This article examines the history of the Karaganda metallurgical plant construction. The authors emphasize that the issue of building large objects of heavy industry for the war effort became urgent during the Great Patriotic War. Due to the fact that Kazakhstan possessed large minerals reserves, in 1942 in the Karaganda region the People’s Commissariat of Ferrous Metallurgy of the USSR initiated the construction of a metallurgical plant for the production of iron, steel and rolled products. However, the start of the plant construction was delayed for several years. First of all, the delay was due to the fact that the plant site, construction base, railway tracks were not prepared for operation for a long time. In addition, the construction of the Atasu iron mine, which was the ore base of the plant, was carried out at a slow pace. Only in 1957, the project of the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant was approved by the Government of the USSR. The authors note that in 1958 the plant became an all-Union Komsomol construction site, in the construction of which seven specialized enterprises participated. The modern Karmetkombinat is one of the largest metallurgical and coal bases in the republic. At the same time, it gives rise to a complex of environmental problems in the region, the solution of which remains permanent.

The article deals with the issues related to the evacuation of children from the front-line territories of the USSR to Central Kazakhstan: the path taken by children, their state of health, living conditions, nutrition. The authors of the article turn to the regional aspect in the coverage and analysis of evacuation problems. On the basis of archival documents, they try to restore the history of the daily life of evacuated children: living conditions in orphanages, food, medical care, working days, supply of industrial goods to children's institutions, etc.

This research presents a short historiographical review of the Alash movement. It reflects the researchers’ own version of periodisation of the history of the first Kazakh national party Alash that belonged to the liberal democratic wing. The researchers identify four stages in the history of the movement connected with the main landmarks of its short, yet significant existence. The periods of Alash history are determined based on changes in strategy and tactics, as well as the evolution of its organisational forms (a movement— a party during elections to the Constituent Assembly — the ruling party in the Alash Autonomy and Alash Orda government). A conclusion is made that national parties set forth the conditions and ways of modernisation in the most acceptable forms and combinations for each corresponding nation; possible parallels in the development pathways followed by other national parties in 1918–1920 are pointed out.

This article examines one of the little-studied problems based on the documents of the archival funds of the central archives of Russia and Kazakhstan (RGASPI, GA RF, TsAMO, AP RK): the participation of Kazakh women who left as volunteers mobilized in 1941-1945 on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. An overview of studies that studied the quantitative characteristics of the participation of girls and women of the Kazakh SSR is presented, various options are given on the gender aspects of the participation of Kazakhstanis in the war. Based on a comparative analysis of mobilization orders, certificates and reports on their implementation, the author concludes that the number of Kazakh women who went to the front amounted to more than 9.5 thousand people, which is almost twice as much as indicated in modern Kazakhstani historiography.

The article presents an analysis of the condition of children's healthcare in Molotov city during the Second World War. The authors pay attention to the significant difficulties in protecting the children's health (under one year old): a significant rise in the incidence of childhood infections, malnutrition, incomplete vaccination of children, and a weak level of preventive work. It is emphasized that among nursery and unorganized children respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases were mainly common during the war years: measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough, diphtheria. It is concluded that shortage of qualified medical staff, untimely and partial vaccinations, errors in diagnosis and other reasons have led to an increase in morbidity and mortality among children. In addition, the high incidence of infections with high mortality among children was also associated with the weak and unsatisfactory work of children's consultations on the early detection of diseases which hindered timely treatment.