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The story told by

Amina Amirhanova

Aua Zhomartova

A story of the author's family's resilience and compassion during Stalin's repressions. Their legacy of love and humanity endures.

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I lay on the korpe embroidered with patterns under the caressing rays of the sun, with yellow, green, and violet triangles decorating the sides, daydreaming and occasionally waking up to the voices of my grandmother talking with our relatives, who have invited us to their home. My grandmother's dialogues are always filled with warmth, compassion, and empathy. She always speaks highly of people or things, which also reflects her heart and philosophy of life.

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Eternal memory and legacy

The meaning of these lines says that a person's name and legacy are eternal. Although the story may be about the limited life of a person, his deeds, good deeds, achievements, and fame are kept in the hearts of people and passed onto future generations. That is, even if a person passes away, his name and deeds will be remembered forever. By historical data, these events took place yesterday, but in the memory of today's young generation, little is known about this.

The story of the Zhomartov family

The history of the Gulag opened for me the dark history of the Kazakh people and the politics of the USSR. The sad story that I want to convey to you concerns my family, it relates to my great-grandfather - Muginadinn Zhomartov. My great-grandfather was born in 1912, in an intelligent family, received a decent education, knew Kazakh, Arabic, and Russian languages perfectly. One summer evening in 1937, my great-grandfather read an article in a newspaper about the arrest of Lenin's associates V.I. Trotsky, Kamenev, and Zinoviev, my great-grandfather expressed his regret over these events. He also said that they started the revolution together with Lenin and it was necessary to conduct a fair investigation. The next morning, people from the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR were standing at his porch and he was arrested. With his arrest, by order of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR, the harassment of his family members began.

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According to article 58 of the Criminal Code of the USSR, mass repressions began against brothers, sisters, and wives of members of the Zhomartov family. The younger brother of my great-grandfather, Appaz Zhomartov, who worked as a people's judge in Arys, now the Turkestan region, the Republic of Kazakhstan, was also repressed. Until now, nothing is known about the fate of my great-grandfather's younger brother, Appaz.

I know for sure that my great-grandfather wrote personally to Stalin, Khrushchev, and other leaders of the USSR about shedding light on the fate of his younger brother, but there were no answers to my great-grandfather's letters, we assume that Appaz Zhomartov disappeared in the dungeons of the prison or in the Gulag camps. My great-grandfather Muginadinn was sent into exile in the Solovetsky camp in the Arkhangelsk region, RSFSR, in a special strict-purpose camp without the right to correspond with his relatives.

My great-grandmother Meruert in 1937, remained pregnant with my grandfather, Amirkhan. In the Kazakh steppe during the years of Stalinist repressions and famine, the number of Kazakhs decreased by more than half, according to modern historians, more than 3 million people died during the years of famine and repression. Representatives of the intelligentsia and wealthy classes were also subjected to mass repressions.

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There was a massive epidemic of various diseases in the camps. The disease did not bypass my great-grandfather, and he fell ill with tuberculosis, which left a mark for the rest of his life. My great-grandfather returned to his homeland in 1948 and the first person to meet him would be his son, my grandfather Amirkhan. At that time, after the Second World War, children of 15-20 years old went to the station to meet their fathers, including my grandfather Amirkhan. Sadly, when he saw his father, who had come from the camp, he did not recognize him. In 1953, my great-grandfather was fully rehabilitated and until his retirement he worked as an accountant in the district education department of the Karmakshy district in the Kyzylorda region.

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My great-grandfather's brother, Khamza, participated in the uprising led by Akmyrza Tosov. (The Asan uprising is an uprising of the Kazakhs against forced collectivization, a campaign to collect agricultural products and livestock. It happened in August-September 1930 in the Kazalinsky district of the Kyzylorda region.) During the uprising of Akmyrza Dosov, my great-grandfather's brother Khamza Zhomartov was killed.

Aua Zhomartova, the youngest sister of my great-grandfather, was a woman of immense courage and unwavering humanity. In the darkest days of the Holodomor, when the Kazakh steppe was ravaged by famine and despair, Aua emerged as a beacon of hope. Her life, marked by the tragic loss of her brothers and the brutalities of a regime intent on erasing their legacy, could have been consumed by bitterness and fear. But instead, Aua chose a different path—a path of compassion, love, and selflessness.

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The famine had claimed the lives of countless Kazakhs, leaving behind a generation of orphaned children, wandering the steppe in search of food, shelter, and love. Aua, despite her own losses and the suffocating grief that surrounded her, saw these children not as a burden, but as her own. She opened an orphanage in Arys, still present to this day, Orphanage #8. There, she became a mother to the motherless, a guardian to the lost, and a symbol of hope in a time of utter darkness.

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Years later, when the famine had passed and the orphans had grown into adults, they would speak of Aua with reverence. They called her their savior, their guiding star in a world that had lost its way. Her name became synonymous with compassion and resilience, a testament to the power of the human spirit to endure and to uplift others, even in the face of overwhelming adversity.

In recognition of her extraordinary efforts, a statue was erected in Arys, a tribute to Aua Zhomartova—the woman who gave everything she had to ensure that the next generation could live. The statue stands as a reminder that true heroism is not found in grand gestures, but in the quiet, persistent acts of love and kindness that transform lives.

As I listen to my grandmother share these stories, I am filled with immense gratitude. Aua's journey, her unyielding commitment to humanity, and the legacy she left behind inspire me every day. Her story, passed down through the generations, is a powerful reminder that while life may be fleeting, the impact we have on others endures.

Аты қалған ер өлмейді,
Адам мәңгі атағымен селбесер,
Аты қалса, бұ жалғанда өлмес ер.

"A man whose name remains will not die.
If a person does not waver with eternal fame,
If his name remains, this is an immortal man."

Through Aua, and through the stories my grandmother tells, I understand that true immortality lies not in the length of one's life, but in the legacy of love and compassion one leaves behind.

Source: Amina Amirhanova`s family records