May 31 is the memorial day of one of the most tragic pages in the history of Kazakhstan

May 31 is the day of remembrance of one of the most tragic pages in the history of Kazakhstan – mass political repression and horrific famine, which caused the death of millions of people. Every year, since 1997, Kazakhstan has celebrated the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression.

Today, Kazakhstanis remember the most difficult and dramatic events in our history. This tragic period of history and the names of innocent convicts and victims will forever remain in our memory.

Millions of people died in the bloody moloch of totalitarianism. Almost every Kazakh family has felt the weight of the terrible years.

According to various sources, the number of deaths from hunger ranges from 1.5 to 3 million. During the years of the "great terror", representatives of the Kazakh political and cultural community were persecuted. Despite the fact that many of them supported the Soviet government, they were subjected to repression in the 1930s and 1950s. The fact that the infamous Karlag, Algiers, and Steplag were built on our land also leaves a colossal imprint of tragedy.

In 1920-1950, many Kazakh statesmen, writers and poets, educators, including Magzhan Zhumabayev, Akhmet Baitursynov, Myrzakip Dulatov and others, were persecuted. A purposeful policy of destroying brave and intelligent personalities and leaders was carried out in order to achieve complete subordination of the common people. 1.5 million Germans, Poles, Koreans, Chechens, Turks, Greeks and representatives of other nationalities shared the fate of the victims of the ruthless totalitarian policy together with the Kazakh people.

The results of the work on the study of historical facts and documents lead to one conclusion: we must remember and pass on to future generations the truth about the tragic past and the courage of those thanks to whom our state today possesses the main value – Independence.

 

The website of the unified republican database of victims of political repression - http://e-memory.kz/. The portal presents a systematic electronic database (with a search function) covering all categories of repressed citizens of the Republic of the 20-50s of the twentieth century (uprisings, bayamas, kulaks, the average population, deported peoples, special settlers, prisoners of camps in Kazakhstan, prisoners of war, priests).