The Georgian uprising on Texel ( nl, Opstand der Georgiërs) (5 April 1945 – 20 May 1945) was an
insurrection
Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority.
A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
by the 882nd Infantry Battalion ''Königin Tamara'' (
Queen Tamar
Tamar the Great ( ka, თამარ მეფე, tr, lit. "King Tamar") ( 1160 – 18 January 1213) reigned as the Queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213, presiding over the apex of the Georgian Golden Age. A member of the Bagrationi dynasty ...
or ''Tamara'') of the
Georgian Legion of the
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
stationed on the German-occupied Dutch island of
Texel
Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of De ...
(pronounced ''Tessel''). The battalion was made up of 800 Georgians and 400 Germans, with mainly German officers. It was one of the last battles in the European theatre.
Background
The heavily fortified island was part of the German
Atlantic Wall
The Atlantic Wall (german: link=no, Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticip ...
system of defence. However, after the
Allied landings in Normandy it was relegated to relative insignificance. The men of the rebellious battalion were former
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
soldiers from the
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц ...
captured on the
Eastern front. They had been given a choice: the captured soldiers could choose either to remain in the
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...
camps, which would have meant
abuse, starvation, and very possibly death, or to serve in the German military and be allowed a degree of freedom. The battalion was formed of men who chose the latter option. Anti-communist emigres living in Western Europe also joined these units; see
Georgian Legion (1941–45) Georgian Legion may refer to:
* Georgian Legion (1915–1918), a World War I unit in the German army composed of Georgians
* Georgian Legion (1941–1945), a World War II unit in the German army composed of Georgians
* Georgian Legion (Ukraine)
...
.
The battalion had been formed at
Kruszyna near
Radom
Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975–1 ...
in occupied
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
in June 1943 and was used initially to fight
partisans. On 24 August 1943 it was ordered to the West to relieve troops of the
. The battalion arrived at
Zandvoort
Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...
in the Netherlands on 30 August. From September 1943 to early February 1945 it was stationed at Zandvoort as part of the "Unterabschnitt Zandvoort". On 6 February 1945 the battalion was posted to Subsection Texel. Preparations then started in late March 1945 for the transfer of several companies of the Georgian battalion to the Dutch mainland to oppose Allied advances, triggering the rebellion.
Uprising
![Shalva Loladze, aka Schalwa Loladse, a Georgian soldier of the German Wehrmacht](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Shalva_Loladze%2C_aka_Schalwa_Loladse%2C_a_Georgian_soldier_of_the_German_Wehrmacht.jpg)
Shortly after midnight on the night of 5–6 April 1945, the Georgians rose up and gained control of nearly the entire island. Approximately two hundred German soldiers were killed in the initial uprising, in their quarters or while standing guard, walking the roads of the island in groups or individually that night and the following day. Members of the Dutch resistance participated and assisted the Georgians. However, the rebellion hinged on an expected
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
landing which did not occur. Furthermore, the Georgians failed to secure the naval batteries on the southern and northern coasts of the island; the crews of these artillery installations were the only Germans still alive on the island.
A counterattack was ordered and the intact artillery batteries on the island began firing at sites where rebels were suspected to be. Approximately 2,000 riflemen of the 163rd ''Marine-Schützenregiment'' were deployed from the Dutch mainland. Over the next five weeks they re-took the island; fighting was particularly heavy in the northern part of the island at
Eierland
Eierland () is a former island in the Netherlands. It is now the northern part of the island of Texel. The name means "egg land", named for the seagull eggs that were collected on the island and sent to Amsterdam.
The island of Eierland was a par ...
and around the
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
. The German troops then combed the length of the island for any remaining Georgian soldiers, while the Dutch inhabitants sought to hide them. The German commander of the 882nd battalion, Major Klaus Breitner, stated long after the war that the uprising was "treachery, nothing else;" the captured mutineers were ordered to dig their own graves, remove their German uniforms, and be executed.
During the rebellion, 565 Georgians, at least 812 Germans, and 120 residents of Texel were killed. The destruction was enormous; dozens of farms went up in flames, with damage later estimated at ten million
guilders
Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...
(US$3.77 million). The bloodshed lasted beyond the German
capitulation in the Netherlands and Denmark on 5 May 1945 and even beyond
Germany's general surrender on 8 May 1945. The fighting continued until
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
troops arrived 20 May 1945 to enforce the German surrender, and disarmed the remaining German troops.
Aftermath
![Georgische soldaten op Texel (19 november 1945)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Georgische_soldaten_op_Texel_%2819_november_1945%29.jpg)
The Georgians lie buried in a ceremonial
cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
at the Hogeberg near
Oudeschild
Oudeschild is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the island municipality of Texel, and lies about 12 km northeast of Den Helder.
Oudeschild is the fishing harbour of the island. It is situated at the Wadden ...
. The survivors may have feared facing the same fate as most Soviet collaborators: forced repatriation, under the terms of the
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...
, often followed by incarceration and banishment and, for officers, execution. The 228 Georgians who survived by hiding from the German troops in coastal minefields, or who were concealed by Texel farmers, were turned over to Soviet authorities. After arrival at a collection camp in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, 26 Georgians were singled out and banished together with their families and others were sent to
Gulag
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...
. Those still alive in the mid-1950s were rehabilitated and allowed to return home. Until 1991, the ambassador of the Soviet Union to the Netherlands visited the graves of the Georgians on 4 May every year, and, at least during the latter visits, called the Georgians "Heroes of the Soviet Union". The Soviet Union donated a number of memorials to the war dead on Texel, including a pillar in the island's main cemetery as well as various sculptures in the Georgian cemetery.
Over time, the number of local participants in the memorial events declined as the
Dutch Communist Party, which had played a key role in keeping the memory of the Georgian rebellion alive, dwindled in size and eventually disappeared.
In the late 1960s, the Soviet memorialisation of the Texel rebels culminated in the release of a feature film known as ''Crucified Island''. It depicted the rebels as being prisoners of war who somehow managed to steal weapons from the Germans.
On 4 May 2005,
Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. visited the graves for the first time as the president of independent
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. His visit was officially described as a private one, and he was accompanied by his Dutch-born wife.
The German dead were initially buried in a part of the general cemetery in
Den Burg
Den Burg is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Texel on the island of the same name, and lies about 12 km north of Den Helder.
Overview
Located in the middle of the island, Den Burg is the larg ...
. In 1949 they found their final resting place at
Ysselsteyn German war cemetery
Ysselsteyn German War Cemetery is a military cemetery interring casualties of the First and Second World Wars. It contains over 31,000 soldiers from around 25 countries, including SS-men and Dutch war criminals. This cemetery is located in the v ...
,
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
province, the Netherlands. The cemetery is administered by the
German War Graves Commission
The German War Graves Commission ( in German) is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa. Its objectives are acquisition, maintenance and care of German war graves; tending to next of kin; youth ...
. Den Burg General Cemetery also contains a plot of 167 World War II Commonwealth burials, most of them airmen; 44 of the burials are unidentified.
A permanent exhibition dedicated to these events can be found "in a corner" of the Aeronautical Museum at
Texel International Airport
Texel International Airport is a small airport located north northeast of Den Burg on the island of Texel in the north of the Netherlands. It has a customs service to handle international flights making it an international airport, though no ...
.
One of the last Georgian survivors of the uprising died in July 2007 and was buried with military honors in
Zugdidi
Zugdidi ( ka, ზუგდიდი; xmf, ზუგდიდი or ზუგიდი) is a city in the western Georgian historical province of Samegrelo (Mingrelia). It is situated in the north-west of that province. The city is located 318 kilom ...
, Georgia. There were two Georgian survivors still alive in 2010: Grisha Baindurashvili, who was then 88 years old and lived in Kaspi, a village 40 km west of
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...
, and Eugeny Artemidze, who had been one of the main organizers of the rebellion; he died at age 90 on June 22, 2010, on the same day he had gone to war 69 years earlier. Baindurashvili was still alive in 2015, when an interview with him was published. On August 6, 2021, Baindurashvili died at age 102 in his resident village Kaspi (as published in the “Reformatorisch Dagblad” of Texel, August 13, 2021).
Number of casualties
Canadian troops led by Lt. Col. Kirk landed unopposed on Texel on 17 May 1945, effectively liberating the island. Over a two-day period the Canadians disarmed 1,535 Germans. Soviet
SMERSH
SMERSH (russian: СМЕРШ) was an umbrella organization for three independent counter-intelligence agencies in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially announced only on 14 April 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Josep ...
forces arrived on Texel and took charge of 228 Georgians still alive. A Canadian report prepared for the commander of the SMERSH contingent recorded 470 Georgian and 2,347 German casualties on Texel.
In 1949, the German War Graves Commission disinterred on Texel 812 bodies (including the 400+ killed in their sleep by the Georgians in their shared quarters) for reburial at
Ysselsteyn German war cemetery
Ysselsteyn German War Cemetery is a military cemetery interring casualties of the First and Second World Wars. It contains over 31,000 soldiers from around 25 countries, including SS-men and Dutch war criminals. This cemetery is located in the v ...
. The numbers given by the Texel district list "565 Georgians, 120 Texel islanders and approximately 800 Germans killed";
followed by "other sources… speak of more than 2,000 Germans killed." The "other sources" comment in all probability refers to the Canadian report to SMERSH that lumped together under "casualties" the 1,535 disarmed Germans with their 812 dead.
Notes
See also
*
Villefranche-de-Rouergue Mutiny (September 1943)
References
Sources
* Dick van Reeuwijk. ''Opstand der Georgiërs, Sondermeldung Texel''. Den Burg: Het Open Boek. Herzien Editie 2001, 71 pages. (The Georgian Rebellion on Texel).
* Hans Houterman, J. N. Houterman, ''Eastern Troops in Zeeland, the Netherlands, 1943-1945'', p. 62. Axis Europa Books, 1997.
* Eric Lee, ''Night of the Bayonets: The Texel Uprising and Hitler's Revenge, April-May 1945''. Greenhill Books, 2020.
* Henri Antony Van der Zee (1998), ''The Hunger Winter: Occupied Holland, 1944-45'', pp. 213–220. University of Nebraska Press, (Reprint. Originally published: London : J. Norman & Hobhouse, 1982.)
*
External links
Georgian uprising articleDie Rebellion der Georgier, Jungle World, 19 September 2019Night of the Bayonets
{{Authority control
Conflicts in 1945
Military history of the Netherlands during World War II
Allied occupation of Europe
Military history of Georgia (country)
Texel
Mutinies in World War II
1945 in the Netherlands
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic
1945 in Georgia (country)
Battles and operations of World War II involving Germany
Military history of the Soviet Union during World War II
Battles in North Holland
April 1945 events in Europe
May 1945 events in Europe
Netherlands–Soviet Union relations