Alexandre Chkheidze, also known under his Polish name of Aleksander Czcheidze (1878–1940), was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

- Georgian military officer. He served with the rank of Colonel in the armed forces of the

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა, tr) was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia (country), Georgia, which exist ...

during the short period of its independence following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. 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. He was then admitted to the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

as a ''contract officer'' and served as the Commander of Infantry (de facto deputy commander) of the

Polish 16th Infantry Division The 16th Pomeranian Infantry Division () is a military unit of the Polish Army. It was first raised on 16 August 1919 during the Polish uprising, before going on to serve during the subsequent war with the Bolsheviks. At the start of World War II ...

. 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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in accordance with the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. He was executed by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

in 1941 in Moscow.

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 Emigrants from Georgia (country) to Poland People from Georgia (country) executed by the Soviet Union Polish military personnel killed in World War II {{Georgia-mil-bio-stub