80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War

May 9 is Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War and a day of Remembrance for those who died during the war.

In his speech at the military parade on May 7, 2025, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized:
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“The heroism of frontline soldiers will forever remain in our memory, and their boundless love for the Motherland and self-sacrifice will always serve as an example for future generations.
The names and feats of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War will never be forgotten!
We bow deeply before you!
Our people made an enormous contribution to the Great Victory. During the war, more than 1.2 million Kazakh citizens were drafted into the army, and half of them heroically gave their lives for the bright and secure future of the next generations of their compatriots.”

About 300 faculty members and students of the Kazakh State University named after S. Kirov (now Al-Farabi Kazakh National University) went to the front. Many of them died in battle. The university houses the “Glory” memorial, which lists the names of faculty and students who died in the war.

Eternal memory to the fallen!

During the war, Kazakhstan received many evacuated enterprises, educational and cultural institutions. The people of Kazakhstan worked tirelessly for Victory.

People’s Commissar for Education of the Kazakh SSR A.I. Sembaev (1905–1989) wrote the following about that time:

“...Right after the war began, the republic’s schools encountered many difficulties. The previous plans to prepare schools and children’s institutions for the academic year became inapplicable. A shortage of teaching staff arose. Problems increased with building repairs, fuel procurement, and delivery. Teachers and students began managing their schools’ own farms. The first groups of wounded soldiers of the Red Army began arriving at military hospitals, some of which were located in school buildings.
...Many children were evacuated to Kazakhstan, including boarding schools from Soviet, Proletarian, and Tagansky districts of Moscow with 2,300 students. Thousands of children who lost their parents, children of fallen soldiers and partisans of the Great Patriotic War, and children from Leningrad, Ukraine, Belarus, and the western regions of the RSFSR arrived. All of them were warmly welcomed and provided with the necessary living and material conditions.
...The hardships and deprivations of war caused many schoolchildren, especially in upper grades, to drop out, as many went to vocational schools or began working to support their families. Many cared for younger siblings while their fathers were at the front and mothers worked in production.
...The number of children in orphanages in Kazakhstan, especially in the early years of the war, rapidly increased to 45,000. By the end of 1943, there were already 11 orphanages in Almaty Region alone, housing 3,300 children. The orphanages faced serious challenges: lack of clothing, shoes, equipment, fuel, transportation, and most critically — facilities to house the children. However, all these difficulties were successfully overcome.”

A.I. Sembaev. History of the Development of the Soviet School in Kazakhstan (1917–1960). – Alma-Ata, 1962.

Dear veterans and home front workers, we sincerely congratulate you on Victory Day!
We wish you strong health and well-being!
Thank you for the peaceful sky, for your resilience, and for your contribution to Victory!
May there always be peace on Earth!

Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science