World War II (1939-1945) was the largest military conflict in the 20th century. Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, unleashed a bloody war. The troops of the Third Reich invaded the territory of the USSR on June 22, 1941. The war of two states went down in history as the Great Patriotic War. Kazakhstan at that time was part of the Soviet Union.
There were no military operations on the territory of Kazakhstan, but the republic became one of the mobilization centers, evacuated residents of the country were located here. During the war years, 50 regiments, 7 brigades, 12 rifle and 4 cavalry divisions were formed in Kazakhstan, including the famous rifle division under the command of General Ivan Panfilov.
Co-authors of the scientific study, Professor Doctor of Historical Sciences Kadyrzhan Abuev and Candidate of Historical Sciences Abai Aitmukhambetov, write that about 20% of Kazakhstanis were mobilized to the front. This is more than 1.2 million people out of 6.5 million of the then population of the republic. The war claimed the lives of more than 600 thousand Kazakhstanis (12% of the republic's residents).