Totalitarian repression – a tragedy of the nation

Abstract

The article examines the tragedy of political repression in the 1930s–1950s based on archival materials, which for many years were kept under the classifications «secret» and «top secret», thus being closed to researchers. In addition, the memories of witnesses of that time were widely used in uncovering the tragedy of political repression. The author, noting that the repressions affected representatives of the intelligentsia, peasants, party workers, military personnel and others, explores the fates of women who suffered from repression. Based on archival documents, the tragic fates of A. Kulymbetova, Kh. Toleubayeva-Zhunisbayeva, and Zh. Kenzhina, who were sent to labor correction camps for 8 years under the accusation of being «family members of the traitors to the Motherland», are thoroughly analyzed, as well as those of Sh. Shonanova, who was sentenced to death, and G. Kasabolatova and T.G. Kuderina-Nasonova, who were exiled for 2 years with their young children. The forced breakdown of the families of «enemies of the people», the persecution of women and children is the most extreme form of political repression. Moreover, the majority of women who suffered from repression were educated girls and women of their time.