Georgian Tragedy of Kerch

Georgian Tragedy of Kerch
Date May 1942 Location Kerch, Ukrainian SSR Result Axis victory
Casualties and losses
~120,000 ethnic Georgian soldiers killed. ~162,000 Soviet soldiers killed in total.

Georgian Tragedy of Kerch (Georgian: ქერჩის ქართული ტრაგედია) was a tragic event occurred during World War II offensive by Nazi German army against the Soviet forces mostly composed of ethnic Georgians, in the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula.

In May, 1942, the Nazi Germans launched very rapid operation against Soviet Army defending the Kerch Peninsula, in the eastern part of the Crimea, Ukrainian SSR. The Soviet forces were mostly composed of ethnic Georgians mobilized after Germans advanced in Ukrainian SSR. The operation was launched on 8 May 1942 and concluded around 18 May 1942 with the complete destruction of the Soviet defending forces. Soviet Georgian troops were surrounded by the armed forces of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein and fell under massive fire and bombing from attacking aircraft, soldiers tried to evacuate by sea but with no hope. Overall, about 120,000 ethnic Georgian soldiers were killed in ten days of the battle.

References

• Kerch – Graveyard for Georgian Soldiers
• Kerchian Catastrophe (Керченская катастрофа)