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Accepted Paper:
The Role of the Museums of the Political Repression in Nation Building: The Case of the Aljir Memorial Complex in Kazakstan
Seyit Ali AVCU
(Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University)
During the last thirty years there has been an explosion in the number of memorial museums. Especially the old colonies started to use such museums in nation-building. Kazakhstan was the most disadvantaged country in nation-building and history writing because only one-third of the population was Kazakhs in independence due to policies of the Russian and Soviet Empires. Kazakhstan did not hesitate to use memorial museums in nation-building. This work is about the role of the Museums of Victims of Political Oppression in nation building of Kazakhstan in the case of the Aljir Memorial and Museum Complex which was built on the site of Akmolinskiy Concentration Camp for the Wives of the Homeland Traitors. Since independence Kazakhstan has implemented both Kazakhstani and Kazakh nationalism, Aljir complex appealed to Kazakhstani nationalism because oppression was implemented to all ethnic groups. Stalin was shown as only culprit; the Russians, the Soviet Union, and even communism were not presented as part of the persecution.
Key Words: Memorial Museums, National Building, Kazakhstan, Aljir, Gulag.