The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan visited the site of the exploits of the New Martyrs of Akmola

July 8, 2024. Akmola region, Tselinograd district. Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan visited the village of Akmol and its surroundings - the place of the exploits and suffering death of the 12 new martyrs of the Church of Christ and the mass burial of prisoners of the Akmola camp for the wives of traitors to the Motherland - “ALZHIR”.

The head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan was accompanied by the dean of the parishes of Astana, Archimandrite Sergius (Karamyshev).

In the temple in the name of the new martyrs and confessors of Akmola, located near the place where from 1937 to 1953 the 17th forced labor camp R-17 - “ALZHIR” was located, the Head of the Metropolitan District performed a prayer service to the Kazakh saints. The Metropolitan prayed for the episcopate, pastors, monastics and laity of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, for the peace and prosperity of the Kazakhstan land, President K.-J.K. Tokayev, the authorities, the army and the people of the Republic.

Next, at the worship cross installed near the church, the hierarch served a funeral litany and prayerfully remembered “the archpastors, shepherds, monastics and laity in the land of Kazakhstan during the time of fierce persecution for the truth of God and the Church of Christ who suffered, and in this place those who were unjustly tortured and killed.” Eternal memory was proclaimed to all “those who were tortured and killed by the atheists, who died from hunger, cold, wounds, illnesses and overwork.”

Metropolitan Alexander laid flowers at the memorial cross.

The Metropolitan visited the cemetery located in the vicinity of the village of Akmol, the site of the mass burial of prisoners of the Akmola camp for the wives of traitors to the Motherland. At the resting place of the innocent murdered, a memorial cross with an icon of the Resurrection of Christ was erected. The inscription on the monument reads: “This Orthodox worship cross was erected with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan in 2020 in memory of the innocent female prisoners of the Algeria camp who suffered from the repressions of 1930-1950.”

The initiator of the creation of memorial crosses in ALGERIA is a famous public figure and philanthropist, president of the charitable foundation G.M. Poghosyan.

In the Akmola region, on the territory of the village of Malinovka, which today bears the name Akmol, during the years of mass political repression from 1937 to 1953, there was the 17th forced labor camp R-17 - the Akmola camp for the wives of traitors to the Motherland, the so-called ALZHIR. This notorious correctional camp was the largest women's colony in Kazakhstan, housing the wives, mothers, daughters and sisters of people condemned as "enemies of the people" and "traitors to the Motherland." Among the huge number of prisoners of the Akmola camp, 12 sufferers were glorified as new martyrs.

At the site of their suffering, as well as the martyrdom of tens of thousands of innocent people, the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan decided to create a temple and museum dedicated to the memory of the martyrs for the faith of Christ. The rite of consecration of the cross and the foundation stone for the construction of the temple was performed by the Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan on June 12, 2010.

The temple was built by local builders and craftsmen at the expense of benefactors.

An artel of master isographers from the city of Palekh (Russia, Ivanovo region) worked for three months to decorate church walls and vaults with frescoes under the guidance of a talented icon painter - member of the Union of Artists of Russia V.K. Kurilova. The subjects of the painting are dedicated to the Gospel events and the feat of the new martyrs of the 20th century.

The iconostasis of the New Martyr Church in Malinovka was made using unique porcelain technologies at the Porcelain Sysert LLC enterprise (Russia, Yekaterinburg province).

The icons for the iconostasis in the style of the Kostroma and Yaroslavl masters of the 17th century were created by the famous isographer - Honored Artist of the Russian Federation S.N. Sokolov.

On May 23, 2021, the Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District consecrated the monument cross dedicated to the New Martyrs of Akmola.