Allies Against Two Evils: Georgian POWs in WWII's "Bergmann" Units and the Quest to Liberate the Caucasus from Russian Imperialism

by Givi Gabliani, Alexander Kartozia (Introduction), Hans von Herwarth (Preface by)

Overview

An eye-witness account of the Russian/European conflict at the heart of WWII, relevant today as war rages again along similar battle lines in Ukraine, Crimea and the Caucasus.

In a corner of 20th-century history almost unknown to the English-speaking public, anti-Stalinist Georgians and anti-Hitlerite Germans worked as an arm of the German Resistance, disavowing Hitler’s inhuman "East Policy" mandates and seeking to liberate Caucasian nations from Stalin. Allies Against Two Evils: Georgian P.O.W.s in WWII’s Bergmann Units and the Quest to Liberate the Caucasus from Russian Imperialism by exiled Georgian M.D. Givi Gabliani vividly recalls this time, the hopes of the Georgians who fought in World War II, their solidarity, their tribulations, their devotion to the Jewish people, and why they made the alliances they did.

Gabliani's memoir, written in English and published several years ago in Georgia, contrasts the vision of an ascendant Russian Empire and a decaying West with historical European-Georgian cooperation and the centuries-long quest of the Georgian people for self-determination.

The preface by Georgian-German scholar and former head of the Georgian National Library, Alexander Kartozia examines the legacy of Givi Gabliani and the Gabliani family from the highland province of Svaneti, keepers of 12th century artifacts from Georgia's Golden Age and leaders of the 1920s resistance insurgency against Soviet invasion.

Gabliani envisions a future Europe supporting a trans-Caucasian alliance with mixed races and religions living together equally in tolerance and prosperous harmony, as they had for millennia in Georgia. As a spokesman for the POWs, he coordinates with the Georgian exile government in occupied Paris and Berlin, finding a secret effort afoot in occupied France to save Georgian and other Eastern European Jews. Today, Gabliani's war memoir centers our attention on an active fault line. Across the great conflicts of the twentieth century that undergird and still define the region between Russia, with its imperialist ambitions, and the Black Sea, Georgia and the Georgian people appear as some of the most likely partners for international efforts toward peace.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781954600911
Publisher:	DoppelHouse Press
Publication date:	08/15/2023
Pages:	488
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dr. Givi Gabliani (1915–2001) was a general surgeon who practiced medicine for over 35 years in Quincy, Illinois. Gabliani came to the United States in 1950 and remained here in exile due to the fact his father Egnate Gabliani, governor of the Svaneti mountain region, was a resistance leader and political prisoner killed in Stalin's purges in the 1930s. Gabliani wrote his memoir in the optimism of the early 1990s as the Soviet Union was collapsing, and it looks forward to a future world without a Russian oppressor in the Caucasus.

Alexander Kartozia, former Minister of Education of Georgia and director of the National Parliamentary Library, is a widely published scholar awarded with research prizes from Germany and Georgia. He received the "Order of Merit" from the Federal Republic of Germany in 2022. His research includes German-Georgian cultural exchange and Georgian culture, literature, and language.

Hans-Heinrich Herwarth von Bittenfeld, also known as Johann von Herwarth, was a German diplomat in Moscow who provided the Allies with information prior to and during the Second World War. He revealed the secret pre-war pact made between Hitler and Stalin on how to divide Central Europe and continued to advise Western powers not to give in to Hitler's territorial demands. In 1955, Herwarth became the first post-war ambassador from Germany to London.

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FOREWORD

Relatively few people in the Western World appreciate the fact that the October 1917 Bolshevik Revolution was solely a Russian phenomenon—it never took place in Georgia and other countries of the Caucasus region. Instead, the Caucasians used this opportunity and declared sovereign democratic states, which were recognized by many countries, among them Bolshevik Russia. For instance, a treaty was signed on May 7, 1920, between the Democratic Republic of Georgia and the Russian Socialist Soviet Federative Republic. Article I of this document states, "Russia recognizes without reservation the independence and sovereignty of the Georgian State and voluntarily renounces all sovereign rights which belonged to Russia with respect to the Georgian people and their territory." However, on February 11, 1921, without the slightest provocation by Georgia and without any warning by Russia, the Red Army invaded Georgia. The Georgians fought as best they could but were surprised, outnumbered and out-gunned. The occupied Georgian Nation was subjected to the deprivation of elementary human rights. Empowered by the Constitutional Assembly, the Georgian Government traveled to Western Europe in order to appeal to the civilized world for help, "and to continue the fight against the invaders from Moscow until final victory."

Some members or the Constitutional Assembly and of political parties also went into exile. There was considerable understanding and sympathy for Georgia in the League of Nations and among politicians of the Western World but during the years that followed, Bolshevik Russia gained gradual recognition in the world community of nations. France was the last major power who held out and continued recognizing the Georgian Embassy for thirteen years. The Georgian Emigration never abandoned its quest for freedom and although a strong divisiveness along party lines was present, it remained the torch bearer for the defense of the Georgian national interests. It was never the representative of any privileged class or the elite—it was a national emigration. It may be fitting to quote here the British Scholar, W.E.D. Allen, who noted, "We find throughout the history of Georgia, as of Spain and Ireland, that it is the nation that is held sacred and not this or that principle."^[1]

Some Georgians felt that it was a failure of democracy that Bolshevik Russia was allowed to swallow Georgia and other Caucasian Democratic States. In spite of this, the overwhelming majority of emigres continued to be members of the traditional democratic political parties. The majority of Georgians in exile were taken by surprise when Hitler invaded his former ally, Stalin’s Empire. The German Army’s progress created a real possibility for entering Caucasus. Therefore, the emigres put forth considerable effort to learn about the German plans toward Georgia and other parts or Caucasus and, if need be, to influence them in a positive direction. It was a popular thought that Germany would now pursue the same Caucasus policy as it had during World War I, when Georgian independence from 1918–1921 thrived due to German help. Such hope was further strengthened due to the fact that during World War II in the German occupied North Caucasus, the German policy was quite different as compared to other occupied Eastern Territories where the indigenous population [and especially Jews] had suffered due to Hitler’s inhuman decrees. The reason for such difference was the fact that Hitler did not have territorial claims toward Caucasus. This situation was adroitly taken advantage of by some German military leaders and persons from the civilian sector who were convinced that Hitler was leading Germany toward its destruction. They tried to alter his course.

One of the important members of this circle was a General Staff Officer in the Organization Division of the Army, Major later Colonel Count Klaus von Stauffenberg, who in 1944 attempted to kill Hitler and therefore was executed. He was able to arrange that General Ernst Köstring was appointed as “General in charge of Caucasian Affairs.”^[2] In this capacity, Köstring was an important advisor to his old friend Field Marshal E. von Kleist—the commanding general of the Army Group South (Caucasus). Köstring’s adjutant was Captain Hans von Herwarth, also a diplomat, specialist on U.S.S.R., and a close co-worker of Stauffenberg and a long time member of the resistance movement against Hitler. Other advisors and contributors to the Caucasus Policy were Otto Schiller, the former agricultural attache of the German Embassy in Moscow, Otto Brautigam formerly from the foreign Ministry now working for the Ostministerium and Professor G. von Mende the Chief of Caucasian and Turkish Section of the Ostministerium.

Thanks to the concerted efforts of such well-intentioned high caliber experts and their co-workers, the Caucasus Policy was a success as a result of humane treatment of the people. Field Marshal von Kleist ordered his troops to behave in Caucasus as they would have if they were on maneuvers in their own country—Germany. Among other positive measures were the agrarian reforms, good treatment of the civilian population as well as P.O.W.s . As a result, the Caucasian population was very friendly to the German soldiers, the economic situation was satisfactory and therefore there was no significant partisan movement among the indigenous population. Stauffenberg and his friends wanted to use a successful Caucasian experiment for bringing about similar changes in all other German occupied Eastern territories. The Caucasian Policy was further strengthened by the presence of the volunteer Caucasian military units, among them the Caucasian “Bergmann,” a mountain unit which had been created on orders of Admiral Canaris, the chief of the military intelligence (Abwehr), who appointed Captain Professor T. Oberländer as its commanding officer.^[3] There were other Caucasian military units—the battalions of the Caucasian Legions as well which were formed by the efforts of Stauffenberg, assisted by Herwarth. Another good friend of the Caucasians. Count Friedrich Werner von Schulenburg had also been an essential force to bring about formation of the Caucasian Legions.^[4] Oberländer, due to his criticism of the Nazi policy in occupied Eastern territories in his memoranda, was dismissed from the army and the party during the summer of 1943. He was interrogated by the Gestapo. The SS wanted to court-martial him but this was prevented by efforts of the Army General Staff.

From the above, it emerges that during World War II, an unofficial alliance came about between a group of influential anti-Hitler Germans and anti-Stalin Georgians and other Easteners. They were caught between those two evils. A world without oppression became their common quest.

My memoir is about this drama.

^[1]- W.E.D. Allen A History of the Georgian People, introduced by Sir Denison Ross. Kegan Paul, London, Trench, Trubner and Co., LTD. Broadway House 68-74 Carter Lane, E.C. 1932.

^[2]- Köstring was the former German Military attach in Moscow and one of the great experts on U.S.S.R. He was born in Imperial Russia and genuinely loved the Russian and non-Russian Soviet People, whose trust he enjoyed. He loathed the Nazi Regime.

^[3]- Admiral Canaris was one of the most important members of the conspiracy against Hitler. He was executed during 1945.

^[4]- Schulenburg was executed during 1944 because of his part in the conspiracy against Hitler.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Memoirs of Givi Gabliani

by Alexander Kartozia vii

Foreword by the author 1

Leaving Georgia for Russia 5

Entrance into World War II 33

A German P.O.W. Outside Prison Camp 36

Transfer to Germany 47

In the Bergmann Unit and Caucasus 77

Plot in Bergmann 112

To the Ukraine and Caucasus 131

Patriots and Defectors 146

In Crimea 171

Leaving Crimea for Germany; The Dresden Military School 188

The Georgian Liaison Staff—A Mission 204

In France and Holland 222

Report on the Three Bergmann Battalions 248

March–July 1944 264

Saving the Georgian Legionnaires 282

End of War 297

Displaced Persons 320

From Germany to America 335

Afterword by Gregory Gabliani 347

Appendices

Hans von Herwarth’s Introduction and Affidavit 353

The Brest-Litovsk Treaty 356

German Georgian Friendship Speech upon German Withdrawal in WW I 359

The Red Army Offensive in November 1942 362

Grigol (Grisha) Alshibaja 363

Kale Salia and The Georgian Destiny 367

Alexandre Manvelishvili 369

Alexandre Nikuradze 372

General Giorgi Kvinitadze 376

The Plot in “Bergmann” 378

Documents from the Author’s Archive 385

Maps 412

Photographs 417

Supporting Literature 431

Index 435

Editorial Reviews

In 1921, the Soviets occupied Georgia by force. Givi Gabliani naturally opposed Soviet imperialistic and criminal rule. The German Resistance wanted — after the overthrow of Hitler — to liberate the different nations in the Soviet Union from Soviet dictatorship. Therefore, Givi Gabliani as a prisoner of war in 1941 decided to cooperate with the German Resistance. In 1942, he joined a Caucasian volunteer unit which was formed by Admiral Canaris, a leading member of the German Resistance executed in 1945. In 1943, Gabliani became a member of the Georgian liaison mission, which represented also the Georgian exile government in Paris. The Georgian liaison mission worked closely together with the German Resistance, especially with Colonel Count Stauffenberg and Ambassador von der Schulenburg, who both were the fathers of the Soviet volunteer [forces] in the German Army. The Bergmann military unit was created in 1941, composed of Georgian emigrants to the West as well as those who had stayed in their home country [and were conscripted to fight with the Red Army]. Givi Gabliani, in the frame of the Bergmann unit, and later as a member of the Georgian-National Committee had an important role in this period. His memoirs offer a rich source pertaining to German-Georgian history.”
— Hans von Herwarth, Former German Ambassador to Britain, January 18, 1988.

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