The public association “Atamnyn Amanaty” was created
on May 19, 2019. This is the only organization in Kazakhstan
engaged in a systematic search for missing Kazakh soldiers
(more than 271 thousand) during the Second World War.
During this period, more than 8 thousand applications for
search were received through the “Atamnyn Amanaty” website.
The burial places and identities of over 4,000 Kazakh soldiers
have been established. The remains of 16 found soldiers were
brought home and buried with military honors.
The mission of “Atamnyn Amanaty” remains unchanged; it
is to promote the preservation of historical memory through
the continuity of generations through the spiritual, moral
and military-patriotic education of youth, and the consolidation
of common efforts to achieve strategic goals.
One of the main activities of Atamnyn Amanaty should
be especially emphasized - international cooperation,
where more than 50 agreements have been signed and are
being successfully implemented.
One of the latest memorandums on joint work with the Soviet
Field of Glory Foundation from the Kingdom of the Netherlands
was signed on September 11, 2023. According to the director
of this foundation, Remko Reiding, there were Kazakhs among the
prisoners of war at the Amersfoort concentration camp in Holland.
And he has already proven his assumption. With the help of the
Atamnyn Amanaty search engines, the Dutch managed to find the
descendants of one of the soldiers of the Second World War -
this is the Baratov family from Almaty.
Together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic
of Kazakhstan (through the efforts of the Embassies, the military
attache of the Republic of Kazakhstan abroad), a database of Kazakh
soldiers buried not only in the CIS countries, but also in Europe
has been compiled. There are about 20 thousand people on this list.
We have already begun active work to find their loved ones and relatives.
In the period from August 10 to August 24, 2023, the Kazakh consolidated
search party took part in the tenth anniversary international
military-historical expedition “Western Front. Varshavskoe Highway”,
which took place in the Baryatinsky district of the Kaluga region.
During the military-historical expedition, a memorial plaque was installed
to the soldiers of the 387th Infantry Division, formed in Akmolinsk
in August 1941. She took part in her first battle on December 27,
1941 near the village of Troitskoye, Ulyanovsk region. During 1942,
it fought defensive and offensive battles, covering the Kaluga and
Tula directions. In the summer of 1942, it was surrounded and virtually
destroyed. At the time of breaking out of encirclement on August 15, 1942,
there were only 800 people in the division, out of 12 thousand. According
to the governor, five Kazakh divisions fought in the Kaluga region and we
agreed with the local administration to continue field work.
On September 22-23, 2023, in the city of Almaty, the NGO “Atamnyn Amanaty”
organized and held the international conference “Ortak Tarikh. Ortak zhenis.
Ortak kozkaras.”
This conference is being held for the third time and has become a dialogue
platform for interaction between non-governmental organizations and search
movements of the CIS countries.
The purpose of the conference was to discuss the features of organizing
archival and field search work in the territories of the countries participating
in the Second World War, to formulate recommendations for the interaction of
search teams when transferring the found remains of soldiers to their homeland
and working together to perpetuate their memory, as well as organizing work on
military-patriotic and spiritual and moral education of youth.
The forum was attended by representatives of government authorities and search
teams of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, as well as scientists,
historians, archivists, museum workers, veterans of the Armed Forces, etc.
About 30 reports were presented on the stated topics, each of which aroused genuine
interest among those gathered and a lively discussion.
For the purpose of spiritual, moral and military-patriotic education of youth,
memorandums of cooperation were signed with the majority of colleges in Astana
(there are 33 in total). As part of our “Atalar Amanatyna Adalmyz” campaign,
each college conducted its own research work to study the history of formations
and divisions formed in Kazakhstan.
In addition, the NGO “Atamnyn Amanaty” involves cadets of the Higher Technical
School of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan in its work.
In accordance with the Joint Activities Plan, cadets and teachers of the
Higher Technical School annually take part in excavations at the sites
of military battles.
On August 19, 2023, a race was held in the capital’s Triathlon Park in honor
of the 101st anniversary of the birth of the attack pilot, twice Hero of the
Soviet Union, Aviation Major General Talgat Begeldinov. More than 1000 people
took part in it. Among them are military personnel of the Akmola garrison of
the Ministry of Defense, the Border Service, the National Guard, veterans of
the Armed Forces, professional athletes and sports fans.
Competitions among men and women were held in two age categories: 10.1 km
and 5 km. The winners of the race received military-style T-shirts and
medals in the shape of a model of an attack aircraft flown by the legendary pilot.
It should be noted that this race received wide public support: it was
supported by Kazakh youth working in the USA in world-famous companies
such as Google, Meta, NASA, Apple, as well as the Kazakh search team,
which at that time was on an international expedition in the Kaluga
region of the Russian Federation , cadets of military-technical schools
of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan and many others.
This race aroused wide interest not only among young people, but also
among the public in general, although it was organized in record time.
The youngest participant was 16 years old, the oldest was 73.
We carefully think through each event and adapt it to the interests
of the younger generation. We also take into account that the best
education is personal example. Therefore, we will invite veterans of
the Armed Forces who, along with young people, run marathons, play volleyball, etc.
For example, from November 6 to 17, 2023, a volleyball tournament was
held among Astana colleges in honor of the Hero of the Soviet Union,
Khalyk Kakarmany, and Army General S. Nurmagambetov. This is the starting
event in Kazakhstan, dedicated to the centennial anniversary of the first
Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan. Its peculiarity was that each participating
team performed under the name of one of the famous Kazakhstanis who received
the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War. In
this way, we tried to introduce the children to the heroic past of our people.
On the eve of Victory Day, a stele with the names of 69 people was unveiled
in the village of Tonkeris near Astana. The day before, the search engines
of the NGO “Atamnyn Amanaty” carried out a huge amount of work to establish
the identities and burial places of those who went to the front from this
village. Over the course of three days of almost continuous search, the
burial places of 14 of the 69 soldiers, who are located in the territories
of Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, were identified. For the rest,
the search will continue as the TsAMO websites are updated with new documents.
Taking this opportunity, we would like to especially emphasize the selfless
work of our volunteers and search engines. They, sparing no effort and time,
are engaged in excavations, both on the battlefields and in searches through
archives and various forums. The reward for their work is words of gratitude
and tears of joy from direct descendants, relatives of those soldiers who
returned to their homeland after even 80 years!
Sometimes in our work we come across stories that border on mysticism.
A resident of the Kyzylorda region, Zhantas Batyrkhanuly, has already
despaired of looking for his grandfather (his father’s brother).
Requests to military registration and enlistment offices and archives
did not produce results. Until he had a strange dream.
“I was walking through the forest. And among the thick grass I saw
a stone. It was a monument to fallen soldiers. It contained 7-8 surnames,
among them the surname of my grandfather Aitug Medelkhanov. At one point,
the grandfather himself appeared out of nowhere and told me: “Look for me.
You will be able to find me. You will find me if you find a person with
the last name Zubov,” says Zhantas Batyrkhanuly.
It was impossible to forget such a dream. After which Zhantas Batyrkhanuly
decided to make another attempt and turned to us, at Atamnyn Amanaty.
It was known that Kazakh citizen Aitugan Medelkhanov died in November
1941 near Leningrad. His grandson told our search engines a clue from the
dream with the hope that it would help. The application was handled
by volunteer Aigul Aitova. She brought up the lists of those killed near
Leningrad, among them there was a list of those killed in the city
of Kolpino. And surprisingly, that same Zubov was found, and then...
the Kyzylorda resident Aitugan Medelkhanov. Having received the long-awaited
news, Zhantas aga immediately went to honor the memory of his ancestor
in the Leningrad region. I took a handful from his native land to the
mass grave. Here's the story...
We are currently developing plans and projects for the Atamnyn Amanaty
NGO, aimed at the future. Next year, the republic will celebrate the
100th anniversary of such legendary figures as Sagadat Nurmagambetov
and Rakhymzhan Koshkarbaev. The 80th anniversary of Victory in the
Great Patriotic War is approaching. The Decree of the Government
of the Republic of Kazakhstan approved the “Concept of
military-patriotic education of youth until 2030.”
In a word, the NGO “Atamnyn Amanaty” is ready to actively
participate in the implementation of the above activities and contribute
to the common cause.
If your grandfather/great-grandfather did not return from the war,
you can contact the Atamnyn Amanaty NGO. Our contacts:
Astana, st. Syganak, 45, office 1111,
e-mail: ata.amanaty@gmail.com
tel: +7 771 287 21 11; +7 775 828 45 35