Within the framework of a working visit to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Major General Koba Kobaladze, Director of the State Service of Veterans Affairs, together with the representatives of the Service, members of Georgian delegation and hosts, heads of the Netherlands Veterans Institute, visited the rehabilitation center for military personnel in the city of Aardenburg.
Information about this is spread by the State Service of Veterans Affairs.
Reportedly, Colonel Leon Jans, head of the Center, introduced the structure of the Center’s activities to the guests and toured the prosthetic factories.
“Koba Kobaladze and representatives of the rehabilitation center for military personnel named after Maro Makhashvili and the Dutch side shared their experience with each other. Plans for future cooperation were outlined.
Later on, Georgian delegation, together with the hosts and the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Georgia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Davit Solomonia, were at the military cemetery in the city of Lausden. The graves of compatriots who died in the fight against fascism were decorated with wreaths and flowers and their memory was honored.
865 soldiers are buried at Lawsden Military Cemetery. There are graves of 15 Georgian soldiers among them in one row. These 15 Georgians were arrested by the Nazis while trying to communicate with and hand over ammunition (88 hand grenades) to the Dutch partisans and were shot the same night in Fort Beverwijk. Lawsden Military Cemetery in the Netherlands is well looked after by residents. Every year on May 4, the day of liberation of the country, the cemetery is decorated with flowers.
It should be noted that the grave N2104, which belongs to our compatriot, Konstantine Skhirtladze, was taken under the patronage of the commander of the reserve of the Netherlands Navy, a military veteran, Cecilia Joanna van Pesky. He contacted the descendants of the soldier in the village of Zodi, Chiatura and visited them during his visit to Georgia.
The Dutch hosts also invited the Georgian delegation to the military veterans boarding house and the nearby museum in the city of Bronbeck. The director of the boarding house, Colonel Karel Van Dreumel, gave the guests a tour of the boarding house, talked about the programs that are implemented for the psychological rehabilitation of veterans. The Georgian and Dutch sides talked about the prospects of cooperation. Koba Kobaladze and the members of the Georgian delegation met and talked with the Dutch veterans. For the elderly Dutch veterans, some of whom were over 100 years old, enjoyed meeting the Georgian veterans. Bronbeek boarding house is a historical building erected in the 19th century and until 1845, it was the royal palace of the Netherlands.
As a reminder, Major General Koba Kobaladze, Director of the State Service of Veterans Affairs, and the representatives of the Service are paying a working visit to the Kingdom of the Netherlands at the official invitation of the Netherlands Veterans Institute. The delegation also includes members of the Defense and Security Committee of the Parliament of Georgia: Gia Benashvili and Aleksandre Tabatadze, Public Defender Levan Ioseliani, representatives of the Maro Makhashvili Military Servicemen’s Rehabilitation Center and the Defense and Security Civil Council.
“The visit of Koba Kobaladze and Georgian delegation to the Kingdom of the Netherlands continues” – the report said.
