Poland and Georgia has had close relations for a long time. After collapsing Byzantine Empire Georgian king Konstantine and Pole king Alexander Jagelon were trying to act together against Osmal Empire. As for Russian Tsarism period, Poles and Georgians who were fighting against this regime Poles were exiled in Georgia and Georgians in Poland…
As for football – Adam Olkovic chief of Pole organizational department of European championship at once asked me after meeting with me- if you know Mamuka Jikia well, we will be good friends, I have never met such person as he is! As far as you see Mamuka Jikia who was playing in Poland is memorable person there now. I have already mentioned Lasha Skhirtladze in my articles, Georgian student in Poland and you are expected to remember him, he said that when Lado Davlishvili joined “Polonya”, he started to attend all his matched and he used to support, when Lado’s club lost chance of playing at UEFA CuP, Lado approached to the tribune, met him and said that he was sorry that he had not met him before and presented Georgian student his t-shirt… Lado is also well-known played in Poland and as Georgian student hopes he will join another strong club. I hope that another Georgian player, Nika Dzalamidze from Zugdidi is distinguished player in “Jagelonia”…
Museum of Pole Revolt impressed me very much. It remembered me Georgian heroism in Warsaw, which is still legendary in Poland!  Valerian Tevzadze Georgian military man was scary either for Soviet officers, or German soldiers and KGB agents. He was known in Poland as Walery Krzyżanowski and died in 1987, did not see how the Soviet Union collapsed. Six Georgian generals and more than hundreds of officers died for Poland.. Mamaladze, Skhirtladze, Rusiashvili and General Aleksandre Chkheidze was shoot in Catine with order of Stalin…Georgians even managed once to get know where Hitler was and sent this information to revolt Pole army. Unfortunately after bombing this territory Hitler survived and how he took revenge I talked about in the previous letter. 16-year-old Iren Skhirtladze daughter of Arkadi Skhirtladze, pilot who was killed in Catine and Pole Janina Kishchinsky, fighter of one of the battalion “Umbrella”, after her father’s death decided to study Georgian language and searched a teacher in whole Warsaw, finally she found Chechelashvili. The girl who was detained by Germen managed to escape and heroically died in Pole revolt. Pole fighters took documents from her pocket after death and then learnt that she was Georgian… when Jansug Charkviani, Georgian poet saw her grave, wrote the rhyme.
Saint Grigol Peradze also worth mentioning, Grigol who came from Bakurtskhikhe and his two brothers were fighting against Bolsheviks, later Grigol with Ambrosi Khelaia’s help moved abroad, graduated from Berlin University, studied 12 (!) foreign languages, became professor and was giving lectures in Bon, Paris, Oxford, Warsaw Universities, became monk in London and played a big role in surviving of Georgian treasure, which was kept by Ekvtime Takaishvili- Peradze was invited as an expert, he had to evaluate Goergian treasure and he told Pashists that it did not have any value, was valuable only for Georgians.. During the war, he was helping poor people, that why he was in Auschwits concentration camp, where he died heroically. There are still two legends about him – according to one legend, he died instead of Jew family and it was his choice. According to the second legend, Germen due to their officer’s death, made whole camp take off the clothes during freezing and Peradze stated then that he killed the offirecer and died for thousands of people… dogs cut his body in pieces and then his body was burnt publicly. His name is curved with other Pole heroes on the board, which is hung in Warsaw University, where he used to give lectures.
P.S. I always use to tell one history to my foreign friends to learn Georgians and Georgia.. in August, 1483 Georgian trader Ardashel Gokiel took silk to our neighboring Nukha, chief of their traders Dervish Husein, heard that he was not from Kakheti, he was from Meskheti and took away silk from him, beat him, laughed at him and told- your master cannot come here, cannot break my shutters and cannot nail me to the post with ear.. Ardashel Gokiel hardly managed to come back Akhaltsikhe, met his master Kvarkvare Atabagi and told him everything in details. In that evening Kvarkvare who got very angry after listening this story, gathered 300 men, took trader and invaded in Nukha, at dawn on the third day they found Dervish Husein and told him- pay back your dept to Georgian trader! When he paid, he was nailed with ears on the post and the Meskhi told them- do not dare to hurt Georgians, or! They even did not take a hen from there and returned to Meskheti..  
 

Mamuka Kvaratskhelia media officer of UEFA, special for “Worldsport.ge”, from Warsaw.

Photos by Authors