Deportation as a Form of Population Resettlement in the 1930-40s (the Case of Kazakhstan)

Abstract

The history of deportations is closely connected with the problems of population movement in the Soviet Union. In the article, based on the archival research, these tragic events are to be shown with a special focus on the adaptation practices of the people who were suddenly deprived of their rights, property, houses and very often of professional activities. Some sensitive issues will also be touched upon dealing with how regime forced citizens to be ranked as second-class citizens and how the receiving communities interacted with them. The process of adaptation of the deported people, particularly Germans, to new inimical environment, and emergence of new practices of survival and even success is studied through the lens of migration detention theory. Expelling of unwanted people could ease the labor deficits in those industries where the Soviet administration faced troubles due to a severe shortage of labor force. It became a new practice to delegitimize victims of deportation into second-class citizens – main source of cheap labor to promote and successfully realize goals of Soviet modernization. Thus, a crucial part of the deportation campaign was dictated by economic needs of the state. Historical memory of the deported groups mirrored in the archival documents, contains information concerning the most difficult periods of their work in different industries of Kazakhstan as well as in other Central Asian republics.