Aral District Archive (Qyzylorda Region, Republic of Kazakhstan): A Review of Documents Relating to the Kalmyk Deportation

Introduction. The year 2023 commemorates the 80th anniversary of the Kalmyk deportation (28 December 1943) to the eastern parts of the Soviet Union. In December 1943, ethnic Kalmyks were groundlessly repressed and forcibly relocated from native lands to be scattered across Siberia toward the Far East and Extreme North for the long thirteen years (1943–1957). Key aspects of Kalmykia’s contribution to the Great Victory have been duly investigated. However, the deportation and exile proper had remained untackled for quite a long time, and this period of Kalmyk history still lacks comprehensive investigation. It is urgent to assemble a complete picture of how people were relocated and survived in special settlement areas, which makes further endeavors aimed at obtaining additional related material timely enough. In February 2023, Kalmyk Scientific Center (RAS) arranged a scientific expedition to the Republic of Kazakhstan for documentary material on Kalmyks deported to the Kazakh SSR. The employees were granted a unique opportunity to consider documents housed at the Archive of the President of Kazakhstan, repositories of Almaty Region, Qyzylorda Region, and Aral District Archive proper. Goals. The article attempts a review of some documents discovered at Aral District Archive (Qyzylorda Region, Kazakhstan) and dealing with Kalmyks deported from Lagansky Ulus of the Kalmyk ASSR in the late 1943. Materials. So, the paper focuses on official papers contained in the mentioned repository and related scholarly publications. Conclusions. Insights into the documents prove instrumental enough in outlining how residents of Lagansky Ulus were relocated to the target territory and adapted to new living conditions. The former primarily deal with the years 1944, 1946, 1948, and 1950. However, even the reduced data are of utmost significance. The still unanswered questions are how many residents of the Ulus were deported to the Kazakh SSR and Siberian territories, and what the actual proportions were. The archival papers say that in January 1944, the Bureau of Aral District Party Committee and District Soviet of Workers’ Deputies decided to accept and accommodate a total of 745 households to be engaged in local fisheries. Another dispatch of April 1944 addressed to the Secretary of Kazakhstan Party Committee and the Head of Qyzylorda NKVD Department mentioned 1,200 individuals or 400 households of ‘special settlers’, while additional 2,200 fishermen and their family members were accepted thereafter. So, the actual number of accommodated Kalmyks was larger than the one in published scholarly works. Further detailed insights into the papers from Aral District Archive shall shed light on living conditions and challenges faced by relocated residents of Lagansky Ulus across special settlement areas.