Authors

Akmaral Sundetova¹; SS Kumyspayev²;  ¹ Akhmet Yassawi International Kazakh–Turkish University, Kazakhstan;  ² K.Zhubanov University, Kazakhstan

Discussion

The phenomenon of mass deportation was a characteristic feature in the construction of the Soviet Union's socialist system. Joseph Stalin, who ascended to power in 1924, employed repression and deportation of entire ethnic groups as a means to reeducate dissenting "hostile elements". The policy of "collectivization" precipitated large-scale social expulsion of the peasantry as a punitive measure and established systems of special settlements throughout the country. Moreover, forced evictions intensified, became nearly systematic, and acquired an ethnic component. In 1935, several decrees were issued regarding the eviction of Finns to protect the borders of Karelia and the Leningrad region; in 1936, 15 thousand Polish and German households were evicted from the territories of Western Ukraine and Belarus, and in 1937, Korean people from the Far East were deported with the status of "administratively expelled." Following Germany's annexation of Poland and the incorporation of the Baltic states into the USSR, ethnic deportations accelerated. The Great Patriotic War was significant for numerous ethnic groups deported from their territories of compact residence to Siberia and the Central Asian republics. By the time of mass ethnic deportations, approximately one-third of Kazakhstan's territory was occupied by penal camps for the repressed, the largest of which was the Karaganda camp and its subdivision, ALZHIR (Akmola camp for wives of traitors to the motherland).

Currently, there exist two polarized perspectives regarding deportations in the Soviet Union. Numerous Russian scholars contend that the deportation of peoples was a necessary measure, particularly in relation to Soviet Germans, who were accused of collaboration. The same perception of the deportation of the Polish population is prevalent in academic circles within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The perceived justification for the forced deportation of the Polish population served as the basis for regarding Poland as a potential "fifth column". The examination of deportation processes, as exemplified in western Kazakhstan, utilizing archival records from Aktobe, West Kazakhstan, and Atyrau regions, along with declassified documents from the NKVD of Kazakhstan, provides more reliable data regarding the forced relocation of German and Polish populations