Participation of Kazakhs in the Resistance Movement in Belgium (New Archival Documents)

Abstract

The participation of Kazakhs in the Resistance movement in Europe is a glorious page in both Kazakh and European history. The study and use of archival documents shedding light on the participation of Kazakhs in the fight against fascism, on the fate of people who were in Nazi captivity, the discovery of the burial places of the dead heroes, the restoration of the names of people who were officially considered missing, is an important part of the formation and preservation of the historical memory of the Kazakh people... A comprehensive interdisciplinary study of the problems of the participation of Kazakhs in the Second World War in Europe is a priority task of the international research project «Kazakhs in the World War II: New Documents from Foreign Archives» under the leadership of Prof. Dr. G.M. Mendikulova. The article analyzes the documents on the participation of Kazakhs in the Resistance movement in Belgium identified by the authors in foreign archives. Thousands of Soviet people, prisoners of war and civilians, taken out by the Nazis to the west, ended up in camps, for forced labor in Belgian mines, factories and farms. However, many of them did not accept their fate. People entered into an unequal struggle with the fascist invaders, escaped from concentration camps, created partisan detachments. They smashed the enemy together with the European patriots. Evidence of eyewitnesses, certificates, reports on the actions of partisan detachments, documents on losses and burials found in the archives make it possible to restore and publicize the history of the exploits of the Kazakhs who heroically fought against fascism in Belgium.