Alzhir Memorial Museum

ALZhIR, the Akmolinsk Camp of Wives of Traitors to the Motherland, was a colloquial name for the 17th special female camp detachment of the Karlag, Karaganda labor camp of the Gulag in the Akmola Region of Kazakhstan. The name comes from the fact that the majority of the inmates were the ChSIR: members of the families of traitors to the Motherland after NKVD Order 00486 of 15 August 1937. Over 18,000 women spent some time in the camp during its existence, and about 8,000 women served a full sentence there, of which 4,500 were ChSIR. The name was an ironical joke of the inmates, because "Алжир" means "Algeria" in Russian.

It was established in August 1937 by the village of Malinovka southwest of Akmola. Its total area was 30,000 hectares. It was closed in the beginning of 1950

Source: Wikipedia