On the anti-religious policy of the Bolsheviks in the 1930s towards the clergy and laity of the Ulyanovsk-Melekesskaya diocese

Abstract

This article will focus on an important aspect of the anti-religious policy of the Bolsheviks toward the clergy and laity of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1930s. Examples of persecution of the Church will be the court cases of priests and laity of the Ulyanovsk-Melekesskaya diocese, which can be used to visualize the changing rhetoric of the Soviet authorities toward the clergy and laity of the Orthodox Church. During this period, we can identify three conditional attitudes of the Soviet authorities toward religious organizations: the growth of repressive policy, its weakening, and the peak of repression in 1937. Particular attention is paid to court cases in which the wording «counter-revolutionary activity» was used. However, most of the investigative cases analyzed confirm that even the mere mention of religious affiliation in a person’s biography became grounds for suspicion and eventually led to his being accused of committing a crime. The article also examines the various accusations and reasons that could be the reason for imposing reprisals on clergy and laity, and provides statistics on reprisal charges. The court cases reviewed speak of the Soviet government’s desire to get rid of the clergy and believers, not only as part of the anti-religious campaign, but also by using the «possibilities» of Soviet legislation.