Memorial Day for Victims of Political Repression and Famine

On May 31st, the Memorial Day for Victims of Political Repression is commemorated in Kazakhstan. 

This day of observance is held in order to honor the millions of individuals who suffered under the tyranny of the Soviet administration in Kazakhstan. 

Kazakhstan experienced a particularly difficult period of Soviet occupation. The repressions that started after the Russian Civil War in 1919-1920 and lasted for next two decades took many lives. During the Soviet years, according to historians millions were repressed. In Kazakhstan, from 1921 to 1954, more than 100,000 people were convicted in politically-motivated cases, more than 25,000 of whom were sentenced to death.

From 1930 to 1933, a devastating state-induced famine led to death of 1.5 million Kazakhs or one-third of the country’s population who starved to death as a result of collectivization policies

The State Commission for the Full Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repressions was established by a presidential decree No. 456 on November 24, 2020.

In accordance with the current legislation, 2,190 files were declassified in the special archives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 333 archival files on repressions and seven normative legal acts of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union for 1937-1938 were declassified in the special archives of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan.

The General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan announced the declassification of more than two million documents related to repressions.

A website of the unified nationwide database of victims of political repressions (http://e-memory.kz/) was created. It contains a systematized electronic database (with a search function) covering all categories of repressed citizens of Kazakhstan in 1920-1950 (rebels, bayams, kulaks, average citizens, deportees, special settlers, prisoners of camps in Kazakhstan, prisoners of war, and priests).

To date, the information on the website is completed to 80%. The site is publicly available online. It is regularly updated with materials from the regional commissions.

In line with the publishing plan, 29 books, monographs and collections were published in 2022. The costs were covered by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan.