МЕМУАРЫ КАК ИСТОЧНИК ПО ИСТОРИИ РУССКОЙ ПРАВОСЛАВНОЙ ЦЕРКВИ В 1918-1921 ГГ.

Abstract

The article about evaluating the importance of the memoires as a source of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917–1921. Under the conditions of the Civil War, those sources that appear to be more “objective” than those of personal origin lose some of their significance. The normative documents were often a “declaration of intent” and the actual policies were often very different from what was proclaimed in the laws. The old system of office work was destroyed together with the old state apparatus, the new one was just beginning to be created, which could not but affect the quality of information reflected in official documents. In such circumstances, the information contained in sources of personal origin acquires special meaning. They give us the opportunity to see the events through the eyes of their immediate participants and witnesses, to understand their motives and feelings. Of interest are both the memoirs of archpriests, priests and laymen, and the memoirs of those who implemented anti-religious policy. The comparative analysis of various narratives in sources of personal origin and comparison of such memories with the data of archival documents allows specifying important details of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church at the beginning of the 20th century. The memoirs are an important source on the history of the repressions against believers; they also provide valuable information about the political stance of the Russian Orthodox Church.