World War II has gone down in history as the most large-scale and deadliest conflict.
The war, which lasted from 1941 to 1945, claimed the lives of 300,000 Georgians (700,000 residents of Georgia were deployed to the front). Combat operations took place across the territories of 40 states.
Tens of thousands of Georgian residents were honored with government awards, and 167 of them became Heroes of the Soviet Union. The most prominent among them was Junior Sergeant Meliton Kantaria (1921–1993), who hoisted the Victory Banner over the Reichstag alongside Sergeant Mikhail Yegorov in May 1945.
It is worth noting that in a number of countries, Victory over Fascism Day is observed on May 8. While some members of the public have called on the Georgian government to do the same, their position has not been adopted.
