Polish and German Historians Discussed the History of Special Settlers in Northern Kazakhstan at ENU

At the beginning of September 2026, members of the research project «Virgin Lands Campaign and the Special Contingent of Northern Kazakhstan: Oral Narratives and New Archival Sources» conducted research at the archives of the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw, Poland. During the research trip, archival materials and recollections of former Polish special settlers were collected.

Following the archival and field research, an international academic seminar was held at L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University with the participation of Polish and German historians. The seminar was dedicated to discussing the issues addressed by the project, as well as new archival and oral sources. The topic of the seminar was «The Everyday Life of Special Settlers in Labor Settlements of Northern Kazakhstan».

In 2026, the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the deportation of Poles and Volhynian Germans to Northern Kazakhstan is commemorated.

In connection with the anniversary of this tragic event, a seminar was organized with the participation of Polish and German scholars. Its purpose was to discuss a wide range of issues and topics related to the history of everyday life of populations forcibly relocated to the territory of Northern Kazakhstan. The following topics were discussed: oral history of the everyday life of forcibly relocated populations in Northern Kazakhstan; the representation of the everyday history of the forced relocation of populations to Northern Kazakhstan in archival documents; the historiography of the everyday life of forcibly relocated populations in Northern Kazakhstan; and the visual history of the everyday life of forcibly relocated populations in Northern Kazakhstan.

The seminar was attended by master’s students, doctoral students, and the teaching staff of the Department of History of Kazakhstan, as well as scholars who participated online. The seminar was moderated by Kuralai Seitkazina, Head of the Department of the History of Kazakhstan, Candidate of Historical Sciences, and Associate Professor. During the seminar, presentations were delivered by the project’s academic supervisor, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Arailym Mussagaliyeva German scholar and former resident of the Leonidovka labor settlement Oskar Walter and Ivan Sokolovsky, a doctoral student at Nazarbayev University.

Arailym Mussagaliyeva presented a paper entitled «The Everyday Life of Special Settlers in Labor Settlements of Northern Kazakhstan». In her presentation, she discussed the deportation of Germans to Northern Kazakhstan, their life in special settlements, and the participation of Germans in the Virgin Lands Campaign in Kazakhstan.

Oskar Walter presented a paper entitled «The Deportation of Germans to Leonidovka in 1936». His presentation covered the history of the deportation from 1936 to 1956.

Ivan Sokolovsky presented a paper entitled «Life in Miniature. Kazakhstan in the Works of Felix Mostovich». His presentation focused on the visual representation of deported peoples in paintings, including the works of Felix Mostovich, a former special settler from Beloyarka, Tayinshinsky District, Akmola Region.

During the scientific seminar, current research issues were discussed, and scholarly findings and archival materials were exchanged. At the end of the seminar, the presentations were discussed extensively, followed by an exchange of views among the participants. The teaching staff of the Department of History of Kazakhstan, as well as master’s and doctoral students, actively participated in the discussion of the presentations.

The day after the seminar, members of the research project, together with a foreign scholar, visited the village of Leonidovka in the Tayinshinsky District of the North Kazakhstan Region.

The former labor settlement was established in 1936. During the visit, they met with local residents and recorded oral history sources.