Wednesday afternoon, 4 May 2005, the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili will lead ceremonies honoring the young Georgian soldiers killed on Texel Island, the Netherlands, during their five-week uprising in 1945 against their German captors. It is also salute to all the thousands of Georgians killed in that war.
The ceremony will take place at the special cemetery on Texel Island for the hundreds of Georgians and Netherlanders who died in "The Uprising of the Georgian Battalion".
"We honor all Georgians as heroes who fought bravely in that war against more than one totalitarian regime," the President said. "They suffered simultaneously at the hands of Nazi Germany and Stalin's tyranny."
President Mikheil Saakashvili leads a delegation that will include Orthodox Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, and members of the Georgian Parliament.
The delegation will also include survivors of the Georgian Uprising. There are only four living survivors of the 800 Georgian troops who rebelled on Texel and two will be the honored guests of the President and accompany him to the Texel ceremony: Mr. Pokro Gacharia of Zugdidi, Georgia and Mr. Grisha Baindurashvili of Kaspi, Georgia . There they will join other Georgians and Netherlanders for the ceremonies also marking the 60th Anniversary of the Allied victory over fascist Germany.
In announcing his trip to Texel, the President said, "Georgia sacrificed massive numbers of people 60 years ago battling fascism. The commemorations honoring them begin at Texel on May 4 and continue on the next days in Ukraine. In recognition of their ultimate sacrifice fighting the same totalitarianism that we have had to defeat again in our lifetime, I am now considering the possibility of attending the ceremonies in Moscow on May 9."
The President also announced that Minister of Defense Irakli Okruashvili will make an official trip to Ukraine and represent Georgia at Ukraine's commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the end of the war.
The story of the Georgian troop uprising on Texel Island
Throughout World War II, the German Army occupying the Netherlands used Texel island for a large POW camp. With its strategic position north of Amsterdam on the North Sea Coast of the Netherlands, the Germans built two massive artillery batteries on Texel Island, targeting the critical North Sea shipping lanes.
In late 1944 as the allies advanced on Germany, all available German troops were redeployed to the fast moving front lines. The Germans began to replace their own soldiers in non-combat positions with prisoners of war, impressing captured Allied troops into service as laborers in military facilities like the Texel POW Camp.
So it was that 800 young Georgians captured on the fierce eastern front were forced into the 822nd Artillery Battalion and transported by the Germans to the Netherlands to work for their German captors at the Texel POW Camp.
In early April 1945 as the allies pushed toward the Netherlands and it was clear that Germany would lose the war, the Georgians seized their moment and rose up and attacked their German captors on Texel. 400 Germans were killed on the first night.
The people of Texel immediately joined the Georgians to attack their Nazi occupiers. On Texel, which had seen no combat in the war to this point, fighting raged in village and field with captured weapons and grenades, with buildings and farms in flames.
The Germans rushed reinforcements to the island but, for five weeks, they could not overcome the relentless Georgian uprising. The Dutch of Texel managed to slip a boat into the sea to sail to Britain for help, but help would not come in time.
When the Georgians tried to take the fortified German artillery positions, the Germans turned the guns from the sea and blasted them straight into the towns killing Georgians and villagers. The uprising's last stand was at Texel's lighthouse where the Georgians fought to the last man.
Surviving Georgians were still fighting as partisans with the island's civilians deep into May of 1945, weeks after hostilities had ceased on the mainland. The fighting stopped only when Allied troops arrived at Texel.
During the five weeks of the Georgia battalion's uprising, nearly 800 Germans were killed. Of the 800 Georgians, only 228 survived. Nearly 600 Georgians and more than 100 Texel civilians died in combat or were executed.
The commander of the 1st Canadian Corps, moved by the bravery of the young Georgians, treated the Georgians with dignity and told superiors that he estimated that the Georgians had caused altogether the deaths of more than 2000 troops in the Wehrmacht. He also personally appealed to Soviet authorities for dignified treatment of the Georgians when they were returned to Soviet military command for their repatriation.
In a special cemetery on Texel Island, the Georgians and Netherlanders were buried as they fought and died, alongside each other. Most of the graves have no names.
The Commemoration on Wednesday, 4 May 2005
President Saakashvili will address the Commemoration of the Georgian Uprising at 15:00 (local time) on Wednesday, 4 May 2005 at the cemetery called "Loladze", named for the brave young Georgian artillery captain who led the uprising of the Georgian battalion on Texel Island, the Netherlands.
The Mayor of Texel and other dignitaries, and other veterans of the uprising and the era, along with Georgia Battalion veterans Mr. Bacharia and Mr. Baindurashvili, will join the President, the Patriarch and the Georgian delegation to salute to all those who died in that war through their salute to the heroes of Texel island.
Mr. Gacharia has visited Texel four times in the intervening years and has close friendships within the community on the island.
Also, Mr. Gacharia and Mr. Baindurashvili and the other survivors of the Georgian Battalion will be invited to be the honored guests of President Saakashvili to the "Celebration of Freedom and Democracy" and the address of U.S. President George W. Bush in Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, Tuesday 10 May 2005.
MEDIA INFORMATION
The ceremonies at the Georgian/Netherlander Loladze Cemetery on Texel Island, the Netherlands on May 4 will be OPEN to press coverage.
President Saakashvili and the Mayor of Texel will deliver their speeches in ENGLISH.
DAY: Wednesday, 4 May 2005
BEGINS: 15:00 local time (Netherlands is GMT plus one hour)
PLACE: Loladze Cemetery, Texel Island, Netherlands
Media who wish to cover the event on Texel Island,
Please contact, in the Netherlands:
Ms Marechi Togonidze
Telephone: (County Code 31 +) 412627249
Email: info@holland.georgia.int
Or Giorgi Mirzchulava of the Georgian Presidency
Mobile: (country code 995) 77 51 00 17
Media who wish to obtain photos of the visit or video
of the event (same day), please contact:
Press Office of the President of Georgia
Ms. Lali Kozmava
Mobile: (Country Code 995) 99 53 03 41
Email: media@president.gov.ge
To cover the events in Tbilisi of the visit to Georgia of U.S. President George W. Bush on May 9-10 please find media information and background information on the special website: www.georgianswelcomeusa.com
Office of the Presidency