"Influence of ideology on historical research with a study of Pskov orthodox mission as an example" Rev.of История Псковской православной миссии в документах: В 2 ч. Ч. 1: Документы личного архива митрополита Сергия (Воскресенского); Ч. 2: Документы судебно-следственных дел духовенства и служащих / Науч. рук. игум. Дамаскин (Орловский); сост. иеромонах Платон (Рожков), С. Н. Романова, Л. И. Соколова, З. Н. Столярова. Козельск: Введенский ставропигиальный мужской монастырь, Оптина пустынь, 2017., 2018. 157-165 p.
Abstract
The topic, devoted to the situation of the Pskov Orthodox Mission within the occupied USSR’s territory in 1941-1944, has been continuing relentlessly to call both domestic and foreign researchers’ attention. It was confirmed by publishing the collection of documents “The Pskov Orthodox Mission's history through documents”, letting one into the Pskov Orthodox Mission's activities this or that way. (The Pskov Orthodox Mission was formed mainly on the occupied Leningrad eparchy's territory). Authors-compliers placed the materials, stocked at the FSS's archive, into the two-volume collection. The first volume is comprised of the Baltic Exarch management's documents. The second one, dating back to 1941-1944, embraces the trial files against Orthodox priests, to be prosecuted and repressed for anti-Soviet activities over their serving on the occupied territories of the Baltic region and the North-West of Russia. The publication given opens up new possibilities for scientists, not having access to so rare materials. Thanks to these papers, priests' and sacristans' unknown new life history pages turn up, factual coverage mounts up drastically. For instance, the vesrions on Soviet intelligence bodies, striving to establish contact with Exarch Sergius (Voskresensky) in Riga at the end of 1943 and to enlist the Pskov Orthodox Mission's management. At that, a number of documents testify that Exarch Sergius was aiming at uniting the Orthodox Church's separated parts on the USSR's and Western Europe's occupied territories. Along with the publication advantages, there is one main drawback, that is, in their introductory articles to both of the volumes, the authors-compliers underline the Pskov Orthodox Mission's members' disloyal, fascism supportive and antisoviet morale, towards their Motherhood and their compatriots. Unfortunately, the collection's authors could not be bothered to comment on the Pskov Orthodox Mission's priesthood's investigatory documents. Nowadays, it is well-known that in 1956, there were revealed gross trial procedures violations, fraud and false witness testimonies in relation to the Pskov Orthodox Mission's members, in order to accuse them unjustly or pass severe sentences on them. The abovemantioned facts allow us to draw the conclusion that the idea behind publishing the documents, pretending to shed light on the Pskov Orthodox Mission's genuine history, was scantily scientific, being, at times, explicitly ideological.
