Agent and Operational Activities towards Evangelical Churches in the USSR in the 1920s — 1930s

This study focuses on the agent-operative activities of state security agencies with respect to religious organizations as one of the main instruments of combating religion in the Soviet Union. The sources analyzed in the article provide the basis for a number of important conclusions about the agent-operative activities of state security agencies with respect to Protestant Sects. Throughout the entire Soviet period of Russian history, the main target of recruitment was believers themselves, primarily members of denominational leadership. The possibility to obtain reliable information from them, as well as to exert indirect influence on religious organizations through them, primarily for their internal degradation and control, compensated the Chekists for the difficulties in recruiting sectarians and their unreliability as agents. However, despite all the advantages that a functioning agency and intelligence apparatus offered, intelligence activities were subject to sharp fluctuations, especially in the 1930s. The decline occurred mainly during periods when the state sought to eliminate religious organizations through administrative repression. At other times, agent-operative activities were an integral part of church-state relations.

Keywords

evangelical churches, USSR, state security agencies, intelligence and operational activities, agents, recruitment, collaboration

Received

03.07.2022

Publication date

31.08.2022

Number of characters

49452

Cite

GOST	Savin A. Agent and Operational Activities towards Evangelical Churches in the USSR in the 1920s — 1930s // ISTORIYA – 2022. – V. 13. – Issue 6 (116) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840021875-1-1 (circulation date: 23.07.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840021875-1
MLA	Savin, Andrey "Agent and Operational Activities towards Evangelical Churches in the USSR in the 1920s — 1930s." ISTORIYA 13.6 (116) (2022) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840021875-1
APA	Savin A. (2022). Agent and Operational Activities towards Evangelical Churches in the USSR in the 1920s — 1930s. ISTORIYA 13(6 (116)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840021875-1

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 125

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Andropov Yu. V. O dal'nejshem sovershenstvovanii razvedyvatel'noj i kontrrazvedyvatel'noj deyatel'nosti organov gosudarstvennoj bezopasnosti v sovremennykh usloviyakh // Deyatel'nost' organov gosudarstvennoj bezopasnosti SSSR na sovremennom ehtape. Sb. dokumentov i materialov. M., 1980. Vyp. 1. S. 76—96.

2. Babenko L. L. Radyans'kі organi derzhavnoї bezpeki v sistemі vzaєmovіdnosin derzhavi і pravoslavnoї tserkvi v Ukraїnі (1918 — seredina 1950-kh rr.). Poltava, 2014.

3. Belkovets L. P. Administrativno-pravovoe polozhenie rossijskikh nemtsev na spetsposelenii 1941—1955 gg.: Istoriko-pravovoe issledovanie. Novosibirsk: Izd-vo SO RAN, 2003.

4. Bibliograficheskij spravochnik statej, opublikovannykh v Sbornike KGB (1970—1980 gg.) M., 1985.

5. Burds Dzh. Sovetskaya agentura: Ocherki istorii SSSR v poslevoennye gody (1944—1948). M.-N'yu-Jork, 2006.

6. Vedeneev D. V. Ateisty v mundirakh. Sovetskie spetssluzhby i religioznaya sfera Ukrainy. M., 2016.

7. Gorbatov A. V. KGB i religioznye organizatsii // Voprosy istorii. 2008. № 6. S. 128—132.

8. Gorbatov A. V. Gosudarstvo i religioznye organizatsii Sibiri v 1940-e —1960-e gg. Tomsk, 2008.

9. Dushu ne pogublyu: Ispovedniki i osvedomiteli v dokumentakh i... o metodakh agenturnoj raboty / sost. V. A. Korolev. M., 2001.

10. Kostyrchenko G. V. Moskovskaya evrejskaya religioznaya obschina: ot Oktyabr'skoj revolyutsii do Bol'shogo terrora // Konfessional'naya politika sovetskogo gosudarstva v 1920—1950-e gg: Materialy XI Mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoj konferentsii. Velikij Novgorod, 11—13 oktyabrya 2018 g. M., 2019. S. 290—318.

11. Krotov Ya. V. Revolyutsionnye vremena Ust'-Kamenogorska. Zhizn' uchastnika sobytij. M., 2020.

12. Kurlyandskij I. A. Stalin, vlast', religiya (religioznyj i tserkovnyj faktory vo vnutrennej politike sovetskogo gosudarstva v 1922—1953 gg.). M., 2011.

13. Kurlyandskij I. A. Osobennosti karatel'noj politiki stalinskoj vlasti v otnoshenii chlenov religioznykh organizatsij v 1939—1941 gg. // Konfessional'naya politika sovetskogo gosudarstva v 1920—1950-e gg.: Materialy XI Mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoj konferentsii. Velikij Novgorod, 11—13 oktyabrya 2018 g. M., 2019. S. 319—324.

14. Maslova I. I. Russkaya pravoslavnaya tserkov' i KGB (1960—1980 gg.) // Voprosy istorii. 2005. № 12. S. 86—96.

15. Maslova I. I. «Vatikanskoe napravlenie»: iz istorii sekretnykh operatsij KGB // Religiya i pravo: informatsionno-analiticheskij zhurnal. 2005. № 2. S. 11—14.

16. Materialy fevral'sko-martovskogo plenuma TsK VKP(b) 1937 g. // Voprosy istorii. 1994. № 10. S. 3—27.

17. Moskovskaya pautina. Ch. 1. Tajnyj plan. Dokumental'nyj fil'm (TV Center, 2007). [Ehlektronnyj resurs]. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MyF_h3WKJg

18. Osipova I. I. Khasidy: «Spasaya narod svoj...»: Istoriya khasidskogo podpol'ya v gody bol'shevistskogo terrora: Po materialam otchetov OGPU-NKVD-MGB i sledstvennykh del zaklyuchennykh. M., 2002.

19. Religiya i obschestvo v Prienisejskoj Sibiri. 1920—1930-e gg. Sbornik arkhivnykh dokumentov i materialov. / sost. R. G. Rafikov, A. P. Dvoretskaya, E. A. Ivanova i drugie. Krasnoyarsk, 2011.

20. Savin A. I. Sotrudnichestvo s tajnoj politsiej kak spetsificheskaya forma politicheskoj adaptatsii veruyuschikh v sovetskom gosudarstve (1920—1940-e gg.) // Vestnik Omskogo universiteta. Seriya «Istoricheskie nauki». 2014. № 3 (3). S. 37—47.

21. Savin A. I. Stalinskij zigzag v religioznoj politike v svete tsirkulyarnogo pis'ma № 37 OGPU pri SNK SSSR (mart 1930 g.) // Novejshaya istoriya Rossii. 2018. T. 8. № 3. S. 791—805.

22. Smykalin A. S. Ideologicheskij kontrol' i Pyatoe upravlenie KGB SSSR v 1967—1989 gg. // Voprosy istorii. 2011. № 8. S. 30—40.

23. Sovetskoe gosudarstvo i evangel'skie tserkvi Sibiri v 1920—1941 gg. Dokumenty i materialy / sost. A. I. Savin. Novosibirsk, 2004.

24. Sudoplatov P. A. Razvedka i Kreml'. Zapiski nezhelatel'nogo svidetelya. M., 1996.

25. Teplyakov A. G. Sibirskie chekisty protiv tserkvi: terror nachala 1930-kh gg. // Gosudarstvo, obschestvo, tserkov' v istorii Rossii KhKh—KhKhI vv. Materialy XV Mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoj konferentsii, Ivanovo, 23—24 marta 2016 g. Ivanovo, 2016. Ch. 2. S. 665—672.

26. Teplyakov A. G. «…Nametit' teoriyu agenturnoj raboty»: Dokladnaya zapiska chekista E. F. Krivtsa (1925 g.) kak istochnik po istorii sovetskoj politicheskoj politsii // Sto let Ural'skomu gosudarstvennomu yuridicheskomu universitetu (1918—2018 gg.): v 2-kh tt. T. 1: Ehvolyutsiya rossijskogo i zarubezhnogo gosudarstva i prava: istoriko-yuridicheskie issledovaniya / pod red. prof. A. S. Smykalina. Ekaterinburg, 2019. S. 865—893.

27. Teplyakov A. G. Pravoslavnye sekty v Zapadnoj Sibiri i gosudarstvennyj terror kontsa 1920-kh — nachala 1930-kh gg // Konfessional'naya politika sovetskogo gosudarstva v 1920—1950-e gg: Materialy XI Mezhdunarodnoj nauchnoj konferentsii. Velikij Novgorod, 11—13 oktyabrya 2018 g. M., 2019. S. 439—448.

28. Khruschev N. S. Dva tsveta vremeni. Dokumenty iz lichnogo fonda N. S. Khruscheva: V 2-kh tomakh. T. 1 / red. N. G. Tomilina. M.: MFD, 2009.

29. Tserkov' dolzhna ostavat'sya tserkov'yu. Neobratimye desyatiletiya 1917—1937 gg. v istorii evangel'skogo i baptistskogo dvizheniya. M., 2008.

30. Chernyshev A. V. Protestantskie religioznye techeniya XX—XXI vv. v Zapadnoj Sibiri. Istoriografiya, bibliografiya, dokumenty. Tyumen', 2005.

31. Ehtnokonfessiya v sovetskom gosudarstve. Mennonity Sibiri v 1940—1980-e gody: religioznye dissidenty. Dokumenty i materialy / nauch. red. A. I. Savin. Novosibirsk, 2015.

32. Dönninghaus V., Savin A. Unter dem wachsamen Auge des Staates: Religiöser Dissens der Russlanddeutschen in der Breschnew-Ära. Veröffentlichungen des Nordost-Instituts. Vol. 22. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2019.

33. Kuromiya H. Conscience on Trial: The Fate of Fourteen Pacifists in Stalin's Ukraine, 1952—1953. Toronto, 2012.