Women of Central Kazakhstan during the Great Patriotic War

The article is dedicated to the issue of participation of women of Central Kazakhstan at the fronts of Great Patriotic War. An analysis of Kazakhstani historiography shows that there is still no accurate data on the number of Kazakhstani women mobilized to the front (neither in the republic, nor in the regions of Kazakhstan). The article notes that in the USSR at the front in different periods of the War from 600 thousand to 1 million women fought, and the often repeated figure of 5183 of Kazakhstani women called up to the front requires clarification. Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, tens of thousands of women wrote applications together with men in the military registration and enlistment offices of KazSSR, they accounted for 40 % of the total number of volunteers. This article on the materials of Kazakhstan archival documents tells the stories of the participation of women of Kazakhstan on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Fragments of fates and stories of the participation of Kazakhstani women and girls in the war are tracked.

From the first days of the War, the whole country defended their Fatherland and hundreds of thousands of people of Kazakhstan went to the front. Warriors from Central Kazakhstan defended Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, participated in the Battle of Kursk, liberated Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia. The 72nd Krasnograd Red Banner Rifle, 387th Perekop Rifle and 310th Novgorod Rifle Division were formed in the region. The 72nd Krasnograd Red Banner Rifle Division was formed as the 29th Infantry Division from the mobilized residents of Karaganda and Akmola regions at the end of 19411942 and participated in the 64th Army in defensive battles near Stalingrad, in the Battle of Kursk, in the battles for Kharkov and others. The 387th Perekop Infantry Division was formed in August-September 1941, also from mobilized Karaganda and Akmola regions and entered the composition of the 61st Army Reserve. Fought on the Bryansk front, near Moscow, on the Stalingrad direction, liberated Sevastopol, participated in the capture of Bucharest. Residents of Karaganda, Akmola, Kostanay, Turgai and Dzhezkazgan regions were called up in the 310th Novgorod Order of Lenin, the Red Banner Rifle Division in the summer of 1941 [1; 143, 144].

The women of Central Kazakhstan, together with men, children and old men, carried all the burdens of the Great War on their shoulders; they wrote many glorious pages in the annals of War. But it is rather difficult to track the exact number of people mobilized to the front from archival materials of Central Kazakhstan, since from the first months of the war the number of soldiers mobilized was encoded in the documents of the military registration and enlistment offices. Let us cite the following data on the published «Book of Memory: Karaganda Region». The preparation of the book began in 1989, and the initiative group created by professional historians, War and labor veterans worked for almost 5 years. The work was quite complex, as the archives of the military offices did not save the necessary data. Archivists, the public, and young people were involved in this work. Six search teams were sent to the western regions of the former USSR, where battles were fought; 3 search teams worked in the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense, search teams worked in the archives of district bureau, collected materials bit by bit in personal conversations with frontline soldiers and their families, etc. These searches allowed to establish the fate of more than 4,000 soldiers, to find their place of death and burial, which were previously considered missing. But as the authors of the book themselves point out, the fate of not all the soldiers was restored [2; 8]. Volume 1 of this 3-volume work shows that Karaganda region sent about 45,000 people to the front [2; 23]. But in this work, materials were collected and data about our countrymen were studied within the territorial framework of the Karaganda region of the 1994 sample (front-line soldiers of Zhezkazgan region were out of sight). «The Book of Memory of Kazakhstan: Bozdaktar», as a generalizing work throughout the republic, calls a more accurate figure — 81568 soldiers were mobilized to the front from Central Kazakhstan, including 44 956 people from Karaganda region to the front and 36612 soldiers from Zhezkazgan region (figures for this area are given on mobilization from January 1, 1938 to January 1, 1946). These data indicate that in Karaganda region (without the southern regions that were part of Zhezkazgan region) from June 22, 1941, that is, from the beginning of the War until December 31, 1941, 9776 people were mobilized, for 1942 the number of those mobilized was 9294; for 1944 — 5609; 1945 — 2306 people. Thus, the number of mobilized soldiers to the front from June 22, 1941 to the end of 1945 made up these data of 44 956 people [3; 271].

According to the materials of the encyclopedia «Karaganda. Karaganda region» this figure is again specified 59 935 people from our region joined to the fighting army [3; 35]. Thus, if we compare the available data, then from Central Kazakhstan there were 96547 people at the fronts. Documents from the funds of the State Archive of Karaganda Region (SAKR) indicate that by the end of 1941 more than 25 thousand of applications had been filed with the military commissariats of Karaganda Region, 10 thousand of which belonged to girls and women [4; 67]. In August 1941, the Lenin City Military Commissariat of Karaganda Region received applications «to voluntarily serve in the Red Army and send to the front: middle beginning composition — 6 people; junior early composition — 9 people; ordinary composition — 320; not liable for military service — 146; female — 125 people» [5; 71].

The heroism of Soviet women surprised not only their contemporaries, it still admires us. In the USSR, at the front during different periods of the War, from 600 thousand to 1 million women fought, in the Kazakh SSR 5183 of Kazakhstani women were called up to the front [6; 73, 7; 450], this often repeated figure requires clarification. In the information on the number of military reserve and recruits drafted into the Red Army from the beginning of the Patriotic War to May 1, 1945, the category of mobilized women-sergeants and women-soldiers was calculated at 5250 people from the Archives of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 112 of them in Karaganda region [8]. We pay attention to the fact that these data include only the women-sergeants and soldiers, but there were women-officers, whose numbers were not included in the general data, and these data require clarification and verification. In fact, every third person who submitted an application to the front in Central Kazakhstan region are girls and women. Every fifth person who submitted an application to the front at the Lenin military registration and enlistment office of Karaganda is a girl and a woman. In May 1942, 50 girls from Karaganda who fought on different fronts of the Great Patriotic War left for the front. Basically, they were graduates of secondary school No. 1 in Karaganda who expressed a desire to protect their homeland. At the same time, 30 girl volunteers went to the front from Balkhash. Not all of them returned from the fronts of the World War II. Unfortunately, there is still no complete data on the deaths of girls and women, both in the republic as a whole and in the regions. Therefore, let us give general data on the loss of human resources. In the materials of the military registration and enlistment office of SAKR region, as already noted, it is difficult to systematically track the process of mobilization in Karaganda region by months or years. The vast majority of statistical materials are encrypted with special codes, which makes it impossible to read them. However, the available archival documents allow us to continue to study the Great Patriotic War and the contribution of our countrymen, including women, to the Great Victory. The data, indicated in various sources, diverge with the clarification of information and lists of the death toll is increasing. The following figures are given in the encyclopedia on Karaganda region: 1267 people of Karaganda were killed in the battles near Moscow, 1949 — during the defense of Leningrad, 2187 — in Stalingrad, 1405 — in the Battle of Kursk, 6869 — for the liberation of Ukraine, 688 — for Belarus, Baltic — 823, Eastern Europe — 934, in battles for Berlin —375 soldiers, in battles with the Japanese army —39 people. So, the general data is 16 536 people [9; 36].

According to the materials of the republican «Books of memory. Bozdaktar» the total losses of Central Kazakhstan amounted to 27,532 soldiers, of whom from Karaganda region —17,240 fighters, in Zhezkazgan War — 10,292 people [3; 272]. The memory book for Karaganda region (according to information known before 1998) gives the number of people killed at the fronts of the Great Patriotic War — 17,679 people (without the former Zhezkazgan region), of which 15 are women [2; 12, 13]. Published in 2015, a new Book of memory «Yer yesimi — yel yesrnde. Yestelik krtaby» with the names of the dead residents of Karaganda, included the names of 1148 people, based on the new found information [10]. Moreover, in the preface of this book it is indicated that the above list is not exhaustive, complete and final, as new names appear, the lists will be supplemented. In total, the death toll according to today's, not yet fully clarified, information was 28,680 people. In the encyclopedia on Karaganda region for 2008, it is noted that every fourth Karaganda resident gave his life in battles for the Motherland [8]. These data should be clarified. Based on the latest available data from 81568 of our countrymen who went to the front, almost 28,680 people died; this means that every third front-line soldier who left the War from Central Kazakhstan perished.

Among the front-line soldiers of Central Kazakhstan region there are 34 Heroes of the Soviet Union: 1 — a woman, Vera Zakharovna Khoruzhaya; 9 — full gentlemen of the Order of Glory, more than 6,600 people were awarded orders and medals for courage and heroism shown on the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War [9; 70].

To analyze the losses in Central Kazakhstan during the Great Patriotic War, let us turn to the most complete and generalizing work — the republican book of memory «Bozdaktar». Despite the fact that this publication is almost 20 years old, today it is more complete for the participants of the War of 1941-1945 Republican edition. The irretrievable loss of people from Karaganda region (these data are from the Republican Book of Memory — 27,532 dead): 16560 were killed in the battle, 1,479 people died in hospitals from wounds and diseases; 91 people died in captivity or did not return from captivity; 9402 — missing [3; 272]. The irretrievable losses of soldiers of Central Kazakhstan amounted to years: in 1941 — 4966 people; in 1942 — 7119; in 1943, 7,491; in 1944 — 4623; in 1945 — 3333 warriors [3; 273]. The peak of Karaganda's casualties fell on 1942 (7119 people) and 1943 (7491 people), moreover, despite the fact that the War in 1941 took away from the peaceful life of Soviet people only six months, and the War months were 6 months and 9 days, the maximum losses (4966 people) fell on these worst six months of War. Only in the first six months of the War, from June 22 to December 30, 1941, losses accounted for almost one-fifth (18 %) of the total death toll (more than in 1944), in 1942 — 26 %, and in 1943 — 27 %. It is obvious that the mobilized fighters and volunteers from Central Kazakhstan found themselves in the thick of the War. The losses are significant in the remaining years, in 1945, on 9 May, the Patriotic War ended, the losses for 4 months of 1945 (3333 people) were slightly less than the annual losses in 1944 (4,623 soldiers), which also indicates the participation of Karaganda in the most «Hot» points of the wartime pores already in the period of the liberation of the USSR and other territories from fascist invaders.

In Table 1, we can track the number of mobilized and losses by nationality in Karaganda region.

Table 1 Irretrievable losses of the population of Karaganda region

(in the territorial boundaries of the War years) during the War years [3; 274-275]

According to the data of Table 1, it can be seen that the total number of mobilized soldiers from our region to the front, the maximum percentage was Tatars and Kazakhs — 22.6 and 20 %, respectively. However, it is necessary to bear in mind that a certain part of the population of Karaganda region were special settlers (mainly Slavic ethnic groups) who were not mobilized to the front. Of those mobilized soldiers in the region, Ukrainians suffered the most significant losses — 96.7 % of the total number of those mobilized, Kazakhs — 63 % and Russians — 62.7 %. If we compare these data with the data for the USSR as a whole, then it should be noted that Kazakhs made up 1.5 % of all Soviet soldiers who died and were only five people away: Russians (5,747.1 thousand died or 66.3 % of the total), Ukrainians (respectively 1 376.5 thousand and 15.4 %), Belarusians (251.4 thousand and 2.9 %), Tatars (183.3 thousand and 2.2 %) and Jews (138.7 thousand and 1.6 %) [3; 282]. In Central Kazakhstan, the biggest losses are representatives of exactly three ethnic groups — Ukrainians, Kazakhs and Russians.

The data of the Book of Memory allows to track and loss by age of mobilized soldiers of Karaganda region (in the territorial boundaries of the war years).

Table 2 The irretrievable loss of people of Karaganda region by year [3; 274, 275]

The Tables were based on the reports of the working group of the regional Book of Memory of Karaganda region. An analysis of these data suggests that a total of 38 ages of people from Karaganda were mobilized. 17-27-year-old soldiers prevailed, with the largest number of people mobilized in 1923, then in 1925 and 1922. The maximum number of casualties was in groups of Karaganda warriors, whose age during the War years was approximately 29-39 years old. So, if among the soldiers of 1890-1894 year of birth, the death toll was 11.4-14.8 %; 1895-1896 — 16.6-21.2 %; then the losses among younger groups increased sharply: 1897 — 36.3 %; 1898 — 42 %; 1899 — 25.8 %; 1900 — 39.8 %; 1901 — 47.3 %; 1902 — 64.4 %; 1903 — 45.1 %; 1904 — 56.2 %; 1905 — 48.1 %. The maximum losses fall to groups born in 1902 — 64.5 %; Born in 1907 — 62.5 %; 1908 — 60.4 %; Born in 1910 — 69.2 % and 1912 — losses amounted to 71.4 %. It was the group of Karaganda military servicemen who were 29 years old in the first year of the War, in 1941, with the maximum casualties, the next group of casualties is 31-34 year old soldiers.

Currently, Karaganda region also includes the territory of the former Zhezkazgan region. Analysis of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the front-line soldiers from Zhezkazgan region was given in the book by V. Yurk and T. Allaniyazov, consider the data from their work [11]. The total number mobilized to the front by the military registration and enlistment offices (Zhezdinsky and Ulytau and Zhezkazgan) was about 12 thousand people. The total number of dead and missing in the region was 3,071 people, which means that every fourth Zhezkazgan warrior did not return home from the battlefields. The vast majority of these numbers were Kazakhs, then Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Tatars, and other nationalities [11; 32]. The analysis of the information given by the authors makes it possible to see the dynamics of losses on the fronts by year: 1941 — 96 people; 1942 — 893 people; 1943 — 876 people; 1944 — 554 people and 1945 — 248 dead soldiers. A total of 2667 people (figures are based on the Book of Memory). The peak of deaths occurred in 1942–1943 [11; 33].

Total losses are not calculated only by those killed on the war fronts; to these data add indirect losses — this is a decrease in the birth rate and an increase in the death rate. Decline in the birth rate was typical for the whole republic, in Karaganda region losses as a result of the decline in the birth rate were 36,836 people; mortality in the republic increased only in two regions: Karaganda — the maximum in the republic — by 289 people on average per year of war compared to the peaceful 1940 and Mangystau — by 130 people [3; 284].

The general data of the mobilized Karaganda residents do not fix the sex composition of the front-line soldiers. Unfortunately, to date, it is impossible to give exact figures about women participating in combat battles, just as it is impossible to cite data on the number of dead women from Central Kazakhstan. During the years of the Great Patriotic War, 8594 Karaganda residents, including 593 women, were awarded orders and medals of the Motherland for their courage and bravery. To identify female casualties during the World War II, we analyzed lists of participants in the War from the «Book of Memory. Bozdaktar Karaganda region. Vol.1, 2 and 3» [2, 12, 13]. According to them, it was noted that for the entire period of the War only 17,679 people had died, including 15 women in the battles for the defense of Leningrad, in the battle for Moscow, for the Dnieper, the liberation of the Soviet Baltic states, the liberation of the countries of southeastern Europe. Consider the data in more detail.

In the initial period of the War (1941-1942), 1105 people died from Karaganda: 4 of them are women: Gryazneva Nadezhda Grigoriyevna, a private soldier born in Manchuria, was called up by the Lenin District Military Committee of Karaganda. She died in October 1941 [2; 70]. Levina Zinaida Markovna — Senior Medical Assistant, called up by the Kirov District Military Commissariat. She died on October 13, 1941 [2; 89]. Mokovoz Liliya Mikhailovna is called up by the Telmansky military enlistment office, she was killed on May 17, 1942 [2; 94]. Pushkar Zinaida Grigorievna — a private, a native of Zharaspay village of the Nurinsky district of Karaganda region, is called up by the Nurinsky military registration and enlistment office. She died in December 1941 [2; 103].

In the battles for defense, blockade and breaking the blockade of Leningrad, 1813 people from Karaganda region were killed, including one woman: Ekaterina Ivanovna Nechaeva, senior sergeant, cook, born in Karaganda region, called up by the Karaganda Regional Military Commissariat. She died from wounds on January 8, 1945 [8; 231]. In the battle for Moscow, 1,285 people did not return from the Karaganda participants, 2 of them were women: Konnikova Lyubov Semenovna, a junior doctor of the sanitary company, was called up by the Telman District Military Commissariat, she died on July 1, 1942 [2; 358]. Smirnova Nina Nikolaevna — an ordinary, radio operator, called up by Leninsky military enlistment office. She died on March 20, 1942 [2; 398].

Karaganda people also took part in battles: on the Karelian (Northern) front 102 people died, there were no women among them; in the Kharkov offensive operation and the battle for the Caucasus — 823 people, there are no women. In 1943-1944 1542 people died in the battle for the Dnieper and the liberation of the Donbass, among them one woman: Ivanenko Yanina Ivanovna — an ordinary, a native of the city of Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Territory, was called up by the Leninsky military enlistment office. She died from wounds on October 4, 1943 [12; 443].

In the battles for the liberation of the right-bank Ukraine and the Crimea, 672 soldiers were killed, including one woman: Tamara Ivanovna Samoukina, an ordinary soldier in military unit 41603, she was killed on April 21, 1944 [12; 603]. In the Stalingrad epic 2259 of our countrymen died, in the Oryol-Kursk battle — 1,483 people, but there were no women among the dead. In the last period of the War (autumn 19441945), in the period of liberation of the territories from fascist invaders, 6595 people died, 6 of them were women. Of the 812 Karaganda residents who died in the battles of the liberation of the Soviet Baltic, 3 women are listed: Vlasova Veronika Nikolaevna — a sergeant, air gunner, 694 assault air regiment of 261 mixed air divisions, is intended by the Lenin District Military Commissariat, she died on October 21, 1944 in the Baltic States while performing a combat mission [13; 82]; Tatarova Alexandra Vasilyevna — a private telegraph operator of the 49th branch of the communications regiment, a native of the city of Karkaralinsk, Karaganda region, was called up on March 23, 1943 by the Stalin military enlistment office, she died on January 16, 1945 [12; 131]; Utkova Iraida Ivanovna — a Private Senior Military Officer 42 OI PDD, a native of Karaganda region, called up by the Karaganda Regional Military Commissariat, she died from wounds on April 6, 1945 in SME-356 [12; 135]. One woman out of 908 dead Karaganda residents lost their lives for the liberation of the countries of southeastern Europe: Makarova Vera Ivanovna — a soldier, called for by Lenin district military commander, she died on April 26, 1944 [13; 193].

The names of other 3225 people whose dates of death are known are entered in the Book of Memory, but the burial place is not known, it is not known where and in what battles they died; among them 2 women: Genina Maria Mikhailovna — a soldier, a native of the village of Alexandrovka, Tambov region, is called up by the Telmanskoye military enlistment office. She died in October 1942 [13; 319]. Kudrenko Maria Vladimirovna — a native of Omsk region, called up by the Karaganda Regional Military Commissariat. She died in September 1945 [13; 370]. In the Belarusian offensive operation (601 Karaganda people were killed), the Berlin operation (324 soldiers), in the War with Japan (38 dead), Karaganda women were not listed among these losses. In the additional lists, other 671 names of the dead are noted, but there are no women among them.

The women who died in the first period of the War were predominantly from 1906-1912 of birth, the men were from 29 to 35 years old in the year of death; the girls who died in the following years were even younger. They were between 22 and 25 years old. Unfortunately, this is far from incomplete information that we have.

The Great Patriotic War and the participation of Kazakhstan people in it seems to be a sufficiently studied topic, but the problem of women's participation in the War in Kazakhstan historiography has not yet been developed. Women's military history, the problems of women's military everyday life was out of sight of Kazakhstan historians. The phenomenon of women's participation in the War is already complex due to the peculiarities of female psychology, and therefore, its perception of front-line reality. Investigating the female theme during the War years, the authors often write that our consciousness calmly perceives a woman with a telephony operator, radio operator, signalers, doctor or nurse, cook, etc., that is, those professions that are not related to the need to kill. But a woman — a pilot, sniper, gunner, submachine gunner, anti-aircraft gunner, tankman, paratrooper — this is something else, unusual for this category. And these are problems requiring separate and special research. «Women's memory covers the mainland of human feelings in the War that usually eludes male attention», emphasizes the author S. Aleksievich of the book «The War has a non-female face»: «A woman felt stronger than the War's overload — physical and moral, she endured more difficultly» male «life of War» [14].

Before being sent to the front, women were trained, for example, at the initiative of the Komsomol Central Committee in 1942, Komsomol-youth subdivisions were created in the Vseobuch system, including girls. They studied the specialty of mortar gunners, machine gunners, archers, snipers, signalers, etc. During the years of the Patriotic War, more than 222 thousand women fighters-specialists were trained in Vseobuchuch on-the-job units, including 6097 mortar gunners, 4522 machine gunners, 7796 light machine gunners, 15,290 gunmen-gunners, 102,333 gunners-snipers, 49,509 communications clerks of all specialties. A deeper study of military affairs was conducted in military schools, spare parts, courses. Pilots, tank crews, signalers, scouts, political workers, etc. were trained there. During the War years, 2,484 women and girls mastered sniper skills only in sniper courses and in schools that were part of Vseobuch. The central women's school of sniper training gave the front 1061 snipers and 407 sniper training instructors, who in turn prepared thousands of masters with super-marks [15]. In total, women served in large numbers in the Red Army, both voluntarily and upon conscription. There was a mass of purely female units and subunits (anti-aircraft, aviation, etc.). Many women and girls served in rifle units and subunits as snipers, machine gunners, mortar gunners, etc. Many of them commanded calculations, squads and platoons, companies and battalions.

Since May 1942, 50 volunteer girls from Karaganda fought on different fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Basically, they were graduates of Karaganda High School No. 1, who expressed a desire to protect their homeland. The girls were sent to the Volsk aviation school not far from Saratov, where they trained junior aviation specialists: engine mechanics and equipment technicians, gunsmiths and radio operators, aircraft technicians. We worked on an abbreviated program for 12 hours a day and another 2 hours of self-training. For several months, the girls acquired the necessary skills: they learned how to load the 37-mm Schwak cannon, machine guns of the Yak fighter, then they were sent to the front in military aviation [16; 105].

Graduates were distributed on fronts, divisions, regiments. All of them were sent to the flight units, where, at the end of the courses, the junior technical staff worked as motorists and in the repair of weapons. Among Karaganda volunteer girls trained before being sent to the front were Rakhila Yeralina, Dameli Zhakeyeva, Lyubov Vasina-Tsaplina, Kseniya Gorbunova, Raisa Kuzmenko-Kutischeva, Taisiya Lytzar, Nadezhda Borisova-Bolshakova, Agrippina and Yelena Anischyenko, Anna Korniyenko, Yevdokiya Sadmanova, Mariya Ososkova, Mariya Zuyeva, Valya Zyryenkova, Valya Sviridova, Anna Kliyentova, Mariya Zhuravlyova, Pelageya Gabich, Anastasiya Sgrabilova, Anna Golubeva, Lyubov Tsybina, Elena Yakhnova, Nina Ivlyova and others. Their names can be found in the lists of the personnel of the Stalingrad, Kalinin, North-Western, Belorussian, Ukrainian fronts, and some have ended their service in the liberated territory of Germany. During the World War II, there were tankers among the girls. For the first time, an article about the tank crew of the Kazakh girls from Karaganda region appeared in the regional newspaper «Sovettik Karaganda» on August 22, 1944. In 1944, the fighter Topatay Zhunusov admirely wrote about them in the regional newspaper, his army post office number was 28054 - O [17]. Zhamal Baitasova, a female tanker, junior sergeant, distinguished in the battles for the liberation of Soviet Lithuania. Participating in the breakthrough of the German defense, she destroyed several fascists' bunkers and pillboxes. The following female tankers from Karaganda region became a living legend: Zhamal Baytasova, Kulken Tokbergenova, Kulzhamilya Talkanbayeva and Zhamilya Beysenbayeva. There are a lot of fighting feats performed by the women, due to the efforts of Kulzhamilya Talkanbayeva only, five enemy's firing points were destroyed in one battle. Zhamilya Beysenbayeva, machine gunner and radio operator, distinguished in the battle of one of the tank units. The female tanker Kulken Tokbergenova [18; p.167] performed heroism in the battles.

The unique fate and military biography of the translator Seraphima Grigoryevna Ponomaryova, who was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the I and II degree, with the medals «For the Capture of Berlin» and «For the Liberation of Berlin». Seraphim, a sophomore at the Moscow Institute of International Relations, was called to the front in 1944, Soviet troops approached Berlin and urgently needed translators. Serafima Grigoryevna worked at the headquarters of Marshal Zhukov, translated at the Nurnberg Trials, the Potsdam Conference. Victory Day met in Frankfurt, and then another eight years worked in Berlin [19; 3].

One of the famous women who lived and worked in Central Kazakhstan is a Hero of the Soviet Union, Vera Zakharovna Khoruzhaya. Balkhash people consider her their hero. From the first days of the Great Patriotic War and until the day of death, Vera Khoruzhaya fought in a partisan detachment and was transferred across the front line to Vitebsk. On November 13, 1942, Vera Khoruzhaya was arrested and shot by the Nazis in the city of Vitebsk. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union, Vera Khoruzhaya, was posthumously awarded on May 17, 1960. The film «Letters to Immortality», the 2nd symphony of the composer Kim Tesakov, was devoted to life and exploits; her name is immortalized in street names in Minsk, Balkhash, Brest, Karaganda, Bobruisk, Grodno, Bykhovsk, Pinsk, Mogilev, Gomel, Vitebsk and other cities [20; 3].

Many women of Karaganda took part in the partisan movement, in the Resistance movement. Elizaveta Vasilievna Gelfond was one of the participants in an underground organization in the city of Rovno, where her apartment served as a partisan room. In the memoirs of E.V. Gelfond, whose manuscript is kept in the Karaganda Regional Museum of Local Lore, she writes: «The first months of the occupation were very difficult for me, I had to hide from the persecution of the German authorities and to go to the nearest village to take on some work in order to feed the children». In 1944, on the instructions of the partisan detachment, organized an explosion of the fascist dining room. She was awarded government awards: the medals «Parti- san of the Patriotic War», «For Military Merit», «For Victory over Germany» and commemorative medals. Vera Maksimovna Moskaleva, a partisan, was captured by the Nazis in 1944. She sat in the Auschwitz camp on death row, where political prisoners, anti-fascists, partisans, and commanders of the Red Army were held. On February 27, 1945 awarded medals «Partisan of the Patriotic War» of II degree, «For courage», «For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945» were released, as well as medals «Maternal fame» of I and II degrees. Galina Petrova is a prisoner of the «Grini» concentration camp. She was taken to Germany in 1943. While trying to escape, she was sent to the concentration camp «Grini» in Norway, a member of the resistance movement to fascism. After the War, until 1967 she worked as an engineer in Karaganda [21; 244].

The women of Central Kazakhstan went through the entire War from the defense of Moscow through the blockade of Leningrad, the crucible of the Battle of Stalingrad, and marched through the lands of Eastern Europe to the walls of the Reichstag in Berlin. Bravely rescuing the wounded, like Maria Malysheva, were scouts, like Rakhila Yeralina, signalers like Lyubov Nikerova, Galina Egorova and Valentina Tyurina, gunmen-radio operators Dameli Zhakeyeva, beat Maria Belikova's machine gun and the anti-aircraft gun of Evdokia Belova aptly. The lives of Soviet soldiers and officers were rescued by the physicians Rakhima Koshkumbayeva and Nina Sorokina, the nurses Gaziz Omarbaeva and Gulimzhan Karsybekova. Taisia Ponomarenko and Vera Sergeeva were always close to the fighters, Evdokia Mukhina brought welcome letters from home, Elena Minaeva served in aviation, Umit Tolkubekova and other military railway workers [22; 2]. And those who survived, told and continue to tell us about the War years, share their memories.

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