РЕПРЕСИВНА ПОЛІТИКА РАДЯНСЬКОЇ ВЛАДИ ВІДНОСНО ПРОТЕСТАНТСЬКИХ КОНФЕСІЙ В УРАЇНІ ПЕРІОДУ ПІЗНЬОГО СТАЛІНІЗМУ (1944 – 1953 рр.) В СУЧАСНИХ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯХ УКРАЇНСЬКИХ ІСТОРИКІВ

Abstract

The analysis of the research of modern Ukrainian historians studying the relationship between representatives of the Protestant denominations of Ukraine with the bodies of the People's Commissariat of State Security (NKVD) Ministry of State Security - MSS and party and Soviet authorities in the era of late Stalinism is provided. The chronological framework of the problem is determined from 1945 to 1953, which is due to the specifics of the specified period, which consisted of some changes in the approaches and methods of work of the Soviet special services with Protestants. The historiography of the problem is considered. It was established that each of the scientists, based on the object of his research, investigated the scientific heritage of his predecessors. It was found out that researchers focused mainly on the pseudo-liberalization of relations between the Stalinist regime and Protestant denominations in the post-war years. Decorative changes of a liberal nature were determined by the course of events and the results of the Second World War. The efforts of the leadership of the USSR to create a positive image in Western democratic societies were studied. At the same time, it was established that the aforementioned "liberalization" did not stop the repressive machine of the Soviet special services against Protestants, only made it more sophisticated. Two stages of research on the specified topic were defined. The first stage 1991–2015, the opening of secret funds related to the activities of the Council for Religious Cults. The closure of the State Security Committee archives at the first stage of research did not allow researchers to fully determine the role of repressive bodies in the ongoing processes. The second stage is from 2015 to today. It is characterized by the provision in 2015 of access to the closed archive funds of the CPSU and the State Security Committee. The beginning of active use of previously unavailable documents of the state security bodies of the USSR was studied. Emphasis on methods and forms of work of the repressive apparatus in relation to Protestants was done. It has been proved that the results of the research of domestic historians regarding the repressive policy of the Soviet authorities in relation to the Protestant confessions of Ukraine during the late Stalinist era coincide in many positions.