A themed meeting titled “Lessons from History – Tribute to the Past” was held at Toraighyrov University with the participation of the advisor to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Malik Otarbayev.

As is known, May 31 is the Day of Remembrance for one of the most tragic pages in Kazakhstan’s history – the mass political repressions and famine that led to the deaths of millions of people. The initiative to study the history of the repressions, search for the names of those repressed, and rehabilitate them was initiated by the Head of State, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. This is a matter of restoring historical justice, strengthening the unity of our people, and building a society based on the principles of humanism and the rule of law.

“On May 31, we remember the victims of famine and political repressions. It happened that the Kazakh intelligentsia, representatives of the clergy, and many others became victims of the repressions of the 20th century. Kazakhstan became a refuge for thousands of people who were deported from their historical homeland on fabricated grounds. For several years, Kazakhstani scholars, ethnographers, and archivists have been working to find and rehabilitate the names of those who fell victim to the grind of repressions. Among the researchers are representatives of Toraighyrov University,” noted the university's rector, Yerkin Sadykov.

The meeting included reports from experts from the State Archive of Pavlodar Region, members of the scientific expert group of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan in Pavlodar Region, and scholars from Toraighyrov University.