May 9 – Victory Day

Today, May 9, is Victory Day in Kazakhstan and other member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It marks exactly 80 years since the day when the Axis forces were finally defeated in World War II. In CIS historical records, June 22, 1941—the day Nazi Germany launched its attack on the USSR—is considered the beginning of the brutal four-year war. Any war inevitably sets back economic development by decades and severely affects the population’s quality of life and demographic potential. Therefore, it was only natural that the long-suffering population, weary from loss and exhausting labor, received the news of victory with profound relief and celebration. The contribution of the Kazakh SSR, as a member of the Soviet Union, was significant in bringing victory closer. According to the 1939 census, Kazakhstan had a population of 6.2 million. Over the course of the war, 1.2 million people from Kazakhstan were mobilized to the front, of whom 601,000 did not return. More than 100,000 Kazakhstani soldiers were awarded various medals and honors for their bravery. Among them, 99 were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union or the title of People’s Hero of Independent Kazakhstan. A well-known saying from the war years is: “Nine out of every ten bullets fired at the enemy were cast in the lead plant in Shymkent.” During the war, Kazakhstan produced 30% of the Soviet Union’s copper ingots, 60% of its manganese ore, 50% of its copper ore, 65% of its bismuth, 70% of its polymetallic ores, and 85% of its zinc. Official wartime statistics show that, thanks to the tireless labor of children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and women working on the home front, Kazakhstan supplied over 500,000 tons of grain, more than 230,000 tons of potatoes and vegetables, over 250,000 tons of meat, more than 300,000 tons of milk, 1.7 million tons of wool, and 2.5 million units of warm clothing to the front. Over 110,000 horses were sent for military use, and more than 500,000 livestock were sent to liberated territories. Between 1941 and 1945, home front workers in Kazakhstan raised 480.3 million rubles to fund the production of military equipment. Between 1941 and 1944, over 300,000 ethnic Germans, 45,500 Karachays, 406,000 Chechens and Ingush, 21,150 Balkars, 2,200 Kalmyks, 4,500 Crimean Tatars, 27,600 Meskhetian Turks, and members of other ethnic groups were forcibly relocated to Kazakhstan. A population census was scheduled to be conducted across the USSR in 1949, but the authorities postponed it by another ten years. As a result, while Kazakhstan had 6.2 million people before World War II, there is no precise data on how many remained after the war.