Alexandre Chkheidze, also known under his Polish name of Aleksander Czcheidze (1878–1940), was a Polish- Georgian military officer. He served with the rank of Colonel in the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Georgia during the short period of its independence following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Following the Bolshevik occupation of his country, Chkheidze (along with thousands of other Georgian officers) migrated to Poland, where he received further training in the

Higher War School The National Defence University of Warsaw ( – AON) was the civil-military highest defence academic institution in Poland, located in Warszawa– Rembertów. In 2016 it was succeeded by the War Studies University. The National Defence Universit ...

. He was then admitted to the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

as a ''contract officer'' and served as the Commander of Infantry (de facto deputy commander) of the Polish 16th Infantry Division. He took part in the Polish Defensive War of 1939 and fought with distinction in a number of battles. Taken prisoner by the Germans, he was handed over to the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

in accordance with the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and then executed by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

some time in 1940 during the infamous

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

Notes and references

Military personnel from Georgia (country) People of World War II from Georgia (country) Polish generals Polish Army officers Katyn massacre victims 1878 births 1940 deaths Polish people executed by the Soviet Union Georgian emigrants to Poland People from Georgia (country) executed by the Soviet Union Polish military personnel killed in World War II {{Georgia-mil-bio-stub