Church and state policy: Problems of interaction (based on the example of the Saratov Volga region 1917–1920s)

Abstract

The authors of the article, based on archival material, characterize and analyze the measures of the Soviet government in relation to the church and believers in the 1917–1920s. The article examines events related to the confiscation of churches from believers, the seizure of church valuables from religious buildings in the Saratov Volga region under the pretext of helping the hungry. The authors provide statistical data on the closure of churches, the number of confiscated valuables in the region, conclude that the confiscation of church valuables was accompanied by criminal prosecution of innocent people for their disappearance, and also try to discuss the eternal topic of good and evil, self-defense of a system that crushes everything on his way.

Keywords

• anti-church policy of the state
• saratov volga region
• 1917–19920s
• closing of churches
• confiscation of church valuables