Religion in Soviet Union

The article, based on extensive archive and oral history materials, discusses the life stories of all the Greek-Catholic clergy of the Brody deanery during the tumultous period of 1939-1946, marked by the first Soviet (1939-1941), German (1941-1944), and the second Soviet (from 1944 on) occupations, prolonged front-line fighting, mass repressions, and forced liquidation of the Greek-Catholic Church.

This chapter explores the intersection of religion and dictatorship in Europe after WWI. It examines the question of institutional relations between  church and state and seeks to explore how these relations shed light on the question of the ideological relationship between religious traditions and fascism in particular. It does this by considering comparative perspectives across Europe, particularly with regards to church-state relations but also in terms of politics, ideology and culture. It then explores the cases of Italian Fascism and German Nazism in particular, how these regimes have typically been understood, and how they perpetuated a religious politics.

Il caso di Tuva nello sciamanesimo post sovietico.
Implicazioni sociologiche, politiche, economiche, ambientali ed identitarie dello sciamanesimo contemporaneo in Siberia. Il difficile rapporto tra modernità e tradizione, la "sacralità della natura" e la questione del nascente turismo mistico e delle implicazioni che ha sull'ambiente circostante, l'incidenza delle cliniche sciamaniche sul complesso rapporto tra allopatia e omeopatia.
Il ruolo degli sciamani nella transizione capitalistica e l'attuale rapporto con la neonata società di mercato e con il dilagante problema della disoccupazione. La figura dello specialista del sacro (Kenin Lopsan in primis) come sostituto del professionista in ambito medico (capace di auto-curarsi e poi di agire come terapeuta), psicologico e giuridico: lo sciamano come extrema ratio per gli ultimi, salvatore di depressi, drogati e alcolisti, nuovo sostituto all'estinto welfare sovietico, ultima possibilità di riscatto in una società caratterizzata da una crisi perenne.
Il "fenomeno bifronte" dello sciamanesimo, il rapporto tra magia bianca e magia nera (counter-cursing).
Il dialogo interreligioso tra buddismo, sciamanesimo, cristianesimo ortodosso  e nuove forme di credo a cavallo tra Russia e Mongolia.
L'attualità di Tuva come centro internazionali degli studi religiosi (Храм всех религий)

Questa è la mia tesi di laurea magistrale, discussa all'Università La Sapienza di Roma nel luglio 2018.

FR. IGNATIUS SOLTYS AND THE “APPARITIONS OF SEREDNE”: ESCHATOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE UNDERGROUND GREEK-CATHOLIC CHURCH.
The article summarizes all extant biographical data about fr. Ignatius Soltys (1912 – c. 2003), an underground Greek-Catholic priest, who, following his ordination in 1949, was active in Galicia and Transcarpathia. In December 1954, his visionary sister Anna claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary on a hill near her native village of Seredne. The apparitions, coupled with apocalyptic prophecies, continued, provoking mass pilgrimages and arousing considerable enthusiasm within the underground church. After the death of Pius XII in 1958, Anna claimed that the Holy See had been transfered to Ukraine, her brother being the new and the last pope Peter II Emmanuel. This led to a break with the underground church. An apocalyptic cult began to take shape, in which fr. Soltys and his sister soon assumed the roles of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, respectively. The followers of fr. Soltys, the so-called “penitents”, took a radical anti-Soviet stance, believing the Soviet regime to be the Antichrist and avoiding any real or symbolic interaction with the Soviet state (rejection of documents, abandonment of work in public enterprises or institutions, defiance of the authorities etc.).

Dissertation summary [longer version can be found at the end of the attached file]:
Largely based on archival documents, this study describes the functioning of the institutions involved in anti-religion campaigns and their institutional development in Soviet Estonia in 1957-1990. The calming that followed the period of Stalin’s rule brought along a certain „religious renaissance“ that alarmed some of the higher Party functionaries. This and the utopic plan to reach the Communist state in a couple of decades – the main obstacles to which were thought to be the „vestiges of bourgeoisie“, including religion – led to an anti-religion campaign in 1958, which lasted until 1964. During this campaign the laws governing religion were hardened and several new units of anti-religious work were formed; these were involved in the control over religious legislation and atheistic propaganda both at the local and republic levels. Propagandists of atheism were trained in People’s Universities and the educational system of the Party. After the changes that occurred in the country’s administration in 1964 the national religion policy softened to a certain extent, although a negative stand towards religion persisted until the end of the Soviet period; changes in this attitude were not noticeable before 1988. The modified religion policy did not lead to dispersing the units established during the campaign; instead, it was attempted to employ them more effectively and also in a more concealed manner. This was, however, unsuccessful, as archived documents reveal that atheistic propaganda was an utterly insignificant matter for most national institutions and Party units. In view of the inadequate or inexistent coordination and obscure chains of command it can be said that the system of anti-religion fight was relatively ineffective and in reality it relied mostly on the activity of individual atheism enthusiasts working for different institutions. This thesis covers the system of propaganda and education of the Party, the apparatus of the commissioner of the Council for Religious Affairs and its subsidiary commissions of assistance for observance of the legislation on religion, the „Science“ Society, and the system of People’s Universities, as well as their mutual connections, development and activities.

Historiography During the Soviet Nation and State Building Process
The concepts of nation and state embody in themselves both normality and artificiality. It is firmly established by historical experience that the human, as the subject of the former as well as the object of the latter, frequently interferes with the content of these concepts. If this intervention stems from ideological reasons, the implication is that the mechanism for providing legitimacy is involved with its focus on historiography. At this stage, the engine of historiography becomes an office for the approval of political power.
Within that context, the fictionalization of history transforms the knowledge of the past to a reproducible product. This understanding means a neglect of the motive to attain the reality of the past; instead, the aim is to become the social engineering required for the continuity of the ideology. In this concise text, alongside the ongoing philosophical debates as to what history is and how it should be laid out, the instrumentality of history in practical terms will be examined with a special focus on the Soviet Union paradigm.
Keywords: Soviet historiography, Soviet nation-state, Territorial historiography, Soviet nationalism.

Libertatea gândirii, conştiinţei şi religiei care face parte din libertăţile fundamentale ale omului a fost îngrădită în mod constant în perioada sovietică. Atitudinea regimului sovietic faţă de religie se poate explica nu atât prin bazele filosofice şi teoretice ale marxism-leninismului, cât prin psihologia lui totalitară, aşa cum ateismul era impus cu forţa fiecărui membru al societăţii.

В статье анализируются многочисленные письма верующих Советского Союза в 1960- начале 1980-х годов в государственные  инстанции. В статье показано, как одобряемая система коммуникации общества с властью через письма становится инструментом для выражения религиозных убеждений и протеста в отношении государственных мероприятий в религиозной сфере. Письма отражают освоение советскими гражданами дискурса прав человека и превращение «безгласных» носителей «пережитков прошлого» в полноценных акторов Холодной войны

Although the Soviet Union’s constitution regulated the freedom of expression, religion and conscience, from the perspective of official state ideology, religion was viewed as the direct antipode of the communist worldview. Being perceived as its enemy and a hindrance which needed to be removed to establish and build the perfect socialist society and state. According to this, an actual religious policy was developed, which in practice, was rendered utterly contrary to constitutional provisions.
One of the findings of the research is confusion over Soviet religious legislation in terms of its abstract and ambiguous wording. This created a situation where there was a lack of legal unanimity, which is why the various institutions and officials were often guided by interpretations based upon their current personal or situational needs.
Although it is generally believed that religious literature was directly prohibited in the Soviet era, the result of the research revealed an exciting fact that in reality, this was not the case. That it appeared to be so in practice, stemmed from the various possibilities for interpretation. In order to be printed, every publication required the permission of the censor, which meant that religious literature deemed ideologically unsuitable received no such permission. However, if necessary, religious literature could also be formalized as illegal and labelled anti-Soviet, reactionary or as religious propaganda (which was forbidden), and on this basis could be used to convict people.
Underground Christian publishing began in some form shortly after the war, but the organized and purposeful activities started in the second half of the 1960s, when the situation changed and the new generation had matured. Underground publishing became more widespread, as it was the only means of self-expression free from censorship, which could also be actively used by dissident movements. In the absence of any other means to obtain the necessary literature, Estonian Christians needed to acquire and prepare the necessary literature themselves. Although part of this literature was not illegal per se, it was, however, done in secret, as without the permission of the censor, its publication would at least be classified as unofficial, if not unlawful.
The activities were quite similar for all denominations, but sources and methods differed. The most common copying method was the printing of several copies in the typewriter simultaneously, which depending on the thickness of the paper could result in 5–12 copies at a time. Photocopies were also used, with some publications appearing in this format. Tape recordings of sermons were also used, which were subsequently typed out on a paper medium and compiled into a book format. In the same way, Russian audio bibles were distributed. Rotators and other printing and duplicating machines made it possible to publish larger circulations, which were often self-made and used different techniques, such as hectographs, offsets, and silk-screen printing, mimeographic method, etc. The most powerful and rarest were underground printers with offset printing, with which it was possible to produce tens of thousands of books with double-sided print.
In the print activity, the denominations were divided into two groups: ecumenical (Baptists, Methodists and Lutherans), and non-ecumenical (Jehovah's Witnesses (who were the only underground organisation the author researched) and Adventists). As there was active interaction between members of the first group, particularly between Methodists and Baptists, their literature was quite similar. However, members of the second group exchanged and printed strictly confessional literature, which for the most part, was not exchanged with other churches. Underground publishers can also be divided on the basis of publishing forms: organizational and self-propelled publishing. Jehovah's Witnesses would be categorized under the first group, in whose case all publishing took place jointly, as an organization and conspiratorially. During the Soviet period, more than 5 million A4-sized pages were printed without anyone getting caught even once.
The Adventist Church was also engaged in joint publishing. A remarkable achievement was the creation of a secret publishing department within the congregation with two committees dealing with the selection of literature, its translation, editing, printing, and the compilation of Bible study material. Regrettably, regular foreign contact was non-existent and original works were randomly obtained from abroad or people resorted to using materials from the pre-occupation period.
Other churches took a more autonomous path (especially among the Baptists and Methodists), where there was a lack of both a coherent joint activity and of limitations on material to be published. Therefore, there were many individual actors, many of whom were pastors who translated and printed what they personally considered interesting. In the 1970s, there was an emergence of different fellowships and youth groups who were very socially active and who gave out various self-compiled periodicals, participated in book binding, printing and distribution and brought new life to the church in general. The sources of foreign literature were Finnish tourists and members of various missionary organizations who, via the shipway that opened in 1965, brought bibles and other religious literature to Estonia under their clothes. Regular contact was established with these individuals, bringing about a massive and clandestine import of Christian literature into Estonia, from where it was passed on to the entire Soviet Union. In terms of religious literature, Estonia became a transit country, from which hundreds of thousands of copies of spiritual literature passed through.
Baptists from Narva's Russian-speaking group had a special place in the underground publishing of Christian literature, who were publishing Russian-language Bibles, gospels, and songbooks in enormous quantities. They were the so-called underground Baptists, who broke off from the official union in 1961. While practically nobody was imprisoned for the reproduction and distribution of Christian literature, illegal printing was a criminal offense and several of the Baptists in Narva ended up in jail.
Both free-churches and the Lutheran Church stood out with the creation of their own Estonian theological literature, which were reprints of sermons, as well as historical works and self-compiled educational literature, which contributed to the preservation of Estonian theology. The Lutheran Church played an especially important role due to its unique position, which succeeded in preserving its Institute of Theology and obtaining permission to reproduce its own spiritual material. The Institute of Theology’s lecturers chose the materials to be printed as needed, after which the books remained in the Institute of Theology’s library.
One of the most important reproducers of underground Christian literature was Tarmo Soomere, who was associated with the Lutheran church. At the end of the 1970s, he brought the reproduction of Christian literature to an entirely new level, creating a vast network of organized printers across Estonia, who for a fee, reproduced hundreds of books in the thousands.
The dissemination of Christian literature opens up a very interesting and new angle on religious policy within the Soviet Union. A common motif that arose pertaining to Estonia was Estonia's special status compared to other Soviet republics due to significantly greater religious freedom and from a more relaxed relationship with the local government. Several different reasons have been given by the interviewees, the most important of which is the geographical location of Estonia, namely its proximity to the west and its attraction as a tourist destination, which resulted in the nickname “Sovetskii Zapad” (The Soviet West). It is believed that, as a result, the Soviet Union was able to show the world that they possessed religious freedom. The general opinion of the informants was that the local authorities were simply more reasonable than elsewhere, the same applies to the KGB, who has a firm grasp of whether the activities of one group of believers or another were truly a threat to the security of the State, which is why they were frequently viewed as minor offenses and were often ignored. Therefore, practically all informants said that they were not directly afraid of the central government, since they were accustomed to merely receiving threats. Based upon the memories of informants, it can be said that persecution and general pressure by the authorities united different churches together and aided in the establishment of interdenominational and ecumenical relations.

This is a translation of an article published in Estonian academic journal Tuna [Past], no 3/2013, pp 65-81.

Abstract:
Religiously motivated repressions in Estonia during Soviet era can be divided into  two: first, a particular kind of coercion, which violated Human rights but was backed up with Soviet law system, included the administration of religious life (i.e. legal restrictions and obligations) and atheistic propaganda along with the lack of the liberty of religious speech. The second category encompasses direct repressions with much harsher ways of neutralizing opposition.
Until the end of Stalin’s era the control over churches was achieved by mass repressions, fear and agreements between churches and the state. Later, preventive methods and coercion (“administration”) became the main methods of dealing with the “religion problem”; repressions were mostly personal and were used only when one tried the limits and boundaries.
Soviet Union was no rule of law and its laws violated human rights, including the limiting of the freedom of speech. Therefore, regarding religion, most of the aspects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 18 were more or less violated in Estonia. Meanwhile, when compared to the rest of Soviet Union, the situation in Estonian was quite mild due to the lack of tense religious situation. This was a result of at least four causes: control over the governing bodies of churches was achieved quite quickly; churches held low profile; due to the Soviet secular rituals the religious traditions were discontinued and religion was forced to the periphery; weak connection between religion and nationalism.
Although the methodology of the control of the religion problem was quite diverse, the outcome was quite poor and even chaotic. It points to the fact that zeitgeist and fear played quite an important role in creating the atmosphere of coercion and hostility toward religion.

В статье на материалах Украины анализируются трансформации обрядово-церемониальных практик Русской православной церкви, как в период хрущевской кампании, так и в последовавшие десятилетия. Внимание уделено распространению секретной нелегальной обрядности, изменениям традиционных обрядов жизненного цикла («адаптированные обряды»), «светским» церемониям, а также организационным изменениям в проведении центральных празднеств церковного календаря. Автор прослеживает, от кого исходила инициатива (верующие, духовенство, архиереи), а также как воспринимали те или иные изменения, новые явления в религиозной жизни церковная и государственная власти.

Репинецкий С.А. «…Актив верующих усилил свою пропаганду...» Докладные записки уполномоченного Совета по делам религиозных культов при Совете министров СССР по Куйбышевской области о деятельности еврейских общин (1948-1959 гг.) // Отечественные архивы. № 4, 2019. С. 92 - 109.
Ключевые слова: докладная записка, иудаизм, еврейские общины Куйбышева и Сызрани, синагога, еврейские праздники, Самарский областной государственный архив социально-политической истории, П.И. Алексин. История еврейства давно стала предметом специального изучения в западной и российской исторической науке, однако внимание преимущественно приковано к событиям Холокоста и предшествующей истории еврейских общин i. В то же время развитие еврейских общин СССР после Второй мировой войны редко привлекало внимание исследователей ii , их деятельность в поствоенный период в исторической литературе почти не освещена. Однако изучение этого вопроса может пролить свет на стратегию выживания национально-религиозных меньшинств в условиях авторитарного государства, показать внутренние факторы и причины еврейского национально-культурного возрождения в последние годы существования СССР, повлекшие массовый отъезд представителей этого народа и формирование крупных русскоязычных диаспор в США, Израиле и других странах. Между тем важный источник о еврейских общинах-документы уполномоченных Совета по делам религиозных культов при Совмине СССР, отложившиеся в фондах региональных партийных и советских органов власти и управления, используются не достаточно широко. Это относится и к документам уполномоченного Совета по делам религиозных культов по Куйбышевской области iii , входящих в состав фонда «Самарский обком КП РСФСР» (Ф. 956) Самарского областного государственного архива социально-политической истории (СОГАСПИ), а также в фонде «Уполномоченный Совета по делам религиозных культов при СМ СССР по Куйбышевской области» (Ф. Р-4089) Центрального государственного архива Самарской области (ЦГАСО) о жизни иудейских общин в городе и области в 1948-1959 гг.

NARCISSUS-ELIAS GUMINSKI AND A FORGOTTEN ATTEMPT AT CATHOLIC CHURCH REFORM IN UKRAINE.

The article, based on previously unknown documents from the former KGB archives, discusses the life and teaching of Narcissus (Elias) Guminski (1893-1943), a Catholic monk turned prophet, who became the founder of the Orthodox Evangelical Apocalyptic Church (so-called “Apocalypsists”) still existing in Ukrainian Podolia. This religious group, which emerged in the mid-1920s as an eschatological reform movement among the Polish Roman Catholics, soon engaged large masses of Ukrainian Orthodox peasantry and evolved into a peculiar version of “moderate” Reformation which is typologically similar to Lutheranism. It combines the preservation of a well-developed liturgical ritualism, the cult of Virgin Mary and holy images etc. with a democratization of church order and a sola Scriptura approach to faith and life ethics. After initial attempts to exploit Guminski’s movement as a kind of “renovationist schism” in the Catholic Church in the USSR, the Soviet regime soon proceeded to severe repressions against the Apocalypsists that took a heavy toll on the followers of the prophet, who himself died in GULAG.

Pärast taasiseseisvumist ja arhiivide avanemist on Nõukogude Eesti perioodi religiooniloo valdkonnas ilmunud mitmeid arhiivimaterjalidel põhinevaid uurimusi, 1 kuid suur osa religioonipoliitikasse puutuvatest allikatest on endiselt teaduskäibesse toomata, sest senised uurimused on võrdlemisi kindlapiirilised ning suunatud kas mingi piirkonna, perioodi või institutsiooni käsitlemisele. Et puudub süvitsiminev üldkäsitlus selle perioodi religioonipoliitikast, 2 siis toetutakse välisautoritele. 3 Nende tekstide puhul on aga ...

The process of forming a parish separate model in the conditions of church schism, Soviet state regulation and repression is analyzed in the article. The main stages of reforming the parish orthodox church institutions in 1920s and 1930s are emphasized. Special attention is paid to the logical interconnection and interdependence of parish governance levels. It is concluded that the parish institutes are deformed due to the antireligious policy consolidation, widespread church closure and repression of the community members in the 1930 s.

The article is published as: ‘Orthodox’ and ‘Soviet’: the Identity of Soviet Believers (1940s – early 1970s) / Natalia Shlikhta // Forum for Anthropology and Culture.  – 2015. – No. 11. – P. 140-164.

This article, based primarily on archive documents and published
sources about the life of Orthodox believers in Soviet Ukraine from
the latter half of the 1940s to the early 1970s, aims to trace the origins
of a modern situation in the Soviet past. For our research, material
was gathered from the traditionally Orthodox area of the Ukrainian
Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. The situation in
the so-called ‘reunited’ Western Ukrainian dioceses was substantially
different: the vast majority of believers and clergy entirely resisted
being categorised as either ‘Orthodox’, or ‘Soviet citizens’.
Although based on Ukrainian material, this research
also allows us to draw some broader conclusions: the practices and
discourse analysed in this article were by no means confined to the
Ukrainian dioceses of the ROC.
The theoretical basis of my research consists of the works of Western
and Russian scholars on identity problems (Brubaker and Cooper,
Malakhov, Bauman), including religious identity (Newman, Young,
Siegelbaum, Stone) and Soviet identity generally (Hellbeck), on the
anthropology and sociology of religion (Naumescu, Scott, Wilson,
Stark) and the anthropology of Soviet society (Firsov, Fitzpatrick,
Kotkin, Yurchak).
The article addresses in turn the following questions: a) why has the
need to reconcile the ‘Orthodox’ and the ‘Soviet’ arisen? b) how was
the dual ‘Orthodox-Soviet’ identity constructed? and c) how (and
with how much conflict) was this dual identity manifested in the
everyday life of Ukrainian Orthodox believers who were loyal Soviet
citizens? This article’s main contribution
is in its examination not so much of how the two loyalties
correlated in the perception and practices of Ukrainian Orthodox
believers during this period, but rather why this symbiosis was
consciously selected as a survival strategy in a socialist state and to what extent this strategy proved to be effective.

Book Review

Albert W. Wardin, Jr., On the Edge: Baptists and Other Free Church Evangelicals in Tsarist Russia, 1855-1917, Foreword by Gregory Nichols (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2013), x + 533 pp., paperback. ISBN# 978-1-62032-962-7.

Reviewed by Dr. Eric J. Schmaltz, Northwestern Oklahoma State University.  Dr. Schmaltz is editor of the quarterly Heritage Review published by the Germans from Russia Heritage Society in Bismarck, North Dakota.  This review appeared in Heritage Review, Vol. 45, No. 2 (June 2015):  pp. 35-37.

This article analyses the influence of Soviet religious politics on society’s attitude to religion, as well as on the transformation of religious practices taking as an example the Komi Republic. I focus on the Orthodox tradition,1 as the vast majority of residents of the Komi Republic were Orthodox (Russian Orthodox Church, Old Believers). The article starts with a brief review of theoretical approaches to the study of the religious transformations during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. The
churches’ closing in the 1920s – 1930s and their partial reopening in the 1940s –1950s are used to discuss changes in the manifestation of religiosity in public space. A correlation between gender, age and religious activity is demonstrated. The total control by the state over the church rituals led to a privatization of religious life, which significantly limited both the state and the church control over them. The article also describes how folk religious practices, unrelated to the church, influenced the believers’ resistance and adaptation to the political and ideological changes.

Der vorliegende Beitrag beschreibt die Situation der katholischen Kirche und der russlanddeutschen (römisch-)katholischen Priester in der Sowjetunion, die während der Zwischenkriegszeit einer ideologisch begründeten, politisch angeordneten und staatlich durchgeführten Verfolgung ausgesetzt waren. Dabei sollen die Wechselwirkungen zwischen mehreren Akteursebenen beschrieben werden: zwischen einer (sowohl nationalen wie religiösen) Minderheit in einem autoritär vorgehenden Staatswesen einerseits, dessen Verfolgungsbehörden andererseits sowie dem Heiligen Stuhl als dritter Instanz. Der explizite Bezug auf die Deutschen in der Sowjetunion ist insofern ein neuer Ansatz der katholischen Zeitgeschichte, als sich Katholizismusforschung in Deutschland zu den "Totalitarismen" des 20. Jahrhunderts insbesondere auf die NS-Problematik konzentriert 1 und in der Regel das deutschsprachige Gebiet nicht verlässt.

Метою статті є аналіз складних та багатогранних стосунків різноманітних баптистських громад Донецької області з радянською владою в обличчі уповноваженого Ради у справах релігій по Донецькій області в період загострення кризи радянської системи у 1965-1985рр. Саме в цей період формується два основних релігійних центри баптистів в Радянському Союзі-відносно лояльна Всесоюзна рада євангельських християн-баптистів (ВР ЄХБ) та опозиційно налаштована Рада Церков євангельських християн-баптистів (РЦ ЄХБ). За кількістю членів баптистських громад Донеччина посідала друге місце в Українській РСР, тож уповноважений Ради у справах релігій мав особливу конфесійну стратегію щодо баптистів. Окрім того, автор з'ясовує, що 1960-1970-і рр.. стали періодом, коли тиск радянської влади на баптистські організації краю набув двох основних форм-адміністрування їхньої діяльності з метою виявлення порушень та подальшого покарання вірних та намагання поставити діяльність баптистів регіону на легальні рейки.

In the article the author states that the Ukrainian Greco Catholic Church under the Soviet communist regime and religious persecutions in the second half of the XX century continued to thrive through the believers’ faithfulness and persistent resistance to the state’s antireligious ideology and abolition of their Church. The Greek-Catholics succeeded in containing the continuity of bishops and clergy, practiced their faith in many different forms, showing both accommodation and resistance. Thus the UGCC successfully defied the religious policy of a Soviet communist superpower intent on its annihilation, and intensified public movement for State recognition and legalization in the 1980s, which was finally achieved at the end of the year 1989.

The article deals with the process of formation of the identity of late Protestants (Evangelical Christians, Baptists and Pentecostals), which combines both religious and specific "Soviet" fea-tures. The article argues that the Soviet ideology had a great influence on the formation of their identity. At the same time, it refused to classify believers as honest and conscious citizens. Be-lievers were marked as "others".  Most believers positioned themselves as Soviet citizens, accept-ing the political system of the Soviet Union and socialist values, but having their own opinions about religion and its role in everyday life. The key value of the Soviet society was the right (and the honorable duty) to labour. Accordingly, in respect of people labeled as "other" (in the study period was a common euphemism for "dissenters") were often accused of parasitism.  One of the notable categories of such "dissidents" in the late Soviet Union were Evangelical believers, who were also religious dissidents in the literal sense of the word.  How did believers find the possi-bility of professional and creative implementation, as well as their financial support in an authori-tarian state? To what extent did the traditional "Protestant ethics" (M. Weber) determine the val-ues of the Soviet evangelicals in the socialist context? How did representatives of Evangelical communities fit into the complex social structure characterized as a system of "small transactions" of the Brezhnev’s USSR? In this study, we aim to show the position of the believers themselves, who willingly talk about their conscientious work, emphasizing the ethics of their positions and contrasting themselves with the authorities and the official discourse. At the same time, a set of strict ethical rules in everyday life made Evangelical believers popular employees in the Soviet infrastructure. We argue that during the Brezhnev’s period, the marginalization of believers at the ideological level and the restriction of access to intellectual and managerial resources were to some extent offset by their material wealth and access to certain scarce material resources and professions

It is imperative to identify and analyze the educational policies, embarked in Soviet Central Asia. This
paper investigates the seven decades Communist rule in Muslim oriented Central Asia with a special
focus to Islamic education policies and approaches. The Communist party serves as a seedbed of power
not only in economics and politics but also in the realm of ideology and education. The interrogation and
persecution on Religious education institutions, its carriers and scholars, Ulamas and believers clearly
depicts the atheistic religious policy of soviets. Atheistic propaganda was intensified in the early 1920’s
and 1930’s arbitrary arrests and execution took place to eliminate Muslim leaders who refused to cooperate
with the authorities. All Islamic schools (Maktabas and Madrassas) were closed and religious
literature was confiscated. Inspite the approach of “drying them out” Islamic education survived in hujra
(monastic cell) system of education.

The given publication brings to light the transcript of the speech by the
Deputy Chairman of the Council for Religious Affairs of the USSR, Peter Makartsev, during the organization’s meeting in Vilnius in 1977. This transcript is of special interest, since it brings the reader into the context of Soviet religious policy during the Helsinki Hearings. This speech was considered by contemporaries as quite extraordinary and open. Part of it was published in the Samizdat. Yet later on, it was kept in the archives of the Council for Religious Affairs. The concept of the Council for Religious Affairs, which Makartsev tried to attract the audience with, can be summarized as follows: the churches and their management in the USSR were loyal to the government; moreover, socialist values were shared by the major part of religious thinkers. Thus, there was no reason to consider religious institutions as enemies of the socialist system. Moreover, the desire to use the factor of Soviet religious persecution, brought to light by certain parties during the Cold War as an argument against the USSR, must drive the Soviet State to keep neutrality
towards religious institutions. Within Soviet society, the process of secularization was inevitable and must be gradual. Yet the desire to show the progress of secularization in the country of «triumphant socialism», manifested by the reduction of religious communities
and the decrease of religious rituals, led to opposite effects. Makartsev tried to show his Lithuanian colleagues a new concept that legalization and de-politicization of religious life provided with new opportunities of control and gradual neutralization of religious influence on society. Meanwhile, the attempts of Lithuanian authorities to fight religious
figures only led to growing protests and incitement of religious feelings, slowed the process of secularization and turned religious structures into strength of opposition. The use of administrative resources in the fight against religion led to the growth of fanaticism and extremism.
During the previous decades, the Soviet administration had been developing the conditions, under which Catholic parishes could exist in the USSR, however, the Vatican influence was brought down to a minimum. The goal of the Council for Religious Affairs was not to allow religious organizations in the USSR to become a factor in the Cold War.

В ходе Второй мировой войны общины поздних протестантов (баптистов, евангельских христиан, меннонитов, части пятидесятников) оказались в СССР в принципиально новых условиях: власти уравняли их в правах с другими деноминациями и разрешили части общин легализовать свою деятельность. Всесоюзный совет евангельских христиан баптистов (ВСЕХБ) c центром в Москве возглавил вторую по численности христианскую конфессию в СССР. К 1948 г. в состав ВСЕХБ входило 2766 общин с 183 тысячами членов. Легализация способствовала не только увеличению численности верующих, но и дала государству эффективный инструмент регулирования религиозной жизни. Искусственное заключение разнородных деноминаций в своеобразный плавильный котел, находившийся под серьезным внешним давлением, содействовало формированию специфических черт неопротестантского сообщества.
В статье на основе документов Совета по делам религиозных культов при СМ СССР (СДРК) реконструирована «идеальная схема» организационной структуры конфессий, которой руководствовался СДРК в короткий период легализации религиозной жизни СССР в 1944–1947 гг. В докладе будет поставлен вопрос о феномене живучести и определенной успешности проекта ВСЕХБ, созданного в рамках «нового» сталинского курса. Представленные документы демонстрируют формы унификации и стабилизации евангельского движения и дают понимание механизмов регулирования и контроля за религиозной средой, которые применялись вплоть до конца советского периода. Так, в период позднего сталинизма был заложен принцип легитимации «несменяемого» церковного руководства, фактически назначавшегося государством по критерию лояльности.
«Демократизация» середины 1950-х гг. (сворачивание репрессий и активизация деятельности общественных институтов) стала фактором дестабилизации ВСЕХБ. Выход из заключения в середине 1950-х гг. религиозных активистов и смена поколений привели к внутренней турбулентности и нестабильности церковной среды. В результате в условиях хрущевской антирелигиозной кампании трансформация ВСЕХБ сталинского «извода» стала неизбежной.

Interview with Gregory Freeze, professor at Brandeis University (USA), and his research on the history of the Russian clergy, Russian Orthodoxy in 1917-1941, and Church, state, and laity in Imperial Russia (1750-1917) [the interview is available in English and Russian]

A number of extra-ecclesiastic charismatic religious leaders appeared in Udmurtia in the early XX century. The historian Yevgeny Shumilov links their appearance with the survivals of paganism among the Udmurts. Meanwhile, some of them were the custodians of rural shrines, which is a typical phenomenon for Folk Orthodoxy. Shumilov positively assesses the disciplinary role of the Russian Church that controlled their activities. He perceives the materials of NKVD investigation over them uncritically. In fact, these data reproduce some urban legends and should be perceived as «trial-lore»

The compromise policy pursued by Stalin's government during World War II regarding religious organizations did not at all mean that the state refused to control religion and interfere in its affairs. On the contrary, it has become much more intense, as the Orthodox Church has become a state institution among religious institutions, and if it had previously been perceived as a force opposed by the authorities in the eyes of the local and international community, this time it would have been a state course. In the reality that in the Soviet Union there was almost no normal approach by the state to cooperation with the Church, it is natural that it was necessary to find a form that would to regulate it in such a way that both parties were more or less satisfied with their cooperation. That is why the central government in 1943 to control better the church, created a new body - the Russian Orthodox Church Affairs Council under the USSR People's Commissar. The new body established by the Soviet authorities during World War II, on one hand, was intended to take full control of both the Orthodox Church and other religious organizations and, on the other hand, to regulate the relationship between the state and the church, the experience of which
in Soviet reality was virtually nonexistent. The leadership of the Georgian Orthodox Church has been correct in changing government policy and has demanded the establishment of its own trustee's office, because submission to the body designated for the Russian Church would amount to violating the autocephalous rights of the Georgian Church.

Ярославль — один из самых древних городов России. Первое, что удивляет тех, кто посещает город - контраст в архитектуре Ярославля различных исторических периодов. Это демонстрирует нам идею русского исторического процесса,  который  постоянно развивается и демонстрирует большие перемены, которые происходят в стране.
В своей работе я решил сосредоточиться  на идее развития Русской православной церкви (РПЦ), так как она является важным элементом в жизни Ярославля. Местные жители говорят, что церкви здесь «за каждым углом». Именно поэтому Ярославль называют «городом множества церквей». Данный факт вызвал у меня желание исследовать социальную значимость церкви и её развитие на протяжении всей истории.
Поскольку в городе огромное количество церквей и  каждая из них имеет уникальную историю, я решил заняться изучением храмового комплекса, который привлек мое внимание. Это - Толгский монастырь.
Несмотря на то, что данный монастырь находится далеко от центра города, у него всегда была важная роль в религиозной жизни Ярославля, и он является одной из самих главных достопримечательностей города. Через уникальную историю монастыря мы можем проследить развитие отношений Русской православной церкви с государственной властью не только в Ярославле, но и в России и в СССР.
В этом статье я попытаюсь проследить историю монастыря вместе с историческими и политическими событиями развития России. Задачи, которые нам предстоит решить в данной работе:  определить роль монастыря в дореволюционный, советский и постсоветский период; 
понять значение данного монастыря в жизни общества и отдельных людей. 
Сделать исследование по данной теме в России значительно труднее, чем подобное исследование в других странах из-за двух причин: во-первых - нехватка источников, и во-вторых их объективность. В советский период существовала жесткая цензура и исторические источники этого времени трудно назвать объективными, поскольку религия считалась врагом власти. Нужен внимательный анализ источников. Сегодня, благодаря распаду Советского Союза мы имеем возможность найти документы, свободные от идеологии, что позволяет нам по-новому смотреть на проблему.
Другая трудность, возникшая в процессе работы: в каждой области, у каждой церкви различная история, так как записи, имеющие отношение к церкви, велись представителями местной власти отдельно, зачастую бессистемно, поэтому исторический обзор иногда кажется бессвязным.
В целом Толгский монастырь играл важную роль во время наиболее значимых этапов русской истории, поэтому, на наш взгляд, стоит провести исследование только ради этой причины.