Overview of archival documents on the history of Germans in the southern regions of Kazakhstan

Kichkembayeva Kh. Kh.,

Archivist, Department for the Use and Publication of Documents,

Turkestan Regional State Archive

Lenin's decree of 1 June 1918 and the resolution adopted by the Central Executive Committee of the Turkestan Republic on 5 November 1919, titled "On the Reorganization and Centralization of Archival Affairs," laid the foundation for archival development in the Turkestan Republic. The territory of the modern region was part of Syrdarya Province within the Turkestan Republic.

Currently, the Turkestan Regional State Archive holds documents primarily from the Soviet period, spanning from 1918 to the present day.

As a result of the national delimitation in 1924, Syrdarya Province was transferred to Kazakhstan and reorganized into a governorate. In 1926, the Syrdarya Governorate Archival Bureau was established. Until the delimitation of Central Asia and Kazakhstan in 1924, the administrative center of the Turkestan region was the city of Tashkent.

During the research on the history of Germans, work began with materials brought in as part of the "Cultural Heritage" and "Rukhani Zhangyru" programs from the Republic of Uzbekistan (Fond 1129) for the pre-revolutionary period, as well as from the Russian Federation, specifically Moscow, St. Petersburg, Orenburg, and Omsk. From these imported materials, separate collections of documents from both the pre-revolutionary and Soviet periods have been assembled.

Fond No. 1129 (Documents on the History of Southern Kazakhstan from the Archives of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Pre-Revolutionary Period) includes information on the settlement of migrants, the establishment of resettlement plots, and records about the employment of prisoners of war (Hungarians, Romanians, Germans) in resettlement areas of the Turkestan region. It also contains documents on the allocation of land plots in the Hunger Steppe to disabled individuals and families of those killed in the war of 1914, as well as records concerning the resettlement of former Ural Cossacks in the Turkestan region.

During research on the history of Germans, it was discovered that they predominantly lived in the southern regions of the area, specifically in the Saryagash, Maktaaral, Keles, Kirov, and Ilyichev districts. Documents from the 4th Tashkent-Kazakh Land Settlement Party of the Syrdarya Governorate Land Administration include surveyor protocols, historical notes on certain settlements, citizen applications for land allocation, and family lists of residents of the Irjar Volost (now the Maktaaral District). For instance, Fond No. 926, op. 1, sv. 7, d. 77 contains daily protocols by M. A. Izvedensky, a surveyor for the Syrdarya Governorate Land Administration, which detail family lists of the German village of Konstantinovka (now Derbisek, Saryagash District). A total of 440 German families were recorded; the settlement was established in 1892 by German migrants from the Samara and Saratov provinces.

Documents from the Syrdarya District Administrative Department (Fond No. 838) and the Representative of the Council for Religious Affairs in the Chimkent Region (Fond No. 1353) contain information on religious communities, Baptist sects, measures to regulate religious organizations composed of German citizens, and efforts to strengthen control over their activities. These records include questionnaires of foreign arrivals, residency permits, and lists and questionnaires of political émigrés residing in Southern Kazakhstan in 1929.

In the regional state archives of Zhetysai, Saryagash, and Kentau, household registers of village councils where German families resided have been preserved. Unfortunately, many of these families have since left these areas.

The Kentau Regional State Archive revealed numerous workers of German nationality employed at the Achisay Polymetallic Plant (engaged in the extraction and processing of lead ores). However, it remains unclear from Fond No. 119 whether they were settlers or evacuees.

During the work on identifying documents related to the history of Germans, the following fonds were reviewed:

• Fond 926 – Tashkent-Kazakh Land Settlement Party of the Syrdarya District Land Administration (1926–1928);
• Fond 20 – Syrdarya District Land Administration (OkrZU);
• Fond 74 – Syrdarya District Executive Committee (until 1930);
• Fond 243 – Syrdarya Regional-City Executive Committee (1918–1924);
• Fond 838 – Syrdarya District Administrative Department (until 1930);
• Fond 45 – Tashkent-Kazakh Uyezd Land Department (until 1926);
• Fond 1129 – Collection "Documents on the History of Southern Kazakhstan from the Archives of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Pre-Revolutionary Period)";
• Fond 83 – Chimkent City Executive Committee of the Council of People's Deputies (1924–1950);
• Fond 121, op. 1 – South Kazakhstan Regional Executive Committee (1932–1950).