The Soviet regime perceived cultural revival and desire for political autonomy of peoples as a threat. This led to large-scale repressions and the destruction of national leaders. The case of the Union of Siberian Turks has become a tragic page in history, symbolizing the suppression of national identity.
In 1936, an Oirotian campaign was carried out to identify "counter-revolutionary nationalists" hiding in party structures. According to the court, these "nationalist organizations" planned to take advantage of the Japanese War to raise an armed uprising, overthrow the Soviet government, and create an independent bourgeois state under a Japanese protectorate.
Such accusations began to be massively applied against the Turkic peoples of Southern Siberia. Those arrested in Khakassia, Oirotia, and Gornaya Shoria were stereotypically accused of trying to create an independent republic of the Turkic peoples of Southern Siberia in cooperation with Japan. In the case of the "Union of Siberian Turks" and similar trials, Gurkin was arrested. Gurkin, Sary-Sep Kanzychakov, and other cultural figures were soon shot.
The descendants of the repressed still don't know where their relatives are buried. The fate of some members of the "Union of Siberian Turks" sent to the camps also remains unknown.
The 1930s left a deep mark on the history of Southern Siberia, becoming a time of cruel repression and destruction of national Turkic leaders. The desire for the Khakhass, Altais, Shor to preserve their culture and political autonomy was perceived as a threat to the Soviet regime, leading to mass arrests, executions, and deprivation of the peoples' human rights.
With the disappearance of national leaders, the processes of cultural revival have dramatically decreased. The repression aimed to weaken ethnic identity and prevent the formation of national identity, which has significantly impacted the Khakass, Altai, and Shor peoples' opportunity to develop and preserve their culture. Amongst such measures were the transition to the Cyrillic alphabet and the ban of traditional names, which led to assimilation that undermined their cultural identity.
The loss of traditional names is a central example these repressions' consequences. During the Soviet regime, many Altai and Khakass were forced to use only Russian names in official documents. Due to this policy, traditional names have become a rarity, becoming a loss of cultural continuity and the weakening of the connection with the traditions of ancestry.
Thus, the repressions left an indelible mark, as reflected in linguistic assimilation, loss of traditions, and cultural customs significant to the Sayano-Altai's self-identification. It's important to remember the price paid by those who fought to preserve their culture and connect with their ancestral traditions.
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