Civil Status Record Books of the 1940s and 1950s the Important Historical and Demographic Source (based on the materials of the Altai Territory)

Introduction. The books of civil status records are the primary statistical accounting documents, an important source for the demographic history of a particular nation, subject to the Russian Federation. The demographic history of the Kalmyk people during the exile period is difficult to reconstruct due to the lack of the access to the sources that allow us to study this process comprehensively. The purpose of this work is to study the historical source of the books of civil status records (“assembly records”) and the possibility of their use for the demographic history of the Kalmyk people during the deportation period using the example of the Altai Territory. Materials and methods. The material for the study were the individual records of the books of civil status records (“assembly records”) in an impersonal form (with certain omitted data), as well as the responses to the inquiries and field materials received during the expedition in the Altai Territory. In the course of the research, a source analysis was carried out, which made it possible to identify the features and establish the value of the archival documents — books of state registration records as sources of historical demography of Kalmyks special settlers. Results. This article examines the books of the civil status records that register the fact of death as a documentary source for analyzing the demographic history of the Kalmyk people during their exile in the Altai Territory. It has been revealed that the primary document for accounting the natural movement of the population cannot be used as the main source, in addition, such documents should not be used as material for identifying certain patterns or trends. This type of document can only be used as an additional source for studying specific facts, for example, to study the accounting features of special settlers.