The Structure of the Anti-Religious Unit of the Soviet Secret Service (1953 – 1956)

Authors

Oleksandr Korotaiev, History Kryvyi Rih State Pedagogical University, Dnipropetrovsk region, UkraineFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0002-4460-0118

Abstract

The article is devoted to the issue of reforming the Soviet Security Services and their network of agents during the period of de-Stalinization (1953-1956). The directions of this reform were studied, and how these reforms affected changes in their activities in the religious sphere was traced. Based on a study of the KGB reporting documentation, as well as the personal files of KGB employees, the structure of the anti-religious division of the KGB and its peripheral offices was revealed for the first time, the main directions of its activities were indicated, the pseudonyms of secret agents working in these areas in the religious sphere were declassified. For the first time, photographs of employees of the anti-religious unit (6th Office of the 4th Secret Political Department, 1954-1956) of the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR and agents from the Protestant environment, which were assigned to them, are being published.

Recommended Citation

Korotaiev, Oleksandr (2024) "The Structure of the Anti-Religious Unit of the Soviet Secret Service (1953 – 1956)," Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 44 : Iss. 6 , Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/2693-2229.2534
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol44/iss6/2