May 31 is the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression and Famine in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan and the Kazakh people, like most of the people of the Soviet empire, became victims of Bolshevik repression and terror. After the “Red Terror” of the 1920s, a terrible famine awaited Kazakhstan in the 1930s. Both nomads, on who the authorities tried to impose a sedentary lifestyle, and farmers, on who they imposed excessive taxes, became victims of man-made famine. Hundreds of thousands of Kazakhs were forced to leave their native steppes and migrate to the western regions of China in the hope of survival. As a result, in the early 1930s, Kazakhstan suffered a terrible famine. According to the estimates recently, over a million people became famine victims in Kazakhstan. Ukrainians living in the north of Kazakhstan were also among the victims.

The famine in Kazakhstan in 1931-1933 had terrible consequences and was popularly called “asharshylyq”.

Millions of people around the world became victims of the communist regime. The tragedy of famine and repression in Kazakhstan is one of the episodes that confirm the crimes of Stalinism, which must be remembered and warned against repeating in all corners of the world.