Paper abstract:

On July 5th of 1937, the Bolsheviks issued a decree sentencing the wives of convicted traitors to the homeland to terms of 5 to 8 years in the camps of GULAG. In the aftermath of this decision, about 18 thousand women, among them 88 ethnically Kazakh women, were imprisoned in the Akmola Camp for the wives of traitors to the motherland (ALZhIR). In this article, I consider the question of the relevance and importance of gender and ethnic identities to the Kazakh women prisoners of ALZhIR. I further seek to examine whether and how their identities - as wives and mothers as well as Kazakhs among the mostly European inmates of ALZhIR - overlapped with the growing awareness of their Soviet identity. Through a careful examination of archival documents, diaries, memoirs, and interviews with their family members, I suggest that in the face of inhumane conditions and widespread abuse and exploitation of ALZhIR prisoners by the camp authorities, gender, and ethnic identity became crucial to women’s ability to endure the hardships of camp life and survive. Friendship with other inmates helped women secure access to scarce resources necessary for survival, while motherhood gave women hope and the will to survive and care for their children. Similarly, the use of the Kazakh language, the enduring faith, and Islamic spirituality helped the Kazakh inmates maintain a connection to their communities and restore a sense of stability and certainty.