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Militant atheism as the government policyduring the pre-war period in the Orenburg (Chkalov) region
DOI of the paper: 10.15382/sturII201458.61-81
Abstract
The article focuses on the anti-religious actions of the Soviet authority, its methods and forms in the Orenburg (Chkalov) region during the last fi ve years before the war. Ithighlights people’s lives reorganization according to the communist model, parish closing in the towns and in the country. It gives the facts about the violent destruction of the Orenburg eparchy church property, believer oppositiontothe Soviet authority in pursuit of their interests, repression againstchurchmen and laypeople that ended with the church organization destruction in the territory of Orenburg regionand the Orenburg eparchy liquidation as a structural unit of the Russian Orthodox Church. The article introducesbelievers’ secretchurch life in the religious persecution conditions.It examines conventuals’ life inclosed monasteries of the Orenburg eparchy in diff erent Orenburgcommunitiesand investigates the activityof the Militant Atheists Union (MAU) in the regional and local levels. The publication describes the activity carried out by the central authorities of the MAU, with the aim to enliven the anti-religious campaigningamong the population before the Second World War beginning. The regional Militant Atheists Union authority tried to cover the whole territory of the region with its local organizations, but this attempt failed fi nally. The authorshows the data of the Militant Atheists Union conferences and gives the examples of the anti-religious propaganda in diff erent work collectives and educational establishments. Finally the publicationhighlightsthe anti-religious agitation in the local and regional newspapers and explores themes of the anti-religious articles published in them over the last fi ve years before the war.
Keywords
the Orenburg (Chkalov) region, the Orenburg (Chkalov) eparchy, the persecution against the Church, the newspaper «The Orenburg Commune», the newspaper «The Chkalov Commune», bishop Varlaam (Kozulya), the Militant Atheists Union (MAU), the anti-religious
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