The Polish-Kazakh Historical Commission inaugurated its activities on June 6, 2022, at the Sybir Memorial Museum. The Commission operates on the basis of the resources of the Sybir Memorial Museum and the Cz. Walichanow Institute of History and Ethnology at the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Almaty, with the support of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk. The aim of the Commission’s work is to conduct scientific research on the history of both nations, engage in extensive discussions on these topics, and define perspectives for long-term cooperation in historical research. Distinguished historians participate in its work, including Professor Ziyabek Kabuldinov, Dmitrij Panto, PhD, Kairat Alimgazinov, and Professor Wojciech Śleszyński, who study documents stored in the archives of Poland and Kazakhstan related to the relations between the nations united by the common history.

On June 7, 2024, at 3:00 p.m., the fifth session of the Commission begins at the Sybir Memorial Museum, where a report on its activities to date will be presented. Plans for the further development of the Commission’s work will also be discussed.

Thanks to the Commission’s research and publications, we can probe the dramatic fate of exiles and deportees to Central Asia in the 19th and 20th centuries. The first volumes of documents obtained from post-Soviet archives have already gone into the hands of Polish researchers. We are convinced that sharing experiences can provide a solid basis for better understanding of our common history and for constructively reaching an agreement.