sabotage", as it was stipulated in the order. "Tamara-2" was an "operational group".

Future members of "Tamara-1" were trained at the intelligence-saboteur school by the Orleans. As the Georgian Foreign Affairs Ministry website states, "having taught his subordinates the means of counteraction to the sabotage and diversions, the instructor, sergeant major Richter, among the other things, let them into the science of making, handling and application of the explosive materials. These skills were vitally important in order to conduct the diversions at the plants, factories and the railroad communications. Special attention was paid to the training regarding the demolition of the rails, bridges, houses and other buildings". Squad was split into the several cells according to the clannish connections principles.

Even there Georgians were not the comprehensive whole, but rather kept dividing themselves into the Mingrelians, Gurians, Cahetians and so on, and so forth. At the occupied USSR territories Georgian members of both "Tamaras" were to pose themselves to be...French — for the conspiracy sake, of course. In the second half of 1941 and the first half of 1942 members of "Tamara-1" were trained at the occupied Soviet territories: at the south of the Ukraine and at the Crimea. The squad was replenished with the captured Georgian Red Army soldiers. However, in September of 1942 Georgian saboteurs have finally managed "get back to their Motherland" as the servants of their foreign masters.

By Yaroslav Butakov

To be continued

¹ Russian Liberation Army.