Museum of Victims of Political Repression
Memorial museum in Shymkent recording Soviet-era purges, labour camps and the Alash movement.
The museum opened on 2 November 2001 as a memorial to those persecuted under Soviet rule in southern Kazakhstan. It forms part of the Association of Museums of Shymkent and holds about 16,690 items, among them investigation files, letters, photographs, camp objects and personal effects returned by families. Its subject matter reaches from the collectivisation famine and the suppression of the Alash Orda movement to the mass arrests and executions of 1937 and 1938 and the later deportations to Kazakhstan.
Displays occupy three main spaces. An exposition hall is divided into twelve sections covering the camp system, the fate of Kazakh writers and political figures, and the deported nationalities. A hall of remembrance centres on a sculptural group representing people of different ages caught up in the repression, and a small cinema hall screens documentary material. The museum works with researchers on rehabilitation records and hosts commemorative events on the national day of remembrance at the end of May.
Highlights
- About 16,690 items including files, letters and camp objects
- Exposition hall divided into twelve thematic sections
- Hall of remembrance with a central sculptural group
- Documentary cinema hall and research on rehabilitation records
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