Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9343-7134
Abstract
In this article, attention is focused on the characteristics of Bolshevik rule in the Podilia region, particularly its efforts to eradicate Protestantism. In the legal framework of contemporary Ukraine, the separation of religion from the state is declared, and the right to freedom of conscience and religion is guaranteed. This is a crucial and fundamental position for building a rule-of-law state and civil society. Harmonious relations between society, religion, and the state are an extremely complex process that requires a thorough understanding of historical context. The role of religion has gained particular relevance at the current stage, as Ukraine defends its independence and develops a national church while maintaining tolerant coexistence with other confessions. The Ukrainian aspiration to create an independent democratic state between 1917 and 1921 ended in failure. The imposition of Bolshevik rule fundamentally altered the lives of Ukrainians, including the destruction of a crucial component of their worldview. While promoting freedom of conscience, the Bolsheviks applied a double standard. They banned religion, making its status not only separate from the state but also directly hostile to the new regime. A particularly tragic chapter in the relationship between society, religious institutions, and the state is the era of Stalinist totalitarianism, particularly the 1930s, which became the peak of terror and the implementation of punitive-repressive measures a veritable crime against humanity. The situation was especially severe in the Podilia region, where for a century, various religions and confessions coexisted relatively peacefully Christians (Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, Protestants, Old Believers), Jews, and Muslims. However, Protestantism was seen as a threat not only as a religious institution but also due to its association with a bourgeois lifestyle, which was conceptually hostile to Bolshevik ideology. The subject of analysis is the set of measures by the Stalinist regime aimed at destroying Protestant movements as a source of “double evil”.
Recommended Citation
Voynarovskiy, Anatoliy; Zhmud, Natalka; and Hrebenova, Valentyna
(2024)
"Persecution of Christian Confessions in Ukrainian Podilia During the 1930s,"
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 44
:
Iss.
7
, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/2693-2229.2551
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol44/iss7/4