A brief overview of the collections in the state archive of east Kazakhstan region on the history of Germans in east Kazakhstan

By T. V. Shustova
Head of the NSA Department,
Publication and Scientific Use of Documents,
State Archive of East Kazakhstan Region

The more than two-hundred-year history of Germans living within Kazakhstan, including in East Kazakhstan, is rich in events and could not help but be reflected in archival documents.

Among the collections of the State Archive of East Kazakhstan Region that contain information about the presence of Germans in East Kazakhstan, three main groups of sources can be identified, which more extensively present documents on the history of Germans in this region.

The first "group" of sources includes collections from local executive and administrative bodies, as well as institutions, organizations, and enterprises in various sectors such as industry, agriculture, public education, healthcare, science, culture, and public organizations.

Of particular interest are documents from the collections of the East Kazakhstan Regional, Ust-Kamenogorsk City, Kirov, and Zaisan District Soviets of People's Deputies and their executive committees from the late 1920s to the 1930s. These records contain information on the collectivization of agriculture in the East Kazakhstan region and the attitudes of the German population toward collectivization. During the late 1920s, as collectivization was carried out with severe violations of socialist legality, some Germans living in East Kazakhstan decided to emigrate to the United States.

On 21 November 1929, the Secretariat of the Kazkraikom of the VKP(b) (All-Union Communist Party [Bolsheviks]) adopted a resolution on work among the German population of the republic. The resolution emphasized the need to study the sentiments of working Germans and to conduct political and educational activities in German colonies.

These details are confirmed by documents from the Kirov District Soviet of People's Deputies and its executive committee. Among these is a petition dated 4 December 1929, addressed to the Commissioner of the Ust-Kamenogorsk Regional Executive Committee, from Germans in the village of Sukhaya Balka, Proletarsky Village Council. The petition requests permission to emigrate to America, stating: "There are 40 household heads among us, and we unanimously wish to emigrate. We have sold our property and are awaiting immediate approval for departure."¹

A resolution by the USSR People's Commissariat for Agriculture (Narkomzem) and the USSR Collective Farm Centre (Kolhoztsentr) on the status of German citizen farmers in areas of total collectivization, as well as Directive No. 168 of 21 September 1930 from the People's Commissariat for Agriculture of the Kazakh ASSR, emphasized the need for particular caution in handling the agricultural affairs of German citizen farmers. These documents are preserved in the collection of the Zaisan District Soviet of People's Deputies and its executive committee. ²

Documents from Collection No. 568, "Collection of Land Management Documents for Farms in the East Kazakhstan Region," detail the establishment of collective farms in German settlements within East Kazakhstan during 1931–1933.

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1 State Archive of East Kazakhstan Region (hereinafter referred to as GAVKO), Collection 3, Inventory 1, File 13, Sheet 2.

2 GAVKO, Collection 788, Inventory 1, File 39, Sheets 2–5.

In 1932, the Rosa Luxemburg collective farm was established, which included the settlements of Gorkunovo and Chudak. ³ During the same period, the Karl Liebknecht collective farm was formed, bringing together the settlements of Kenikhovo and Pruggerovo. ⁴

The collection of the East Kazakhstan Regional Administration of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) of the Kazakh SSR contains particularly valuable documents related to the establishment of camps for German prisoners of war in East Kazakhstan. This group of documents includes camp layout plans showing barracks, cemeteries, and graves, as well as lists of prisoners of war. ⁵

Another group of documents pertains to special settlers deported to East Kazakhstan in 1941. These include wagon-by-wagon lists of families of German nationality, ⁶ information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) for East Kazakhstan Region on the number of children among special settlers who received schooling during the 1953–1954 academic year by district, and data on the movement of labour settlers.

Of particular interest are the documents of the Department of Correctional Labour Colonies of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) for East Kazakhstan Region. These include directives on the formation of labour columns from individuals belonging to countries at war with the USSR (Germans, Finns, Hungarians, and Romanians), ⁷ as well as a list of prisoners from Colony No. 17 who were transferred to Kraslag. ⁸

The second group comprises documents from the Archive of the East Kazakhstan Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. In 1991, the archive was dissolved, and the collections of party and Komsomol bodies and organizations from 1919 to 1991 were transferred to the State Archive of East Kazakhstan Region. For a long time, the documents of party archives remained classified, limiting their use. After being declassified, the records of the former archive of the East Kazakhstan Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan became accessible to researchers.

The collections of party organizations in the East Kazakhstan Region include the East Kazakhstan Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, the Ust-Kamenogorsk City Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, as well as the Zyryanovsk, Serebryansk, Leninogorsk city committees of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. Additionally, they encompass the committees from the districts of Bolshenarym, Bukhtarma, Verkhnye-Uba, Glubokoe, Zaysan, Zyryanovsk, Katon-Karagay, Kirov, Kurchum, Markakol, Predgorny, Samara, Tavrichesky, Tarbagatai, Ulan, and Shemonaikha, as well as their primary organizations.

These collections include resolutions, reports, and directives on the reception and placement of special settlers and evacuated German populations, information on the employment and settlement of German resettlers, and details about challenges related to food supplies and housing.

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3 GAVKO, Collection 568, Inventory 4, File 104, Sheet 1.

4 GAVKO, Collection 568, Inventory 4, File 96, Sheets 6–7.

5 GAVKO, Collection 462, Inventory 4, File 89, Sheets 16–21, 99.

6 GAVKO, Collection 462, Inventory 4, File 18, Sheets 1–94.

7 GAVKO, Collection 386, Inventory 1, File 39, Sheet 9.

8 GAVKO, Collection 386, Inventory 1, File 39, Sheet 2.

The East Kazakhstan Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan holds several not