Throughout its two centuries of existence, the Christian Church has proven its faithfulness to God. The best proof is human life. Neither theological works, nor beautiful sermons, nothing proves the truth of religion more than a person who is ready to give his life for its sake.
Living in the modern world, where everyone can freely profess their faith and express their opinion, it is difficult to imagine that just a hundred years ago this could lead to execution. The 20th century left a bloody trail in the history of Russia and the Russian Church that will never be forgotten and will forever remain an example of what the state’s attempt to gain total control over society can lead to. Thousands of people were killed simply because their faith was not acceptable to the authorities.
Evening
I cried out to the Lord: stichera, tone 1. Similar to: Praises of the martyr:
Hiero-Confessor Father (name),/ during the days of the persecution of the Russian Church/ you were not afraid of the godless tormentors/ and, having confessed the faith of Christ,/ you endured suffering,/ for the sake of the flock that loved you,/ you were preserved by the grace of God/ and in peace You have rested./ Even now, enjoying the joys of Heaven,/ pray for our souls to be saved.
Hiero-Confessor Father (name),/ you, in the time of godlessness in our Fatherland,/ as the true shepherd of Christ,/ are inflamed with love for God,/ you confessed the Orthodox faith/ and, through prison bonds and bitter labors,/ as you endured the good yoke of Christ,/ in You remained strong in your hope./ Even now, enjoying the joys of Heaven,/ pray for our souls to be saved.
Hiero-Confessor Father (name), / you, in the days of our relatives’ apostasy from the faith / zealously followed Christ, / through free suffering and firm confession, / as if you were a true shepherd / and, having preached the word of God, / the rule of faith to Orthodox people / and a teacher of piety You appeared./ Also now, enjoying the joys of Heaven,/ pray for our souls to be saved.
Glory, voice 8:
Glorious Confessor, Father (name),/ you have placed all your trust in God/ and you have glorified Her in the Kingdom of Heaven,/ where you are with our relatives,/ the new martyrs and confessors of Russia,/ who pleased Him with faith, hope and love,/ glorifying the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit / Trinity Consubstantial and Indivisible.
And now, Theotokos: King of Heaven: Entrance. Prokeimenon in the afternoon.
Readings three reverend.
On the poem there are stichera, tone 4. Similar to: Like a doble:
As a good servant and a faithful one,/ entrusted to you the talent of piety/ by the confession of Christ you have increased,/ therefore you have entered into the joy of the Lord/ and, having received great boldness from Him,/ pray for our land/ and for those who honor your memory with faith.
Verse : You are my God, / and we will confess to You.
When the Lord came to test His people,/ blessed is thee a servant and a vigilant one,/ a holy confessor (name) with all honor,/ not a servant, but a friend,/ and, as a faithful guardian of His house,/ set thee over many,/ and the gift of a prayer book warmth for our souls.
Verse : Open the gates of righteousness for me,/ when we enter, let us confess to the Lord.
Remembering the word of the Lord: / you are not a slave of your master, / even if you were driven out and you were expelled, / you endured persecution and suffering for Christ for the sake of love. / Moreover, for the sake of righteousness, you were granted the bliss of those who were exiled, / you achieved perfect love, / Holy Confessor Father (name) ).
Glory, voice 6:
Come, all you faithful, / let us worthily praise the glorious shepherd, / for this, having accomplished the feat of suffering and confession / and then having lived piously, / you have given up your soul to God in the world / and you have departed from those who are here to the eternal dwelling, / where you pray for our souls .
And now, the Mother of God: Creator and Deliverer:
Troparion, tone 2:
Hiero-Confessor Father (name), in the days of the godless persecution of the Russian Church/ reproach, imprisonment, exile and bitter work,/ you endured for Christ’s sake,/ and nothing separated you from the love of God./ Having lived piously in the world,/ you testified to the Lord Jesus Christ, / pray to him for the salvation of our souls.
At Matins
On God the Lord: the same troparion. According to the 1st verse of the sedalene, tone 4:
Thou hast cried out to the Most High God, / most wonderful sacred confessor (name): / have mercy on me, O Lord, / for having defeated me with wickedness / and deliver my soul from death, / eyes from tears and nose from crawling, / that I may be well-pleasing before You in the light of the living .
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God:
Thou art an invincible wall for Orthodox people, O Virgin Mother of God, / flowing to Thee, we remain unharmed, / and again, sinning, the Imams pray to Thee. / Thus, giving thanks, we cry to Thee: / Rejoice, O Gracious One, the Lord is with Thee.
According to the 2nd verse, sed and flax, tone 4:
When you and the princes of mankind were slandered by unrighteousness and betrayed to cruel wounds, / you, holy confessor (name), trusting in God, you prayed: / Lord, Lord, who is like You, / I will confess to You in my heart, / and my tongue will learn Your righteousness, all day long to Your praise.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God:
Oh, All-Sung Lady of the Theotokos, confession and crowning of martyrs, / Glorified by angels and sung by men, / and longed for Helper of the whole world, / Deliver the Russian Church from every situation, / One Blessed One.
Magnification:
We magnify you,/ sacred confessor (name),/ and honor your holy memory,/ for you pray for us/ Christ our God.
Selected Psalm:
Let me confess to You, O Lord, with all my heart about Your mercy and Your truth.
The Lord is my Helper, my heart trusts in Him, and let us confess to Him. Speak about Your testimonies before the kings, and do not be ashamed. Let us confess to Your name, O Lord, that it is good, that You have delivered me from all sorrow.
I trust in God; I will not be afraid of what man does to me. Bring my soul out of prison, to confess to Your name. The reproaches of those who reproach you have attacked me.
From the depths of the earth you have again raised me up, for I will confess to You among the people, O Lord.
Rejoice, O righteous ones, in the Lord, and confess the memory of His holiness.
According to the polyeleos sedalene, voice 4:
As a true servant of the Church of God, glorious (name), you endured suffering and persecution from the godless in our land even to the end/ and to this day, having lived piously in the world,/ you confessed Christ without fear./ Now, in the Kingdom of God, you have enjoyed eternal life ,/ pray for our souls to be saved.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God:
The immovable affirmation of faith / and the salvation of our souls, / We magnify the Mother of God with hymns of faith: / Rejoice, Protector of Orthodoxy, / Rejoice, Cover of the Russian Land, / Rejoice, Unbrideless Bride.
Degree, 1st antiphon of the 4th tone.
Prokeimenon, tone 4: Your priests will be clothed with righteousness/ and your saints will rejoice.
Verse: What will I repay to the Lord for all who have repaid me?
Every breath: the Gospel of Luke, conceived 64.
According to Psalm 50, stichera, tone 6:
When, in the persecution of mortal illness, you were overcome,/ the holy confessor of Christ (name),/ you did not retreat from the Orthodox faith,/ and you zealously glorified God,/ who awarded you the crown of righteousness,/ like an invincible champion.
The canon, its borderline besides the Theotokos’s eight songs: The Lord is my strength and my singing. Voice 5.
Song 1. Irmos: Horse and rider:
We strengthen you with the power of the cross,/ you endured many years of exile,/ you counted hunger and cold as nothing, but you burned with love for God./ Moreover, (name), the glorious priest-confessor appeared.
You were a good shepherd to the Russian Church,/ you endured reproach, ridicule and false testimony,/ and you rebuked the atheists with meekness and humility,/ you were a great sufferer, (name).
In the confession of faith, you put on strong armor, (name), / and, the invincible warrior of Christ, / with the word of God, like a two-edged sword, you put your enemies to shame.
Theotokos : Resolve the oath, the sadness of the end, / Blessed and Graceful Maiden, give birth to the faithful Joy, / Christ our God.
Song 3 Irmos: Who set up the ground on nothing:
The righteous souls are in the hand of God, / and torment will not touch them, / we strengthen these words, (name) strong-hearted, / you courageously endured bodily suffering, / and you showed the image of the confession of faith to the Russian sons.
Protected by the power of the cross, (name)/ you endured suffering and exile from the godless/ and, preserving your faith immaculately,/ you lived in piety in the world./ For this reason, you received the crown of righteousness from Christ the Ascetic.
The Russian land was troubled, / as if I had devastated great lawlessness, / but you, (name) of great fame, fragrant feats of confession, / like a village in the middle of the desert, you flourished.
Theotokos : Who was born of the Father before all ages, / You, the Mother of God, gave birth to you without art. / Moreover, we all confess You, the Mother of God, Orthodoxy.
Sedalen, voice 3:
You have put to shame those who hate the Lord,/ whoever wanted you, holy confessor (name),/ excommunicate Christ and put him to death./ But you, having fixed your mind on God,/ like a bird, you have escaped from the net of those who catch them/ and you have flown into the blood of Heaven,/ where , in the person of the new martyrs and confessors of Russia, staying, / praying for the salvation of our souls.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God:
Every one who strives diligently flows to You, Mother of God, / there is no other Refuge that saves our souls, like You, the All-Singing One.
Song 4 Irmos: Thy Divine:
Armed with patience, you set out for the feat set before you, holy confessor (name), / and, not being afraid of the rebuke of the tormentors, / you remained unshakable, when the Russian land was confused.
You are small among your brethren, just as David was in his generation, / but the Lord, the holy confessor (name), / chose you for pastoral work and witness to the word of God.
You have clothed yourself in sacred clothes, Father (name), / even as you remained unharmed in the ascetic struggle of confession, / and having entered the palace of Heaven, / you beheld the Face of the Unapproachable Light.
Theotokos : You received the uncontainable in your womb,/ without illness you gave birth, O All-Immaculate Mother,/ and at the birth of the Virgin, Imperishable, you remained.
Song 5 Irmos: Dress yourself in light:
Like a son of the day, you taught your flock to walk in the light of Christ’s commandments, Father (name), / and you sanctified your soul with the feat of confession, / now you accept honors according to your inheritance from those on earth.
The Lord brought you to great deeds, / when the people of Russia retreated to the Church of Christ, / to whom, as a lamp of faith, you appeared, / enduring stinking prisons and suffering cruel labors.
Before the great and terrible day of the Lord even came, / you enlightened the night of godlessness with the light of Christ’s commandments, / exposing the days of evil with a firm confession.
Theotokos : Having given birth to truth and deliverance for us, Christ, without a seed, / you freed the nature of the forefather from the oath, Mother of God.
Song 6 Irmos: The raging storm:
When the storm of persecution overwhelmed the Russian Church, / you, (name) blessed father, as a true shepherd, / received confirmation and help from the Lord, / you passed through the waves of much rebellion unharmed.
The tormentors did not understand the atheism, / how you suffered for Christ, father (name) / and in your struggle you confessed the Lord. / For this reason, you were condemned.
The word of Christ was fulfilled on you, / even if I were driven out and you were devoured, / and having prepared your soul for temptation, / you endured much suffering, reproach and sorrow.
Theotokos : The prophecy of Simeon was fulfilled on You/ and the weapon pierced Your soul,/ also as a martyr and confessor, the Unbreakable Wall and Help are ever present, O Theotokos.
Kontakion, voice 2:
Like a new star, you appeared to the Russian Church,/ patiently-hearted (name) sacred confessor,/ glorifying Christ God/ and in the night of godlessness, showing the way to the faithful./ We also pray to you,/ pray to us, your relatives,/ to be established in the Orthodox faith/ and to save our souls .
Ikos:
Give me the word, the Word of God, / to praise according to my heritage the exploits of the noble (name), / a new holy confessor, who has risen in the lands of Russia, / patient in suffering and meek in piety, / who is considered with the heavenly face, / where now he sings and prays to the Triune God unceasingly / for us, his relatives,/ to be confirmed in the Orthodox faith/ and our souls to be saved.
Song 7 Irmos: Exalted Lord of the Fathers:
When the Lord visited the Russian land through many trials of sin for our sake, / then you showed steadfastness in your struggle, O glorious father, / by confessing the faith of Christ, quenching the flame of atheism.
Having adorned your soul with courage and strength,/ you have maintained fidelity to Christ in your life/ and, having endured many sorrows, you have achieved eternal peace,/ where you glorify God our fathers.
Putting aside the fear of torment and lusting after Christ alone,/thou hast courageously striven toward the feat of confession, O Father./To whom thou hast now eaten,/blessed art thou, God of our fathers.
Theotokos : Thou hast given birth to God in the flesh, O All-Immaculate One, / One of the Trinity, / To whom we all sing: / God, blessed art thou.
Song 8 Irmos: To You, the Almighty:
Whom the youths confessed in the cave,/ Him you too glorified in the flames of suffering before the tormentors, teaching the faithful to cry out:/ May the Russian land bless the Lord/ and exalt Him to all ages.
Confess the Lord as Good,/ you taught in psalms, Father (name),/ and He will hasten to the salvation of his sons who repent,/ Blessed forever.
By your life you have confessed the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, O Holy One,/ help us also to fight a good fight,/ to complete the course of life and preserve the immaculate faith.
Theotokos : You, the Most Pure Mother of God, / who gave birth to the Lord above all intellect and words and is ever virgin, / we bless and exalt for all ages.
Song 9 Irmos: Isaiah, rejoice:
You gave glory in trials to the one God,/ the ever-memorable confessor of Christ,/ for this sake, glorify you/ in the person of the new martyrs and confessors of Russia.
Prosper our Church, new martyrs and confessors of Russia, / for the Lord will not reject His people. / You, glorious priestly confessor, staying with them, / pray that the Orthodox faith will be preserved in our land.
The Lord has crowned you with the weapon of favor, / holy confessor father (name), / with whom we also fight the invisible enemies / and pray to Christ God to preserve the Orthodox faith in our lands.
Theotokos : With the new martyrs and confessors of Russia, the Most Pure One, and all the saints/ beseech the One Who rests among the saints/ to preserve our land, praising Thee for all eternity.
Svetilen:
Light-Giver Christ our God, who adorned the outcome of the morning and evening, / The Light of the Unevening One, the sacred confessor (name), vouchsafed. / Moreover, dwelling in the light of the saints, / enlighten us with the unstoppable light, / yes, in rejoicing joy, let us glorify the Light that showed us.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God:
Wonderful and indescribable is Thy Nativity, O Mother of God, / Through whom Thou hast saved the human race, / in the same way we pray to Thee: / Enlighten us with an unfathomable light, / Yes, in rejoicing joy, let us glorify the Light that has shown us.
On the praises of the stichera, tone 6. Similar to: Everything has been put aside:
Endowed with grace from above, / sacred confessor (name), / like the true shepherd of Christ, / you remained unshakable in the Orthodox faith / and, blessing the persecutors, you said: / even if you consume my body, / you will not be able to separate my soul from the love of God, / even in Christ Jesus our Lord, / in Him alone do I trust, / and to Him alone do I offer praise.
Like the ancient confessor, / sacred confessor (name), / in the time of persecution of the Russian Church, / you believed rightly in your heart, / you confessed the lips of Christ for salvation, / and, counting your wounds as nothing, / you did not neglect the shame of reproach. / Moreover, the godless Having put to shame the tormentors,/ you have gained bliss in the house of the Lord,/ where you will praise Him forever and ever.
Let us sing, O God-loving people,/ with songs and spiritual singing/ the holy memory of (the name of) the worthy one,/ like Orthodoxy with a kindly victorious voice/ fearless before the tormentors of confession/ and showing to many the way of salvation./ In the same way the Angels now rejoice/ and rejoice in the saints of our land,/ with them the glorious priest/confessor glorifies Christ our God.
Glory, voice 8:
With glory and incorruptible honor, / like a good conqueror, / crowning you with Christ the Ascetic, / the holy confessor of Christ (name) / and the Kingdom of Heaven is given, / where, with the council of new martyrs and confessors of Russia, / abiding in unapproachable light, / glorifying the Life-Giving and Inseparable Trinity.
And now, Mother of God:
The intelligent entire Order of Command rejoices with us,/ the spiritual aggregate face,/ seeing the Queen and Lady of all,/ we are glorified by the faithful in many names,/ the souls of the righteous also rejoice,/ who are spectators of the vision,/ in the air I stretch out my hands most honorably in prayer,/ I ask for peace in the world/ and the confirmation of the Russian land, / and the salvation of our souls.
Great doxology and dismissal.
New martyrs of the 20th century. Church veneration and historical science
Guest: Maria Igorevna Degtyareva (Perm), Doctor of Philosophy, Candidate of Historical Sciences, author of the monograph “The Case of the Society of Labor Clergy” (1937). Based on materials from PermGASPI"
M. Lobanova:
— How do you assess the level of study of the topic of new martyrdom in Russian historical science?
M. Degtyareva:
“Perhaps what I’m going to say now will sound somewhat unexpected.” I do not want to belittle the significance of the large-scale work that the Canonization Commission and Orthodox scientific and educational centers carried out during these years, but this topic is still insufficiently studied in domestic historical science. We have almost no systematic, that is, covering all periods of the history of the 20th century, well-founded scientific research, such that the biography of the saints would be “inscribed” in the context of church-state relations and socio-political events of a particular period, based on proven sources and a clear system of scientific reference (links).
For a long time we remained “hostages” of the positivist paradigm, which instructs the scientist to “leave faith outside the doors of his office.” Therefore, a completely natural division has arisen in us: serious specialists in the 20th century, working in state research centers, are afraid to enter the field of church history. And if they do join, then, unfortunately, sometimes they make mistakes that are obvious to believers, sometimes simply funny.
And the authors of books about the new martyrs published in the Church do not always adequately master the methodology of historical research, even in cases where this should be an indispensable condition. I mean working with materials from archival investigative cases.
We have something to strive for. The main thing is that both in the Church and in the academic environment there is an understanding that the cooperation of academic and church-educational centers would allow us to advance in understanding the national history of the 20th century. and prepare voluminous works, free from the “clichéd” approach and bias associated with the usual paradigm of scientific creativity.
M. Lobanova:
— What are the main problems in researching this topic?
M. Degtyareva:
— There are enough of them: this is the problem of scientific verification (that is, verification, authentication) of certain information, including oral testimony, and the problem of taking into account statistics of victims of repression, and determining clear criteria for glorification...
A separate problem is the identification of falsifications in the materials of archival investigative cases, the distinction between the “author’s speech” of the accused and the discourse of the “scribes” and investigators of the Cheka-OGPU-NKVD.
M. Lobanova:
— What is unique about the Perm region in connection with the study of the history of the new martyrs?
M. Degtyareva:
— The peculiarity of the situation in Perm was that the blow to the Church here was especially cruel.
There were several reasons: firstly, the ruling bishop, Archbishop Andronik (Nikolsky), in 1918 tried to resist the vandalism of the Bolsheviks after the raid of “militants” on the courtyard of the Belogorsky Monastery on February 9th. The reason for this was the famous Decree of the Council of People's Commissars “On the separation of the Church from the state and the school from the church” on January 20 (February 2), 1918. The Bishop applied an exceptional measure, excommunicated the participants in such actions from the Church and introduced an interdict - a ban on performing church services and demands, hoping to rouse the flock to defend the shrines.
In Perm, indeed, religious processions of many thousands took place against requisitions and lawlessness, and during the Civil War, the old part of our city, in contrast to the working-class district - Motovilikha, quite actively supported the “whites”. These events in 1935, in Stalin’s own assessment, were called the “Perm catastrophe.” In addition, the line of the eastern front during the Civil War was mobile, and Perm found itself in the “border” zone, which also increased the number of victims, on both sides.
And after the end of the Civil War, the Perm region became one of the “strong points” in the Gulag system. In 1937, it became one of the “experimental sites” where the “methodology of great terror” was tested, that is, the mechanism for building large collective cases, primarily in relation to believers.
This was due to the distrust of the top leadership in Perm, evidenced by the fact that Perm lost the status of a provincial city, while Ekaterinburg, which “proven” itself in the eyes of the top party leadership with the special “jealousy” of the Ural Council in the cause of the Royal Family, and was renamed in honor Ya. Sverdlov, became the administrative center of the Ural region formed in 1923.
Thus, in terms of the number of clergy victims during the “Red Terror” and in subsequent decades, Perm ranks one of the first places in Russia.
M. Lobanova:
— What is your main area of interest in this topic?
M. Degtyareva:
— I had the opportunity to work with materials from archival investigative files of priests from the funds of PermGASPI, dating back to the period of the Civil War, 1920s - 30s. and especially to the period of the “Great Terror”.
To tell the truth, I myself still feel like a neophyte compared to my teachers, truly outstanding Perm historians of the Soviet period, such as L.A. Obukhov, M.G. Nechaev. This area of historical knowledge is just opening up for me and I have to learn a lot as needed.
M. Lobanova:
— A few words about your books.
M. Degtyareva:
— My first scientific specialization and publications were related to the history of French conservative thought and the philosophical heritage of Count Joseph de Maistre. I could not even imagine that my hero’s deep understanding of the problems of revolution and Jacobin terror would serve me on the “field” of our national history.
As people became churched, preferences and priorities changed. In Moscow, I was truly captivated by the theme of the new martyrs. This was facilitated by a close acquaintance with the nun of the Novodevichy Convent, nun Lyudmila (Grechina), now Schema-nun Seraphim, cell attendant of Mother Seraphim (Chernaya) - the granddaughter of the Hieromartyr Seraphim (Chichagov).
One day my mother Lyudmila brought me to Butovo and introduced me to the history of this place. My mother, who worked as part of the diocesan Department for History and Canonization, was also quite supportive of my first steps in this direction.
And in 2015, the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate published my first book - essays about Orthodox Christians who suffered during the years of persecution, “Evil is powerless, we are eternal, God is with us.” Its goal was to popularize the church history of the 20th century, to tell a wide audience about the new martyrs in an accessible language.
Then I was lucky enough to work for several years with archival sources in the PermGASPI collections and prepare a scientific study dedicated to the great Perm-Sverdlovsk case of 1937 of the so-called “Society of Labor Clergy.”
The main task of this work was to deconstruct the case fabricated by Perm and Sverdlovsk investigators using methods of historical research: critical, comparative, philological analysis, “cross-examination of sources,” paleography, etc.
M. Lobanova:
- Difficult periods for the researcher - both the early period of terror, when there are no documents and it is unknown where they were shot and buried, and the Great Terror - when a lot of people were shot, there was a conveyor belt and there was no need to compile a detailed “case”, and the late Soviet period, which is generally bad studied because It was all too recent. What is the particular difficulty in working with the history of the Great Terror period?
M. Degtyareva:
- Yes this is true. However, everything depends on the condition and quality of the sources in each specific case. There are no rules without exceptions. Sometimes archival documents present amazing “gifts” to researchers. This could be a document dating back to the period of the Civil War with the stamp and autograph of the commandant of the concentration camp, allowing for a clear chronological attribution of such a structure, or a request to the GubChK to strengthen security from the camp administration from another place, which is documentary evidence that there at that time There was a large deployment of political prisoners at the time.
Oral evidence can provide assistance in identifying places of imprisonment and execution during the Civil War: memories of residents, random witnesses. And sometimes - information from publications in the press of the opposing camp. But here everything needs to be checked thoroughly, since during civil conflicts each side is not free from “biases” and tends to exaggerate the scale of violence on the part of the other.
The matter is further complicated by the fact that in addition to the “red” and “white” terror, there was also anarchic “green” terror, so the period of the Civil War was certainly complex and the problem of recording the statistics of victims has not lost its urgency to this day.
The same can be said about the quality of archival and investigative files of convicts: there are exceptions to the rules in any case. Sometimes you come across cases dating back to the period of the Civil War with some semblance of legal support: with the involvement of several “witnesses”, even with “confrontations”. And even during the period of the “Great Terror”, investigators still tried to provide at least a minimal documentary “substantiation” of the process. But in general, the nature of the investigation has changed noticeably compared to the end. 1920s - early 30s: the investigation could take only a few days, and denunciations from two years ago were used as “requests from below” to conduct it, there were no photographs in the case, the investigators got confused in the plot plot built on the fly and did not even bother to externally remove obvious contradictions, which created considerable problems for their colleagues who would “follow in their footsteps” during internal checks of the NKVD-KGB in 1939, 46, 56.
Be that as it may, each time working with documentary sources requires a careful, detailed approach.
And regarding the post-war period, only one thing can be said: we must be patient and wait for the end of the restrictive periods in state archives, and in the meantime, do not miss the opportunity to record oral evidence, collect and systematize written and material sources from personal archives and expeditions. An example of such work is the service of the scientific staff of the Perm-36 Museum-Reserve and the exhibitions and expositions organized by them.
M. Lobanova:
— In most regions of Russia, martyrologies are created, these are usually just lists of those executed with brief information about them. Is it possible to find out more? Are there standard documents to look for and study? Are there any unusual archival sources?
M. Degtyareva:
— You need to monitor publications in open sources. Nowadays, valuable memoirs are published on Orthodox websites, supplementing brief references. We can also advise you to consult the databases of St. Tikhon’s Humanitarian University, the Butovo training ground, and publications of Russian theological schools. It all depends on the level of interest. If you want to understand the history of church-state relations, it is useful to study official documents of the Soviet period. Fortunately, collections of party and government directives, anthologies on the history of the Soviet period, and works by ideologists of the Soviet state are available in any large library.
M. Lobanova:
—What are the benefits and what are the dangers of “folk legends”?
M. Degtyareva:
— Oral sources can be a valuable addition to archival documents, or they may contain unreliable information.
And yet, regardless of the motives of the creators of the “legend” (for example, the desire to “increase the measure” of the feat and suffering of those who already served God and the Church with dignity, to the highest degree), we Christians must try to adhere to the “golden middle”, without neglecting to check the origin and quality of the sources.
M. Lobanova:
- How can you verify the legend?
M. Degtyareva:
- There really is a subtlety here: after all, there is the truth of life, and there is the truth of living. I can refer to a well-known example: the legend that after Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Her companions were thrown into a mine in Alapaevsk, random witnesses heard the singing of the “Cherubimskaya” coming from the depths of the mine for several days. But the documentary materials of the “white” investigation indicate that the Alapaevsk martyrs were thrown into the mine after they were injured incompatible with life. And what to choose in this case, what to hold on to? The professional historian is likely to give preference to documents, while the average person may remain committed to tradition. The main thing is to try to avoid conflicts and mutual accusations.
M. Lobanova:
— Archpriest Georgy Mitrofanov once put forward the thesis: rehabilitation is not needed, because rehabilitation as a selective fact creates a stable idea - if one is not rehabilitated, it means that he is still guilty. That is, the mechanism of repression itself is not called into question. How would you comment on this thesis?
M. Degtyareva:
- It seems to me that one does not exclude the other. Research on repression and educational work of such complexes as Butovo and the Perm-36 Museum-Reserve can certainly influence public consciousness and change the perception of the fate of people who suffered during the Soviet period as a whole. Regardless of political views and type of worldview, people suffered as people.
And the goal of the rehabilitation of Church members is evidence to the world that a person who has not committed any crime has suffered innocent suffering. And here the principle of analogy (“and how many of them there are!”) rather than “selectivity” (“and the rest, therefore, got what they deserved”) will be involved.
I see the problem somewhat differently: in many cases, there may be formally no grounds for refusal of rehabilitation due to the inconsistency of the charges brought against a person in a particular case, but this does not automatically mean that he had no previous connection with the work of the repressive apparatus. And in another case, on the contrary, the fact of political rehabilitation cannot be the basis for a statement about “political indifference,” “loyalty,” and especially the “disposition” of the victim in relation to the political regime that turned mass terror into a systemic element of control. It is important for us not to confuse and equate the “executors” and the victims of terror, surrounding both with an aura of “martyrdom.”
M. Lobanova:
— Alexey Petrovich Artsybushev once made a complaint about the work of the canonization commissions - his idea is that today for some reason we believe more in the investigator’s document than in the arrested person. That is, if the investigator wrote - confessed, or named names - then for us this is an authoritative fact. And he posed a moral and even religious question: do we write lives based on the opinions of whose side? How would you comment on this thesis? After all, you are also talking about the falsification of documents from the period of the Great Terror.
M. Degtyareva:
— This is precisely the essence of the problem. Artsybushev presented it in all its sharpness, without smoothing the corners.
I myself had to face a similar case. A few years ago, I was approached by a friend who was enthusiastically conducting independent search work in archives. She asked to see her brochure on the history of the temple in one of the Perm regional centers. And suddenly I read that the priest at the parish “created an anti-Soviet sabotage fascist rebel cell,” and then I see a passing mention of the fact that in 1989 he was rehabilitated. In response to a perplexed question, I hear the author’s excuse: “But I didn’t come up with this. That’s what it says in the case, these are documents!” Meanwhile, this was one of the well-known cases falsified by a group of Perm investigators under the leadership of Mozzherin during the period of the “Great Terror” of 1937-38, in continuation of the investigation into the case of the “Society of Labor Clergy”. However, it was not so easy to convey to the amateur researcher the idea that working with archival materials requires mastery of scientific instruments.
When accessing the materials of the cases of victims during the years of persecution, a professional, painstaking analysis of both the entire complex of documents and each sheet is necessary. I will express a paradoxical thought: places with traces of falsification are the most “impartial” witnesses; falsifications will not allow you to “mislead”, you just need to be able to see them.
M. Lobanova:
—Can a historian distinguish a falsified document from genuine “direct speech” and genuine testimony?
M. Degtyareva:
- Yes, this is quite possible, using the methods of philological analysis and paleography, as well as “cross-examination” of the texts of testimony.
A particularly important “indicator” of fraud are lexemes – stable stylistic phrases that allow for the attribution of texts. These include ideological and verbal cliches (cliché phrases from the official press and propaganda), examples of the clerical style of that time, inappropriate and clumsy use of words. These are cases where the “language” of the testimony clearly contrasts with the personality of the defendant. Sometimes it is obvious that the testimony does not record direct speech, and sometimes, due to the special “fantastic nature of the plot,” it clearly indicates that the text was compiled in the absence of the arrested person. The fact is that the investigators did not know church vocabulary, did not imagine the structure and details of church life, the specifics of the relationships between representatives of various movements in the Church, and could not even imagine how absurd and ridiculous the “marks” they left behind were.
M. Lobanova:
— What role did denunciations play? Recently, St. Petersburg historian of repressions A.Ya. Razumov expressed the idea that the role of denunciations is exaggerated, that the authorities still repressed and would have shot as many as they considered necessary.
M. Degtyareva:
— The “calling” of an informant or a “secret employee” is, of course, not a reason, but just an instrument of repressive policy.
More important are the actual motives, ideological foundations, as well as the “rationalization” of terror, that is, its justification in the mass consciousness - the “impulse” that was given from above. Investigators acted in pursuance of orders and instructions at intradepartmental operational meetings. But, nevertheless, the Cheka - OGPU - NKVD actively used “requests from below”, from the “mass”. And if there were no suitable ones, anonymous and “windowed” “signals” were used. The influence of propaganda on people's choice of behavior cannot be underestimated.
M. Lobanova:
— What does studying the biographies of investigators give a historian of the period of repression? Is it necessary to know the character of the person who kept the records that are being studied today in order to give them an adequate assessment? It seems kind of crazy to “cut out” the names of investigators, etc. in documents - this infringes on the study of the topic. For example, if one person falsified one or two “cases,” then one can most likely suspect the third one was also falsified, and if his name is “cut out,” this prevents such an analysis. Does this create difficulties - erasing names in archival documents?
M. Degtyareva:
— I agree with you: “erasing out” this data in archival documents is completely unacceptable from a methodological point of view, because the point of storing them in state funds is to maintain their integrity.
I personally have never seen the names of investigators “cleaned out.” The PermGASPI documents contain everything: last names, first names and patronymics, and autographs. However, when preparing them for publication, I try to comply with the Personal Data Protection Law. For example, when citing surnames, I deliberately omit and cover even the initials of NKVD officers. After all, these people have descendants who were not involved in the choice of their fathers and grandfathers. The researcher must be aware of the moral code and possible consequences of disclosing such things.
M. Lobanova:
— What are the criteria for holiness when studying documents? In the lives of the new martyrs, the phrase “did not recognize himself as an enemy of the Soviet regime” is often repeated - and one gets the impression that this is not the criterion? Why does this need to be emphasized in life? Today you can often hear that saints are those who were asked to renounce Christ. But was it really offered during the Great Terror? One young priest in St. Petersburg told me that if the new martyr was not offered to renounce, it means that he was canonized by mistake. What was the practice of repression against the Orthodox?
M. Degtyareva:
— Such a picture in relation to the realities of Soviet times is too idealistic. This refers, rather, to the era of persecution in the first centuries of Christian history, or the period of Ottoman rule. In the case files, I have never encountered examples of such “gallant offers” from investigators: “With Christ or without Christ?” For such a scene, a movie camera installed on the investigator’s table, or a sheet of martyrology open for entering a new name, suggests itself as “attributes.”
In a pre-trial detention center in the 1920s - 30s. They could only offer “cooperation as an insider,” and then not to everyone and not always. If a person was arrested, it was not in order to summon him to a “dispute about freedom of conscience.” He was “accepted” confidently as a Christian, and the political “framing” could be anything.
“Where I am, there will my servant also be” (John 12:26), says the Lord. Christ was delivered into the hands of the Romans as a “political criminal,” allegedly “daring to challenge the authority of Caesar.” And this “algorithm” has survived centuries.
And the phrase “did not admit that he was an enemy of the Soviet regime” may literally reproduce the text of the source, or it may be a free translation of the statement that the person under investigation did not conduct or even imagine any anti-state activities, that is, evidence of his fulfillment of the commandment of subordination to authority as such. Law-abidingness is, in general, the norm of Christian behavior. Therefore, this kind of recognition in itself can neither be a condition nor an obstacle to canonization.
The criteria are, first of all, a way of life and service, direct or indirect evidence of belonging to the Orthodox Church (even if it is just filling out a form by the arrested person) and patience with suffering (“passions”) for Christ’s sake.
M. Lobanova:
— You studied one of the examples of the Great Terror - the case of the “Society of Labor Clergy” in 1937, but you say in one of your interviews that one cannot be sure whether such a “Society” actually existed, or whether everything was invented from beginning to end by the investigator. But here are the texts of the documents - they seem, in some part, at least, very reasonable: that the clergy who work in secular professions gather together, therefore - “Society of Labor Clergy” (this seems quite probable), or the phrase, that “we have a dictatorship not of the proletariat, but of Stalin” - too... Did the investigator really invent this too? And if this is probable, then further - that these people or some of them wanted to change both the system of power and the political system - is it really so incredible? And the next question: why can such a desire of theirs be considered an obstacle to canonization? What's unchristian about this?
M. Degtyareva:
“In this case, I’m going from the source.” The question is not whether this is good or bad, but that the source does not allow us to judge how reliable the “testimony” of the accused is in this case.
You may have noticed that I do not exclude the possibility of young people discussing the creation of a Christian community similar to the Petrograd “Orthodox brotherhoods.” But if in the materials of the NKVD-KGB inspections of 1939-1956. There are direct admissions from the investigators that they started falsifying the protocols from the first, and the protocols were drawn up in the absence of those arrested, we cannot rely on their texts. Of course, absolutely everything from beginning to end could have been invented.
This could have been a “request from above” for “resonance” in the province of the “Petrograd experience,” since two of the participants in the process (Georgy Gulyaev and Nikolai Lebedev) had been to Leningrad. As for the phrase about the dictatorship of Stalin, this is a “common place” in the affairs of the 1920s - 1930s. I do not see this as a manifestation of the individualized speech of the defendants. It might be "yes" or it might be "no". In short, it is a matter of research punctuality.
M. Lobanova:
— Some researchers of the era of the new martyrs speak of it as a period of genuine ecumenism - finding themselves repressed together, Christians of different confessions and church movements were practically united in the face of persecutors. Is this just an outward impression or did Christians really unite despite differences in the face of martyrdom? Or is it just “laziness” of investigators who didn’t want to understand the differences?
M. Degtyareva:
— The first thing that comes to my mind is an excerpt from Boris Shiryaev’s famous story “The Unquenchable Lamp” about the confessor, Father Nicodemus. Do you remember how he served the Liturgy every day in his cell before he and his fellow prisoners were sent out to work? And one day, when he was serving the Easter service, behind him stood representatives of different Christian denominations - his cellmates. And Father Nikodim did not see this as a particular problem in those conditions; for him it was the Triumph of Orthodoxy.
There are no signs of “ecumenism” in the Perm case. The boundaries of confessions were preserved; participants in schismatic movements in the Church kept to their circle. There were no joint services, no prayers, no meetings in resolving current issues between them and representatives of the canonical church structure. This is also recorded in the materials of internal inspections of the NKVD-KGB - in the testimony of several witnesses.
M. Lobanova:
— You say that the abuses of investigators in the 1937 Case were revealed by an internal audit of the NKVD (another “purge” of the ranks?) - in 1939, in 1956... And if this had not happened, historians today would not doubt the legality of the repression in this fabricated Case?
M. Degtyareva:
- Yes, this is a serious methodological and moral problem... I was faced with the fact that one of my Perm colleagues, a professional historian, partly annoyingly “relied” on the materials of the 1937 case, mistook fictitious things for facts...
The materials of the internal inspections of the NKVD-KGB in 1939 and 1956, carried out “hot on the heels” of the actions of the “leaders of the great terror”, are indeed extremely important. Well, for example, those arrested, among others, were charged with “sabotage” and “espionage.” But the inspectors are “not an interested party”; it is simply impossible to suspect them of “playing along” with the convicts. So, the participants in the checks collected enough direct and indirect evidence indicating that their colleagues began to falsify this case immediately and in all aspects, and not just before sending the prisoners to be shot in Sverdlovsk. This is the most powerful evidence.
In this case, I have arguments, I have something to rely on, and I can turn to my colleague and advise him to once again carefully read all the details of this case, including the materials of internal audits, from beginning to end.
M. Lobanova:
— False death certificates that were issued to relatives - how do they characterize the general state of affairs? The year of death and cause of death were completely fictitious. Only years, sometimes decades later, relatives learned the true year of death and the cause - execution. But if these “basic” documents were so simply and massively falsified, then what can we say about more complex, lengthy documents? However, many people have a question: did the investigators really have enough for all their “fantasies” - there’s so much to invent! A terrible analogy arises: just as they “fantasized” about the harvest, milk yield and other newspaper editorials, the same applies to repressive activities.
M. Degtyareva:
“The point here is not the desire of the investigators to “fantasize from the heart,” but the job descriptions of 1945 and 1955, which prescribed concealment of the real time and causes of death. These are truly scary, cynical things. I personally saw this kind of instructions in the form of “posthumous diagnoses” - departmental instructions on what exactly to tell the relatives of the repressed in response to their requests: “died of angina pectoris”, “died of cirrhosis of the liver”, “died of a decline in cardiac activity”, etc. d.
As for what you are talking about, I am not inclined to “generalize.” I personally don’t know the percentage of possible “additions” and distortions in economic indicators. In this case, I can recommend turning to collections of documents prepared with the participation of a major domestic specialist in agrarian history V.P. Danilova. Among them are “The Tragedy of the Soviet Village” and “The Soviet Village through the Eyes of the Cheka - OGPU - NKVD”.
Viktor Petrovich Danilov (we knew him personally, communicated for several years at the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences, talked weekly, enjoyed meals, drank tea) can least of all be suspected of some kind of “ideological bias.” Viktor Petrovich is a front-line soldier who went through the war. And at one time, he sincerely, in Komsomol style, wanted to write a “health resort” to the party leadership in the matter of collective farm construction and economic development of the USSR in general. So, he told me that when he came into contact with the materials of the archives and understood what collectivization was and at what cost industrialization was carried out, he was horrified. Sobering up began. This is not a “foreign agent”, not a “resident of foreign intelligence services”... He loved Russia very much and remained a true patriot to the end, in the not overused, not “cliched” sense of the word. He just had the courage to be honest about these things.
Yes, obviously, there was unreliability in the practice of the system, but for a specific reason it is better to refer to the works of Danilov.
M. Lobanova:
— Do you think that the places of executions and burials that are still unknown will be revealed, and the archives report that there are “no such documents”? Can you believe that such important information was not recorded?
M. Degtyareva:
“I don’t yet have the ability to conduct such a check using archival sources.” But volunteer research work is not prohibited. Perhaps some of the field expedition participants will be lucky. I know that the employees of the Perm-36 Museum go to the “field”. But it takes time and determination. In the Perm case, only the general direction is known, nothing more...
M. Lobanova:
— Your opinion: can only professional historians write books about the history of the era of the new martyrs? And why do we have so few books published?
M. Degtyareva:
- It seems to me that I have already answered this question. I personally give preference to professionals, but on one condition: if they sufficiently understand the context of church history. This does not mean that the participation of people who are passionate about this topic but do not have professional training is completely excluded. They can collect valuable evidence in the genre of oral history, photographs, artifacts. However, the analysis of archival documents requires accuracy and mastery of scientific instruments.
I wouldn't say there aren't enough books. However, systematic large-scale work presupposes the training of specialists in this area and the ability to provide them with access to archival sources.
When, how and on the basis of which training centers such work should be carried out must be decided by the clergy. Let's hope that research will be carried out at the proper level.
ILLUSTRATIONS provided by M.I. Degtyareva specifically for this publication.
PHOTO – M.I. Degtyareva.
At the Liturgy
Blessed are the canons, songs 3 and 6. Prokeimenon, tone 7: Let us confess to You, O Lord, / with all my heart. Verse: If I go in the midst of sorrow, live for me. Apostle to Ephesians, conception 233. Alleluia, tone 2: The righteous will confess to Your name, and the righteous will dwell with Your face. Verse: Lord, Lord, the Power of my salvation, you have overshadowed my head on the day of battle. Gospel of Luke, conception 64. Participated: In eternal memory there will be a righteous one:
Prayer
Oh, glorious and victorious holy confessor of Christ (name), good shepherd, adornment to the Russian Church, good vegetation of our land, praise to your relatives and image!
You, not being afraid of the tormenting rebuke, you fearlessly confessed the Orthodox faith and, having endured illness and suffering with love for Christ, you entered the Heavenly Kingdom through the gates of righteousness. In the same way, we pray to you, now lift up your warm prayer to the Lord for our Fatherland, may He strengthen it in the Orthodox faith until the end of the century, and may He strengthen us, who honor your memory, to keep His saving commandments, yes, having been delivered from sin and eternal torment, coupled with through you we will be worthy to sing the venerable name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Day of Remembrance of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia
Even at the bishops' council of 1817-1818. decided to commemorate all the deceased who suffered in persecution. But at that time they could not canonize anyone.
The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad was the first to take a step towards their glorification on November 1, 1981, and set the date of celebration on February 7, if this day coincides with a resurrection, if not, then on the next Sunday. In Russia, their glorification took place at the Council of Bishops in 2000.
Celebration traditions
The Orthodox Church celebrates all its holidays with the Holy Liturgy. On the day of the celebration of St. This is especially symbolic of martyrs because during the Liturgy the sacrifice of Christ is experienced, and at the same time the sacrifice of the martyrs who gave their lives for Him and for the holy Orthodox faith is remembered.
On this day, Orthodox Christians remember with bitterness those tragic events when the Russian land was soaked in blood. But the consolation for them is that the 20th century left the Russian Church with thousands of holy prayer books and intercessors. And when they are asked who the new martyrs are, they can simply show old photographs of their relatives who died in persecution.
