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31.05.2022

The Deputy President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Prof. Karol Polejowski visits Kazakhstan to open the "Trails of Hope. The Odyssey of Freedom" exhibition

The Deputy President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Prof. Karol Polejowski is visiting Kazakhstan to open the "Trails of Hope. The Odyssey of Freedom" exhibition presenting the fate of the Anders Army and accompanying civilians, who were evacuated from the Soviet Union in 1942.

The opening is taking place on June 2, 2022 at the Museum of Camp ALZIR (Akmolinsky Camp of Wives of Traitors to the Motherland) near Nur Sultan. The site of the former camp, through which several thousand women passed, now houses the Museum of Victims of Political Repression and Totalitarianism. It also commemorates 173 women of Polish origin.

On 31 May, Prof. Karol Polejowski together with Selim Khasbijevich, the Polish Ambassador to Kazakhstan, laid flowers at the site of the former NKVD camp in Spassek, near Karaganda. The camp, established in 1941, held thousands of prisoners of war of various nationalities, including several hundred Poles. At the site of the former camp a cemetery, where victims of Stalin's repressions from various countries are commemorated, is located. There is also a monument in memory of Poles with the following inscription: To the Poles — victims of Stalinist terror, who dreaming of a life in freedom rest in the Lord for ever — Republic of Poland / Union of Poles in Kazakhstan, 1996

31 May is the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression in Kazakhstan. Prof. Karol Polejowski took part in the presentation of the book “Kara oramal” (Black Shawl) at the Buketov University in Karaganda with the participation of diplomats from the EU countries, the Akim of Karaganda Zhenis Kasymbek and the Rector of the University Nurlan Dulatbekov.

The book presentation was accompanied by an exhibition of paintings by Karipbek Kuyukov, a Kazakh artist who was born without hands as a result of nuclear radiation from atomic testing in eastern Kazakhstan. He is an active activist for nuclear disarmament and an advocate for reducing nuclear testing. He paints portraits of nuclear test victims, and his work has been exhibited around the world. In 2017 he was nominated for the peace Nobel Prize for his work to end the use of nuclear weapons.

The IPN’s Deputy President also attended a meeting organized by the Akimat of Karaganda Region, with the participation of representatives of the region's authorities and the University. A possibility of establishing cooperation between IPN and the University was discussed.

The event was attended by Polish diplomats.


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