Author: Lasha Shakulashvili (Georgia) is a freelance blogger focusing on ethnic and religious minorities/heritage, as well as general travel tip

Sophie is 20. In fact, she will forever be 20 years old.

Born in 1908, she managed to live through the Russian Empire, the first Democratic Republic, as well as Soviet-occupied Georgia. In October 1929, Sophie’s human experience came to an end and she found her eternal resting place in her hometown of Elisabethtal, currently known as Asureti in the South of Georgia.

In the early 19th century, thousands of ethnic Germans from Baden-Württemberg found new homes in Georgia; they packed up their lives and moved with a combination of cautious curiosity and hopes of opportunity for their families. In few years’ time, there were around 20 villages, also known as German colonies. Newcomers enjoyed privileges that the Russian Empire offered to foreigners from Europe, who would decide to move in. The major limitations for arrival were to be a skilled worker, married and healthy.

The village of Elisabethtal was named after Princess Louise of Baden, Empress of Russia and native of Baden-Württemberg. Later, many who had traveled to Elisabethtal would refer to it as a German town and not a village, as you would never see cattle in the street.

Upon arrival, the mountain roads led newcomers to the base of a mountain, from where they witnessed the most idyllic location for a village and they no longer needed to ask if this was the place they had hoped to find after a long journey. Soon, Elisabethtal became an outstanding settlement with a proper city-planning, harmonious architecture, school, bath, choir and Kirche (church). The Kirche entailed characteristics of Gothic architecture and was an outstanding site for visitors.

In Georgia, ethnic Germans found a safe haven, where they could practice religion freely. In fact, significant amount of newcomers to the South Caucasus were devoted followers to the teachings of the Lutheran priest Johann Albrecht Bengel, who believed that salvation could have been obtained somewhere near the mount Ararat. Due to the fact that the mentioned mountain, then, was on the territory of the Ottoman Empire, Georgia became the perfect location for arrivals to settle in.

Apart from sustaining a town that could easily be the image on the back of a postcard, Georgians could enjoy their German compatriot’s vineyards, which looked especially astonishing as the alpenglow entered into full force.

Village of Asureti, formerly known as Elisabethtal, from the distance.

Paved roads were maintained with a great care and attention. Houses sheltered both, humans as well as doves through the special dovecotes built in the attics. Spacious courtyards and balconies manifested hospitable nature and spirit of its dwellers.

The houses built in a traditional German style would have a fireplace in the center, surrounded by walls of residential rooms. The fireplace warmed the rooms and its smoke reached the attic, where meat hanging on the ceiling would be smoked.

Remains of the traditional German house with a fireplace in the center

Generations later, when the scent of prosperous life had settled in, Germans were not called to join the Soviet army during World War II; the latter development resulted into welling up tears in the community’s eyes, as they realized that something hard and unpredictable awaited them in the future.

In 1941, the Soviet Union deported nearly 24, 000 Georgian Germans to Central Asia and Siberia. Up to 1000 ethnic Germans remained in the country, mostly the ones who were married to other nationalities or were born into mixed families.

People of German origin were loaded into cattle wagons under inhumane conditions. Sometimes they were only given 24 hours and a maximum of nine days to pack very little of their belongings, without knowing that many of them, especially the children and elderly would have slim chances for survival.

After deportations, thousands of Georgians were forced to relocate to Elisabethtal and other German colonies from mountainous parts of the country. The reasoning was simple; deportees were declared as enemies by Moscow and they were not allowed to come back to their village(s).

To erase the German heritage, the Elisabethtal’s Kirche’s cross was replaced with a red star, however, afterwards, half of the building was demolishedand turned into a village’s club. At the moment, there is an ongoing reconstruction process to rehabilitate the Kirche.

The beautiful streets of Asureti still stand out with their high concentration of authentic German houses, which feature a unique planning. Vineyards are still an important landmark for Asureti, especially the famous type of wine called “Shala”, which was found by the local German farmer Shalma, hence it was named to honor him.

Main Street of Asureti

Despite of the brutal fate of cemeteries of each and every religious denomination or ethnic group in Georgia during the USSR period, Elisabethtal’s cemetery had been kept intact, almost completely intact. The stones introduce us to former dwellers of the village, who they were and what theiroccupation was, when they were born and when their human experience came to an end.

Among them is the 20 year old Sophie, who did not make it to her 21st birthday, coming short by only one month. Sophie spent her entire life in the only motherland she ever had – Georgia. Little did Sophie or residents of the cemetery knew that their beloved relatives and friends would be deported and deprived of the life they had so carefully and attentively built.