ABSTRACT
The representation of the August war as somehow similar to the earlier Soviet occupation, and the linking of both of them through analogy is a mechanism that provides the context for the creation of new sites of memory, as well as providing illustrations for state programs in the Georgian educational system. For Mikheil Saakashvili, Eduard Shevardnadze was a symbol of the Soviet era and in his speeches, Saakashvili ubiquitously recalls the chasm between the Shevardnadze period and the Rose Revolution. Christianity as well as the alliance with Byzantine Empire and social democracy against Bolshevism were European choices. The St George statue erected in Freedom Square in Tbilisi is a monumental symbol representing a reborn country. After the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), new heroes were added to the pantheon, usually with great fanfare and national celebration. The funeral of Georgian hero Kakutsha Cholokashvili at Mtatsminda represents one of these notable shifts in memory politics.
