Faith on the Eastern Front

How the Church was Revived In the Soviet Union

Soviet Soldiers line up for a blessing during World War 2.

When the Soviet Union was founded, it adopted a fundamentally antagonistic attitude towards religion. The only disagreement among the authorities was on how to rid the society of religion. The first perspective saw religion as a bourgeois institution that should be aggressively attacked and entirely erased through force. The second perspective believed that religion would naturally decline as material conditions and scientific advancements improved, and thus argued for a more restrained approach.

Cathedral Christ the Savior was demolished in 1931

In the early 1920s, the Orthodox Patriarch Tikhon called for loyalty to the new Soviet power and the Metropolitan Sergius proclaimed, “We want to be Orthodox, and at the same time recognize the Soviet Union as our homeland, whose joy and success — our joys and successes and failures– our failures.”

This declaration was quite sincere, for according to the teachings of the Holy Bible it is said to “obey the governing authorities” and “all authority comes from God.” Despite this, the Soviet government under Joseph Stalin decided to attack the church anyways. The decision “On religious associations” and “On measures to strengthen anti-religious work” were passed, with persecution peaking from 1937 to 1938.

Number of churches and palces of worship in Russia with years and dates.

The Religiosity of the population of the USSR remained high according to the 1937 census, despite persecutions. The top chart represents — all population, bottom left — uneducated population, bottom right — educated population. Dark blue is atheist, Red is Orthodox, light blue Muslim, Pink — Jewish.

Notably, in 1931, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was demolished. By 1939, only around 300 churches remained open or so. However, despite this difficult environment, most Russians remained religious. In the All-Union Census of 1937, a sample of 98.3 million people was surveyed. Among them, 42.2 million, or 42.9%, identified as atheists, while 55.2 million, or 56%, professed a religious faith.

In 1941, the Soviet Union was attacked by Germany and the entire country was thrown into a crisis with severe military disasters at the front. The Orthodox Patriarch issued a declaration instructing its flock to participate in the Great Patriotic War to defend their homeland.

German advances in the Soviet Union (Left), an unauthorized photograph of Stalin taken at 4:31 AM shows the very moment he was informed that Germany had began their invasion of the Soviet Union and his defeated reaction. The stress and brink of total disaster must have shaped his faith in some form. (Right)

By November, the Germans were at the gates of Moscow. It was at this point that a complete U turn in religious policy was made by Stalin. During the October Revolution anniversary parade in Red Square, Joseph Stalin gave a speech, in which he invoked the names of the Holy Saints of Russia in front of thousands of troops as they marched towards the front, “Let us recall the holy leaders of the Russian people, for example, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donsky, who laid their souls for the people and the Motherland…”

Processions were held in multiple cities during the Easter of 1942.

On Easter Evening of 1942 (April 4 and 5), during the Siege of Leningrad and the mass starvation which resulted, a Christian procession was held in the city, in which the city inhabitants attended. The city curfew was cancelled, and priests passed out holy bread to the masses. This event was well recorded.

After the Germans were defeated at Moscow and the Battle of Stalingrad was won in February 1943, the tide of the war changed. On September 4, 1943, Stalin, in the presence of Vyacheslav Molotov and KGB head Georgy Karpov in the Kremlin, received Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), Alexy (Simansky) and Nikolai (Yarushevich). Stalin gave a positive assessment of the activity of the church during the war and invited the hierarchs to speak out about the most pressing problems of the church. Stalin then pledged to devote state resources to revive Orthodoxy. From that point on, Priests were permitted to open bank accounts, travel freely to preach and bless troops at the front line, and Stalin consistently restored Russian traditional culture, education, historiography, and values. Thus, the state and the church power began to coexist peacefully.

However, what about the religious beliefs of the man, Stalin himself? It is very clear that his attitude towards religion changed throughout his entire life. However, it is suggested that he might have even become a believer during the war and towards the end of his life.

In an article by an Orthodox historian Sergey Fomin “War, Church, Stalin and Metropolitan Elijah” there is a passage: “…the winter of 1941, the embattled Stalin…called for clergy in the Kremlin to pray for victory… the miraculous Tikhvin icon of Our Lady from the Tikhvin Church in Aleksevsky was flown by an airplane around Moscow. And on December 9, the first successful counteroffensive was completed in Moscow, and the city was rescued.”

According to a report, an icon of the Mother of God was flown in a plane around Moscow during the most desperate days of the Battle of Moscow.

Also, according to the recollections of the former bodyguard Stalin, Yuri Solovyov, Stalin routinely prayed in a Kremlin church. Yuri Solovyov himself remained outside the church, and stood guard outside, but could see Stalin inside through a window. According to the testimony of the grandson of Stalin, Alexander Burdonsky, Stalin attended confession.

Alexander Burdonsky claims that during the Khrushchev era, during the era of destalinization, the priest who heard the confession of Stalin was threatened several times to reveal what Stalin had confessed, but he remained silent.

Lastly, in 1950, according to an article by the New York Times titled “Soviets Revives Tie to Levant Church,” A Greek Orthodox leader reported that he met with Stalin and Stalin stated that he believed in God, and did not approve of anti religious propaganda. However, Stalin did not answer if he believed in life after death.

In any case, we can never truly know what was in Stalin’s heart or the personal circumstances which he had faced. So we can’t really judge or know anything for sure. In anything, God is the final judge.