Contribution to the Victory

from a national feat to every Georgian municipality In the history of every Georgian family, every city and every highland village, the Great Patriotic War left an unhealed wound. In the year of the 81st anniversary of the Victory over Fascism, historians and archivists are increasingly turning to microhistory, analyzing the contribution of individual regions to the common cause. How tangible was the participation of specific municipalities, such as the picturesque Akhmet district in Kakheti, in the defeat of Nazi Germany? Georgian figures: the scale of tragedy and heroism Before talking about local statistics, it is necessary to assess Georgia’s overall contribution to the victory. According to various estimates, from 700 to 750 thousand fighters went to the front from a country with a pre-war population of about 3.6 million people. This figure becomes even more tragic when you consider that, according to official data from the State Veterans Affairs Service, only about 300,000 people have returned home. This means that every second native of Georgia who went to the front died or went missing. The contribution of those who remained in the rear is particularly noted. In 1943, the Georgian industry supplied 558,000 greatcoats, 571,000 gymnasts and a million pairs of boots to the army. The country worked to the limit to provide soldiers with uniforms and equipment. The memory of this feat is fixed at the highest level. Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, commenting on the outcome of the war, stressed: “300,000 Georgians made the ultimate sacrifice in these battles, defending our nation from fascism and Nazism. Their valiant efforts paved the way for the liberation of Europe…” Akhmeta: The story of the last soldier Akhmet municipality, the administrative center of which is the city of Akhmeta, is one of the most picturesque and distinctive areas of Kakheti. Despite its remoteness from major industrial centers, it paid the full price of the war. The story of Dmitry Veshaguridze from the village of Kvemo-Alvani became a symbolic requiem for an entire generation. This soldier became the last veteran of the Great Patriotic War who lived in the territory of the Akhmet municipality. Dmitry Veshaguridze passed away at the age of 104. It is known that his military career began from the first days of the war on the fourth Ukrainian front. He went through the entire front line and met the end of the war at the borders of Germany. According to relatives, the veteran did not like to talk about the fighting, but at the same time he retained a firm civic position until old age: at the age of 91, he insisted on a photo in a NATO uniform, saying that no country could develop without peace. Although accurate statistics on the number of those mobilized from the Akhmet municipality have not yet been published in public reports, the story of Dmitry Veshaguridze is a vivid reminder that people from every corner of Georgia, including the most remote villages of Kakheti, fought on the battlefields from Stalingrad to Berlin. Names that have become symbols Speaking about the Georgian contribution to the Victory, it is impossible not to recall the names that have thundered around the world. The most striking symbol is Meliton Kantaria. It was he, a native of western Georgia, who, together with Sergeant Mikhail Egorov, hoisted the Victory Banner over the dome of the Reichstag in Berlin. This shot, which went around all the frontline newspapers, became the visual finale of the most terrible war of the 20th century. During the war years, more than 16,000 natives of Georgia were awarded medals and orders. And each of these awards, whether “For Bravery” or “Red Star”, was awarded to a real person who had fought for Brest, the defense of the Caucasus, or the liberation of Warsaw. History lessons The contribution of Georgia and, in particular, its regions, such as the Akhmet municipality, to the victory over fascism is not just a statistical page. This is a story about how a small mountain village could send all its men to the front, many of whom did not return. And the memory of these 300,000 fallen remains a moral guideline both for Georgia and for the whole of Europe, liberated from the “brown plague” by joint efforts.