War children: Homelessness and neglect in Central Kazakhstan during 1941–1945 (based on archival documents)

Z.G. Saktaganova ^a*, Zh.K. Abdukarimova ^a**, A.A. Salnikova ^b***

^aE.A. Buketov Karaganda State University, Кaraganda, 100000 Kazakhstan

^bKazan Federal University, Kazan, 420008 Russia

E-mail: ^*zauresh63@mail.ru, ^**zhanara1307@mail.ru, ^***Alla.Salnikova@kpfu.ru

Received September 14, 2021

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

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DOI: 10.26907/2541-7738.2021.6.202-214

For citation: Saktaganova Z.G., Abdukarimova Zh., Salnikova A.A. War children: Homelessness and neglect in Central Kazakhstan during 1941–1945 (based on archival documents). Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2021, vol. 163, no. 6, pp. 202–214. doi: 10.26907/2541-7738.2021.6.202-214. (In Russian)

Abstract

In this article, the materials from the Archives of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Central State Archives of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the State Archives of the Karaganda Region are introduced in historical science and analyzed to shed light on children’s everyday life during the Great Patriotic War in Central Kazakhstan. The focus is on neglect, homelessness, and juvenile delinquency among children raised under the extreme conditions of the war, such as a sharp increase in the number of children either deprived of parental care or neglected and living in foster families. The new archival documents reveal the levels of homelessness, neglect, and juvenile delinquency in Central Kazakhstan as a whole and in its each region taken separately. The differences observed can be attributed to the specifics of the social structure of the population living there. The conclusion is made about the general effectiveness of the measures taken by various state structures and institutions, primarily the NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs) and the national education bodies. However, some problems remained unsolved due to the lack of financial and labor resources, as well as because of the difficulties in the organization of training and educational activities for children.

Keywords: history, Soviet childhood, homelessness, neglect, juvenile delinquency, orphanages, Central Kazakhstan, Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945

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