Jehovah's witnesses in soviet Ukraine (mid 1940s – mid 1980s)

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Jehovah's witnesses in soviet Ukraine (mid 1940s - mid 1980s)

Bondarchuk Petro

Annotation

The article deals with the religious life of Jehovah's Witnesses during the period from the mid-1940s to the mid-1980s. The author briefly dwells on the main works devoted to the religious life of Jehovah's Witnesses, written by Ukrainian scholars, the peculiarities of the doctrine of this religious movement, its genesis and its spread on Ukrainian lands. The religious policy of the Soviet government concerning Jehovah's Witnesses, its characteristic features, the relations of the Soviet state and this denomination are analyzed. The anti-religious actions of the Soviet regime, various forms of oppression of religious communities and believers, in particular mass deportations to Siberia with confiscation of property, arrests and sentencing to corrective labor camps for confessional affiliation, and the deprivation of civil rights in the post-war period are highlighted. The article also elucidates anti-religious propaganda, threats and intimidation aimed at the believers ' withdrawal from the confession, accusations of "mythological sins" against believers, violation of the rights of believers, and the formation of negative public opinion regarding this religious movement in the Khrushchev epoch. A certain liberalization of the Soviet policy regarding Jehovah's Witnesses during the "stagnation" period, in particular their exemption from the regime of forced settlements, the refusal from arrests for reading religious literature; although continuing arrests for religious preaching, refusal to serve in the army, and causing a split in the movement are considered. The author also raised the issue of the anti-Soviet position of the central leadership of this movement and the presence of a significant eschatological element in the views and beliefs of the believers. The article also examines the religious network of Jehovah's Witnesses in different regions and the changes that have taken place in it for several decades, the quantitative composition of the believers. The underground activity of the communities of Jehovah's Witnesses and their extraordinary secrecy, which prevented the Soviet authorities from controlling this denomination, is traced.

Ключові слова: свідки Єгови, радянська влада, релігійна політика, релігійна течія, віруючі, єговізм. witness jehovah religious

Бондарчук Петр (г. Киев)

В статье рассматривается религиозная жизнь свидетелей Иеговы на фоне тогдашних социально-политических реалий. Автор кратко остановился на особенностях вероучения этой конфессии, ее генезисе и распространении на украинских землях. Внимание акцентируется на религиозной политике советской власти в послевоенный период, хрущевскую сутки, период "застоя", положении свидетелей Иеговы в советском государстве, внутренних процессах в их среде. Освещены религиозной сети свидетелей Иеговы в различных регионах и изменения, произошедшие в ней, в течение нескольких десятилетий, количественный состав верующих.

Ключевые слова: свидетели Иеговы, советская власть, религиозная политика, религиозное течение, верующие, иеговизм.

On the territory of Ukraine, for a long time, believers of many denominations coexisted. The diversity of the religious life of the Ukrainian people contributed to the formation of a pluralistic worldview that hindered the establishment of totalitarian principles in the mentality of Ukrainians. Among the religious currents of late Protestantism, which were on the Ukrainian lands, was the unification of Jehovah's Witnesses, around whose activity a lot of myths and false information spread. Therefore, the aim of this article is to give a meaningful explanation of the activity of this denomination and religious manifestations of the believers.

In modern Ukrainian science, there are a number of works devoted to the activity of Jehovah's Witnesses. Among them, above all, it is worth highlighting a book by K. Berezhko [1]. It traces the emergence of this denomination in Ukraine and in Zhytomyr, its organizational structure in the region, the order of worship, the provision of religious literature, missionary work, religious education of children. Issues of ideological and physical pressure on believers from the side of Soviet power, court placement, influence of public services on religious life, and the social environment of Jehovah's Witnesses are considered. The current state of their activities is also covered. The author used not only the archival materials and published documents while writing the work, but also a considerable amount of materials of his own polls of believers. For the work of K. Berezhko manifestations of author's sympathy for Jehovah's Witnesses are characteristic. In addition to this work, there are a number of articles written by modern researchers [2; 3].

Jehovah's Witnesses were the subject of intensive scholarly study in Ukraine in the Soviet period. Their daily religious life, first of all, everyday religious consciousness, was studied in the two monographs by P. Yarotsky [4: 5] In the first monograph by P. Yarotsky, among other issues, the channels of the replenishment of believers, the dynamics of community growth in different years, the socio-demographic characteristics of believers, the believers' perception of certain religious postulates, in particular their ideas of Armageddon, their views on the meaning of life and moral ideal, attitude to execution of civic duties, etc. are elucidated. In the second study, addressed to the wider readership, the author returns to dwell on some of these problems.

In the collective monograph "Yehovizm i yehovisty" [Jehovism and Jehovah's Witnesses] [6], the publication of which was preceded by the mentioned above works of P. Yarotsky, the spread of Jehovism on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, social views of Jehovah's Witnesses, peculiarities of their religious feelings, attitude to science and culture are analysed and the characterization of some of their moral principles is provided. However, the coverage of religiosity is relatively small from the volume of monographs published in the Soviet period, in which attention is focused on the criticism of the religious doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, the activities of their leadership and organizational structures. Parts of these works, which considered issues of religiosity, were based on sociological polls of believers, residents of Ukraine. There are also a number of other works that highlight religious views, ideas, moods of Jehovah's witnesses and their religious behavior.

Jehovah's Witnesses belong to the late Protestantism, although this statement is often denied. The religious movement, from which the religious flow of Jehovah's Witnesses arose, began with the group of "Biblical Researchers" (theorist and founder Ch. Russell). For the publishing activity, the Society of the Watchtower of the Bible and treatises was formed. After the death of Ch. Russell, J. Rutherford was elected the President of the Watchtower Society (1917), and he carried out the revision of "Russellism". At the same time, a split divided the members on Russelites and Rutherfordists. Since 1931, the latter are referred to as Jehovah's Witnesses. The organization is run by the center based in Brooklyn, New York, headed by the president. The testimony of Jehovah's Witnesses rejects the triune of God, proclaims Jehovah the only and true God, Jesus Christ subordinated to him, and the Holy Spirit the active power of Jehovah. Jehovah's Witnesses claim that God is the initial cause of the world that develops in accordance with the laws established by Jehovah. The religious doctrine of this denomination is characterized by an apocalyptic and milenarianist orientation. The history of the world is depicted as the struggle of Jehovah and Satan for power over the world. The solution to this problem is to be found in Armageddon, the world divine war, whose terms have changed many times. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Kingdom of God will appear on earth only to the righteous and their supporters, whose number is limited, the rest of humanity has to perish in Armageddon. The latter is often associated with an ecological catastrophe, a nuclear war, and so on.

Interestingly, at the time of the leadership of Ch. Russell, who was a supporter of democracy, all the organizational units had a certain autonomy, and under the leadership of J. Rutherford (when there was a split in the ranks of the organization and Russelites came out of it - P. Bondarchuk) arose strictly controlled, top-down theocratic organization [7, p. 407]. This tradition continued under the leadership of other presidents of Jehovah's Witnesses.

In the early 1920s, Jehovistic missionaries from the West penetrated Western Ukraine [8, p. 65]. They also took hold in the Baltic States. With the joining of these territories to the Soviet Union, they spread their activities in other regions of the USSR [8, p. 67]. After the war, in Lviv the Regional Bureau (Kraiove biuro) of Jehovah's Witnesses was organized, which urged not to take part in elections to the Soviet authorities, in the activities of mass public organizations, and to evade service in the Soviet armed forces [9, p. 18].

The illegal groups of Jehovah's Witnesses at the end of the 1940s and early 1950s were scattered all over Ukraine, but their largest network existed in Western Ukraine and Izmail oblast, that is, in those regions that had become part of the USSR before the beginning of the German-Soviet war [10, p. 17]. Due to the deep secrecy and the activity under other names, the exact number of these believers at the end of the 1940s is difficult to establish. In particular, Jehovah's Witnesses in Transcarpathia were hiding under the name of "free Christians" (Rutherfordists) [11, p. 38]. According to the book by K. Berezhko, by 1951, when the mass deportation of Jehovah's Witnesses to Siberia took place, there were about 15 thousand of them in Ukraine [1, p. 39]. Only in Volyn oblast by January 1, 1951, 23 groups of Jehovah's Witnesses (743 persons) were "revealed" [12, p. 195]. The thorough and deep secrecy of these organizations almost nullified the actions of Soviet control, so the Soviet regime considered them dangerous.

Close to the Jehovah's Witnesses were the above-mentioned groups of rasselits (russelits; the Ch. Russell's followers) who acted in Zakarpattia, Volyn, and Rivne oblasts. Originally they were called the congregations of Bible students, then the congregations of free Bible students [7, p. 406-407]. In particular, in Lviv region by November 1, 1939, there were 3 such groups (about 100 people) [13, p. 3]. In the years of Soviet power they did not have a clear organizational structure.

During the post-war period, the Soviet authorities pursued a tight policy towards Jehovah's Witnesses, aimed at eliminating the religious network of their communities. Cruel repressions were also applied to the believers themselves. One of the means of combating the illegal religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses and other illegal organizations was the deportation of their members. Jehovah's Witnesses suffered the most from such deportations: in 1951, they were forcibly deported to Siberia - Operation North [14, p. 21]. In the memorandum of the MGB (Ministerstvo gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti SSSR; Ministry for State Security) of the USSR to J. Stalin it was stated: "In order to put an end to the further anti-Soviet activity of the Jehovah's Witnesses underground, the MGB of the USSR considers it necessary to deport, along with the arrest of the leading members of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect, outside Ukraine and other republics the identified Jehovah's Witnesses to Irkutsk and Tomsk oblasts. A total of 8,576 people (3048 families) were subject to deportation." A life-time deportation of believers was supposed, and their property had to be confiscated [14, p. 23-24]. It was allowed to take only 30 kg per person [14, p. 36]. More than 2,000 families of Jehovah's Witnesses were deported only from Western Ukraine to Siberia [14, p. 34]. This could have been avoided only by complete renouncing of the faith and only a few believers accepted it [1, p. 39]. So, as we see, belonging to particular religious groups at that time threatened the believers with deportation, deprivation of property and many civil rights.

During 1947-1953, most of the arrested Jehovah's Witnesses were sentenced to 25 years of labor camps with deprivation of rights for 5 years and confiscation of property [15, p. 426]. Belonging to this religious current was a sufficient reason for imprisonment. In the documents of certain arrested believers, only "member of the sect of "Jehovah's Witnesses" was indicated as reason for imprisonment [1, p. 42]. Believers of this confession in the years of late Stalinism were destined to go through the severest experience.

During the leadership of M. Khrushchev in the USSR certain changes in religious policy concerning illegal religious associations, including Jehovah's Witnesses, took place. The authorities refused to conduct direct cruel repressions (in particular, deportations or exile) against ordinary members of illegal religious organizations for their religious affiliation. Anti-religious propaganda, intimidation and threats, accusations of non-existent "sins" such as ritual sacrifice, etc. are the main means of anti-religious fight during this period. Typical examples are given in the book by I. Andrukhiv and P. Ka- mianskyi who write: "... Especially effective were such "educational measures" as the convening of a village meeting or assembly of a labour collective where Jehovah's witnesses lived or worked. Their presence was mandatory. At first, they all listened to a lecture on an atheistic theme, and then it was discussed with the participation of the village or collective activists. The lecture and discussion were accompanied by the display of "compromising" photographs of the activities of the highest-ranking Jehovah's Witnesses. At the end of the meeting, as a rule, there was an "initiator" from the activists, who demanded that the meeting issued a general ruling with the following content: "If the present here Jehovah's Witnesses now do not withdraw from the sect here at the meeting, we ask the Soviet government to deport them to Siberia." After such rulings, as a rule, 10-15 Jehovah's Witnesses immediately declared their withdrawal from the religious community" [16, p. 329].

Being severely oppressed by the Soviet state system, Jehovah's witnesses were forced to actively conceal. At 1 January 1960, the Council for Religious Affairs had data on 520 groups of Jehovah's Witnesses (6,388 believers) [17, p. 69]. Of these, half (3-4 thousand people) in 1964 acted in Zakarpattia [13, p. 2]. During the intensive struggle with religion in the late 1950s - early 1960s, many of them left the ranks of the current. Only in 1959, the communities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Stanislav oblast (and they had up to 2,000 followers there) lost 600 people, of which 150 declared about their withdrawal in the press [17, p. 70]. However, despite the persecution, Jehovah's Witnesses continued their religious activities.

Certain liberalization of the state religious policy in the mid-1960s also led to the improvement of the position of Jehovah's Witnesses. In June 1965, the Supreme Court of the USSR issued a verdict that literature of Jehovah's Witnesses is not anti-Soviet, but religious, and does not contain libel about the state-social system. Believers stopped being arrested for reading the literature, but arrests for preaching continued. Relief for Jehovah's Witnesses was also brought by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR No. 4020-VI of September 30, 1965, on the liberation of representatives of the current taken to Siberia in 1951 from the regime of special settlements. They could go to any area of the USSR, except for their previous place of residence [2, p. 111]. This gesture of the government led to the spread of Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the country.

At the same time, there were also marked opposing tendencies - taking measures against Jehovah's Witnesses by the authorities. In particular, in the late 1960s, to control the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses the KGB actively introduced its agents into their communities and provoked a split with their help [2, p. 112]. Also arrests for refusing to serve in the ranks of the Soviet Army continued.

The number of religious communities of Jehovah's Witnesses in the underground continued to grow. By the beginning of 1965, according to the Soviet authorities, the organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses had more than 7,000 members [18. p. 33]. In 1969, according to official figures, 275 of their groups existed [19, p. 78]. However, in 1984, 215 groups were registered in the Ukrainian SSR. For the most part, Jehovah's Witnesses concentrated in Western Ukrainian oblasts: 64 communities acted in Zakarpattia oblast, 41 - in Ivano-Frankivsk, 18 - in Chernivtsi, 16 - in Ternopil, 14 - in Lviv, and 12 - in Volyn oblasts. Many of them were in Odesa (14) and Donetsk (11) oblasts, while in Vinnytsia and Zaporizhzhia oblasts acted 4 communities in each one, in Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Rovno oblasts - 3 in each one, in Voroshylovhrad, Kirovohrad, Crimea - 2 in each one, in Kyiv and Poltava - 1 in each one [20, p. 10]. Among Jehovah's Witnesses was an increase in the proportion of young people and middle-aged people.

It should be noted that information provided by the Soviet authorities on the number of believers of various illegal denominations could be inaccurate. According to the data of the authorized council on religious affairs, 68 Jehovah's Witnesses lived in Dnipropetrovsk oblast, according to the data of the regional committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine - 124. According to the data of the USSR, in Vinnytsia oblast, respectively, lived 163 and 252, Crimea - 80 and more than 130, Rovno - 28 and 75, Zaporizhzhia - 12 and 53, Mykolaiv - 55 and 70 [21, p. 48].

After the adoption of the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPU of August 2, 1968, "On the memorandum of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Central Committee of the CP of Ukraine "On Strengthening the Work of Party Organizations to Reveal the Hostile Activity of the Sect of Jehovah's Witnesses", the regional committees of the CP of Ukraine established that the Jehovah's Underground operated not in 16 regions of the Ukrainian SSR as it had been considered before the adoption of the ruling, but in 22. It turned out that Jehovah's Witnesses also lived in Kirovohrad region (41 people), Kherson (40 people), Poltava (34 people), Khmelnytskyi (20 people), Luhansk (13 people), Chernihiv (5 people) [21, p. 48-49]. These are only those believers whose group locations were identified by the Communist Party bodies.

Most of the neophyte admissions to the religious communities of Jehovah's Witnesses took place in the 1940s-1950s, and later their replenishment was less significant. In particular, how it happened in different years can be traced in the table below [22, p. 14]: