Plan
Introduction
1. Russian Orthodox Church on the eve of World War II (1937-1941)
1.1. Bolshevik terror and the Russian Orthodox Church
1.2. Beginning of World War II. Russian Orthodox Church and Bolshevik propaganda in the near abroad.
2. Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)
2.1. The reaction of the Russian Orthodox Church to the country's entry into the great battle.
2.2. Religious policy of Nazi Germany in the occupied territories
3. Changes in the policy of the atheistic state in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church during the Second World War
3.1. A turning point in relations between the Church and the Bolsheviks
3.2. Russian Orthodox Church under His Holiness Patriarch Sergius
3.3. The period of triumph of the Red Army. Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Alexy I.
4. Attitude towards the Russian Orthodox Church during the apogee of Stalinism (1945-1953)
Conclusion
Applications
Bibliography
Introduction
Forever and ever, remembering the gloom
Ages that have passed once and for all,
I saw that it was not to the Mausoleum, but to your altar
The banners of the enemy regiments fell.
I. Kochubeev
Relevance of the topic:
The Russian Orthodox Church played an important role during the Great Patriotic War, supporting and helping the people to withstand this unequal battle with extermination, when it itself was subject to persecution not only by the enemy, but also by the authorities.
Nevertheless, during the Great Patriotic War, the Church addressed its parishioners with a call to defend the Motherland to the end, for the Lord will not leave the Russian people in trouble if they fiercely defend their land and fervently pray to God.
The support of the Russian Orthodox Church was significant, its power was also appreciated by the Bolsheviks, therefore, during the most intense period of the war, the atheist state suddenly changed the course of its religious policy, starting cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Church. And although it did not last long, this fact did not pass without a trace in the history of our country.
In this regard, this essay has the following objectives:
1. Consider the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church on the eve of World War II.
2. Analyze the policy of the Bolsheviks in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War.
3. Establish the relationship between the situation on the WWII fronts and the relationship between the Bolsheviks and the Church.
4. Draw conclusions about how the atheism of the Bolshevik system affected modern Russian society.
1. Russian Orthodox Church on the eve II World War (1937-1941)
1.1. Bolshevik terror and the Russian Orthodox Church
The results of the census signaled a colossal failure of the “Union of Militant Atheists.” For this, the union of five million people was subjected to “cleansing”. About half of its members were arrested, many were shot as enemies of the people. The authorities did not have any other reliable means of atheistic education of the population other than terror. And it fell upon the Orthodox Church in 1937 with such total coverage that it seemed to lead to the eradication of church life in the country.
At the very beginning of 1937, a campaign of mass church closures began. At a meeting on February 10, 1937 alone, the permanent commission on religious issues considered 74 cases of liquidation of religious communities and did not support the closure of churches only in 22 cases, and in just one year over 8 thousand churches were closed. And, of course, all this destruction was carried out “at the numerous requests of the working collectives” in order to “improve the layout of the city.” As a result of this devastation and devastation, about 100 churches remained in the vast expanses of the RSFSR, almost all in big cities, mainly those where foreigners were allowed. These temples were called “demonstrative”. Slightly more, up to 3% of pre-revolutionary parishes, have survived in Ukraine. In the Kiev diocese, which in 1917 numbered 1,710 churches, 1,435 priests, 277 deacons, 1,410 psalm-readers, 23 monasteries and 5,193 monastics, in 1939 there were only 2 parishes with 3 priests, 1 deacon and 2 psalm-readers. In Odessa, there is only one functioning church left in the cemetery.
During the years of pre-war terror, mortal danger loomed over the existence of the Patriarchate itself and the entire church organization. By 1939, from the Russian episcopate, in addition to the head of the Church - the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Sergius, 3 bishops remained in the departments - Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad, Archbishop of Dmitrov and administrator of the Patriarchate Sergius (Voskresensky) and Archbishop of Peterhof Nikolai (Yarushevich), administrator of the Novgorod and Pskov dioceses.
1.2. The beginning of the Second World War. The Russian Orthodox Church and Bolshevik propaganda in the near abroad
On September 1, 1939, the second war began with the attack of Nazi Germany on Poland. World War. Not only in human life, but also in the life of nations, the destinies of civilizations, disasters come as a result of sins. The unparalleled persecution of the Church, the civil war and regicide in Russia, the racist rampage of the Nazis and the rivalry over the spheres of influence of the European and Pacific powers, the decline of morals that swept through European and American society - all this overflowed the cup of God’s wrath. There were still 2 years of peaceful life left for Russia, but there was no peace within the country itself. The war of the Bolshevik government with its people and the internal party struggle of the communist elite did not stop; there was no peaceful silence on the borders of the Soviet empire. After the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and 16 days after the German attack on Poland, the Red Army crossed the Soviet-Polish border and occupied its eastern voivodeships - originally Russian and Orthodox lands: Western Belarus and Volhynia, separated from Russia by the Treaty of Riga (1921) of the Soviet government with Poland, as well as Galicia, which was separated from Rus' for centuries. On June 27, 1940, the Soviet government demanded that Romania, within four days, clear the territory of Bessarabia, which belonged to Russia until 1918, and Northern Bukovina, cut off from Rus' in the Middle Ages, but where the majority of the population had Russian roots. Romania was forced to submit to the ultimatum. In the summer of 1940, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which belonged to Russia before the revolution and civil war, were annexed to the Soviet Union.
The expansion of the borders of the Soviet state to the west territorially expanded the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Moscow Patriarchate received the opportunity to actually manage the dioceses of the Baltic states, Western Belarus, Western Ukraine and Moldova.
The establishment of the Soviet regime in the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus was accompanied by repressions. In Volyn and Polesie alone, 53 clergy were arrested. However, they did not destroy the church life of Western Rus'. Almost all parishes that survived during the Polish occupation were not closed by the Soviet authorities. Monasteries also continued to exist; True, the number of inhabitants in them was significantly reduced; some were forcibly removed from the monasteries, others left them themselves. Land plots and other real estate were confiscated from monasteries and churches, churches were nationalized and transferred for use to religious communities, and civil taxes were established on “clergy.” A serious blow to the Church was the closure of the Kremenets Theological Seminary.
Bolshevik propaganda through newspapers and radio tried to discredit the Orthodox clergy in the eyes of the masses, to kill faith in Christ in the hearts of people, the “Union of Militant Atheists” opened its branches in the newly annexed regions. Its chairman, E. Yaroslavsky, lashed out at parents who did not want to send their children to Soviet atheistic schools that had opened in the western regions. In Volyn and Belarus, brigades were created from hooligan teenagers and Komsomol members who caused scandals near churches during services, especially on holidays. For such atheistic activities for the celebration of Easter in 1940, the “Union of Militant Atheists” received 2.8 million rubles from the state treasury, which was not rich at that time. They were spent mainly in the western regions, because there the people openly celebrated the Resurrection of Christ and Easter services took place in every village.
In 1939–1941 In legal forms, church life was essentially preserved only in Western dioceses. More than 90% of all parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church were located here, monasteries operated, all dioceses were governed by bishops. In the rest of the country, the church organization was destroyed: in 1939 there were only 4 departments occupied by bishops, including the head of the Church, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, about 100 parishes and not a single monastery. Mostly older women came to church, but religious life persisted even in these conditions, it simmered not only in the wild, but also in countless camps that disfigured Russia, where priest-confessors cared for the condemned and even served the liturgy on carefully covered antimensions.
In the last pre-war years, the wave of anti-church repressions subsided, partly because almost everything that could be destroyed was already destroyed, and everything that could be trampled was trampled. The Soviet leaders considered it premature to strike the final blow for various reasons. There was probably one special reason: the war was raging near the borders of the Soviet Union. Despite the ostentatious peacefulness of their declarations and assurances of the strength of friendly relations with Germany, they knew that war was inevitable and were unlikely to be so blinded by their own propaganda as to create illusions about the readiness of the masses to defend communist ideals. By sacrificing themselves, people could only fight for their homeland, and then the communist leaders turned to the patriotic feelings of citizens.
2. Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)
2.1. The reaction of the Russian Orthodox Church to the country's entry into the great battle
Sunday June 22, 1941, the day of Nazi Germany's attack on Soviet Union , coincided with the celebration of the memory of All Saints who shone in the Russian land. It would seem that the outbreak of war should have exacerbated the contradictions between and the state, which had been persecuting it for more than twenty years. However, this did not happen. The spirit of love inherent in the Church turned out to be stronger than resentment and prejudice. In the person of the Patriarchal Locum Tenens, the Metropolitan gave an accurate, balanced assessment of the unfolding events and determined her attitude towards them. At a moment of general confusion, confusion and despair, the voice of the Church sounded especially clearly. Having learned about the attack on the USSR, Metropolitan Sergius returned to his modest residence from the Epiphany Cathedral, where he served the Liturgy, immediately went to his office, wrote and typed with his own hand the “Message to the Pastors and Flock of Christ’s Orthodox Church.” “Despite his physical disabilities - deafness and immobility,” Archbishop Dimitri (Gradusov) of Yaroslavl later recalled, “Metropolitan Sergius turned out to be unusually sensitive and energetic: he not only managed to write his message, but also sent it to all corners of his vast Motherland.” The message read: “Our Orthodox faith has always shared the fate of the people. She endured trials with him and was consoled by his successes. She will not leave her people even now. She blesses with heavenly blessing the upcoming national feat...” In the terrible hour of the enemy invasion, the wise first hierarch saw behind the alignment of political forces in the international arena, behind the clash of powers, interests and ideologies, the main danger that threatened to destroy thousand-year-old Russia. The choice of Metropolitan Sergius, like every believer in those days, was not simple and unambiguous. During the years of persecution, he and everyone else drank from the same cup of suffering and martyrdom. And now with all his archpastoral and confessional authority he convinced the priests not to remain silent witnesses, much less to indulge in thoughts about possible benefits on the other side of the front. The message clearly reflects the position of the Russian Orthodox Church, based on a deep understanding of patriotism, a sense of responsibility before God for the fate of the earthly Fatherland. Subsequently, at the Council of Bishops of the Orthodox Church on September 8, 1943, the Metropolitan himself, recalling the first months of the war, said: “We did not have to think about what position our Church should take during the war, because before we had time to determine, somehow their position, it had already been determined - the fascists attacked our country, devastated it, took our compatriots captive, tortured and robbed them in every possible way. .. So simple decency would not allow us to take any other position than the one we took, that is, unconditionally negative towards everything that bears the stamp of fascism, a stamp hostile to our country.” In total, during the war years, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens issued up to 23 patriotic messages.
Metropolitan Sergius was not alone in his call to the Orthodox people. Leningrad Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) called on believers to “lay down their lives for the integrity, for the honor, for the happiness of their beloved Motherland.” In his messages, he first of all wrote about the patriotism and religiosity of the Russian people: “As in the times of Demetrius Donskoy and Saint Alexander Nevsky, as in the era of the struggle against Napoleon, the victory of the Russian people was due not only to the patriotism of the Russian people, but also to their deep faith in helping God’s just cause... We will be unshakable in our faith in the final victory over lies and evil, in the final victory over the enemy.”
Another close associate of the Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich), also addressed the flock with patriotic messages, who often went to the front line, performing services in local churches, delivering sermons with which he consoled the suffering people, instilling hope for God’s almighty help, calling on the flock to be faithful to the Fatherland. On the first anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War, June 22, 1942, Metropolitan Nicholas addressed a message to the flock living in the territory occupied by the Germans: “It has been a year since the fascist beast flooded our native land with blood. This enemy is desecrating our holy temples of God. And the blood of the murdered, and the devastated shrines, and the destroyed temples of God - everything cries out to heaven for vengeance!.. The Holy Church rejoices that among you, people’s heroes are rising up for the holy cause of saving the Motherland from the enemy - glorious partisans, for whom there is no higher happiness than fight for the Motherland and, if necessary, die for it.”
In distant America, the former head of the military clergy of the White Army, Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), called upon God's blessing on the soldiers of the Soviet army, on the entire people, the love for whom did not pass or diminish during the years of forced separation. On July 2, 1941, he spoke at a rally of many thousands in Madison Square Garden with an appeal to his compatriots, allies, to all people who sympathized with the fight against fascism, and emphasized the special, providential nature of the events taking place in the East of Europe for all mankind, saying that The fate of the whole world depends on the fate of Russia. Special attention Bishop Benjamin drew on the day the war began - the day of All Saints who shone in the Russian land, believing that this is “a sign of the mercy of the Russian saints towards our common Motherland and gives us great hope that the struggle that has begun will end in a good end for us.”
From the first day of the war, the hierarchs in their messages expressed the attitude of the Church to the outbreak of the war as liberation and fair, and blessed the defenders of the Motherland. The messages consoled believers in sorrow, called them to selfless work in the rear, courageous participation in military operations, supported faith in the final victory over the enemy, thereby contributing to the formation of high patriotic feelings and convictions among thousands of compatriots.
A description of the actions of the Church during the war years will not be complete unless it is said that the actions of the hierarchs who disseminated their messages were illegal, since after the resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars on religious associations in 1929, the area of activity of clergy and religious preachers was limited to the location of the members of the serviced them of the religious association and the location of the corresponding prayer room.
Not only in words, but also in deeds, she did not leave her people, she shared with them all the hardships of the war. Manifestations of the patriotic activity of the Russian Church were very diverse. Bishops, priests, laity, faithful children of the Church, accomplished their feat regardless of the front line: deep in the rear, on the front line, in the occupied territories.
1941 found Bishop Luka (Voino-Yasenetsky) in his third exile, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. When the Great Patriotic War began, Bishop Luke did not stand aside and did not harbor a grudge. He came to the leadership of the regional center and offered his experience, knowledge and skill to treat soldiers of the Soviet army. At this time, a huge hospital was being organized in Krasnoyarsk. Trains with wounded were already coming from the front. In October 1941, Bishop Luka was appointed consultant to all hospitals in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and chief surgeon of the evacuation hospital. He plunged headlong into the difficult and intense surgical work. The most difficult operations, complicated by extensive suppuration, had to be performed by a renowned surgeon. In mid-1942, the period of exile ended. Bishop Luke was elevated to the rank of archbishop and appointed to the Krasnoyarsk see. But, heading the department, he, as before, continued surgical work, returning the defenders of the Fatherland to duty. The archbishop's hard work in Krasnoyarsk hospitals produced brilliant scientific results. At the end of 1943, the 2nd edition of “Essays on Purulent Surgery”, revised and significantly expanded, was published, and in 1944 the book “Late Resections of Infected Gunshot Wounds of Joints” was published. For these two works Saint Luke was awarded Stalin Prize I degree. Vladyka donated part of this prize to help children who suffered in the war.
Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad carried out his archpastoral labors just as selflessly in besieged Leningrad, spending most of the blockade with his long-suffering flock. At the beginning of the war, there were five active churches left in Leningrad: St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral, Prince Vladimir and Transfiguration Cathedrals and two cemetery churches. Metropolitan Alexy lived at St. Nicholas Cathedral and served there every Sunday, often without a deacon. With his sermons and messages, he filled the souls of the suffering Leningraders with courage and hope. IN Palm Sunday His archpastoral address was read in churches, in which he called on believers to selflessly help soldiers with honest work in the rear. He wrote: “Victory is achieved not by the power of one weapon, but by the power of universal upsurge and powerful faith in victory, by trust in God, who crowns with the triumph of the weapon of truth, “saving” us “from cowardice and from the storm” (). And our army itself is strong not only in numbers and the power of weapons, but the spirit of unity and inspiration that lives the entire Russian people flows into it and ignites the hearts of the soldiers.”
The activities of the clergy during the days of the siege, which had deep spiritual and moral significance, were forced to be recognized and soviet government. Many clergy, led by Metropolitan Alexy, were awarded the medal “For the Defense of Leningrad.”
Metropolitan Nikolai of Krutitsky and many representatives of the Moscow clergy were awarded a similar award, but for the defense of Moscow. In the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate we read that the rector of the Moscow Church in the name of the Holy Spirit at the Danilovsky cemetery, Archpriest Pavel Uspensky, did not leave Moscow during the troubled days, although he usually lived outside the city. A 24-hour watch was organized in the temple; they were very careful to ensure that random visitors did not linger in the cemetery at night. A bomb shelter was set up in the lower part of the temple. To provide first aid in case of accidents, a sanitary station was created at the temple, where there were stretchers, dressings and the necessary medicines. The priest's wife and his two daughters took part in the construction of anti-tank ditches. The energetic patriotic activity of the priest will become even more significant if we mention that he was 60 years old. At Archpriest Peter Filonov, rector of the Moscow Church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God " Unexpected joy"in Maryina Roshcha, three sons served in the army. He also organized a shelter in the temple, just like all citizens of the capital, in turn he stood at security posts. And along with this, he carried out extensive explanatory work among believers, pointing out the harmful influence of enemy propaganda that penetrated the capital in leaflets scattered by the Germans. The word of the spiritual shepherd was very fruitful in those difficult and anxious days.
Hundreds of clergy, including those who managed to return to freedom by 1941 after serving time in camps, prisons and exile, were drafted into the ranks of the active army. Thus, having already been imprisoned, S.M. began his combat journey along the war fronts as deputy company commander. Eternally, the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Pimen. Viceroy of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery in 1950–1960. Archimandrite Alipiy (Voronov) fought for all four years, defended Moscow, was wounded several times and was awarded orders. The future Metropolitan of Kalinin and Kashin Alexy (Konoplev) was a machine gunner at the front. When he returned to the priesthood in 1943, the medal “For Military Merit” glittered on his chest. Archpriest Boris Vasiliev, before the war a deacon of the Kostroma Cathedral, commanded a reconnaissance platoon in Stalingrad, and then fought as deputy chief of regimental intelligence. In the report of the Chairman of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church G. Karpov to the Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks A.A. Kuznetsov on the state of the Russian Church dated August 27, 1946, indicated that many members of the clergy were awarded orders and medals of the Great Patriotic War.
In the occupied territory, clergymen were sometimes the only link between the local population and the partisans. They sheltered the Red Army soldiers and themselves joined the partisan ranks. Priest Vasily Kopychko, rector of the Odrizhinskaya Assumption Church in the Ivanovo district in the Pinsk region, in the first month of the war, through an underground group of a partisan detachment, received a message from Moscow from the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius, read it to his parishioners, despite the fact that the Nazis shot those who had the text appeals. From the beginning of the war until its victorious conclusion, Father Vasily spiritually strengthened his parishioners, performing divine services at night without lighting, so as not to be noticed. Almost all residents of the surrounding villages came to the service. The brave shepherd introduced parishioners to the reports of the Information Bureau, talked about the situation at the fronts, called on them to resist the invaders, and read messages from the Church to those who found themselves under occupation. One day, accompanied by partisans, he came to their camp, became thoroughly acquainted with the life of the people's avengers, and from that moment became a partisan liaison. The rectory became a partisan hangout. Father Vasily collected food for the wounded partisans and sent weapons. At the beginning of 1943, the Nazis managed to uncover his connection with the partisans. and the Germans burned down the abbot’s house. Miraculously, they managed to save the shepherd’s family and transport Father Vasily himself to the partisan detachment, which subsequently united with the active army and participated in the liberation of Belarus and Western Ukraine. For his patriotic activities, the clergyman was awarded medals “Partisan of the Great Patriotic War”, “For Victory over Germany”, “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War”.
Personal feat was combined with fundraising from parishes for the needs of the front. Initially, believers transferred money to the account of the State Defense Committee, the Red Cross and other funds. But on January 5, 1943, Metropolitan Sergius sent a telegram to Stalin asking for permission to open a bank account into which all the money donated for defense in all churches in the country would be deposited. Stalin gave his written consent and, on behalf of the Red Army, thanked the Church for its labors. By January 15, 1943, in Leningrad alone, besieged and starving, believers donated 3,182,143 rubles to the church fund for the defense of the country.
The creation of the tank column “Dmitry Donskoy” and the squadron “Alexander Nevsky” with church funds constitutes a special page in history. There was almost not a single rural parish on the land free from fascists that did not make its contribution to the national cause. In the memories of those days, the archpriest of the church in the village of Troitsky, Dnepropetrovsk region, I.V. Ivleva says: “There was no money in the church treasury, but it was necessary to get it... I blessed two 75-year-old old women for this great cause. Let their names be known to people: Kovrigina Maria Maksimovna and Gorbenko Matryona Maksimovna. And they went, they went after all the people had already made their contribution through the village council. Two Maksimovnas went to ask in the name of Christ to protect their dear Motherland from rapists. We went around the entire parish - villages, farmsteads and settlements located 5-20 kilometers from the village, and as a result - 10 thousand rubles, a significant amount in our places devastated by German monsters.”
Funds were collected for the tank column and in the occupied territory. An example of this is the civic feat of priest Feodor Puzanov from the village of Brodovichi-Zapolye. In the occupied Pskov region, for the construction of a column, he managed to collect among the believers a whole bag of gold coins, silver, church utensils and money. These donations, totaling about 500,000 rubles, were transferred by the partisans to the mainland. With each year of the war, the amount of church contributions grew noticeably. But of particular importance in the final period of the war was the collection of funds that began in October 1944 to help the children and families of Red Army soldiers. On October 10, in his letter to I. Stalin, Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad, who headed Russia after the death of Patriarch Sergius, wrote: “May this concern on the part of all believers of our Union for the children and families of our native soldiers and defenders facilitate their great feat, and may it unite us even more close spiritual ties with those who do not spare their blood for the freedom and prosperity of our Motherland.” The clergy and laity of the occupied territories after liberation were also actively involved in patriotic work. Thus, in Orel, after the expulsion of fascist troops, 2 million rubles were collected.
Historians and memoirists have described all the battles on the battlefields of World War II, but no one is able to describe the spiritual battles committed by the great and nameless prayer books during these years.
On June 26, 1941, in the Epiphany Cathedral, Metropolitan Sergius served a prayer service “For the Granting of Victory.” From that time on, similar prayers began to be performed in all churches of the Moscow Patriarchate according to specially compiled texts “A prayer service for the invasion of adversaries, sung in the Russian Orthodox Church during the days of the Great Patriotic War.” In all churches there was a prayer composed by Archbishop Augustine (Vinogradsky) in the year of the Napoleonic invasion, a prayer for the granting of victories to the Russian army, which stood in the way of civilized barbarians. From the first day of the war, without interrupting its prayer for a single day, during all church services, our church fervently prayed to the Lord for the granting of success and victory to our army: “O give unabated, irresistible and victorious strength, strength and courage with courage to our army to crush our enemies and adversaries and all their cunning slander...”
Metropolitan Sergius not only called, but he himself was a living example of prayerful service. Here is what his contemporaries wrote about him: “On his way from the northern camps to the Vladimir exile, Archbishop Philip (Gumilevsky) was in Moscow; he went to the office of Metropolitan Sergius in Baumansky Lane, hoping to see Vladyka, but he was away. Then Archbishop Philip left a letter to Metropolitan Sergius, which contained the following lines: “Dear Vladyka, when I think of you standing at night prayers, I think of you as a holy righteous man; when I think about your daily activities, I think of you as a holy martyr...”
During the war, when the decisive Battle of Stalingrad was nearing its end, on January 19, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens in Ulyanovsk led a religious procession to the Jordan. He fervently prayed for the victory of the Russian army, but an unexpected illness forced him to go to bed. On the night of February 2, 1943, the Metropolitan, as his cell attendant, Archimandrite John (Razumov) said, having overcome his illness, asked for help to get out of bed. Rising with difficulty, he made three bows, thanking God, and then said: “The Lord of the armies, mighty in battle, has overthrown those who rise up against us. May the Lord bless his people with peace! Maybe this beginning will be a happy ending." In the morning, the radio broadcast a message about the complete defeat of German troops at Stalingrad.
The Monk Seraphim Vyritsky accomplished a wondrous spiritual feat during the Great Patriotic War. Imitating St. Seraphim of Sarov, he prayed in the garden on a stone in front of his icon for the forgiveness of human sins and for the deliverance of Russia from the invasion of adversaries. With hot tears, the great elder begged the Lord for the revival of the Russian Orthodox Church and for the salvation of the whole world. This feat required from the saint indescribable courage and patience; it was truly martyrdom for the sake of love for one’s neighbors. From the stories of the ascetic’s relatives: “...In 1941, grandfather was already 76 years old. By that time, the disease had weakened him greatly, and he could practically not move without assistance. In the garden behind the house, about fifty meters away, a granite boulder protruded from the ground, in front of which a small apple tree grew. It was on this stone that Father Seraphim raised his petitions to the Lord. They led him by the arms to the place of prayer, and sometimes they simply carried him. An icon was fixed on the apple tree, and grandfather stood with his sore knees on the stone and stretched out his hands to the sky... What did it cost him! After all, he suffered from chronic diseases of the legs, heart, blood vessels and lungs. Apparently, the Lord Himself helped him, but it was impossible to look at all this without tears. We repeatedly begged him to leave this feat - after all, it was possible to pray in the cell, but in this case he was merciless both to himself and to us. Father Seraphim prayed as much as he could - sometimes an hour, sometimes two, and sometimes several hours in a row, he gave himself completely, without reserve - it was truly a cry to God! We believe that through the prayers of such ascetics Russia survived and St. Petersburg was saved. We remember: grandfather told us that one prayer book for the country could save all the cities and towns... Despite the cold and heat, wind and rain, and many serious illnesses, the elder insistently demanded that we help him get to the stone. So day after day, throughout the long, grueling war years...”
Then many ordinary people, military personnel, and those who had left God during the years of persecution also turned to God. Theirs was sincere and often bore the repentant character of a “prudent thief.” One of the signalmen who received combat reports from Russian military pilots on the radio said: “When the pilots in the downed planes saw their inevitable death, they last words often there were: “Lord, accept my soul.” The commander of the Leningrad Front, Marshal L.A., repeatedly publicly demonstrated his religious feelings. Govorov, after the Battle of Stalingrad Marshal V.N. began visiting Orthodox churches. Chuikov. The belief became widespread among believers that throughout the war Marshal G.K. carried the image of the Kazan Mother of God with him in his car. Zhukov. In 1945, he again lit the unquenchable lamp in the Leipzig Orthodox church-monument dedicated to the “Battle of the Nations” with the Napoleonic army. G. Karpov, reporting to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on the celebration of Easter in Moscow and Moscow region churches on the night of April 15-16, 1944, emphasized that in almost all churches, in varying numbers, there were military officers and enlisted personnel.
The war re-evaluated all aspects of the life of the Soviet state and returned people to the realities of life and death. The revaluation took place not only at the level of ordinary citizens, but also at the government level. An analysis of the international situation and the religious situation in the occupied territory convinced Stalin that it was necessary to support the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by Metropolitan Sergius. On September 4, 1943, Metropolitans Sergius, Alexy and Nikolai were invited to the Kremlin to meet with I.V. Stalin. As a result of this meeting, permission was received to convene the Council of Bishops, elect a Patriarch at it and resolve some other church problems. At the Council of Bishops on September 8, 1943. His Holiness Patriarch Metropolitan Sergius was elected. On October 7, 1943, the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church was formed under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, which indirectly testified to the government's recognition of the existence of the Russian Orthodox Church and the desire to regulate relations with it.
At the beginning of the war, Metropolitan Sergius wrote: “Let the thunderstorm approach, We know that it brings not only disasters, but also benefits: it refreshes the air and expels all sorts of miasma.” Millions of people were able to rejoin the Church of Christ. Despite the almost 25-year dominance of atheism, Russia has transformed. The spiritual nature of the war was that through suffering, deprivation, and sorrow, people eventually returned to faith.
In its actions, the Church was guided by participation in the fullness of moral perfection and love inherent in God, by the apostolic tradition: “We also beseech you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, be patient with everyone. See to it that no one repays evil for evil; but always seek the good of each other and everyone” (). Preserving this spirit meant and means remaining One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.
Sources and literature:
1 . Damaskin I.A., Koshel P.A. Encyclopedia of the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945. M.: Red Proletarian, 2001.
2 . Veniamin (Fedchenkov), Metropolitan. At the turn of two eras. M.: Father's House, 1994.
3 . Ivlev I.V., prot. About patriotism and patriots with big and small deeds // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 1944. No. 5. P.24–26.
4 . History of the Russian Orthodox Church. From the restoration of the Patriarchate to the present day. T.1. 1917–1970. St. Petersburg: Resurrection, 1997.
5 . Marushchak Vasily, protod. Saint-Surgeon: Life of Archbishop Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky). M.: Danilovsky blagovestnik, 2003.
6 . Newly glorified saints. Life of the Hieromartyr Sergius (Lebedev) // Moscow Diocesan Gazette. 2001. No. 11–12. pp.53–61.
7 . The most revered saints of St. Petersburg. M.: “Favor-XXI”, 2003.
8 . Pospelovsky D.V. Russian Orthodox in the 20th century. M.: Republic, 1995.
9 . Russian Orthodox Church in Soviet time(1917–1991). Materials and documents on the history of relations between the state and / Comp. G. Stricker. M.: Propylaea, 1995.
10 . Seraphim's blessing/Comp. and general ed. Bishop of Novosibirsk and Berdsk Sergius (Sokolov). 2nd ed. M.: Pro-Press, 2002.
11 . Tsypin V., prot. History of the Russian Church. Book 9. M.: Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery, 1997.
12 . Shapovalova A. Rodina appreciated their merits // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 1944. No. 10.S. 18–19.
13 . Shkarovsky M.V. Russian Orthodox under Stalin and Khrushchev. M.: Krutitskoye Patriarchal Compound, 1999.
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the threat of complete destruction loomed over the Russian Orthodox Church. The country declared a “godless five-year plan,” during which the Soviet state was supposed to finally get rid of “religious remnants.”
Almost all the surviving bishops were in camps, and the number of operating churches throughout the country did not exceed several hundred. However, despite the unbearable conditions of existence, on the very first day of the war, the Russian Orthodox Church, in the person of the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), showed courage and fortitude, discovered the ability to encourage and support its people in difficult times. war time. “The protection of the Most Holy Virgin Mother of God, the ever-present Intercessor of the Russian land, will help our people survive the time of difficult trials and victoriously end the war with our victory,” with these words Metropolitan Sergius addressed the parishioners who gathered on June 22, Sunday, at the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow. The bishop ended his sermon, in which he spoke about the spiritual roots of Russian patriotism, with words that sounded with prophetic confidence: “The Lord will grant us victory!”
After the liturgy, locked in his cell, the locum tenens personally typed the text of the appeal to the “Pastors and flock of Christ’s Orthodox Church,” which was immediately sent out to the surviving parishes. In all churches, a special prayer for deliverance from enemies began to be read during services.
Meanwhile, the Germans, having crossed the border, rapidly advanced through Soviet territory. In the occupied lands they pursued a well-thought-out religious policy, opening churches and conducting successful anti-Soviet propaganda against this background. Of course, this was not done out of love for Christianity. Wehrmacht documents released after the end of the war indicate that most of the open churches were subject to closure after the end of the Russian campaign. Operational Order No. 10 of the Reich Main Security Directorate speaks eloquently about the attitude towards the church issue. It stated, in particular: “... on the German side, in no case should there be any explicit support for church life, the organization of divine services or the holding of mass baptisms. There can be no talk of re-establishing the former Patriarchal Russian Church. Particular care should be taken to ensure that, first of all, no organizationally formalized merger of the Orthodox Church circles that are in the stage of formation takes place. Splitting into separate church groups, on the contrary, is desirable.” Metropolitan Sergius also spoke about the treacherous religious policy pursued by Hitler in his sermon at the Epiphany Cathedral on June 26, 1941. “Those who think that the current enemy does not touch our shrines and does not touch anyone’s faith are deeply mistaken,” the bishop warned. - Observations of German life tell a completely different story. The famous German commander Ludendorff... over the years came to the conviction that Christianity is not suitable for a conqueror.”
Meanwhile, the propaganda actions of the German leadership to open churches could not but cause a corresponding response from Stalin. He was also encouraged to do this by those movements for the opening of churches that began in the USSR already in the first months of the war. Gatherings of believers were held in cities and villages, at which executive bodies and commissioners for petitions for the opening of churches were elected. In rural areas, such meetings were often headed by collective farm chairmen, who collected signatures for the opening of church buildings and then themselves acted as intercessors before the executive bodies. It often happened that employees of executive committees at various levels treated favorably the petitions of believers and, within the framework of their powers, actually contributed to the registration of religious communities. Many churches opened spontaneously, without even having legal registration.
All these processes prompted the Soviet leadership to officially allow the opening of churches in territory not occupied by the Germans. The persecution of the clergy stopped. The priests who were in the camps were returned and became rectors of the newly opened churches.
The names of the shepherds who prayed in those days for the granting of victory and, together with all the people, forged the victory of Russian weapons, are widely known. Near Leningrad, in the village of Vyritsa, there lived an old man known today throughout Russia, Hieroschemamonk Seraphim (Muravyov). In 1941 he was 76 years old. The disease practically did not allow him to move without assistance. Eyewitnesses report that the elder loved to pray in front of the image of his patron saint St. Seraphim Sarovsky. The icon of the saint was mounted on an apple tree in the garden of the elderly priest. The apple tree itself grew near a large granite stone, on which the old man, following the example of his heavenly patron, performed many hours of prayer on sore legs. According to the stories of his spiritual children, the elder often said: “One prayer book for the country can save all the cities and villages...”
In those same years, in Arkhangelsk, in the St. Elias Cathedral, the namesake of the Vyritsa elder, Abbot Seraphim (Shinkarev), who had previously been a monk of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, served. According to eyewitnesses, he often spent several days in the church praying for Russia. Many noted his insight. Several times he predicted victory Soviet troops when circumstances directly pointed to a sad outcome of the battle.
True heroism During the war years, the capital's clergy showed their support. The rector of the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at the Danilovskoye Cemetery, Archpriest Pavel Uspensky, who lived outside the city in peacetime, did not leave Moscow for an hour. He organized a real social center at his temple. A 24-hour watch was established in the church, and a bomb shelter was set up in the basement, which was later converted into a gas shelter. To provide first aid in case of accidents, Father Pavel created a sanitary station, where there were stretchers, dressings and all the necessary medicines.
Another Moscow priest, rector of the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, Archpriest Pavel Tsvetkov, established a shelter for children and the elderly at the temple. He personally carried out night watches and, if necessary, took part in extinguishing fires. Among his parishioners, Father Pavel organized a collection of donations and scrap non-ferrous metals for military needs. In total, during the war years, the parishioners of the Elias Church collected 185 thousand rubles.
Fundraising work was also carried out in other churches. According to verified data, during the first three years of the war, the churches of the Moscow diocese alone donated more than 12 million rubles for defense needs.
The activities of the Moscow clergy during the war period are eloquently evidenced by the resolutions of the Moscow Council of September 19, 1944 and January 3, 1945. about awarding about 20 Moscow and Tula priests with medals “For the Defense of Moscow.” The recognition by the authorities of the Church of its merits in the defense of the Fatherland was also expressed in the official permission for believers to celebrate church holidays and first of all Easter. For the first time during the war, Easter was openly celebrated in 1942, after the end of the fighting near Moscow. And of course, the most striking evidence of the change in the policy of the Soviet leadership towards the Church was the restoration of the Patriarchate and the opening of the Theological Seminary for the training of future clergy.
The new vector of church-state relations ultimately made it possible to strengthen the material, political and legal status Russian Orthodox Church, protect the clergy from persecution and further repression, increase the authority of the Church among the people. The Great Patriotic War, becoming a difficult test for the entire people, saved the Russian Church from complete destruction. In this, undoubtedly, the Providence of God and His good will for Russia were manifested.
Details that were kept silent - Professor of the Kyiv Theological Academy Viktor Chernyshev.
Each era in its own way tested the patriotism of believers, constantly educated by the Russian Orthodox Church, their willingness and ability to serve reconciliation and truth. And every era has preserved church history, along with lofty images of saints and ascetics, examples of patriotic and peacemaking service to the Motherland and people best representatives Churches.
Russian history is dramatic. Not a single century has passed without wars, large or small, that tormented our people and our land. The Russian Church, condemning the war of aggression, has at all times blessed the feat of defense and defense of the native people and the Fatherland. Story Ancient Rus' allows us to trace the constant influence of the Russian Church and great church-historical figures on social events and the destinies of people.
The beginning of the twentieth century in our history was marked by two bloody wars: the Russian-Japanese (1904-1905) and the First World War (1914-1918), during which the Russian Orthodox Church provided effective mercy, helping refugees and evacuees disadvantaged by the war , hungry and wounded soldiers, created infirmaries and hospitals in monasteries.
Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky)
“On June 22, at exactly 4 o’clock, Kyiv was bombed...” How did the Church react?
The 1941 war struck our land as a terrible disaster. Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), who headed the Russian Orthodox Church after Patriarch Tikhon (Bellavin), wrote in his Appeal to pastors and believers on the very first day of the war: “Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people... She will not abandon her people even now. She blesses with heavenly blessing the upcoming national feat... blesses all Orthodox Christians for the defense of the sacred borders of our Motherland...”
Addressing Soviet soldiers and officers, brought up in the spirit of devotion to another - the socialist Fatherland, its other symbols - the party, the Komsomol, the ideals of communism, the archpastor calls on them to follow the example of their Orthodox great-grandfathers, who valiantly repelled the enemy invasion of Russia, to be equal to those who performed feats of arms and with heroic courage he proved his holy, sacrificial love for her. It is characteristic that he calls the army Orthodox; he calls for sacrificing oneself in battle for the Motherland and faith.
Transfer of the tank column “Dimitri Donskoy” to units of the Red Army
Why did the Orthodox collect donations during the war?
At the call of Metropolitan Sergius, from the very beginning of the war, Orthodox believers collected donations for defense needs. In Moscow alone, in the first year of the war, parishes collected more than 3 million rubles to help the front. 5.5 million rubles were collected in the churches of besieged, exhausted Leningrad. The Gorky church community donated more than 4 million rubles to the defense fund. And there are many such examples.
These funds, collected by the Russian Orthodox Church, were invested in the creation of a flight squadron named after. Alexander Nevsky and a tank column named after. Dmitry Donskoy. In addition, the fees were used to maintain hospitals, help disabled war veterans and orphanages. Everywhere they offered up fervent prayers in churches for victory over fascism, for their children and fathers on the fronts fighting for the Fatherland. The losses suffered by the country's population in the Patriotic War of 1941-1945 were colossal.
Address of Metropolitan Sergius
Which side should you be on: a difficult choice, or a compromise?
It must be said that after the German attack on the USSR, the position of the Church changed dramatically: on the one hand, the locum tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) immediately took a patriotic position; but, on the other hand, the occupiers came with an essentially false, but outwardly effective slogan - the liberation of Christian civilization from Bolshevik barbarism. It is known that Stalin was in panic, and only on the tenth day of the Nazi invasion he addressed the people through a loudspeaker in an intermittent voice: “Dear compatriots! Brothers and sisters!..". He also had to remember the Christian appeal of believers to each other.
The day of Hitler's attack fell on June 22, this is the day of the Orthodox holiday of All Saints who shone in the Russian land. And this is not accidental. This is the day of the new martyrs - the many millions of victims of the Lenin-Stalinist terror. Any believer could interpret this attack as retribution for the beating and torment of the righteous, for the fight against God, for the last “godless five-year plan” announced by the communists.
All over the country, bonfires of icons, religious books and sheet music of many great Russian composers (D. Bortnyansky, M. Glinka, P. Tchaikovsky), the Bible and the Gospel burned. The Union of Militant Atheists (LUA) organized bacchanals and pandemoniums of anti-religious content. These were real anti-Christian sabbaths, unsurpassed in their ignorance, blasphemy, and outrage against the sacred feelings and traditions of their ancestors. Churches were closed everywhere, clergy and Orthodox confessors were exiled to the Gulag; There was a total destruction of the spiritual foundations in the country. All this continued with manic desperation under the leadership first of the “leader of the world revolution”, and then of his successor – I. Stalin.
Therefore, for believers this was a known compromise. Or unite to resist the invasion in the hope that after the war everything will change, that this will be a harsh lesson to the tormentors, that perhaps the war will sober up the authorities and force them to abandon their atheistic ideology and policy towards the Church. Or recognize the war as an opportunity to overthrow the communists by entering into an alliance with the enemy. It was a choice between two evils - either an alliance with the internal enemy against the external enemy, or vice versa. And it must be said that this was often an insoluble tragedy of the Russian people on both sides of the front during the war.
What does Scripture say about the Patriotic War?
But itself Holy Bible said that “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy...” (John 10:10). And the treacherous and cruel enemy knew neither pity nor mercy - more than 20 million died on the battlefield, tortured in fascist concentration camps, ruins and fires in place of flourishing cities and villages. Ancient Pskov, Novgorod, Kyiv, Kharkov, Grodno, and Minsk churches were barbarically destroyed; Our ancient cities and unique monuments of Russian church and civil history were bombed to the ground.
“War is a terrible and disastrous business for those who undertake it needlessly, without truth, with the greed of robbery and enslavement; all the shame and curse of heaven lies on him for the blood and for the misfortunes of his own and others,” he wrote in his address to to believers June 26, 1941 Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad and Novgorod, who shared with his flock all the hardships and deprivations of the two-year siege of Leningrad.
Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) during the Great Patriotic War - about the war, about duty and the Motherland
On June 22, 1941, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) had just celebrated the festive Liturgy when he was informed about the beginning of the war. He immediately delivered a patriotic speech-sermon that in this time of general trouble, the Church “will not abandon its people even now. She blesses... and the upcoming national feat.” Anticipating the possibility of an alternative solution for the believers, the bishop called on the priesthood not to indulge in thoughts “about possible benefits on the other side of the front.”
In October, when the Germans were already near Moscow, Metropolitan Sergius condemned those priests and bishops who, finding themselves under occupation, began to collaborate with the Germans. This, in particular, concerned another metropolitan, Sergius (Voskresensky), exarch of the Baltic republics, who remained in the occupied territory, in Riga, and made his choice in favor of the occupiers. The situation was not easy. And the incredulous Stalin, despite the appeal, sent Vladyka Sergius (Stragorodsky) to Ulyanovsk, allowing him to return to Moscow only in 1943.
The Germans' policy in the occupied territories was quite flexible; they often opened churches desecrated by the communists, and this was a serious counterbalance to the imposed atheistic worldview. Stalin also understood this.
In order to confirm Stalin in the possibility of changing church policy, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) wrote a message on November 11, 1941, in which, in particular, he sought to deprive Hitler of his claims to the role of defender of Christian civilization: “Progressive humanity declared a holy war for Hitler for Christian civilization, for freedom of conscience and religion." However, the topic of protecting Christian civilization was never directly accepted by Stalinist propaganda. To a greater or lesser extent, all concessions to the Church until 1943 were of a “cosmetic” nature.
"black sun", an occult symbol used by the Nazis. The image on the floor in the so-called Obergruppenführer Hall at Wewelsburg Castle, Germany.
Alfred Rosenberg and the true attitude of the Nazis towards Christians
In the Nazi camp, Alfred Rosenberg, who headed the Eastern Ministry, was responsible for church policy in the occupied territories, being the governor-general of the “Eastern Land,” as the territory of the USSR under the Germans was officially called. He was against the creation of territorial unified national church structures and was generally a convinced enemy of Christianity. As you know, the Nazis used various occult practices to achieve power over other nations. Even the mysterious structure of the SS “Ananerbe” was created, which made voyages to the Himalayas, Shambhala and other “places of power”, and the SS organization itself was built on the principle of a knightly order with the corresponding “initiations”, hierarchy and represented the Hitler oprichnina. His attributes were runic signs: double lightning bolts, a swastika, a skull and crossbones. Anyone who joined this order clothed himself in the black vestments of the “Fuhrer's Guard”, became an accomplice in the sinister karma of this satanic semi-sect and sold his soul to the devil.
Rosenberg especially hated Catholicism, believing that it represented a force capable of resisting political totalitarianism. He saw Orthodoxy as a kind of colorful ethnographic ritual, preaching meekness and humility, which only played into the hands of the Nazis. The main thing is to prevent its centralization and transformation into a single national church.
However, Rosenberg and Hitler had serious disagreements, since the former’s program included the transformation of all nationalities of the USSR into formally independent states under the control of Germany, and the second was fundamentally against the creation of any states in the east, believing that all Slavs should become slaves of the Germans. Others must simply be destroyed. Therefore, in Kyiv, at Babi Yar, machine gun fire did not subside for days. The death conveyor here worked smoothly. More than 100 thousand killed - such is the bloody harvest of Babyn Yar, which became a symbol of the Holocaust of the twentieth century.
The Gestapo, together with their police henchmen, destroyed entire settlements, burning their inhabitants to the ground. In Ukraine there was not just Oradour, and not just Lidice, destroyed by the Nazis in Eastern Europe, but hundreds. If, for example, 149 people died in Khatyn, including 75 children, then in the village of Kryukovka in the Chernihiv region, 1,290 households were burned, more than 7 thousand residents were killed, of which hundreds of children.
In 1944, when Soviet troops fought to liberate Ukraine, they everywhere found traces of the terrible repressions of the occupiers. The Nazis shot, strangled in gas chambers, hanged and burned: in Kiev - more than 195 thousand people, in the Lviv region - more than half a million, in the Zhytomyr region - over 248 thousand, and in total in Ukraine - over 4 million people. Concentration camps played a special role in the system of Hitler's genocide industry: Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald, Flossenburg, Mauthausen, Ravensbrück, Salaspils and other death camps. In total, 18 million people passed through the system of such camps (in addition to prisoner of war camps directly in the combat zone), 12 million prisoners died: men, women, and children.
The Church is often called the “second power”; most secular tsars perceived Orthodoxy as a tool for maintaining their autocracy. The authorities tried not to spoil relations with the Orthodox Church. Representatives of the clergy had privileges and a special status. Orthodoxy has always brought peace of mind and a sense of protection from above into the difficult life of the Russian peasant. The church was involved in charity work, and children were given primary education in parochial schools. She often stood up for the offended, one way or another, gave her assessment of political transformations, that is, she took an active position in the life of the state.
The Bolsheviks, when they came to power, did not openly advocate atheism, although their leaders had long ago lost touch with religion. The first events also said nothing about the colossal disruption that would unfold in the coming years. IN AND. Lenin wrote on November 20, 1917 in an address “To all working Muslims of Russia and the East”: “Muslims of Russia, Tatars of the Volga region and Crimea, Kyrgyz and Sarts of Siberia, Turkestan, Turks and Tatars of Transcaucasia, Chechens and highlanders of the Caucasus, all those mosques and "Whose prayer houses were destroyed, whose beliefs and customs were trampled upon by the tsars and oppressors of Russia! From now on, your beliefs and customs, your national and cultural institutions are declared free and inviolable."
One of the first decrees of the Soviet government was the decree on the separation of church and state of January 23, 1918. The decree itself did not carry an anti-religious, anti-church connotation. In most European countries, the church was separated from the state back in the era of bourgeois revolutions. Western society is undoubtedly secular in nature. But in most countries, the state officially supports those religious organizations that most correspond national interests and traditions. In England it is the Anglican Church (its head is the Queen), in Sweden, Norway, Denmark it is Lutheran; in Spain, Portugal - Catholic, etc. Concerning eastern societies, then they are characterized by the inseparability of the secular and religious spheres of life. Consequently, the act of separation of church and state in Russia meant a movement in a Western direction.
However, this act was accepted and in fact became the legislative basis for persecution against the church. The first to be hit Orthodox Church as the official church of old Russia. In addition, other churches were located in territories where there was not yet Bolshevik power. The closure of churches, the confiscation of church valuables, and reprisals against clergy began already in the first months after the October events of 1917. On October 13, 1918, Patriarch Tikhon addressed the Council of People's Commissars with a message in which he wrote: "...Bishops, clergy, monks and nuns are being executed , not guilty of anything, but simply on a sweeping accusation of some vague and indefinite counter-revolutionism."
On the territory of pre-revolutionary Russia there were 78 thousand Orthodox churches, 25 thousand mosques, more than 6 thousand synagogues, 4.4 thousand Catholic churches, more than 200 Old Believer churches of Georgia and Armenia. The number of churches in Russia by 1941 had decreased by 20 times. Most of the temples were closed in the 30s. By 1938, more than 40 thousand houses of worship were closed. These are not only Orthodox churches, but also mosques, synagogues, etc. In 1935-1936. The government banned the activities of the Synod and the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 25 regions there was not a single functioning temple, and in 20 regions there were 1-5 temples.
The clergy were also killed. IN AND. Lenin, in a secret instruction dated August 19, 1922, wrote: “What larger number If we manage to shoot representatives of the reactionary clergy and the reactionary bourgeoisie on this occasion, so much the better." Thus, the clergy and the bourgeoisie are concepts of the same order for Lenin. This is so from the point of view of civilizational affiliation. The creation of a new one could only be successful if if the spiritual foundation is destroyed, its carriers will be destroyed.
In 1926, the “Union of Atheists of the USSR to Fight Religion” was created, which was then renamed the “Union of Militant Atheists.” The number of its members grew: 1926 - approximately 87 thousand people; 1929 – more than 465 thousand; 1930 – 3.5 million people; 1931 - approximately 51 million. The growth in the number of active fighters against religion shows how rapidly the spiritual sphere was collapsing. It is curious that pro-Western movements in Christianity, especially such as Baptistism, which seemed stupid and savage, were persecuted most cruelly. However, it was not possible to eliminate religion.
Half-strangled religious confessions were nationalized, subordinated to party-state control and carried out in their activities only those things that did not contradict socialist ideology, that is, in practice there was not separation from the state, as the Decree of 1918 provided, but the subordination of the church to the state.
In an effort to keep their inner world in balance, many people stubbornly clung to traditional religious beliefs. Anti-religious campaigns, while achieving some success, in a number of cases caused the opposite reaction. Previously banned materials from the 1937 All-Union Population Census show that, despite the obvious fear of revealing adherence to religion, a significant part of the population admitted that they believed in God. Of the nearly 30 million illiterate adults (over 16 years of age), more than 25 million (84%) are registered as believers. Of the 68.5 million literate population, 30 million (44%) were also believers.
Generations that grew up in Soviet times had no idea about the role of traditional religions in society and perceived the activities of church organizations negatively. However, that part of society that had lost contact with traditional religion accepted a new one. It had its own paraphernalia: red corners, portraits and monuments of leaders, etc. Its own ritual, its own dogma. Marxism-Leninism was only an outer shell, under which traditional Russian values were often hidden.
The idea of the messianic, saving role of Russia was transformed into the idea of the USSR as the vanguard of the world revolution, which should pave the way to the future for all peoples and help them on this difficult path. Internationalism in fact turned out to be the basis for a harsh Russification policy and the imposition of the Russian model. Leaders, who were perceived as bearers and interpreters of higher values, also became objects of worship. The process of charismatization of the leaders began immediately and gained momentum as the Bolshevik Party consolidated its hold on power. Gradually V.I. Lenin developed into a charismatic leader and then, after his death, was canonized as the new Christ or Prophet Muhammad.
IN AND. Lenin always behaved like a prophet, surrounded by students and followers, and not like a leader political party. It is well known that in the Bolshevik Party and in his circle he did not tolerate people who disagreed with him and showed independence in judgment and behavior. This resulted in constant splits, exceptions, and demarcations, starting from the Second Congress of the RSDLP and until the end of his life.
The formation of the image of a charismatic leader began after the Bolsheviks came to power. However, little was achieved during Lenin's lifetime. In the full sense of the word, he became a charismatic leader, almost a god, after his death. "Lenin lived, Lenin is alive, Lenin will live!" - this slogan could be found both on the streets of the capital and in a small village. Why not “Christ is Risen!”
New leader I.V. Stalin took over as a faithful disciple, a faithful Leninist. His charismatization occurred in the 30s. He became a god during his lifetime. His portraits hung everywhere, and monuments were erected in cities and towns. Cities, streets, schools, factories, collective farms, divisions, regiments, etc. were named after him. The press glorified the leader. Here are lines from the pages of the Pravda newspaper. January 8, 1935: “Long live the one whose genius led us to unprecedented successes - the great organizer of the victories of Soviet power, the great leader, friend and teacher - our Stalin!” March 8, 1939: “Let the father live, long live our dear father - Stalin the sun!”
The deification of the leaders imparted “holiness” to the regime. In the mass consciousness, this meant the adoption of new values and new life guidelines. The system, which was largely based on violence, acquired a spiritual basis.
It is characteristic that during the war years the emphasis was placed on the Russian people. Russian patriotism has become one of the most important sources victory. I.V. constantly addressed the Russian theme. Stayin, especially in the first, most difficult period of the war, on November 6, 1941, he spoke about the impossibility of defeating “... the great Russian nation, the nation of Plekhanov and Lenin, Belinsky and Chernyshevsky, Pushkin and Tolstoy, ... Suvorov and Kutuzov.”
Christianity has always carried a charge of great moral strength, which was especially important during the war years. They drew consolation and strength from religion for life and work in the most difficult conditions of war. The Russian Orthodox Church called for humility and patience, for mercy and brotherhood. The war revealed the best features of Russian Orthodoxy.
In 1943, the orders of A. Nevsky, A. Suvorov, M. Kutuzov, and other prominent Russian military leaders and naval commanders were established, St. George Ribbon, the pre-revolutionary uniform of the Russian army was returned. Orthodoxy received greater freedom than other faiths. Already on June 22, 1941, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius made an appeal to believers, calling on them to stand up for the defense of the Motherland in their hands and take part in raising funds for the defense fund.
A number of telegrams from representatives of the Orthodox clergy with messages about the transfer of funds for defense needs in the first months of the war appeared on the pages of the central newspapers Pravda and Izvestia, information about the work of the Orthodox Church was also given there, and biographies of the newly elected Patriarchs Sergius and Alexy were published. That is, the patriotic activities of the Church were covered in the press and recognized by the authorities. Dozens of clergy were released from the camps, including 6 archbishops and 5 bishops.
On Easter 1942, Moscow allowed unhindered traffic throughout the city throughout the night. In 1942, the first Council of Bishops during the entire war was convened in Ulyanovsk. In the spring of 1943, the government opened access to the Iveron Mother of God icon, which was brought from the closed Donskoy Monastery for worship at the Resurrection Church in Moscow.
For the period from 1941 to 1944. The church contributed more than 200 million rubles to the country's defense fund. In the very first years of the war, more than three million rubles were collected in Moscow churches for the needs of the front and defense. The churches of Leningrad collected 5.5 million rubles. The church communities of Nizhny Novgorod collected more than four million rubles for the defense fund in 1941-1942. During the first half of 1944, the Novosibirsk diocese collected about two million rubles for wartime needs. With funds raised by the Church, an air squadron named after Alexander Nevsky and a tank column named after Dmitry Donskoy were created.
Here are some more examples. Bishop Bartholomew, Archbishop of Novosibirsk and Barnaul, called on people to donate to the needs of the army, performing services in churches in Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Barnaul, Tyumen, Omsk, Tobolsk, Biysk and other cities. The fees were used to purchase warm clothes for the soldiers, maintain hospitals and orphanages, and restore areas damaged during German occupation and assistance to war veterans.
Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad remained with his flock in besieged Leningrad throughout the blockade. “...ignites the hearts of soldiers by the spirit of unity and inspiration that now lives the entire Russian people,” read his address to believers on Palm Sunday.
On September 4, 1943, Stalin met with the highest hierarchs of the Orthodox Church. It marked a warming in relations between the authorities and the church. The regime decided to use traditional religion to mobilize forces and resources in the fight against the external enemy. By order of I.V. Stalin was given the task of restoring the normal practice of religious rites “at a Bolshevik pace.” A decision was also made to create theological academies in Moscow, Kyiv and Leningrad. Stalin agreed with the clergy on the need to publish church books. Under the patriarch, it was decided to form the Holy Synod of three permanent and three temporary members. A decision was made to form the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In general, it should be noted that the war had a significant and positive impact on the relationship between the Orthodox Church and the Soviet government. After the war, a decree was issued by the People's Commissariat of Education on the priority admission of front-line soldiers to educational establishments. In this matter, the church followed the decision of the authorities; a lot of front-line soldiers were studying at the seminary at that time. For example, I.D. Pavlov, the future Archimandrite Kirill, he became the confessor of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II.
During the war years, there was a legend among the people that during the attack on Moscow, an icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God was placed on a plane, the plane flew around Moscow and consecrated the borders, as in Ancient Rus', when an icon was often taken to the battlefield so that the Lord would protect the country. Even if it was unreliable information, people believed it, which means they expected something similar from the authorities.
At the front, soldiers often made the sign of the cross before battle - asking the Almighty to protect them. The majority perceived Orthodoxy as a national religion. The famous Marshal Zhukov, together with the soldiers, said before the battle: “Well, with God!” The people maintain a legend that Zhukov carried the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God along the front lines.
During the “period of change” (1917-1941), the Bolsheviks abandoned the traditional Russian religion. But during the war, “the time to collect stones,” it was necessary to return to the original Russian, traditions helped unite the people on the basis of a common, common religion. Hitler understood this well. One of his instructions was that the fascists should prevent the influence of one church on a large area, but the emergence of sects in the occupied territories, as a form of schism and disunity, should be encouraged.
Stalin did not organize church revival, he restrained it. In the Pskov region before the arrival of the Germans there were 3 churches, and by the time the Soviet troops returned there were 200. In the Kursk region before the Germans there were 2, now there are 282, but in the Tambov region, where Soviet authority stood unchanged, and 3 temples remained. Thus, the first 18 churches were allowed to open only almost six months after Stalin’s meeting with the metropolitans by a resolution of the Council of Ministers of February 5, 1944. And of the total number of requests from believers for the opening of churches received in 1944-1947, the Council of Ministers satisfied only 17%.
On November 16, 1948, the Synod was forced to make a decision to prohibit turning sermons in churches into lessons on the Law of God for children. Moreover, in the late 40s and early 50s, churches again began to be taken over for clubs and warehouses. In 1951, during the harvest in the Kursk region alone, by order of the district executive committees, about 40 buildings of existing churches were covered with grain for many months. Communists and Komsomol members who performed religious rites began to be persecuted. A new wave of arrests of the most active clergy began. For example, in September 1948, Archbishop Manuil (Lemeshevsky) was arrested for the seventh time. If on January 1, 1949, there were 14,447 officially opened Orthodox churches in the country, then by January 1, 1952, their number decreased to 13,786 (120 of which were not operational due to their use for grain storage).
During and after the war, Stalin's policy towards the Church saw two turning points. Today, the positive turnaround of 1943-1944 is more often remembered, but we should not forget the new “ice age” that began in the second half of 1948. Stalin wanted to make Moscow an Orthodox Vatican, the center of all Orthodox churches in the world. But in July 1948, the Pan-Orthodox Conference (with the participation of Metropolitan Elijah) did not lead to the result expected in the Kremlin: the hierarchs of churches that found themselves far from Soviet tanks (primarily Greece and Turkey) showed intransigence. And Stalin, realizing that he would not be able to use religious resources in global politics, sharply lost interest in church affairs. So, the cynical pragmatism of Stalin’s church policy during the war and the immediate transition to new persecutions in 1948 indicate that Stalin did not have any ideological crisis, conversion, or return to faith.
Several departments were responsible for the implementation of religious policy in the occupied territory of the Nazis - from the special Ministry of Religions to the military command and the Gestapo. In the occupied territories, at the beginning of the war, the Germans allowed churches to operate. Some priests accepted fascist culture, citing the fact that the Church was being persecuted in Russia. And yet, most clergy showed themselves humbly during the war, forgetting past grievances. The Nazis stopped the practice of opening churches because the priests conducted patriotic sermons among the population. Now priests were beaten and shot.
The Orthodox Church united with the secular authorities in the fight against the fascists. The war was declared holy, liberating, and the Church blessed this war. Besides financial assistance, The Church morally supported people, at the front and in the rear. At the front they believed in the miraculous power of icons and the sign of the cross. Prayers acted as peace of mind. In their prayers, the rear workers asked God to protect their relatives from death. The Orthodox Church made a significant contribution to the all-Soviet struggle against the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War. The position of the Orthodox Church in Soviet Russia strengthened for a time. But the government followed, first of all, its own interests, and this strengthening was only temporary. Ordinary people often believed in God and relied on him as support from above.