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.

• Preface to the Memoirs of Givi Gablianiby Alexander Kartozia   vii   Foreword by the author   1 Leaving Georgia for Russia   5   Entrance into World War II   33A German P.O.W. Outside Prison Camp   36Transfer to Germany   47In the Bergmann Unit and Caucasus   77Plot in Bergmann   112To the Ukraine and Caucasus   131Patriots and Defectors   146In Crimea   171Leaving Crimea for Germany; The Dresden Military School   188The Georgian Liaison Staff—A Mission   204In France and Holland   222Report on the Three Bergmann Battalions   248March–July 1944   264Saving the Georgian Legionnaires   282End of War   297Displaced Persons   320From Germany to America   335Afterword by Gregory Gabliani   347AppendicesHans von Herwarth’s Introduction and Affidavit   353The Brest-Litovsk Treaty   356 German Georgian Friendship Speech upon German Withdrawal in WW I   359The Red Army Offensive in November 1942   362Grigol (Grisha) Alshibaja   363Kale Salia and The Georgian Destiny   367Alexandre Manvelishvili   369Alexandre Nikuradze   372General Giorgi Kvinitadze   376The Plot in “Bergmann”   378Documents from the Author’s Archive   385Maps   412Photographs   417Supporting Literature   431Index   435

“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.