A resident of Kazakhstan shared how his family has been searching for information about their great-grandfather in archives for many years and requested assistance from fellow Kazakhs, as reported by Tengri Life.
Saken Nigmashev, who lives in Almaty, mentioned on his social media page that his family has been looking for details about his great-grandfather, Nigmatulla Amriyev (also referred to as Nigmashe Amriyev or Nigmeshe). He was born in the distant year of 1885 in the Terektinsky volost of the Ural province. He belonged to the jetiru tribe, of the kerderi lineage.
Photo from Saken Nigmashev's family archive
"He served as an imam in the mosque of Uralsk and the Uralsk district. Under unknown circumstances, he disappeared in the 30s to 40s. Personally, I suspect he was executed. His wife, my great-grandmother Anapiya Kuzenbaeva, passed away in 1979, and her grave is located in the old city cemetery of Uralsk. She never spoke about my great-grandfather. My grandfather Bostan Nigmashev also never mentioned anything, and perhaps, due to his young age at the time, he couldn't clearly recall what happened," – Saken shared.
According to the man, his father visited the archives of government institutions and all the mosques in the West Kazakhstan region in hopes of finding any mentions of their grandfather. To verify the information regarding a possible execution, they sent requests to the archives in Orenburg, Kazan, and Ufa, where, according to our information, records from most cases of that time are kept. This effort has not yielded results so far.
"Has anyone faced the challenge of searching for their ancestors? Could you provide recommendations or simply share this post, and perhaps it will help our family learn about the fate of our missing great-grandfather," – Saken appealed to the people of Kazakhstan.
Saken also offered several tips for those looking to find information about their relatives.
"The main thing is, of course, archives and open databases online. Our local approach involves physical searches in the places of origin, life, and work. In the past, there were metric books that recorded all significant life events of a person in each settlement. Some have been digitized, but unfortunately, not all. Then, you need to send requests to various archives; sometimes the responses simply say 'information not available,' while other times they provide recommendations to contact another archive," – Saken explained.
The man was also advised to consult with specialists in genealogy in Western Kazakhstan.
If any of our readers have faced the challenge of searching for their ancestors, please share your experiences in the comments. It could be helpful for many.
Previously, we discussed how and where to find archival information about relatives who were veterans of the Great Patriotic War.
