The Status of Protestant Сommunities in Western Siberia in the Context of Strengthening of the Anti-Religious Policy of the USSR in the Late 1950s – Early 1960s

Abstract

In modern Russia, the issue of the relationship between the state and religious organizations is among the most urgent. One of the most controversial is the policy toward Protestant communities carried out by the government at different times. It is important to note that a significant part of the works of Russian historiography is devoted to particular as pects of the activities of Protestant communities in Siberia. At the same time, the history of the relations between the latter and the Soviet authorities often remained without due attention, which determined the topic of this article. The authors came to the following conclusions. The state-confessional policy implemented by the government since 1958 has placed religious communities of various faiths in an unequal position. For example, while the communities of the Russian Orthodox Church were trying to cope with administrative pressure from the Soviet authorities, majority of the Protestant denominations in the region switched to illegal existence. This was due not only to the state policy that had developed against them, which prohibited certain areas of Protestantism, but also to the position of the believers themselves, who were accustomed to conspiracy in previous years. As a result, during the period under review, it was not Protestant communities that were subjected to administrative persecution in Siberia, as a rule, but specific individuals who actively and publicly professed one of the directions of Protestantism. In some cases, the leadership of rural areas preferred not to spoil the statistics and not to notice the believers living in the territories under their jurisdiction. As a result, reports to higher management often kept silent about the facts of the manifestation of religiosity among the population. Similar motives were among the management of enterprises and institutions that did not want to lose valuable employees because of the latter's religious beliefs. It should be noted that the situation in Siberia was not unique and in the period under review was typical for many regions of the country.