Georgian Legion (1941–45)

Georgische Legion Georgian Legion
Insignia of the Georgian Legion, featuring the flag of the First Georgian Republic
Active	1941 – 1945
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Branch	Wehrmacht
Size	≈ 14,000
Engagements	World War II

The Georgian Legion (German: Georgische Legion, Georgian: ქართული ლეგიონი, kartuli legioni) was a military formation of Nazi Germany during World War II, composed of ethnic Georgians. It was formed by Georgian émigrés and prisoners of war, and its declared aim was the eventual restoration of Georgia's independence from the Soviet Union. Some components of the Georgian Legion fell under the operational control of Waffen SS.

Compared to other Soviet nationalities, Georgians initially received a somewhat preferential treatment from the Germans. This was partly due to classification of Georgians as Aryans, and also because several Georgian scholars, such as Alexander Nikuradse and Michael Achmeteli, were advisers to leading Nazis like Alfred Rosenberg.

The Nazi perception of Georgians, however, began to change for worse in light of series of defections and Adolf Hitler's growing paranoia. Hitler mistrusted Georgians because "the Georgians are not a Turkish people, rather a typical Caucasian tribe, probably even with some Nordic blood in them...The only ones I consider to be reliable are the pure Muslims, which means the real Turkish nations." Hitler also surmised that Joseph Stalin's Georgian ethnicity, as well as the fact that Georgian SSR was nominally autonomous, would eventually draw the Georgians closer to the USSR than to Germany.

Being faced with an impossible choice between Hitler and the equally brutal Stalin's regime, members of the Georgian Legion often suffered tragic fates. Notably, during the Georgian uprising on Texel, hundreds of Georgians were killed by the Nazis. Those who "survived" were on Moscow's orders forcibly repatriated to the Soviet Union, only to end up perishing in Stalin's Gulags.