SCIENCE CAFÉ: Defense of projects on the topic “ALZHIR”

On October 20, 2023 the representatives of the student scientific community of the Academy visited the museum and memorial complex of victims of political repression and totalitarianism “ALZHIR”. The students shared information that during a tour at the museum they learned about the plight of the ALZHIR prisoners. Inspecting the exhibits, the guards’ equipment and the barracks models, we clearly saw the conditions in which the prisoners lived.

According to official documents, the bulk of the prisoners were the wives of famous state, political and public figures, persecuted for political reasons, whose husbands were acquitted only decades later. Students in their projects spoke about the fates of women whose names are widely known throughout the post-Soviet space: Aziza Ryskulova and her mother Arifa Yesengulova, Damesh Zhurgeneva, Rabiga Asfendiyarova, Gulzhamal Mailina, Gulyandam Khojanova, writer Galina Serebryakova, wives of writers Boris Pilnyak, mother of Bulat Okudzhava and Maya Plisetskaya, etc.

“ALZHIR” will forever remain a silent witness to the human tragedy of the 20th century, and its prisoners will be remembered forever. I believe that conveying the true history of the past is our duty to the younger generation, shares one of the organizers of the student scientific community Science café Zhanara Myrzabaeva.

6 projects were presented to the jury. Each work was assessed according to two criteria: content and originality. The results of the Science café’s activities will be summed up by the end of 2023.