Regina HELIMSKAYA, Tayna Chon-Tasha

Sımbat ESENKAN KIZI

Abstract

In this book review, the Russian work of Kyrgyzstan journalist Regina Helimskaya, named Tayna Chon-Tasha (The Chon-Tash Mystery), published in 1994, is evaluated. Helimskaya in this work writes the mysterious deaths in the Chon-Tash region, that was mass grave of the Kyrgyz victims of the Stalin's Great Terror in the 1930s. The work is a complete critique of the brutal Stalinist regime. Regina Helimskaya, a journalist, has made important contributions to the studies on the secret mass grave with her research and has created a work herself as a result. Consequently, (Tayna Chon-Tasha) The Chon-Tash Mystery is a must-read work as it contains previously classified archive documents and photographs, interviews with the victims' relatives and the witnesses of those disaster days. In general, it can be said that Regina Helimskaya's book makes a valuable contribution to knowledge both among general readers and in academic literature.  

Keywords: Kyrgyzstan, Chon-Tash, Helimskaya, Great Terror, Soviet Union

DOI:
Publication date: 01.07.2022

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