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Kazakhstan

Akmol Labour Camp for Wives of Traitors of the Motherland

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Verified 29 May 2026
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For families

How to send mail, money, and visit Akmol Labour Camp for Wives of Traitors of the Motherland

Step-by-step guidance using the Kazakhstan system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.

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Photograph of Akmol Labour Camp for Wives of Traitors of the Motherland

Gallery

From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).

  • Aqmol Alzhir Museum.jpg

    Photo by Man77 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

  • Gulag ALZHIR in Astana, Kazakhstan, Monument to the victims 02.jpg

    Photo by Ninaras via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

  • Gulag ALZHIR in Astana, Kazakhstan, Monument to the victims 03.jpg

    Photo by Ninaras via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

  • Kazakhstan P9120104 (40047305092).jpg

    Photo by t_y_l via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

  • Kazakhstan P9120105 (39181530035).jpg

    Photo by t_y_l via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

  • Kazakhstan P9120106 (26206333358).jpg

    Photo by t_y_l via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

  • Kazakhstan P9120107 (26206362358).jpg

    Photo by t_y_l via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

  • Kazakhstan P9120108 (28299889779).jpg

    Photo by t_y_l via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Background

ALZhIR, the Akmolinsk Camp of Wives of Traitors to the Motherland (Russian: Акмолинский лагерь жён изменников Родины, АЛЖИР, romanized: Akmolinskiy lager' zhon izmennikov Rodiny, ALZhIR), was a colloquial name for the 17th special female camp detachment of the Karlag, Karaganda labor camp of the Gulag in the Akmola Region of Kazakhstan. The name comes from the fact that the majority of the inmates were the ChSIR: members of the families of traitors to the Motherland after NKVD Order 00486 of 15 August 1937. Over 18,000 women spent some time in the camp during its existence, and about 8,000 women served a full sentence there, of which 4,500 were ChSIR. The name was an ironical joke of the inmates, because "Алжир" means "Algeria" in Russian. It was established in August 1937 by the village of Malinovka (now Tonkeris) southwest of Akmola (now Astana). Its total area was 30,000 hectares.

Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.

Capacity

Current population

Occupancy

Year opened

Operational

Facility profile

Operator

Population held

Mixed/unknown

Opened

Region

Security level

Death-row facility

No

Conditions

No conditions summary available yet.

Visiting

No visiting information available.

Mailing

No mailing information available.

Practical info

Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.

Known issues

No major issues documented in our database.

Contact & address

No public contact details available.

Conditions Risk Score

Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated

Insufficient data
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Data completeness

16%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources