THE REPRESSIVE POLICY OF THE SOVIET REGIME AGAINST THE CLERGY AND ANTI-RELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA IN ZHYTOMYR REGION IN 1937 – 1938

Abstract

This article, utilizing archival documents and local periodicals, investigates the implementation of the repressive policy of the Soviet regime against the clergy in Zhytomyr region in 1937 – 1938. It examines the punitive actions carried out by the authorities against specific representatives of the Orthodox clergy in the region and elucidates the methods employed for anti-religious propaganda. The methodology of the research is grounded in general scientific principles and approaches, along with specialized and general methods. The civilizational approach is central to the research, allowing for a focus on factors associated with the Bolsheviks’ anti-religious policy in Zhytomyr region in the 1930s. General scientific principles applied include objectivity, historicism, and multi-factor analysis. Specialized methods of historical inquiry employed are the comparative historical, problem-chronological, and historical typological methods. The research was partially conducted in the context of social history. The scientific novelty of this research lies in clarifying the specifics and features of the Soviet regime’s repressive policy and the methods of anti-religious propaganda in the region based on archival materials and local periodicals from the specified period. It also elucidates the fates of lesser-known religious ministers in Zhytomyr region in the 1930s. Conclusions: The policy of repression against religion and its figures, particularly the Orthodox clergy, in Zhytomyr region in the 1930s was an integral component of the totalitarian all-Union policy of the Stalinist regime. In Zhytomyr region, this was compounded by the campaign against supposed spies allegedly working in the interests of neighbouring Poland, given the region’s border position. The clergy who fell victim to the repressions in the region were posthumously rehabilitated only during the Khrushchev Thaw. Appeals from their wives and children often served as the impetus for the rehabilitation of the unjustly convicted local Orthodox clergy. The authorities eventually conceded that the so-called counter-revolutionary monarchist organizations in the region did not, in fact, exist in the 1930s; they were fabricated to provide grounds for the condemnation of Orthodox clergy in the city of Zhytomyr and the wider region. The authorities relentlessly pursued an ideological struggle against religion and its representatives in Zhytomyr and the surrounding villages, portraying them in the local press (notably, the newspaper Radianska Volyn) as conscious enemies of the Soviet regime who allegedly hindered the economic and cultural development of contemporary society. In this struggle, the article authors consistently used offensive language directed at local priests, distorted religious sentiments, and cast doubt upon sacred concepts. It was paramount for the regime to indoctrinate the population with an atheistic spirit and shift social consciousness and attitudes in its favour. The tragic destinies of previously unknown priests who suffered under the repressive policies in the region attest to the cost of a human life during those dreadful years and compel a deeper understanding of the essence of the Soviet totalitarian regime.

Keywords: repressive policy, clergy, church, anti-religious propaganda, Soviet regime, Zhytomyr region.