1 . Arch of Sorrow in Alzhir Museum-Memorial complex . Picture by Marc Díaz Planas .
“ Karaganda Corrective Labour Camp ” ( KarLag ), an extensive compound of prison and labour camps . More than 18,000 women were held there between 1938 and 1958 , and today the memorial complex , inaugurated in 2007 by President Nazarbayev , stands on the site . The big Arch of Sorrow , visible from a distance , marks the entrance to the site that is surrounded by a row of 14 marble plaques , each of them placed by the embassies of the countries of origin of the prisoners held in ALZHIR . There is one glaring absence : no Russian Federation plaque , despite the fact that the vast majority of the women prisoners were Russian or originated from Russian territories . Metres away lies the two-storey building that houses the museum itself . The first floor is dedicated to the various events surrounding Russia ’ s takeover of Kazakh territories from the 19th century to the early years of Soviet rule . Only the second floor is devoted strictly to this labour camp and the women prisoners , with a modest but commendable mention of the efforts made by survivors to preserve the memory . Outside the museum , a few metres away , it is worth visiting the first attempts made in 1989 to bear witness to the former site of the camp : a half-rusted metal structure bearing the name “ ALZHIR ” and a humble monument erected at the very height of glasnost on the initiative of women prisoners , their families and the leaders of the local kolkhozes [ collective farms in the former Soviet
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