When Germans went towards Moscow, Georgian soldiers wanted to enter to Georgia before Germans and make the country independent; they enlisted all Georgians guys in the army. We were taken to the huge camp near Berlin, that was full of Georgians, Armenians and Azeri. Here we recovered from the illness and things went fine.
It was 1942; I met Givi Gabliani, a general and very good person. We were studying in a same school in Tbilisi and had same friend. He told me that planned to recover Georgian army and save the country, I agreed to join.
Later we were sent to Bavaria, when the war broke out we planned to enter to Georgia but there was an incident near Stalingrad and we stepped back until Crimea, then moved to Berlin where we have been working in an headquarters with Givi Gabliani. We had good times in Berlin, I was like German soldier. When the war was over, we were called to return back to home if we wanted. I did not want to harm my family and returned, you know KGB was watching all way.
I was in camps in Lithuania, last and long term point was Latvia. Once I saw Germans playing chess, at a moment I noted “wrong move”, they were amazed and called me to play. I played very well and won to three people, they were astounded and called someone to play with me. I won again. They praised me “what a good boy”; I replied that I German blood, what else I could do? There was no other way. They offered to select good guys and they would send us to work in the villages, I was cheerful and started to think about escape and save myself. I have constantly been thinking on escape, I was 19 years old then.
I collected about 20 Georgians, others were Russians, Armenians, and Azeri and gave the list to Germans; later we were called and distributed to villages. When we stopped in a village, I got off the car with other 6 boys. A woman in black came up and asked “Profession?” “A farmer”- was my answer, and then she asked to show hands, when looked at them she noted that that I was not famer, but anyway put me in the list. She took me and one Russian boy; I knew everything about horses and took care of them. I have been working for 3-4 months with this woman, she had a baby, husband was killed by soviet army. We were in good relations, I had simple tasks. There was a policeman that wanted to marry this woman and was jealous of me; he managed to send me back to the camp. The camp was huge near Riga, I again started to collect Georgian boys; the time was terrible I got typhoid. Later Georgians appeared looking for other Georgian soldiers
Was born in April 12, 1921 in Tbilisi; His Father Anton Kutateladze was a painter, later worked as a Rector of Tbiisi Art Academy. Mother Vera Megreladze was a doctor. He had two sons Tariel and Khita a painter
Tariel finished Tbilisi 1st school and went to Moscow to continue his studies at the faculty of architecture. In 1940 he was conscripted into the army, Tariel was fighting in Finland and then in the Baltic region, while his military service the Second World War broke out. In 1941 he was taken captive, shortly he escaped, though Lithuanian soldiers caught and returned him to the camp. He spent long time in German camps in Latvia and Lithuania, later he was transferred to Germany where he met Georgian friend - Givi Gabliani. Givi was forming Georgian battalion in German army and offered to enroll there, Tariel accepted the offer after long thoughts, Gabliani convinced him that they would have a chance to liberate Georgia from Soviet Russia and start to build independent country.
He returned after the war, but he was sentenced an exile in Vorkuta camp (north Russia) where he spent 10 years.
Strangers saved him from being shot, when he was being transferred to the Court by train, he met a man with daughter in the cabin, the women made use of the moment when the guard left, took his address and promised to inform his family. Hence, his family knew that he was alive and sentenced. Tariel’s father immediately went to Moscow and met Lavrenti Beria whom he knew well and asked him to save his son. Beria instantly found out Tariel’s location and the reason he was arrested, Beria said that Tariel would pass 2-3 years in the camp and would be released, though we spent there much more 10 years.
After he was released from the prison, he entered the Art Academy at the faculty of architecture, and then he started to work at the designing organization and started post -graduated studentship. Later he was elected as a professor of the academy and has been working as a dean for a long time. He still works at the Art Academy.
In 1955 he married with Makvala Melia - Mathematician, they had daughter Nana that is an architect and works at the Art Academy. Tariel has one grandchild that is studying Architecture in Italy.
