Georgian Legion. Georgian National Legion. History repeats itself Georgian Legion
1943, Crimea
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"Georgian Legion", 2014, Lugansk region
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Kyiv, November 17, 2014
Saakashvili, Georgian military advisers and militants, Ukrainian officials
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Exclusive interview with the commander of the Georgian Legion in Ukraine
"Free zone"
November 28, 2014
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A new combat unit, the Georgian Legion, has been formed in Ukraine. "Free Zone" offers an exclusive interview with legion commander Mamuka Mamulashvili.
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Q. ("Free Zone")
We learned that the Georgian National Legion had been created. Please tell us what kind of organization this is, is the legion a separate military unit?
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A. (Mamuka Mamulashvili)
Yes, the Legion was created by me personally. This is one of the combat units not included in any of the battalions. This independent unit, which helps Ukrainian battalions both tactically and physically. Battalion size I can’t clarify for you, because this information, let’s say, is classified.
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[Do you have accurate information on how many Georgians are currently fighting for Ukraine?]
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Quite a large number of our guys participate in various ATO operations.
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Are all Georgian military personnel in Ukraine included in the Legion?
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No. There are guys who are associated with us and who represent us, let’s say. There are also several guys in different battalions who help with tactical and military advice. I don’t have much information about this, you can find it yourself and talk to them. As for our unit, it is quite effective and acts at its own discretion.
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Since the Legion was created, you, as we understand, are responsible for each of the members of the Legion. How to get into the Legion? Who do you prefer?
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In fact, it is not so easy to get into the Legion, because we select people with good military qualifications and, at a minimum, with a military profession, good professionals who can help Ukrainian military personnel with advice and help in the combat operations themselves. There is an opportunity, there are coordinates through which only Georgian citizens contact us - we do not accept anyone else into our ranks. They can contact us, we can talk, we can test and see people who want to enroll in the Legion.
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Fine known fact, that during the Abkhaz war, guys from the UNA-UNSO “Argo” unit fought on the Georgian side, do you have contacts with veterans of this war?
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Contacts with veterans... with some of them, of course, there are contacts. There are many people who fought there, and we owe them a lot. Since I myself was a participant in the war of the 90s in Georgia and Abkhazia, we, with great pleasure, declare that, at one time, they did a lot for the independence of Georgia and received orders for integrity...
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It's clear.
If it's not a secret, which department [of Ukraine] do you mainly cooperate with - the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, something else?
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Yes, we, of course, cooperate with the official authorities of Ukraine and let me just not discuss this, because this is a rather sensitive topic and at this stage, it will have a negative impact on our unit.
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Won't the guys who are fighting now have problems in Georgia when they return home?
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This entirely depends on the direction of the current Georgian authorities, since we are not very friendly with them now, because we do not see the kind of support from Georgia that we should now have. Now the fate of Georgia and Ukraine is being decided, so I think that the authorities, first of all, should have supported us, supported Ukraine both at the official level and at all other levels.
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Do you have contacts with Caucasian organizations, e.g. battalion "Caucasus" or with battalion named after Dzhokhar Dudayev ?
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There is a battalion named after Dzhokhar Dudayev here, we talked with Isa (Isa Munayev - commander of the battalion named after Dzhokhar Dudayev), we met with him. I have no right to discuss this topic now, what we had a conversation about, but we met, we talked, we are going to closely cooperate and help [inaudible].
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What would you advise the government of Ukraine and what would you advise the government of Georgia?
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I would advise the Ukrainian government to be even more patriotic. I would advise you to be more careful about the fate of the people who are now fighting in the ATO, to take more effective steps, because as far as we can see, Russia is going to a large-scale war and, in principle, something needs to be opposed to Russia. This is the patriotism that the Ukrainian people need today. I would appeal more to the Ukrainian people than to the authorities, because here the people decide everything. Here... And I want you to know that you and I, we will definitely win together.
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Georgian "legionnaire", Lugansk region
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It is possible that, if this is not just PR, this information about the formation in Ukraine of Saakashvili’s supporters of an “independent” Georgian unit - a “battalion” - may be somehow connected with the recent one. In any case, there were no reports about the Georgian “battalion” before . Although the size of such an “eastern” battalion can be quite arbitrary - the so-called “volunteer battalion “Caucasus”, which includes extreme Islamists, consists of about 50 people, and the “peacekeeping” battalion named after Dzhokhar Dudayev, which includes supporters of the “Chechen Republic of Ichkeria” , supposedly consist of 500. Another Chechen battalion named after Sheikh Mansur was created in October 2014 - battalion commander Muslim Cheberloevsky.
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In principle, Ukrainians can try to create sabotage groups from participants in such formations to be sent to the North Caucasus.
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Foreigners fighting in volunteer battalions can obtain Ukrainian citizenship if they wish.
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Kyiv, November 17, 2014
Saakashvili and Georgian military advisers and militants
Far right - commander of the Georgian Legion Mamuka Mamulashvili
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Saakashvili met with the commander of a group of Georgian militants
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Ukrainian campaign of Saakashvili
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About Mamulashvili
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Informational and organizational support for Georgian militants fighting in Ukraine in Georgia is provided by the radical mishist organization "Free Zone"
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which is led by the famous Russophobe and anti-communist Gela Vasadze, a member of the political council of the United National Movement - Saakashvili's party
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The "free zone" sent militants to Ukraine
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"They asked me why anti-communism is included among the main ideological points in the code" Free zone"I will answer so that there are no questions left.
Anti-communism is a necessary element of the Free Zone ideology. Communism, as an ideology, has brought countless disasters to all peoples in the post-Soviet space. It is the bearers of this ideology who are today trying to revive nostalgia for the Soviet Union. In addition, in Georgia there is a real danger of the spread of communist ideas under the guise of a leftist idea. Therefore, the bearers of this ideology cannot, under any circumstances, be members of the Free Zone, even if they consider themselves patriots."
Gela Vasadze, Chairman of the NGO "Free Zone"
October 16, 2014
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Glory to the hero! - Georgian United Nations congratulates the Ukrainian Nazi
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Andrey Babitsky
"Echo of the Caucasus"
August 31, 2012
“I have met quite a lot of people in Georgia who are sympathetic to the armed Islamic underground in the North Caucasus. Well, I can refer, say, to the popular blogger Gela Vasadze, who wrote in his diary today that the Caucasus Emirate is the only real armed force that is fighting Russia in the North Caucasus."
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It is not surprising that this handshake bastard, who takes care of the Georgian militants fighting in the Donbass, is also a top blogger at Echo of Moscow.
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Russian liberals have a worthy ally.
Photo: Wehrmacht soldiers in a trench, the soldier in the foreground is armed with a Degtyarev machine gun. Georgian Legion (German: Die Georgische Legion, Georgian: ქართული ლეგიონი) - a Wehrmacht formation. The Legion existed from 1941 to 1945, and was formed from Georgian prisoners of war and emigrants hiding in Europe from Soviet power after 1921, when Georgia became part of the USSR.
Photo: The emblem of the Georgian Legion, which was the main sign indicating the affiliation of the formation in 1941-1945. Nazi Germany never captured the territory of Soviet Georgia when invading the Soviet Union. The legion was formed in December 1941 and consisted of Georgians, Abkhazians, Circassians, Kabardians, Balkars and Karachais. Georgians were trained on the territory of Western Ukraine and began fighting in the autumn of 1942. Georgians also served in the North Caucasus Legion of the Wehrmacht and in other legions selected according to ethnicity. The Georgian formation served under the command of Prince Mikhail Tsulukidze, Colonel Solomon Nicholas Zaldastani and other officers who previously served in the Georgian Democratic Republic (1918-1921).
Photo: Prince Mikhail-Pridon Tsulukidze (Georgian: მაიკლ ფრიდონ წულუკიძე, German: Michael Tsoulukidse) Georgian and German military leader, SS Standartenführer From the participation of Georgians and other cavalry Kazatz in other units know the special squad for propaganda and sabotage “Bergman” - “Highlander”, which numbered in its ranks 300 Germans, 900 Caucasians (the Chechen legionnaires are known for their actions) and 130 Georgian emigrants, who made up the special Abwehr unit “Tamara II”. It was created in Germany in March 1942. The first commander of the detachment was T. Oberlander, a career intelligence officer and a major expert on eastern problems.
Photo: Theodor Oberländer (German: Theodor Oberländer) - German ultra-conservative political figure, Nazi officer and German Minister for Refugees. One of the inspirers of the ethnic concept of the “new order” in Eastern Europe(“Struggle on the Front Line”, 1937), holding the opinion that the economic decline in Germany is the result of the actions of “Eastern European Jewry”, which is an agent of the Comintern. The unit included agitators and consisted of 5 companies: 1st, 4th, 5th Georgian; 2nd North Caucasus; 3rd - Armenian. Since August 1942, “Bergman” - “Highlander” acted in the Caucasian theater - carried out sabotage and agitation in the Soviet rear in the Grozny and Ishchersky directions, in the area of Nalchik, Mozdok and Mineralnye Vody. During the period of fighting in the Caucasus, 4 were formed from defectors and prisoners. rifle companies- Georgian, North Caucasian, Armenian and mixed, four cavalry squadrons - 3 North Caucasian and 1 Georgian.
Photo: Georgian special forces soldier “Tamara” Later, after some time, Alfred Rosenberg intervened in the fate of the Georgian Legion. Throughout Europe, especially in Italy and France, many Georgian Wehrmacht soldiers deserted and joined the ranks of the local resistance movement. As a result, many were taken into custody and repressed by the relevant authorities of the Reich. Many Georgians under German command were saved only thanks to the intercession of Alexander Nikuradze, Mikhail Akhmeteli and some other Georgian figures who had a voice in the administration of Reich affairs. The result of Hitler's intervention in the affairs of the “eastern troops” was a situation where the remaining Georgian battalions were transported further into the occupied lands of Europe - to the Netherlands. With the arrival of Allied troops in Germany, the 88th Georgian battalion of the legion, located on the island of Texel, rebelled against the German command. The result was a long battle, sometimes described as the last battle in Europe, which fought from April 5 to May 20, 1945. It is known as the Georgian Texel Uprising. In accordance with the agreements, all Soviet citizens who found themselves in Allied-occupied territories at the end of the war were transferred to the Soviet Union. All returnees were put through filtration camps; only a small number of accomplices of the occupiers who participated in atrocities in the territories of the USSR and Poland were executed or sent to camps. The vast majority of persons who did not collaborate with the Nazis were released after the necessary verification. 1941-1945 During the war, the Georgian Legion was called a volunteer formation of Georgians in the Wehrmacht, and later as part of the SS troops during the Great Patriotic War. Consisted of four battalions, each of which consisted of 1000 soldiers and officers. The battalions were given the names of great historical figures of Georgian statehood and culture who contributed huge contribution into the history of the nation. for example, “George Saakadze”, “David the Builder”, “Queen Tamara”, “Ilya Chavchavadze”. List of formations of the Georgian Legion: 795th battalion “Shalva Maglakelidze” German. Bataillon 795 “Schalwa Maglakelidse” - combat operations: 1942 in North Ossetia, 1943 in France 796th German battalion. Bataillon 796 - combat operations: 1942-1943 in Tuapse, North Caucasus 797th battalion "George Saakadze" German. Bataillon 797 “Giorgi Saakadse” 798th battalion “Heraclius II” German. Bataillon 798 “König Irakli II. Bagrationi" 799th battalion "David the Builder" German. Bataillon 799 “König David Bagrationi-Agamaschenebli” 822nd battalion “Queen Tamara” German. Bataillon 822 “Königin Tamara” - combat operations: 1943-1944 in France, Texel Island, Holland 823rd battalion “Shota Rustaveli” German. Bataillon 823 “Schota Rustaveli” 824th battalion “Ilya Chavchavadze” German. Bataillon 824 “Ilia Tschawtschawadse” - combat operations: 1944, Lvov, Poland Organizationally subordinate to the Headquarters of the Command of the Eastern Legions (German: Kommando der Ostlegionen)
Representatives of the Georgian National Legion left the Armed Forces of Ukraine after almost three years of war in Donbass, accusing their commanders of incompetence and blackmail. What are the real reasons for the demarche, how will it affect the reputation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and will the main Georgian Ukrainian, Mikheil Saakashvili, try to use his compatriots for his own political purposes?
Representatives of the “Georgian National Legion” about their intention to secede from the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the page Facebook. According to them, details of the secret special operation on December 16, due to which wounded military personnel were subjected to severe pressure from representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, will be revealed in the near future:
“On December 20, 2017, the entire Georgian Legion left the 54th Brigade due to the incompetence of commander Alexey Maistrenko and his entourage, as well as illegal orders issued by him. Today the problem is that the commander of the 54th brigade is trying to deport directly from the military hospital the wounded soldiers of the Georgian Legion, who can tell the truth about the illegal orders and actions of commander Maistrenko and his associates. Representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and former allies from the “Georgian Legion” systematically call the wounded soldiers of the “Georgian Legion” to the hospital, threatening the seriously wounded with refusal of treatment and deportation if they disclose the illegal order of the operation on December 16, 2017.”
The report says that commander Maystrenko and captain Kholmovsky called the Georgian National Legion a “cancer,” and the Ukrainian military took away from the legion’s fighters all the ammunition and personal belongings collected by volunteers during the four years of the ATO. Representatives of the legion said that they would soon release secret information about the progress of the operation on December 16. Perhaps we are talking about the shelling of eight buildings and a children's hospital building, which were damaged as a result of artillery strikes by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donetsk and Dokuchaevsk.
In the comments to the post, Ukrainians left more than two hundred offensive messages, calling foreigners deserters, cowards and supporters of Poroshenko and Moscow.
"Inglourious Basterds" of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
The “Georgian National Legion” was a small sabotage and reconnaissance group of up to 20 people. In addition to Georgian citizens, there were other foreign military personnel from France, Italy and Switzerland. The unit was actively supported by former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. In 2014, he called on Georgian fighters who fought in South Ossetia and Abkhazia to unite against militias from the DPR and LPR. As a result, the Georgian Legion was the first unit of foreigners to join the 54th mechanized brigade The Ukrainian Armed Forces two years after its formation.
The Georgian Legion was accused of triggering a new wave of unrest during the 2014 riots in Kyiv by its future fighters, 80 demonstrators and Berkut employees.
A journalist from the Italian newspaper Il Giornale found out that some of the fighters were in the secret security service former president Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, and his military adviser Mamuka Mamulashvili subsequently headed the Georgian Legion group. In addition, American specialists trained Georgian fighters. The unit did not have any serious victories during the entire war.
In February 2016, the Georgian Legion became part of the 25th motorized infantry battalion Kievan Rus, which may also be disbanded. About this the day before stated one of the battalion fighters Anatoly Adamovsky:
"Everyone knows that attempts to destroy " Kievan Rus"as a separate unit are initiated by the General Staff. I am sure that in this situation the brigade commander was given the go-ahead from above.”
At the end of December 2017, the ranks of the Georgian Legion on the Svetlodar Bulge suffered serious losses. Eight fighters were wounded and shell-shocked, former press attache of the Georgian Embassy in Ukraine Bacho Korchilava.
The detachment did not notice the loss of a soldier
Georgian military analyst Vakhtang Maisaya assessed the exit of the Georgian Legion from the Ukrainian military brigade as follows: “This smacks of a serious military adventure.”
“The situation will become even more tense if the legionnaires, a significant part of whom are supporters of ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, gather in Kiev to support him, to support a man who has crossed all boundaries and is capable of anything. For now, in any case, their actions are a precedent for disobeying command in the army and undermining discipline. It is very serious!" – he told the newspaper VZGLYAD.
The DPR believes that the militants of the Georgian Legion are looters and mercenaries looking for the highest bidder. Moreover, if a tough answer has not yet been given, it means that the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not have sufficient authority and power over their subordinates.
There is a weak vertical power structure, as a result of which the Ukrainian military may feel a lack of food and ammunition, choosing looting or desertion.
“The reason for the disbandment of the detachment is that the Georgian Legion is located at one of the hottest spots, the Ukrainian Armed Forces specifically nominated them there. Therefore, the Georgian mercenaries had very serious one-time losses, and after that they tried to rest in the hospital, now they will go anywhere,” DPR People’s Deputy Vladislav Brig told the newspaper VZGLYAD.
According to him, the fighters will not be able to add political weight and influence to Mikheil Saakashvili. “There is a very specific contingent there, so to speak, not very noble. There are those who fought in South Ossetia, who did not succeed in Georgia, and they are looking for places where they can make money. They named their legion, like the Germans during World War II, and it was also formed in Ukraine. They are the first to feel that everything is becoming quite dangerous on the territory of Donbass, it is no longer possible to loot in the front-line zone, so they will disband and not try to join some other troops of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
According to Brig, foreigners created certain difficulties for the Ukrainian army, which did not materialize, and the loss of the Georgian Legion will not affect the Ukrainian Armed Forces in any way.
The withdrawal of the “Georgian Legion” from the brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces taking part in the hostilities in the Donbass occurred due to gross mistakes by the command of the Ukrainian security forces and “friendly” shelling of their own positions by the deputy commander of the operational command of the self-proclaimed DPR, Eduard Basurin.
Damage to the reputation of the Ukrainian army
Political scientist, director of the Kyiv Center for Political Research and Conflictology Mikhail Pogrebinsky noted that, most likely, Saakashvili will try to use the Georgian Legion for his own purposes, but supporting mercenaries will not be a serious political argument in a dispute with rivals.
“This is, of course, a scandal. At first they fought on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and I thought that they sincerely supported the Ukrainian side against Russia, and this demarche suggests that the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not disdain the most politically incorrect methods in dealing with their sympathizers, because this can influence those foreign representatives who will join the fight on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces if this story becomes widely known. They may refuse to participate in further hostilities. It is important that if the actions of the “Georgian Legion” are echoed in foreign media, then it will be possible to speak more confidently about reducing support for the Ukrainian army by foreign military personnel,” Pogrebinsky noted in a conversation with a correspondent of the newspaper VZGLYAD.
“Potential support for Saakashvili by the Georgian Legion will not have a significant impact on politics, since his entire story ends. I don’t know whether he will be sent to Georgia or not, but judging by the cool attitude of the American embassy towards Saakashvili’s latest actions, there is an option that this whole story will end soon. Mikheil Saakashvili is very likely (judging by his rhetoric) to try to take advantage of the support of the Georgian Legion, but this will not strengthen his political position.
He does not play a significant independent role, he was given a finger, and he does what is needed, because he cannot ignore the signals from the American embassy, he is a tool. Saakashvili is vying for the first roles, that’s how he is built, exactly the same as Yulia Tymoshenko. Although he talks about the inadmissibility of another Maidan and the need to unite, it is very difficult for such people to unite, it is almost impossible. Moreover, the current situation is not conducive to the consolidation of all Poroshenko’s enemies and the use of a tool against him in the form of Saakashvili.”
History repeats itself
The sad story of the current “Georgian Legion” surprisingly resembles the essence of the national legion of Georgians who fought on the side of the Nazis during the Second World War. The Ukrainian headquarters, like the Nazis, throws military forces with foreign fighters into the most difficult battles, and when unrest begins among the military, their services are refused or treated under martial law.
German commanders created various national legions consisting of former citizens Soviet Union, offering independence for the territories after victory. The Wehrmacht's "Georgian Legion" was formed in 1941 from among Soviet prisoners of war and emigrants who would fight against the Red Army along with the German military.
Georgians were trained at Western Ukraine. After the Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive, the legionnaires of the Georgian battalion of the 198th division defended the German positions near Cossack Lopan defending the approaches to Kharkov. The Germans sent them to cover the withdrawal of their regular troops, threw the Georgians into cauldrons without trying to save them, in fact using them as cannon fodder. Therefore, few of those who fought on the side of the Germans were destroyed by the Soviet special services or remained to work in Germany, never receiving the promised preferences and independence for their country.
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Books
- Georgian Legion of the Wehrmacht, Mamulia Georgy Guramovich. 416 pp. For many years, the history of Georgia was closely connected with Russia. Over these years, the history of the coexistence of the two peoples has had everything: friendship and cooperation, discord and enmity. On the eve of World War II...
Encyclopedic YouTube
1 / 4
✪ Which countries will join the EU?
✪ Armen Gasparyan about the book “The Lie of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth”
✪ Russia is the path to success. Light of the East. (TVC)
✪ History of Ukraine in Russian with subtitles
Subtitles
Causes
The core and basis of this unit were nationalist and pro-German emigrants recruited by the intelligence services of the Third Reich. Subsequently, the legion was replenished with Georgian prisoners of war and defectors.
The coordination center from which Georgian prisoners of war were recruited and where officers and non-commissioned officers were trained was the Polish village of Krushna, but soon the headquarters was transferred to the Lithuanian city of Mariampol.
For propaganda purposes, the Georgian National Committee was created, which is a kind of analogue of the “government in exile.” If military operations were successful, German officials promised the collaborators to create an “independent Georgian state” modeled on Slovakia and Croatia.
Battalions
Other divisions
Georgian collaborators served the Third Reich not only as part of their legion. Thus, a number of Georgians were part of the Vlasov Russian Liberation Army and the Ukrainian 14th SS Division, as well as 11 separate Georgian engineering and construction companies were part of the paramilitary Todt Organization.
Outfit
Georgian legionnaires equipped themselves with German military uniform, but with special insignia: shoulder straps and buttonholes. The shoulder straps were gray with red piping and white or silver braid. Starting from chief lieutenant and above, legionnaires wore shoulder straps in the form of a narrow silver cord with gold stripes. The buttonholes were red with white braid. On the sleeve of their uniform, each legionnaire wore a special chevron in the form of a heraldic shield with national symbols and the name of the legion. Georgian shields had a design that replicated the flag
