The Seizure of Church Valuables in Kharkiv Province in 1922

Abstract

The article examines the course of the campaign of the seizure of church valuables in Kharkiv province in 1922. Using the circumstances of the terrible famine that covered many regions of Ukraine from 1921 to 1922, the Soviet state conducted a large-scale campaign of «withdrawal» (in fact, a confiscation which wasn’t covered by any other reason) of church values. All valuables from the temples and houses of worship were confiscated without an exception for any religion. The methods of confiscation of church riches by local authorities of Kharkiv region are examined. We also show a special role played by the authorities of the State Political Directorate, who controlled the work of the commissions for the seizure of values and suppressed the resistance of believers and the clergy. The publication attempts to find out the results of the seizure of values in Kharkiv and the districts of the capital province. The attitude of different parts of the society to the campaign on confiscation of church values is analyzed. On the basis of archival sources and materials of the local and central press there is shown the resistance made by the faithful and the clergy to the campaign of confiscating the church valuables, and its forms and methods are analyzed. The repressive policy of atheist authorities, aimed at suppressing the resistance of the masses of the believing population and representatives of the clergy to the total confiscation of values, which was often carried out in a brutal way, is highlighted. The scale of the repression of the Bolshevik authorities against believers and acolytes of religious cults is shown. It is concluded that by pursuing a policy of confiscation of church values, the Bolshevik authorities tried to undermine the economic base of the church, seeking to obtain large financial resources as a result of confiscation, as well as to morally discredit the clergy in the eyes of the public, undermine the authority of the church as an important social institution and, finally, to bring discord into the church community. During the campaign for the confiscation of church treasures, much of the religious items of historical and cultural value were lost forever.