KZBlog

ALZHIR was the Akmola Labour Camp for Wives of Political Dissidents during Soviet times. Shockingly, not only “traitors to the motherland” but also their families were often arrested and sentenced to camps–-separate camps of course. Now on the site of this camp, just outside Astana, is a nice little museum and a memorial.

The museum includes information about the camp and the women’s lives as well as details of their lives and their crimes, or the crimes of their husbands. Interestingly most of the names are familiar as they are now considered to be great intellectual, political or literary heroes of Kazakhstan. There are also recreations of the cells and personal objects owned by these women. The memorial lists the names of all the women who stayed in this camp. The museum is small but it gives you a good idea of what a gulag was really like.

To get there, go along Kurgalzhinskoe Shosse (Go down Sara-Arka and at the corner where Mega and Kermet Sauna stand, turn away from the city heading west). About 30 kms out of town, past the border checkpoint, you will come to the village of Akmol (formerly Malinovka). You should see a small stele that says Akmol on it. You will then see a road with a gate across it and an arch-like thing behind it. That arch is part of the museum complex. If the gate is closed, I recommend finding a place to park and walking to the museum. There is no good road from the village to the museum itself and we end up dinging the underside of our car trying to get there. It might be worth asking at the museum if they can open the gate.

GPS: 51.0793N 71.9699E
Google Maps

View Larger Map