Scientific research in Uzbekistan – Institute of History and Ethnology named after Sh. Sh. Ualikhanov

A business trip to Tashkent on the project “Political repression among Kazakhs in the republics of Central Asia in the 20-50s of the twentieth century (in the light of new archival sources)” has been completed.

The search work on the topic was carried out in the funds of the Fundamental Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Scientific Library named after Alisher Navoi. Scientific publications of the Ch.Ch. Valikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology and the personal library of the author of these lines were transferred to the library funds, which were accepted with great gratitude.

The State Museum of Memory of Victims of Political Repression in Tashkent also has a rich fund of materials.

There are separate mentions of the repressed Kazakhs in the materials obtained in the archives of Ukraine through the so-called “Kulak” exile of the Uzbek people. The Museum received the books “Mukhamedzhan Tynyshpaev (documents, photographs, memoirs)”, a collection of materials of the International Scientific and Practical Conference on the project (October 6, 2021) and a collection of materials of the conference held under the auspices of the State Commission for the Complete Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repression (November 2021).

It is recommended to place on the museum’s stand a photo of Mukhamedzhan Tynyshpayev, the Prime Minister of Turkestan Autonomy, arrested in Tashkent on November 21, 1937. It was in this city that M. Tynyshpayev lived with his family since 1935 after returning from exile. By the way, there is only one photo of Turar Ryskulov on the museum’s stand and there is no other material on the “Kazakh theme” yet.

A working meeting was held with Rustambek Temirovich Shamsutdinov, a leading expert on political repression of Uzbeks in the 20–50s of the twentieth century, Doctor of Historical Sciences, professor. His pen, in particular, belongs to the first publications about the fate of Kazakhs – famous state, Soviet and party workers in the Uzbek SSR.

As the editor-in-chief of the Vodiynoma magazine, Rustambek Temirovich decided to post a review of the collection of materials of the International Scientific and Practical Conference “Political repression among Kazakhs in the republics of Central Asia in the 20-50s of the twentieth century (in the light of new archival sources)”. The review was published in No. 2 of the magazine for 2022.

Collections of archival materials, including on the Great Terror, biographical information of repressed Kazakhs and memoirs of descendants have been studied in the archive of the Meros Foundation. As a result, the photo bank of the project and the documentary part of the collection of materials on the project were replenished. The historiographical part of the collective monograph has been clarified and supplemented, both due to the scientific works of colleagues from Uzbekistan and collections of archival documents published in Tashkent, Andijan and Moscow that are not available on the Internet.

Museum of Memory of Victims of Repression at the Andijan State University named after Z.M. Babur. A stand dedicated to the repressed Kazakhs in the UzSSR.

At meetings with colleagues, many topics of mutual scientific interest were discussed. On the abstracts of the dissertation “The place of Usman Yusupov in socio-economic and political processes in the Uzbek SSR (1931-1966)” (Rakhmon Mukhamadiev) and “The policy of collectivization of Soviets in Khorezm and its consequences (1929-1959)” (Umidzhan Bekimmetov), prepared for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the specialty 07.00.01 – The history of Uzbekistan, reviews have been written.

Kulgazira Baltabayeva
Candidate of Historical Sciences