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 each era has preserved in church history, along with the lofty images of saints and ascetics, examples of patriotic and peacemaking service to the Motherland and the people of the best representatives of the Church.
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. The history of 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 Rus', 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) staged 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 the Holy Scripture itself 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 latter was fundamentally against the creation of any states in the east, believing that all Slavs should become slaves 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 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 Kyiv - 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.
To the 75th anniversary of the counter-offensive near Moscow
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 perseverance, and discovered the ability to encourage and support its people in difficult times of war. “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 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, were rapidly advancing 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 (Muravyev). 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, the Monk Seraphim of Sarov. 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 in the St. Elijah Cathedral. According to eyewitnesses, he often spent several days in the church praying for Russia. Many noted his foresight. Several times he predicted the victory of the Soviet troops when circumstances directly pointed to a sad outcome of the battle.
The capital's clergy showed true heroism during the war. 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 authorities' recognition of the Church's merits in defending 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 position of the Russian Orthodox Church, protect the clergy from persecution and further repression, and 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.
On June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began for the Soviet Union; ten days later, on July 3, Joseph Stalin made his famous speech, in which the words deeply penetrating into the soul of every believer were heard: “Brothers and sisters.” But just recently, the Soviet government harshly persecuted people for their faith; by the end of 1943 (the end of the “godless five-year plan”) they promised to close the last church in the country, and killed priests or sent them to camps. In 1938, there were only 4 archbishops left in the Russian Orthodox Church. In Ukraine, only 3% of the number of parishes that operated before the revolution survived, and in the Kyiv diocese on the eve of the war there were only two of them left; we had none in Chernigov.
They say that in these difficult moments the Secretary General suddenly remembered his seminary past and spoke like a preacher. However, this is only partly true. During the most difficult period in the life of the country (and his own), Stalin brilliantly solved a difficult psychological problem. These words, close and understandable to every person, did what seemed unthinkable - they united the desecrated church and the godless government in the fight against the enemy.
Why did this happen? The Church inevitably found itself drawn into a mortal battle between two totalitarian regimes and faced a tough choice. And in a traditionally Orthodox country, as befits the Church, humbling her pride, she did it.
In October 1941, Metropolitan Sergius addressed “the flock of Christ’s Orthodox Church”: “It is not the first time that the Russian people have experienced an invasion of foreigners, nor is it the first time that they have received baptism of fire to save their native land. The enemy is strong, but “great is the God of the Russian land,” as Mamai exclaimed on the Kulikovo field, defeated by the Russian army. Lord willing, our current enemy will have to repeat this exclamation!”
The Slavs have always had a sense of patriotism. This is the natural feeling of every Orthodox Christian, be it Ukrainian, Russian or Belarusian. There are countless examples of this in history. Since the times of Kievan Rus, no matter how hard life was for the common people, they always opposed the enemy with the name of God on their lips. And in later times, the people did not lose the faith of their ancestors and always rose to fight the enemy under the banner of Orthodoxy. The true feeling of an Orthodox patriot was succinctly expressed by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnitsky at the Pereyaslav Rada: “Gentlemen colonels, esauls, the entire Zaporozhye Army and all Orthodox Christians! You all know how God freed us from the hands of enemies who are persecuting the Church of God and embittering the entire Christianity of our Eastern Orthodoxy... We are one Church body with the Orthodoxy of Great Russia, having Jesus Christ as our head..."
Centuries later, it was this feeling of patriotism that united the peoples of the Soviet Union in the fight against Nazi Germany. And Stalin understood perfectly well that even a church driven underground, desecrated, influences the thoughts and feelings of people. And only faith is capable of uniting people in a single spiritual impulse in the fight against the hated enemy.
On the other hand, the Orthodox Church was opposed by the inhumane regime of Nazi Germany, which denied all religion. Alfred Rosenberg, one of the ideologists of National Socialism, at one time a student at Moscow University, fluent in Russian and therefore appointed Minister of Eastern Territories in 1941, stated: “The Christian cross must be expelled from all churches, cathedrals and chapels and must be replaced The only symbol is the swastika."
The Church understood perfectly well what the National Socialist ideology was bringing to the Slavic land, and therefore, without hesitation, it stood up to defend its Motherland and its Orthodox shrines. The priests began to raise funds for the army, and the authorities finally appreciated the role of faith in the state and stopped persecuting believers. Since 1943, 20 thousand Orthodox parishes have been opened in the country. During the war years, the Church collected 300 million rubles to help the Red Army. This money was used to build a tank column named after. Dmitry Donskoy, airplanes were built, believers sent parcels with the most necessary things to the soldiers on the front line.
Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) hands over tanks to the soldiers,
built with the money of believers.
The Soviet press finally spoke about the Church without mockery. And in the fall of 1943, at the bishops' congress, which was attended by 19 bishops (many of them were returned from exile), Metropolitan Sergius was elected Patriarch.
His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Sergius (Starogorodsky)
(1867-1944)
The great ascetic of the Russian land, Hieroschemamonk Seraphim Vyritsky, prayed for the salvation of the country and its people for a thousand days and nights, standing on a stone, and in distant Syria, shutting himself up in a dungeon, he fervently asked God to protect the Orthodox country from the enemy, Metropolitan Elijah of the Lebanese Mountains...
Prayer service for the victory of Russian weapons in the Great Patriotic War
In the occupied territories of Ukraine, the Germans did not interfere with the opening of new parishes, as they hoped that believers, persecuted by the Soviet regime, would cooperate with them. But the occupiers miscalculated. There were not many among the Orthodox flock and the shepherds of Judas themselves who, for thirty pieces of silver, would hasten to cooperate with the German occupation regime. In the article “Church life in the territory of occupied Ukraine during the Great Patriotic War,” Archbishop Augustine of Lviv and Galicia writes: “In December 1941, the Imperial Chancellery issued special instructions for the treatment of the Ukrainian population: it provided for the ban on religious pilgrimage, the creation of religious centers on the spot Ukrainian shrines, a ban on the creation of religious educational institutions. Another manifestation of the occupation policy was all kinds of support and encouragement of the schism in Orthodoxy.”
With the outbreak of war in the occupied territory of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Autonomous Church and the Autocephalous Church (UAOC), banned by the Soviet authorities, and unrecognized throughout the Orthodox world, resumed their activities.
The Germans consistently implemented the principle of “divide and conquer” in Ukraine, so in the church issue they decided to rely on the Polish autocephalist Metropolitan Dionysius (Valedinsky). But Metropolitan Alexy did not recognize Dionysius’ claims to primacy in church life under the patronage of the Germans. He held a meeting of bishops in the Pochaev Lavra (August 18, 1941), at which the Ukrainian Church declared its autonomy, and in November of the same year it accepted the status of the Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate. Alexy was elected exarch, and was soon elevated to the rank of Metropolitan of Volyn and Zhitomir.
Photo 5. Metropolitan Alexy (Hromadsky) (1882-1943)
Patriarchal Exarch of Ukraine (1941-1943)
Metropolitan Alexy, not wanting a split in Orthodoxy in Ukraine, tried to cooperate with the UAOC, but, having objectively assessed the current situation, he remained faithful to the union with the Russian Orthodox Church. This decisive step cost him his life. On May 8, 1943, on the road from Kremenets to Lutsk, Metropolitan Alexy was killed by Ukrainian nationalists. The Germans framed this murder as an internal showdown between opposing Ukrainian churches. The death of the Patriarchal Exarch of Ukraine was to the advantage of the occupiers, since by his actions aimed at restoring canonical church life in the occupied territories, Metropolitan Alexy violated all the plans of the German occupation authorities in relation to the Church in Ukraine.
After the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazis, the Church became involved in raising funds for the front. Thus, the Pochaev Lavra in May 1944 transferred 100 thousand rubles to the state for the Red Army.
Archbishop Augustine of Lvov and Galicia writes: “In general, the “religious revival” in Ukraine was of a patriotic nature and proceeded as vigorously as in the western regions of Russia. According to documents, it is known that during the occupation, 822 churches were opened in Vinnitsa region, 798 in Kyiv region, 500 in Odessa region, 418 in Dnepropetrovsk region, 442 in Rivne region, 359 in Poltava region, 346 in Zhitomir region, 222 in Stalin (Donetsk) region, and 222 in Kharkov region. 155, Nikolaev and Kirovograd - 420, at least 500 churches in Zaporozhye, Kherson and Voroshilovgrad, in Chernigov - 410.”
And how can we not remember our Chernigov Orthodox shrine: the miraculous icon of the Yeletskaya Mother of God. During the Polish invasion (XVII century), the icon was lost, but before the Great Patriotic War, a copy of it was kept in the Chernigov Historical Museum, and when the Germans came to the city, a believer accidentally found the icon intact among the smoking ruins of the museum and gave it to the Trinity Monastery. She has survived to this day and is located in the Yeletsk convent, where she consoles the sorrows of the Orthodox who turn to her.
On Sunday June 22, 1941, the day of all saints who shone in the Russian land, fascist Germany entered into war with the Russian people. On the very first day of the war, the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Sergius, wrote and typed with his own hand “Message to the shepherds and flocks of Christ’s Orthodox Church,” in which he called on the Russian people to defend the Fatherland. Unlike Stalin, who took 10 days to address the people with a speech, the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne immediately found the most precise and most necessary words. In a speech at the Council of Bishops in 1943, Metropolitan Sergius, recalling the beginning of the war, said that then there was no need to think about what position our Church should take, because “before we had time to somehow determine our position, it had already been determined - the Nazis attacked our country, devastated it, took our compatriots into captivity.” On June 26, the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne performed a prayer service for the victory of the Russian army in the Epiphany Cathedral.
The first months of the war were a time of defeats and defeat of the Red Army. The entire west of the country was occupied by the Germans. Kyiv was taken, Leningrad was blocked. In the fall of 1941, the front line was approaching Moscow. In this situation, Metropolitan Sergius drew up a will on October 12, in which, in the event of his death, he transferred his powers as Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne to Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad.
On October 7, the Moscow City Council ordered the evacuation of the Patriarchate to the Urals, to Chkalov (Orenburg), the Soviet government itself moved to Samara (Kuibyshev). Apparently, the state authorities did not fully trust Metropolitan Sergius, fearing a repetition of what his close assistant, Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky), Exarch of the Baltic states, did in the 30s. During the evacuation from Riga before the arrival of the Germans, he hid in the crypt of the temple and remained in the occupied territory along with his flock, taking a loyal position to the occupation authorities. At the same time, Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky) remained in canonical obedience to the Patriarchate and, as far as he could, defended the interests of Orthodoxy and the Russian communities of the Baltics before the German administration. The Patriarchate managed to obtain permission to travel not to distant Orenburg, but to Ulyanovsk, former Simbirsk. The administration of the renovationist group was also evacuated to the same city. By that time, Alexander Vvedensky had acquired the title of “Holy and Blessed First Hierarch” and pushed the elderly “Metropolitan” Vitaly to a secondary role in the Renovation Synod. They traveled on the same train with the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne. The Patriarchate was located in a small house on the outskirts of the city. Next to the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church were the Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archpriest Nikolai Kolchitsky, and the cell attendant of the Locum Tenens, Hierodeacon John (Razumov). The outskirts of a quiet provincial town became the spiritual center of Russia during the war years. Here, in Ulyanovsk, the Exarch of Ukraine who remained in Moscow, Metropolitan Nicholas of Kiev and Galicia, Archbishops Sergius (Grishin) of Mozhaisk, Andrei (Komarov) of Kuibyshevsk and other bishops came to see the Primate of the Russian Church.
On November 30, Metropolitan Sergius consecrated a church on Vodnikov Street, in a building that had previously been used as a hostel. The main altar of the temple was dedicated to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The first liturgy was served without a professional choir, with the singing of the people who had gathered with great joy in the church, which essentially became a patriarchal cathedral. And on the outskirts of Simbirsk, in Kulikovka, in a building that was once a temple, and then disfigured, with holy domes, was used as a warehouse, a renovationist church was built. Alexander Vvedensky, the self-appointed first hierarch, “Metropolitan” Vitaly Vvedensky, and the renovationist false archbishop of Ulyanovsk Andrei Rastorguev served there. About 10 people came to their services, some only out of curiosity, and the church on Vodnikov Street was always crowded with praying people. This tiny temple for some time became the spiritual center of Orthodox Russia.
In the First Hierarchal messages to the flock, which Metropolitan Sergius sent from Ulyanovsk to the churches of Russia, he denounced the invaders for their atrocities, for the shedding of innocent blood, for the desecration of religious and national shrines. The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church called on the inhabitants of the regions captured by the enemy to courage and patience.
On the first anniversary of the Great Patriotic War, Metropolitan Sergius issued two messages - one for Muscovites, and the other for the all-Russian flock. In his Moscow message, the locum tenens expressed joy at the defeat of the Germans near Moscow. In a message to the entire Church, its head denounced the Nazis, who, for propaganda purposes, arrogated to themselves the mission of defenders of Christian Europe from the invasion of communists, and also consoled the flock with the hope of victory over the enemy.
The closest associates of the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitans Alexy (Simansky) and Nikolai (Yarushevich), also addressed patriotic messages to the flock. Metropolitan Nicholas two weeks before the fascist invasion left Kyiv for Moscow. Soon after this, on July 15, 1941, he, retaining the title of Exarch of Ukraine, became Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia. But throughout the war he remained in Moscow, acting as administrator of the Moscow diocese. He often went to the front line, performing services in local churches, delivering sermons with which he consoled the suffering people, instilling hope in God's almighty help, calling on his flock to be faithful to the Fatherland.
Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad did not separate from his flock throughout the terrible days of the blockade. At the beginning of the war, there were only five functioning Orthodox churches in Leningrad. Even on weekdays, mountains of notes about health and repose were given. Due to frequent shelling and bomb explosions, the windows in the temples were broken by the blast wave, and a frosty wind blew through the temples. The temperature in the temples often dropped below zero, and the singers could barely stand on their feet from hunger. Metropolitan Alexy lived at St. Nicholas Cathedral and served there every Sunday, often without a deacon. With his sermons and messages, he supported courage and hope in people left in inhuman conditions in the blockade ring. In Leningrad churches, his messages were read, calling on believers to selflessly help soldiers with honest work in the rear.
Throughout the country, prayers for the granting of victory were held in Orthodox churches. Every day during the divine service a prayer was offered: “For the hedgehog to give unremitting, irresistible and victorious strength, strength and courage with courage to our army to crush our enemies and our adversary and all their cunning slander...”
The defeat of Hitler's troops at Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the course of the war. However, the enemy still had powerful military potential at that time. Its defeat required enormous effort. For decisive military operations, the Red Army needed powerful armored vehicles. Tank factory workers worked tirelessly. Fundraising was underway throughout the country for the construction of new combat vehicles. By December 1942 alone, about 150 tank columns were built with these funds.
Nationwide concern for the needs of the Red Army did not bypass the Church, which sought to make its feasible contribution to the victory over the Nazi invaders. On December 30, 1942, Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius called on all believers in the country to send “to our army for the upcoming decisive battle, along with our prayers and blessings, material evidence of our participation in the common feat in the form of the construction of a column of tanks named after Dmitry Donskoy.” The entire Church responded to the call. In the Moscow Epiphany Cathedral, the clergy and laity collected more than 400 thousand rubles. The entire church of Moscow collected over 2 million rubles; in besieged Leningrad, Orthodox Christians collected one million rubles for the needs of the army. In Kuibyshev, old people and women donated 650 thousand rubles. In Tobolsk, one of the donors brought 12 thousand rubles and wished to remain anonymous. A resident of the village of Cheborkul, Chelyabinsk region, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vodolaev wrote to the Patriarchate: “I am elderly, childless, with all my soul I join the call of Metropolitan Sergius and contribute 1000 rubles from my labor savings, with a prayer for the speedy expulsion of the enemy from the sacred borders of our land.” The supernumerary priest of the Kalinin diocese, Mikhail Mikhailovich Kolokolov, donated a priestly cross, 4 silver vestments from icons, a silver spoon and all his bonds to the tank column. Unknown pilgrims brought a package to one Leningrad church and placed it near the icon of St. Nicholas. The package contained 150 gold ten-ruble coins of royal minting. Large training camps were held in Vologda, Kazan, Saratov, Perm, Ufa, Kaluga and other cities. There was not a single parish, even a rural one, on land free from fascist invaders that did not make its contribution to the national cause. In total, more than 8 million rubles and a large number of gold and silver items were collected for the tank column.
Workers from the Chelyabinsk tank plant took the baton from the believers. The workers worked day and night at their places. In a short time, 40 T-34 tanks were built. They formed a church-wide tank column. Its transfer to Red Army units took place near the village of Gorelki, five kilometers northwest of Tula. The 38th and 516th separate tank regiments received formidable equipment. By that time, both had already gone through a difficult battle path.
Considering the high significance of the patriotic contribution of the clergy and ordinary believers, on the day of the transfer of the column, March 7, 1944, a solemn meeting was held. The main organizer and inspirer of the creation of the tank column, Patriarch Sergius, due to serious illness, was unable to personally be present at the transfer of tanks to units of the Red Army. With his blessing, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) spoke to the personnel of the regiments. Having reported on the patriotic activities of the Church and its unbreakable unity with the people, Metropolitan Nicholas gave parting instructions to the defenders of the Motherland.
At the end of the meeting, Metropolitan Nikolai, in memory of the significant event, presented the tankers with gifts from the Russian Orthodox Church: the officers received engraved watches, and the rest of the crew members received folding knives with many accessories.
This event was celebrated in Moscow. Chairman of the Affairs Council
G. G. Karpov gave a special reception to the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR on March 30, 1944. It was attended by: from the Military Council of Armored and Mechanized Troops of the Red Army - Lieutenant General N.I. Biryukov and Colonel N.A. Kolosov, from the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Sergius and Metropolitans Alexy and Nikolai. Lieutenant General N.I. Biryukov conveyed to Patriarch Sergius the gratitude of the Soviet command and an album of photographs capturing the solemn moment of the transfer of the tank column to the wars of the Red Army.
For their courage and heroism, 49 tankmen of the Dimitri Donskoy column from the 38th regiment were awarded orders and medals of the USSR. Another, the 516th Lodz Separate Flamethrower Tank Regiment, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on April 5, 1945.
The tankers summed up the results of their battle in Berlin. By May 9, 1945, they had destroyed: over 3,820 enemy soldiers and officers, 48 tanks and self-propelled guns, 130 various guns, 400 machine gun emplacements, 47 bunkers, 37 mortars; about 2,526 soldiers and officers captured; captured 32 military warehouses and much more.
The moral impact of the tank column on our army was even greater. After all, she bore the blessing of the Orthodox Church and her incessant prayer for the success of Russian weapons. The church column gave the believers the comforting knowledge that Orthodox Christians did not stand aside and that, according to their strengths and capabilities, each of them participated in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
In total, more than 200 million rubles were collected from parishes during the war for the needs of the front. In addition to money, believers also collected warm clothes for the soldiers: felt boots, mittens, padded jackets.
During the war years, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens addressed believers with patriotic messages 24 times, responding to all the main events in the military life of the country. The patriotic position of the Church was of particular importance for Orthodox Christians of the USSR, millions of whom participated in combat operations at the front and in partisan detachments, and worked in the rear. The difficult trials and hardships of the war became one of the reasons for the significant increase in people's religious feelings. Representatives of different segments of the population sought and found support and consolation in the Church. In his messages and sermons, Metropolitan Sergius not only consoled believers in sorrow, but also encouraged them to selflessly work in the rear and courageously participate in military operations. He condemned desertion, surrender, and collaboration with the occupiers. Maintained faith in the final victory over the enemy.
The patriotic activity of the Russian Orthodox Church, manifested from the first day of the war in moral and material assistance to the front, quickly won recognition and respect both among believers and atheists. Soldiers and commanders of the active army, home front workers, public and religious figures and citizens of allied and friendly states wrote about this to the USSR Government. A number of telegrams from representatives of the Orthodox clergy with messages about the transfer of funds for defense needs appear on the pages of the central newspapers Pravda and Izvestia. Anti-religious attacks in periodicals cease completely. Stops
its existence as the “Union of Militant Atheists” without official dissolution. Some anti-religious museums are closing. Temples are starting to open without legal registration. On Easter 1942, by order of the commandant of Moscow, unhindered movement around the city was allowed for the entire Easter night. In the spring of 1943, the Government opened access to the Iveron Mother of God icon, which was transported from the closed Donskoy Monastery for worship at the Resurrection Church in Sokolniki. In March 1942, the first Council of Bishops during the war years met in Ulyanovsk, which examined the situation in the Russian Orthodox Church and condemned the pro-fascist actions of Bishop Polycarp (Sikorsky). More and more often in Stalin's speeches one hears a call to follow the behests of the great ancestors. According to his instructions, one of the most revered Russian saints, Alexander Nevsky, along with other commanders of the past, is again declared a national hero. On July 29, 1942, the Military Order of Alexander Nevsky was established in the USSR - the direct successor to the order of the same saint, created by Peter the Great. For the first time in the entire history of the existence of the Soviet state, the hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church takes part in the work of one of the state commissions - on November 2, 1942, Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia Nikolai (Yarushevich), administrator of the Moscow diocese, becomes, according to the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, one of the ten members Extraordinary State Commission to establish and investigate the atrocities of the Nazi invaders.
In the first years of the war, with the permission of the authorities, several bishops' sees were replaced. During these years, episcopal consecrations were also carried out, mainly of widowed archpriests of advanced years, who managed to receive spiritual education in the pre-revolutionary era.
But 1943 was preparing even greater changes for the Russian Orthodox Church.
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 prayers 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 are most consistent with 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. As for Eastern societies, 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 come under attack was the 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: “The more representatives of the reactionary clergy and the reactionary bourgeoisie we manage to shoot on this occasion, the better.” Thus, the clergy and the bourgeoisie are concepts of the same order for Lenin. This is true from the point of view of civilizational affiliation. The creation of a new one could be successful only if the spiritual foundation was destroyed and its carriers were 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 what did not contradict the 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 disciples and followers, and not like the leader of a 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 became one of the most important sources of 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, the St. George Ribbon was introduced, and 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 soldiers, to maintain hospitals and orphanages, to restore areas damaged during the German occupation and to help disabled war veterans.
Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad remained with his flock in besieged Leningrad throughout the siege. “...ignites the hearts of the 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, the People's Commissariat of Education issued a decree on the preferential admission of front-line soldiers to educational institutions. 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 of them. In the Kursk region, before the Germans, there were 2, but there were 282, but in the Tambov region, where Soviet power remained unchanged, there remained 3 churches. 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 of 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. In addition to material 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.
