The German Landing In Kakheti: The Georgians In The World War II

Abstract

Our research deals with participation of the Georgians in the Second World War. In this article we focus on the Georgians in the special military unit of the German Army.

June 22, 2021 is noteworthy, just as it marks 80 years since the German invasion in the Soviet Union. It is still a matter of debate who were the Georgians fighters on the German side – patriots or traitors? What were the reasons for their struggle in the ranks of the German army? How many Georgians were united in the German army units and many other issues. Also,
the cooperation of some Georgians with the special units of the German army has not been studied in details. In our study, we pay attention to one of the special forces of the German army – the so-called naval intelligence body. We are discussing about the activities of the Nachrichtenbeobachter (NBO).

The object of our research is specifically the story of the Georgian paratroopers who were trained in the Nachrichtenbeobachter and landed in Georgia on September 17, 1942 in Kakheti.

The oral tradition of the population of the city of Telavi claims that in Telavi so-called emigrant “Someone Chirakadze” was shot during the Second World War on “Gigo Hill”, the place where in the 1920s people were executed by Soviets.

Describing the scenario of Chirakadze’s shooting, it was noted that he shouted before the execution – “I am not a traitor, history will find out who is a traitor”. This evidence became the starting point for finding the information about this person. It turned out from the archival materials that on May 13, 1943 Giorgi Samson Chirakadze was shot in Telavi. He fled from the USSR in 1930. In early 1942, based on the patriotic views, he decided to join the German army and “take part in the liberation of Georgia from the Communist Regime”. He studied at the Abwehr School in Stettin (Szczecin). In 1942 he became a major in the Wehrmacht naval intelligence.

The analysis of the materials that we found revealed that on September 17, 1942 Giorgi Chirakadze and four former prisoners of war were airlifted to Georgia, near Telavi, on the territory of Gombori Pass. The locals sheltered them, but Giorgi Chirakadze was betrayed to Soviets by his crew the former prisoners of war. He was arrested by Telavi district security.

The materials found during the research to some extent supplement the existing knowledge about the identities of the Georgian soldiers who fought in the ranks of the German Army and they reveal the activities of the German Army special forces in the Caucasus and Georgia.