Tour of the Museum of Political Repression

Every year on May 31, Kazakhstan celebrates the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression in accordance with Decree (No. 3443) of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated April 5, 1997. This is a day of remembrance for those who innocently died during the era of the Stalinist regime (famine and mass repression, persecution and forced deportation of innocent people).

On the eve of the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression, students of the History Department of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University visited the Museum of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression in the village of Zhanalyk, Talgar District, Almaty Region. The excursion to the museum took place within the framework of SDG No. 4 "Quality Education." Students listened to leadership lectures by museum employees, visited funds and exhibition halls, got acquainted with the activities of the museum and the works of employees.

It should be noted that last year, students of the specialties "Archeology" and "History" participated in the search and study of the burial of victims of political repression under the leadership of the Dean of the Faculty of History Dosbol Baigunakov, implemented by the State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve "Esik" where "mass graves" of repressed citizens were investigated for the first time in Kazakhstan. During the implementation of the MKI RK project "Archaeological verification and historical identification of the remains of victims of political repression in the village of Zhanalyk, Almaty region: interdisciplinary research," hundreds of artifacts and bones of about 100 people were obtained, revealing some of the problems of studying victims of political repression.

On the eve of the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression, students of the specialties "Ethnology and Anthropology" and "Museum Business and Protection of Monuments" assisted in the preparation of materials for reburial. They took part in compiling lists of finds, clearing items, preparing for the burial of the remains of victims of political repression, and familiarized themselves with the conclusions of forensic experts.

Since 2018, the Faculty of History of the Al-Farabi KazNU has been actively cooperating with the Museum of Memory of Victims of Political Repression in the village of Zhanalyk, which is also important in raising young minds.