In the 1920s and 1930s, the policy of confiscating “bai” (wealthy) households and the forced collectivization of the peasantry took on a massive scale across the territory of Kazakhstan. Complaints received by the party executive bodies of the Soviet government point to numerous methods of depriving property, which was a source of livelihood, as well as the facts of violence committed. The complaints and statements contained in the archival documents of the party executive bodies of the Soviet government testify to the facts of the violent destruction of the traditional economic system of the Kazakh people, repressive methods of confiscation of property and mass violence. The forced liquidation of large Kazakh wealthy people as a class is a manifestation of the government's pre-planned ideological policy. As a result, this administrative measure created the prerequisites for widespread movements and protests against the policies of the Soviet government in the regions of Kazakhstan. Such repressive measures as mass arrests, searches, classifying the population as “kulaks” and “Bay elements,” forcible seizure of livestock and confiscation of property, were supported by local authorities and actively implemented.The confiscation of the Kazakh bais' property was the beginning of political repression, which turned into a national tragedy. The policy of persecution of the wealthy segments of the population, considered as “alien elements”, was carried out systematically. In this article, based on archival data, we tried to objectively reveal these tragic pages of history.

The article analyzes the process of confiscating Kazakh rich people in the Semipalatinsk district in the 20s-30s of the ХХth century, as well as the complaints sent by local rich people to the relevant authorities in defense of their rights, based on archival data.