Anti-religious repressions during the Great Terror in the east of the Kuban (1937–1938)

Abstract

This article is devoted to the history of anti-religious repression in the east of the Kuban during the Great Terror of 1937–1938. The purpose of this study was to study the biographies and materials of criminal investigation cases of the direct victims of these repressions, in particular, the clergy belonging to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church and representing the renovationist movement in the Kuban. Documents from a number of archives, including the offices of the Federal Security Service for the Krasnodar Territory and Stavropol Territory, as well as the information received from the descendants of the deceased priests, allowed us to draw up a «picture» of anti-church repressions at the end of 1937. The repressive actions initiated by the Soviet government against a number of citizens, including «churchmen», allowed the NKVD authorities in Armavir to open a de facto «group» case against a number of religious figures, the overwhelming majority of whom were sentenced to death by firing squad. A detailed study of the available materials allows us to draw conclusions about the falsification of a number of charges, and accordingly not only confirms the right of these clergy and renovationist figures to civil rehabilitation, but also the right to perpetuate their memory among descendants.