STATUS OF RELIGION IN THE SOVIET UNION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81-01030R000100400008-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 4, 2013
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: February 18, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
CONFIDENTIAL
It
a information affecting the Na-
tional umense or toe United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its tram= salon or revelation of Its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
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COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Status of Religion in the
Soviet Union
DATE OF INFO.
PLACE ACQUIRED
REPORT
DATE DISTR. .18 February 1954
NO. OF PAGES 9
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
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REFERENCES
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
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Comment:
I. IlLthvmuniedescription on page 1, read NIOPIK for NIOPik.
3. Read Donets for Donetz in paragraphs 1 and 2.
4. Read Pereyezdnaya for Pereyesdnaya in paragraph 2) page 1.
5. Read Starobelsk for'Staro-Belsk in paragraph 2, page 2.
6. In paragraph 6, read kulich for kulitch.
7. In paragraph 27, read Russian Orthodox church for Greek Orthodox Church.
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COUNTRY g USSR
SUNECT t Status of Religion in the Soviet Union
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1. When I was sent to the Soviet Union in the autumn of 1946, I hoped
to find a firsthand answer to the questions which interested me
about Christianity and the church in the USSR. At first, it seemed
that there was a complete religious vacuum existing, because the
small*industrial town of Rubezhnoye on the Donetz River, which was
our place of residence for four and a half years, did not have its
own Church. Even before the war, according to the
local population, there was no church in existence there. When I
found sometime later a church designated on a wartime map of this
area, I discovered that this was merely a Soviet camouflage maneuver,
for in this place a large bread/factory was located;-,
2. We discovered a church .in a neighboring village of Varvarovka.
It was in a state of desolationi:as if it had been years since church
services had been held there. It served as a grain warehouse for
the collective farm which was located in this village. The nearest
church not converted to other uses was located some fifteen kilo-
meters from Rubezhnoys in the town of Pereyesdnaya on the Donetz.
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-2.
Another one was in the town of Staro-Belsk?fifty kilometers
away. According to the local citizens, these
were the only churches in the area of Rubezhnoye which had
regular church services. We were not allowed to leave the
immediate area of Rubezhnoye and consequently did not have
the opportunity of attending any church services. Accord-
ing to reliable sources, these services were very well
attended, and even the youth were to be seen there in note-
worthy numbers. In addition, I was once told by a frequent
visitor of the Staro-Belsk church that he had noticed a very
young deacon serving together with the regular old priest, a
sign that the clergy was not without new blood.
In the USSR)membership in a church community is not mentioned.
No mention of religion is made in the personal identity
papers of the citizens. The churches, however, are required
to have a-list of five people, including the priest, '
who are respOnsible for the building and very likely for the
pure religious nature of the church services. As far as I
could observe, no church taxes were allowed and the churches
were forced to depend upon voluntary contributions. :Churches
in most parts of Europe, including Germany, levy a tax on
their respective parishes2 I was told about a famous aye
doctor in Moscow, a Professor PAVLOV, who regularly attended
church services and gave most of his income to the church.
"It is difficult to conceive that an academician can have
religious faith", "but
perhaps he can thank his faith for his fame and skill as an
eye surgeon." Bsd the faithful in Varvarovka also had
sufficient funds to cover the costs of restoring the church
in their village, it could have again been put to the use
for which it was intended. The poverty-stricken conditions
under which the people lived, however, prevented their even
thinking of such an idea. Even the factory town of Rubezhnoye,
which was somewhat better off than the villages, could not
afford a church bell.
4. Although the Communistic system had designated Sunday gs the
official day of rest, making it the outstanding day of the
week, it Was still a day of labor for the majority orthe
population. The introduction of the Voskresnik program,
i.e., the system whereby a worker worked voluntarily without
pay, stimulated Sunday activity to a great pitch. In this
cheap way the government could keep its public parks,
boulevards, and athletic fields open and in a proper state
of maintenance. The female labor factions which are so
common in the USSR were, of course, continually striving to
make Sunday a day for household work and for the care of
their own fruit and vegetable gardens.
5. Sunday, by the way, is the principal shopping day. The bazaar
and the used goods market are both well stocked on Sunday.
The country folk come from far away, sometimes as early as
Saturday evening, to trade their produce for those items
manufactured in the city. The state-owned business centers
remain open until late in the afternoon, even on Sunday.
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6. Religious holidays in the USSR are not celebrated, and work
is.carried on in the normal manner. Even the German special-
ists, in the several years they spent in the USSR, were
allowed only occasionally to celebrate religious holidays.
This was strictly unofficial and under the plant director's
personal responsibility. The manhoure which were lost as the
result of taking days such as Christmas and Good Friday off
had to be made up by night overtime. In the latter years of
our stay in the Soviet Union, a request of ours for the
recognition of religious holidays was refused with the
explanation that,if the holidays of the Soviet Union's four-
teen religions were recognized, it would cause chaotic labor
conditions, especially so when all Greet Orthodox religious
holidays are in accordance with the Julian calendar and do
not coincide with our celebrations. Thus the high Christian
holidays went unnoticed. An exception was Easter, the
biggest holiday of the Greek Orthodox church.. On.this.day,
in the bazaars eau on the streets, one could heir in
occasional whispered tones, the Christian Easter greeting,
"Christ has risen", and the retorts "Christ has truly risen".
It seemed that on this day the State was willing to offer
some concessions to the population. In the last
? year of our stay in the USSR the old traditional
Russian Easter cake kulitch was openly sold in the State-
owned bakeries. I was informed that in the larger cities,
such as Kharkov, church services, which were attended by
representatives of the army and various governmental
agencies, were carried out from midnight to dawn. Even the
? famous church choirs of the Greek Orthodox church were
supposed to have drawn the attention of music lovers and
their attendance at churoh services throughout the land.
7. Another sign of ,:hurch life in the city of Rubezhnoye us
seen in the occeeional appearance of ministers or monks.
These spirituel leaders could be peen walking around in
crude black cowl-like coats, fastened with a leather belt
worn around the waist and wearing black hats. I did not
discover the inirpoee of their presence in Rubezhnoyelbut it
was obviously not for the collection of alms or contributions
as they provided,for themselves by shopping in the serious
stores.
8. One day.very soon after our arrivalswe noticed an old man at
the local bazaar who, in spite of the cold autumn weather,
sat quite still reading a book. Be paid little or no '
attention to the milling crowd around him. His clothing
was the same as the rest of the population, poor but
strikingly clean and neat. He was collecting alms in his
cap. / he was readinger------------lhis
manuscript; it was either a Bible or a prayer book written
in the Slavonic tongue. As even the most educated Russians
rarely mastered the script of this old church language, I
esumed th t this man was a ?riest.
I ,was ?
convinced that he had been a priest at one time and very
probably a member of one of the more learned orders.. We Aid
not lose sight of him as he occasionally appeared at the
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bazaar, not only for the pursuit of alms but glee :Wait.
and teed. once\ with his book in another part
of the city, /he was visiting sick
friends. The conclusion I drew from all this was that he
belonged to those "quiet ones of the land": that is, priests
and ministers who pinch the gospel without any official
church commission. In the apartments of older people, one
could very often find ikons, but because of illiteracy, the
beliefs of the older generation would have completely de-
generated had they not received spiritual guidance from this
type of wandering priest.
9. I did not notice, however, that the old priest who was so
often seen in the market place was ever exposed to any
ridicule' for his quite obvious religious attitude; it seemed
to me, as a matter of fact, that he was especially well taken
care of with contributions, as was an apparently one-time nun
who made a comfortable living out of her obvious pretense at
prayer and constant reference to a large silver cross which
she wore on her breast. Generally speaking, the population
was always very generous toward the many beggars and pan-
handlers who were so common in the market places and on the
streets.
10. Many Soviets today actually believe that they have a strong
tie with the church. A young factory girl once indignantly
countered the insinuation that she was a non-believer with
the fact that both she and her child were baptized. Still
another factory girl often spoke of her godmother with whom
she was still in close contact. The only thing that this
girl knew about the Christmas celebrations, although she was
quite conscious of the baptistal sacrament, was that on this
(tay one was given the opportunity of telliOg fortunes.
Z. In old Russia, Christmas Eve was marked with various customs,
one of which was the telling of fortunes by reading tea leaves,
molten lead, and soot from burned paper2 This reasoning is
an example of the complete lack of religious conception in
the USSR.
11. One could not escape the impression that the population had
a certain hesitancy toward, and perhaps a superstitious fear
of,-things that had any connection with religion. A young
customs officer
\drew a cross from his pocket, held
it in his hand and, with a solemn expression on his face,
made the sign of the cross and then very quickly and care-
fully replaced the cross in his pocket. The sign of the
cross is still used as the strongest form of oath. Once
when two beggar children came to my door in search of food,
they told me that their grandmother had told them to make
the sign of the cross in order to insure their receipt of
bread. Still another time an adolescent boy attempted to
borrow some money from me in order to purchase the groceries
remaining on his ration card. Since he was obviously a
member of that class of people who had no fixed income, I
hesitated to grant his request. This reaction on my part
caused the youth to make the sign of the cross in an
embarrassed manner as a symbol of his integrity.
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Incidentially I never had to regret the trust that I placed '
in this lad. Such signs of Christian and church customs are
quite common, especially if one is alert to them.
12. The cemeteries in town and in the surrounding area gave one
the impression of being in a complete state of abandonment.
The graves were neglected in most oases and cattle gtazed
among them. Although the-graves generally were marked with,
crosses, these crosses were merely symbols of a burial place
and did not carry any religious connotations. Only the Greek
Orthodox cross indicated a Christian grave. Such crosses?
some primitively constructed of wood, others of iron crudely
welded together, were quite common in the cemeteries. Graves
of party functionaries were, of course, decorated with a red
obelisk with the hammer and sickles Christian
funeral services could not be held at the grave as the
appearance of the church in public was undesirable. I never
witnessed any funeral processions with the accompaniment of
-priests.
13. To illustrate the effect of the somber mood of a burial upon
children, one incident stands out in my memory. During the
funeral services which were held with the permission of the
authorities at the grave of one of our German colleagues,
there appeared a whole row of curious Soviet children. They
unthinkingly folded their hands and quietly looked on. When
one of the children created a disturbance during the cere-
mony by speaking loudly, he was rebuked with a slap by one of
his little companions.
14. We were informed that there was an Evangelical group in
existence in the town and the surrounding area. This
probably dated from pre-war days when the area had German
settlers. Once a middle-
aged Soviet who was carrying a well-thumbed prayer book. He
he was an Evangelical and was on his way into
the city to organize a prayer meeting there. Incidentally3 two
youngsters belonged to Such a. prayer group. 'One was a
gifted young girl who worked as an interpreter-translator
and German typist in our institute. She made no secret of
the fact that she was a Christian and that the Christian
dogmas were not strange to her,i
I A young student who was a frequent
visitor lbelonged to this girl's circle of
acquaintances. He was the son of a former priest who died
in a concentration camp. This boy also considered himself
a member of the Christian church, although he hardly had any
knowledge of Christian teachings.
15. It is very difficult with such sparse data to distinguish
between the orthodox church and its independent Christian
branches. Hardly any differentiation between the various
sects can be made. We have indeed many illustrations that
during difficult times the differences existing among the
various creeds are cast aside and their common belief becomes..
of prime importance. One has only to call to mind the common
martyrdom shared by the ministers of all denominationsLat.the
time of the advent of Bolshevism in the city of Riga.
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16. We Germans in Rubezhnoye encountered no obstacles in living
in accordance with our beliefs. We were allowed to give our
children religious teaching, and I could hold religious
services which, of course, had to be officially sanctioned as
the services were regarded as public meetings where the
participants had to be watched in accordance with Soviet
procedure.
17.
18. The picture of Christianity in the Soviet Union would not
be complete without also showing the other side. The official
course of the Communist Party, as one Gould expect, has always
been atheistically inclined. In a dictionary published by a
government printing house in 19509 together with other defi-
nitions of the anti-religious movement, religion is defined
as a superstitious and out-moded delirium of ancient times.
The same was true of the other concepts connected with
Christianity and religion, and their implications certainly
did not point toward any change in the ideology of the
government0 once overheard a conver-
sation between two Party members who were concerned over the
fact that persons of their class, especially the parents of
young Komsomols, still allowed their children to be baptized.
19. Ostensibly, the Party was very reserved in its attitude
toward the church. When the question of religion was
discussed, the issue was always defined as the necessity to
eliminate superstitious adherences to religious beliefs.
These discussions, however, never really approached a
solution as to what extent this purge of the church's in-
fluence should be carried. Only once did I actually read
a newspaper article which expressed itself directly against
the church. It was aimed primarily at the Christmas cele-
brations.
20. .The Christmas holidays, by the way, have been replaced by the
official State celebration of the new year. This occasion is
marked by a lighted Christmas tree as in western lands and
the appearance of nGrApdfather Frost", the Russian version of
the Weihnachtsmann L Santa Clauil, who brings children
presents. This holiday is, of course, not devoted to "peace
on earth"; I personally saw in the "Rouse of Culture" in
Rubezhnoye a Christmas tree decorated with such things as
tanks, firearms, and other military-type toys. Children's
toys, such as machine guns, military uniforms, and other
warlike emblems, decorate the shelves of stores and are very
popular items.
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21. Religious scriptures of any kind could not be obtained in
any bookstores. On two occasions,I saw a copy of the New
Testament for sale at the used goods market. One of these
books was an old edition which was identified ?as such by the
presence of both the Slavonic and Russian language, the latter
being written in the old orthography. I could not determine
if this book came from a state-owned publishing house, but I
later thought it possible that it came into the Soviet Union
through one of the companies during the war.
These two books were priced rather highly which was
possible indication of a demand for such books.
a middle-aged female teacher who was still quite attached to
the church and occasionally attended services in a nearby
church. She said that she would gladly pay a high price for
one of these Bibles.
a
22. If various religious manuscripts are published in the USSR
at all today, they are issued very probably in small numbers
and I assume that their distrubution is effected through the
officially recognized church. The young female office
worker mentioned earlier in the last year of my stay
in the Soviet Union she 'was very happy because at last
she was the owner of a Bible, without indicating, however,
exactly what she meant by this statement. One occasionally
experiences surprises; I came across a book
from the lending library in the "House of Culture", that was
written in novel form and pursued very definite Christian
views. Each chapter was prefaced by a scriptural quotation
and its source. The novel itself closed with a verse from
the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, chapter 8, verse 28:
"And we know that to them that love God, all things
work together unto good..." This novel was reprinted in
1928 in a governmental publishing house for the benefit of
the Communist youth and its use was still sanctionedd
23. In the schools, of course, there was no room for religious
teaching. It was exactly 'as one young female teacher once
explained: "My grandmother still believes; her great-
grandmother, at the age of ninety, attended mass every
Sunday in Pereyezdnaya; my mother still believes a little
bit; but religious belief for me was completely stunted in
school." With this statement, she wanted to excuse any
atheistically-inclined ideas she may have developed.
24. I must admit that, in my limited contact with cultured
circles, I very seldom, if at all, ran across any convinced
atheists, such persons always expressed
their surprise over how connect religion with
natural science, but they hardly ever attempted to dis-
prove any convictions. This seemed indicative of the
fact that they themselves could find no feasible arguments
against the faith in God.
25. Asa matter of fact, I have actually come face to face with
a definite interest in religious and spiritual matters.
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This became especially evident during my imprisonment in the
East Zone in connection with the events which accompanied
the June 17 revolts in the Soviet Zone of Germany.' My
Christian convictions became a regular subject during my
numerous interrogations before a Soviet court. Although I
was told that they were not the object of the investigation,
these convictions were still of importance in the evaluation
of my character, and the subject was always in the fore-
ground during the numerous interrogations. Here again my
interrogators expressed their surprise as to how it was .
possible for me, as a scientist, to support my faith in God.
They never attempted, however, to contradict me or to label
my beliefs as absurd. They actually tried to closely follow
my trend of thought and I am certain that my openness toward
these things actually helped me in receiving my freedom as
quickly as I did.
26. If I were to attempt to reconstruct a picture of the plight
of Christianity in the Soviet Union from the sparse and
occasional mosaic pieces which I was able to observe, the
following conclusions could be made:
27. A church, the Greek Orthodox church, exists in the Soviet
Union. It is tolerated by the Government but, at the same
time, closely watched so that it will not gain any definite
control over the populace. It exists in poverty and under
great handicaps. Its spiritual mission, which is the
guidance of the population and especially of the youth,
cannot be completely accomplished because of these barriers
and obstacles. It is also incapable of maintaining the
heritage and the traditions of the faith of past genera-
tions, although much of it can still be found in this land
of organized godlessness. Perhaps that is why the Soviet
is called a religious human being. This probably also
? explains why the faithful gather in small groups and remain
conscious of their common Christian faith without attaching
themselves to the official church. These groups become
gathering points for the seekers of faith, especially the
youth. It is of little importance to which denominations
these groups belong; they can call themselves whatever they
like, but their basic Christian precepts will be alike in
all denominations.
28. .The ideology of the Communist State is atheistically in-
clined and the education of the youth in the schools will
always conform with this pattern. But the power of con-
viction is missing in this atheism, because the search for
the truth always stands in its way. The Soviet Union, in
the situation that it is today, has become a land ripe for
the missionary and the teachings of the Bible. This fact
must be a holy warning to all Christians of the world; and
there should be concern foremost in the minds of all .
Christians to save their fellow brothers in the East, in
spite of all handicaps and difficulties.
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