WWI Prisoners of War in Kazakhstan (Based on Materials of Archival and Investigative Files of the Great Terror Period)

This article is devoted to the reconstruction of the civil status and social practices of WWI prisoners of war who remained permanently in Russia/Soviet Union and ended up in Kazakhstan. Chronologically, the study covers the period from 1914 to 1939. Based on the materials of archival and investigative cases of former prisoners of war who became victims of mass repressions during the Great Terror, aspects of migration and social mobility, including repatriation, naturalization, civil status, and the status of foreigners, and discriminatory and repressive policies are considered. It is concluded that the dynamics of the status and the diversity of adaptation practices of former prisoners of war were determined by a number of external and internal political factors. For former prisoners of war, captivity became not only a trauma but also a social marker that secured their status as “former,” which ultimately made them marginals in Soviet society.