Accusation and punishment: in the fate of women

Research Article

Abstract

The history and fate of Kazakhstan during the Soviet era are full of "blank spots" and contradictions. A full and courageous discussion of these pages of history began during the years of Perestroika. In the period of independence, research activities and their scope expanded significantly. A major turning point in this direction was the rehabilitation of Akhmet Baitursynuly, Zhusipbek Aimauytov, and Mirzhakyp Dulatuly in 1989. Another important step was the launch of the full rehabilitation process for victims of repression, initiated by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, K. Tokayev. The relevance of this topic lies in the need to fill in the "blank spots" of national history. The value of historical science is its ability to tell the truth. Over the past five years, 311,000 citizens of Kazakhstan have been fully rehabilitated. This means that millions of families have been allowed to learn where, when, and why their relatives' lives came to an end, contributing to the formation of historical consciousness and the strengthening of patriotic feelings. This topic attracts significant interest from both the public and researchers. The main reason is that materials related to political repression remained classified and inaccessible for many years. Many victims of repression and their descendants have never been able to discover the truth or tell their own stories. In our view, the declassification of materials on political repression – stored under the labels “secret” and “top secret” in the special state archives of the Committee for National Security, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the General Prosecutor’s Office – has provided the foundation for keeping this issue on the national agenda. The goal of this research, based on archival documents, is to study the tragic fates of women who were repressed during the years of the "Great Terror" (1937–1938), accused of being "family members of traitors to the Motherland". The source base of this research consists of archival criminal investigation files transferred in 2022–2023 from the special state archives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Security Committee, and the General Prosecutor’s Office to the Archive of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It also includes personal files of women who served sentences in the Karlag labor camp. Most of these documents have been introduced into scholarly circulation for the first time. Based on archival documents, the study provides a comprehensive examination of the fates of women who found themselves in a state of powerlessness. These include A. Kulumbetova, K. Mailina, F. Diveyeva, and K. Tolebayeva-Zhunisbaeva. All of them were unjustly exiled to correctional labor camps for terms ranging from 5 to 8 years on charges of being family members of "enemies of the people". The story of B. Mailin’s children illustrates how the repressive policies tore mothers away from their children, inflicting deep suffering. The research established that the archival criminal investigation files consist of standardized documents. Nevertheless, they serve as crucial evidence of the tragedies endured by specific families, forming the basis for studying family and clan histories. A critical analysis of these documents leads to the conclusion that all the accused women were falsely charged and sentenced unjustly. It was also determined that political repressions were carried out in a systematic and organized manner.