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Night of the Bayonets

By: Greenhill Books

Type: Hardcover

Product Line: Historical Books (Greenhill Books)


Product Info

Title
Night of the Bayonets
Publisher
Category
Author
Eric Lee
Publish Year
2020
Pages
232
Dimensions
6.5x9.5x.75"
NKG Part #
2148193143
Type
Hardcover

Description

In the final days of World War II in Europe, Georgians serving in the Wehrmacht on Texel island off the Dutch coast rose up and slaughtered their German masters. Hitler ordered the island to be retaken and fighting continued for weeks, well after the war's end.

The uprising had it origins in the bloody history of Georgia in the twentieth century, a history that saw the country move from German occupation, to three short years of independence, to Soviet rule after it was conquered by the Red Army in 1921. A bloody rebellion against the Soviets took place in 1924, but it remained under Russian Soviet rule. Thousands of Georgians served in the Soviet forces during World War II and among those who were captured, given the choice of “starve or fight”, some took up the German offer to don Wehrmacht uniforms.