The Closure of Churches in the Kharkiv Region During the Great Terror and on the Eve of the German-Soviet War (1937–1941)

Abstract

The paper aims to study the closure of churches and prayer houses in the Kharkiv region during the Great Terror and the period preceding the German-Soviet war. The relevance and the need for further research on the subject are highlighted, as an analysis of the national historiography shows its insufficiency (most scholars typically confine their analysis to the 1920s – mid-1930s, when the majority of churches and prayer houses in the country ceased to function). The article also reviews the source base of the study and its main components. The article examines the continuous closure by the totalitarian authorities of those few churches and prayer houses which still were open in the Kharkiv region despite the very difficult conditions in 1937–1941. In pursuing an anti-religious policy, the authorities actively used a whole arsenal of schemes and «proven» means to reduce the number of functioning prayer houses. The mass detention of clergy and members of church communities during the Great Terror facilitated the closure of churches by local authorities, who used the situation to act under various pretexts, with subsequent transfer of their premises to various «cultural institutions». After the Great Terror, the authorities widely resorted to social demagoguery for the same purpose, constantly referring to the «will» of the allegedly broad masses of voters when making relevant decisions. In order to close a church, the authorities often used the far-fetched pretext of the allegedly poor or dangerous condition of church buildings. Closed churches and prayer rooms were often demolished, and the building material was reused for the construction of other facilities. As a result of the pressure exerted on every religious denomination, only a few churches stayed open in the Kharkiv region before the German-Soviet war.