The contribution of the Russian Orthodox Church to the victory in the Great Patriotic War. Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War

His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy noted that the military and labor feat of our people during the war years became possible because the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army and Navy, as well as home front workers, were united by a high goal: they defended the whole world from the deadly threat hanging over it threats from the anti-Christian ideology of Nazism. Therefore, the Patriotic War became sacred for everyone. “The Russian Orthodox Church,” the Message says, “unshakably believed in the coming Victory and from the first day of the war blessed the army and all the people to defend the Motherland. Our soldiers were preserved not only by the prayers of their wives and mothers, but also by the daily church prayer for the granting of Victory.” In Soviet times, the question of the role of the Orthodox Church in achieving the great Victory was hushed up. Only in recent years have studies begun to appear on this topic. Portal editors "Patriarchia.ru" offers his commentary on the Message of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy regarding the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Great Patriotic War.

Fantasy versus document

The question of the real losses suffered by the Russian Church in the Great Patriotic War, as well as the religious life of our country in general during the years of the struggle against fascism, for obvious reasons, until recently could not become the subject of serious analysis. Attempts to raise this topic have appeared only in recent years, but they often turn out to be far from scientific objectivity and impartiality. Until now, only a very narrow range of historical sources have been processed that testify to the “works and days” of Russian Orthodoxy in 1941 - 1945. For the most part, they revolve around the revival of church life in the USSR after the famous meeting in September 1943 of J. Stalin with Metropolitans Sergius (Stragorodsky), Alexy (Simansky) and Nikolai (Yarushevich) - the only active Orthodox bishops at that time. Data about this side of the life of the Church are quite well known and do not give rise to doubt. However, other pages of church life during the war years have yet to be truly read. Firstly, they are much less well documented, and secondly, even the existing documents have hardly been studied. Now the development of materials on the church-military theme is just beginning, even from such large and relatively accessible collections as the State Archives of the Russian Federation (works by O.N. Kopylova and others), the Central State Archives of St. Petersburg and the Federal Archives in Berlin (primarily works by M.V. Shkarovsky). Processing most of the church, regional and foreign European archives from this point of view is a matter for the future. And where the document is silent, imagination usually roams freely. In the literature of recent years, there has been a place for anti-clerical speculation and unctuous pious myth-making about the “repentance” of the leader, the “love of Christ” of the commissars, etc.

Between the old persecutor and the new enemy

When addressing the topic “The Church and the Great Patriotic War,” it is truly difficult to maintain impartiality. The inconsistency of this plot is due to the dramatic nature of the historical events themselves. From the first weeks of the war, Russian Orthodoxy found itself in a strange position. The position of the highest hierarchy in Moscow was unambiguously formulated by the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Sergius, already on June 22, 1941, in his message to the “Pastors and flock of Christ’s Orthodox Church.” The First Hierarch called on the Orthodox Russian people to “serve the Fatherland in this difficult hour of trial with all that everyone can” in order to “dispel the fascist enemy force into dust.” Principled, uncompromising patriotism, for which there was no distinction between the “Soviet” and the national hypostasis of the state that clashed with the Nazi evil, will determine the actions of the hierarchy and clergy of the Russian Church in the unoccupied territory of the country. The situation in the western lands of the USSR occupied by German troops was more complex and contradictory. The Germans initially relied on the restoration of church life in the occupied territories, since they saw this as the most important means of anti-Bolshevik propaganda. They saw, obviously, not without reason. By 1939, the organizational structure of the Russian Orthodox Church was practically destroyed as a result of the most severe open terror. Of the 78 thousand churches and chapels that operated in the Russian Empire before the start of the revolutionary events, by this time there remained from 121 (according to O.Yu. Vasilyeva) to 350-400 (according to M.V. Shkarovsky). Most of the clergy were repressed. At the same time, the ideological effect of such an anti-Christian onslaught turned out to be quite modest. According to the results of the 1937 census, 56.7% of USSR citizens declared themselves believers. The result of the Great Patriotic War was largely predetermined by the position that these people took. And in the shocking first weeks of the war, when there was a total retreat of the Red Army on all fronts, it did not seem obvious - the Soviet power brought too much grief and blood to the Church. The situation in the western territories of Ukraine and Belarus, which were annexed to the USSR immediately before the war, was especially difficult. Thus, the situation in the west and east of Belarus was strikingly contrasting. In the “Soviet” east, parish life was completely destroyed. By 1939, all churches and monasteries here were closed, since 1936 there was no archpastoral care, and almost the entire clergy was subjected to repression. And in Western Belarus, which until September 1939 was part of the Polish state (and it also did not favor Orthodoxy), by June 1941 there were 542 functioning Orthodox churches. It is clear that the majority of the population of these areas had not yet undergone massive atheistic indoctrination by the beginning of the war, but they were deeply imbued with the fear of an impending “purge” by the Soviets. In two years, about 10 thousand churches were opened in the occupied territories. Religious life began to develop very rapidly. Thus, in Minsk, only in the first few months after the start of the occupation, 22 thousand baptisms were performed, and 20-30 couples had to be married at the same time in almost all the churches of the city. This inspiration was viewed with suspicion by the occupiers. And immediately the question of the jurisdictional affiliation of the lands on which church life was restored became quite acute. And here the true intentions of the German authorities were clearly outlined: to support the religious movement solely as a propaganda factor against the enemy, but to nip in the bud its ability to spiritually consolidate the nation. Church life in that difficult situation, on the contrary, was seen as an area where one could most effectively play on schisms and divisions, nurturing the potential for disagreement and contradictions between different groups of believers.

"Natsislavie"

At the end of July 1941, the main ideologist of the NSDLP, A. Rosenberg, was appointed Minister of the Occupied Territories of the USSR at the end of July 1941. The earliest circular of the Main Directorate of Imperial Security concerning religious policy in the East dates back to September 1, 1941: “On the understanding of church issues in the occupied regions of the Soviet Union.” This document set three main goals: supporting the development of the religious movement (as hostile to Bolshevism), fragmenting it into separate movements in order to avoid the possible consolidation of “leading elements” to fight against Germany, and using church organizations to help the German administration in the occupied territories. The longer-term goals of the religious policy of Nazi Germany in relation to the republics of the USSR were indicated in another directive of the Main Directorate of Reich Security of October 31, 1941, and concern about the massive surge in religiosity was already beginning to show through: “Among the part of the population of the former Soviet Union, liberated from the Bolshevik yoke, there is a strong desire to return to the authority of the church or churches, which especially applies to the older generation.” It was further noted: “It is extremely necessary to prohibit all priests from introducing a shade of religion into their preaching and at the same time take care to create as quickly as possible a new class of preachers who will be able, after appropriate, albeit short training, to interpret to the people a religion free from Jewish influence. It is clear that the imprisonment of “God’s chosen people” in the ghetto and the extermination of this people ... should not be violated by the clergy, who, based on the attitude of the Orthodox Church, preach that the healing of the world originates from Jewry. From the above it is clear that the resolution of the church issue in the occupied eastern regions is an extremely important task, which, with some skill, can be perfectly resolved in favor of a religion free from Jewish influence; this task, however, has as its prerequisite the closure of those located in the eastern regions churches infected with Jewish dogmas." This document quite clearly testifies to the anti-Christian goals of the hypocritical religious policy of the neo-pagan occupation authorities. On April 11, 1942, Hitler, in a circle of associates, outlined his vision of religious policy and, in particular, pointed out the need to prohibit “the establishment of single churches for any significant Russian territories.” In order to prevent the revival of a strong and united Russian Church, some schismatic jurisdictions in the west of the USSR were supported, which opposed the Moscow Patriarchate. Thus, in October 1941, the General Commissariat of Belarus set as a condition for the legalization of the activities of the local episcopate that it pursue a course towards autocephaly of the Belarusian Orthodox Church. These plans were actively supported by a narrow group of nationalist intelligentsia, which not only provided all possible support to the fascist authorities, but also often pushed them to more decisive actions to destroy canonical church unity. After the dismissal of Metropolitan of Minsk and All Belarus Panteleimon (Rozhnovsky) and his imprisonment by the SD, in August 1942, with the zeal of the Nazi leadership, the Council of the Belarusian Church was convened, which, however, even experiencing powerful pressure from rabid nationalists and occupation authorities, postponed the decision on the issue of autocephaly until the post-war period. In the fall of 1942, Germany's attempts to play the anti-Moscow "church card" intensified - plans were being developed to hold a Local Council in Rostov-on-Don or Stavropol with the election as Patriarch of Archbishop Seraphim (Lyade) of Berlin, an ethnic German belonging to the jurisdiction of the ROCOR. Bishop Seraphim was one of the bishops with a vague past, but clearly pro-fascist sympathies in the present, which was clearly manifested in the appeal to the foreign Russian flock, which he published in June 1941: “Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ! The punishing sword of Divine justice fell on the Soviet government, on its minions and like-minded people. The Christ-loving Leader of the German people called on his victorious army to a new struggle, to the struggle that we have long thirsted for - a sacred struggle against the atheists, executioners and rapists entrenched in the Moscow Kremlin... Truly, a new crusade has begun in the name of saving peoples from the power of the Antichrist ... Finally, our faith is justified!... Therefore, as First Hierarch of the Orthodox Church in Germany, I appeal to you. Be part of the new struggle, for this struggle is your struggle; this is a continuation of the struggle that began back in 1917, but alas! - ended tragically, mainly due to the betrayal of your false allies, who in our days have taken up arms against the German people. Each of you will be able to find your place on the new anti-Bolshevik front. “The salvation of all,” which Adolf Hitler spoke about in his address to the German people, is also your salvation—the fulfillment of your long-term aspirations and hopes. The final decisive battle has come. May the Lord bless the new feat of arms of all anti-Bolshevik fighters and give them victory and victory over their enemies. Amen!" The German authorities quickly realized what an emotional patriotic charge the restoration of Orthodox church life in the occupied territories carried and therefore tried to strictly regulate the forms of worship. The time of holding services was limited - only in the early morning on weekends - and their duration. Bell ringing was prohibited. In Minsk, for example, the Germans did not allow crosses to be erected on any of the churches that opened here. All church property that ended up on occupied lands was declared by them to be the property of the Reich. When the occupiers considered it necessary, they used churches as prisons, concentration camps, barracks, stables, guard posts, and firing points. Thus, a significant part of the territory of the oldest Polotsk St. Euphrosyne Monastery, founded in the 12th century, was allocated for a concentration camp for prisoners of war.

New mission

A very difficult feat was undertaken by one of the closest assistants of Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), Exarch of the Baltic States Sergius (Voskresensky). He is the only active bishop of the canonical Russian Church who remained in the occupied territory. He managed to convince the German authorities that it was more profitable for them to preserve the dioceses of the Moscow, rather than the Patriarchate of Constantinople, an “ally” of the British, in the north-west. Under the leadership of Metropolitan Sergius, extensive catechetical activity was subsequently launched in the occupied lands. With the blessing of the Bishop, in August 1941, a Spiritual Mission was created in the Pskov, Novgorod, Leningrad, Velikoluksk and Kalinin regions, which by the beginning of 1944 managed to open about 400 parishes, to which 200 priests were assigned. At the same time, most of the clergy of the occupied territories more or less clearly expressed their support for the patriotic position of the Moscow hierarchy. There are numerous - although their exact number cannot yet be established - cases of execution by the Nazis of priests for reading the first letter of Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) in churches. Some church structures legitimized by the occupation authorities almost openly - and with the ensuing risk - declared their obedience to Moscow. Thus, in Minsk there was a missionary committee under the leadership of Bishop Panteleimon’s closest associate, Archimandrite (later martyr) Seraphim (Shakhmutya), who, even under the Germans, continued to commemorate the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius during divine services.

Clergy and partisans

A special page in Russian church history during the war was assistance to the partisan movement. In January 1942, in one of his messages to the flock remaining in the occupied territories, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens called on people to provide all possible support to the underground struggle against the enemy: “Let your local partisans be for you not only an example and approval, but also an object of constant care . Remember that every service rendered to the partisans is a merit to the Motherland and an extra step towards our own liberation from fascist captivity.” This call received a very wide response among the clergy and ordinary believers of the Western lands - wider than could be expected after all the anti-Christian persecutions of the pre-war period. And the Germans responded to the patriotism of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian priests with merciless cruelty. For promoting the partisan movement, for example, in the Polesie diocese alone, up to 55% of the clergy were shot by the Nazis. In fairness, however, it is worth noting that sometimes unreasonable cruelty was manifested from the opposite side. Attempts by some members of the clergy to stay away from the struggle were often assessed - and not always justifiably - by the partisans as betrayal. For “collaboration” with the occupiers, in Belarus alone, underground units executed at least 42 priests.

Church contribution More than a dozen books will, of course, be written about the feat that hundreds of monastics, church and clergymen, including those awarded orders of the highest dignity, suffered in the name of the Motherland. If we dwell only on some facts of a socio-economic nature, then we should especially note the burden of financial responsibility for supporting the army, which the Russian Orthodox Church took upon itself. By helping the armed forces, the Moscow Patriarchate forced the Soviet authorities to at least to a small extent recognize its full presence in the life of society. On January 5, 1943, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens took an important step towards the actual legalization of the Church, using the fees for the defense of the country. He sent a telegram to I. Stalin, asking for his permission for the Patriarchate to open a bank account into which all the money donated for the needs of the war would be deposited. On February 5, the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars gave his written consent. Thus, the Church, although in a detrimental form, received the rights of a legal entity. Already from the first months of the war, almost all Orthodox parishes in the country spontaneously began collecting funds for the established defense fund. Believers donated not only money and bonds, but also products (as well as scrap) made of precious and non-ferrous metals, clothes, shoes, linen, wool and much more. By the summer of 1945, the total amount of monetary contributions for these purposes alone, according to incomplete data, amounted to more than 300 million rubles. - excluding jewelry, clothing and food. Funds for defeating the Nazis were collected even in the occupied territory, which was associated with real heroism. Thus, the Pskov priest Fyodor Puzanov, close to the fascist authorities, managed to collect about 500 thousand rubles. donations and transfer them to the “mainland”. A particularly significant church act was the construction, at the expense of Orthodox believers, of a column of 40 T-34 Dimitri Donskoy tanks and the Alexander Nevsky squadron.

The price of ruin and sacrilege

The true scale of the damage inflicted on the Russian Orthodox Church by the German occupiers cannot be assessed with accuracy. It was not limited to thousands of destroyed and devastated churches, countless utensils and church valuables taken away by the Nazis during the retreat. The Church has lost hundreds of spiritual shrines, which, of course, cannot be redeemed by any indemnities. And yet, the assessment of material losses, as far as possible, was carried out already during the war years. On November 2, 1942, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Extraordinary State Commission was created to establish and investigate the atrocities of the Nazi invaders and their accomplices and the damage they caused to citizens, collective farms (collective farms), public organizations, state enterprises and institutions of the USSR (ChGK) . A representative from the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Kiev and Galicia, was also included in the Commission. The Commission's staff developed a sample diagram and list of crimes against cultural and religious institutions. The Instructions for the Registration and Protection of Monuments of Art noted that damage reports should record cases of robbery, removal of artistic and religious monuments, damage to iconostases, church utensils, icons, etc. Witness testimony, inventories, and photographs should be attached to the acts. A special price list for church utensils and equipment was developed, approved by Metropolitan Nicholas on August 9, 1943. The data received by the ChGK appeared at the Nuremberg trials as documentary evidence of the prosecution. In the appendices to the transcript of the meeting of the International Military Tribunal dated February 21, 1946, documents appear under numbers USSR-35 and USSR-246. They show the total amount of “damage to religious cults, including heterodox and non-Christian denominations,” which, according to ChGK calculations, amounted to 6 billion 24 million rubles. From the data given in the “Certificate on the Destruction of Religious Buildings” it is clear that the largest number of Orthodox churches and chapels were completely destroyed and partially damaged in Ukraine - 654 churches and 65 chapels. In the RSFSR, 588 churches and 23 chapels were damaged, in Belarus - 206 churches and 3 chapels, in Latvia - 104 churches and 5 chapels, in Moldova - 66 churches and 2 chapels, in Estonia - 31 churches and 10 chapels, in Lithuania - 15 churches and 8 chapels and in the Karelo-Finnish SSR - 6 churches. The “Reference” provides data on prayer buildings of other faiths: during the war, 237 churches, 4 mosques, 532 synagogues and 254 other places of worship were destroyed, a total of 1027 religious buildings. The materials of the ChGK do not contain detailed statistical data on the monetary value of the damage caused to the Russian Orthodox Church. However, it is not difficult, with a certain degree of convention, to make the following calculations: if during the war years a total of 2,766 prayer buildings of various denominations were damaged (1,739 losses of the Russian Orthodox Church (churches and chapels) and 1,027 of other denominations), and the total amount of damage was 6 billion. 24 million rubles, then the damage to the Russian Orthodox Church reaches approximately 3 billion 800 thousand rubles. The scale of destruction of historical monuments of church architecture, which cannot be calculated in monetary terms, is evidenced by the incomplete list of churches damaged in Novgorod alone. German shelling caused enormous damage to the famous St. Sophia Cathedral (11th century): its middle chapter was pierced by shells in two places, in the northwestern chapter the dome and part of the drum were destroyed, several vaults were demolished, and the gilded roof was torn off. St. George's Cathedral of the Yuryev Monastery is a unique monument of Russian architecture of the 12th century. - received many large holes, due to which through cracks appeared in the walls. Other ancient monasteries of Novgorod were also severely damaged by German bombs and shells: Antoniev, Khutynsky, Zverin, etc. The famous Church of the Savior-Nereditsa of the 12th century was reduced to ruins. Buildings included in the ensemble of the Novgorod Kremlin were destroyed and severely damaged, including the Church of St. Andrew Stratilates of the 14th-15th centuries, the Church of the Intercession of the 14th century, and the belfry of the St. Sophia Cathedral of the 16th century. etc. In the vicinity of Novgorod, the Cathedral of the Cyril Monastery (XII century), the Church of St. Nicholas on Lipna (XIII century), the Annunciation on Gorodishche (XIII century), the Church of the Savior on Kovalevo (XIV century), the Church of the Assumption on Gorodishche (XIII century) were destroyed by targeted artillery fire. Volotovo Field (XIV century), St. Michael the Archangel in the Skovorodinsky Monastery (XIV century), St. Andrew on Sitka (XIV century). All this is nothing more than an eloquent illustration of the true losses that the Russian Orthodox Church suffered during the Great Patriotic War, which for centuries had been building a unified state, deprived of almost all its property after the Bolsheviks came to power, but considered it an absolute duty to rise to the top during the years of difficult trials. All-Russian Golgotha.

Vadim Polonsky

The Great Patriotic War was a new stage in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church; the patriotic service of the clergy and believers became an expression of the natural feeling of love for the Motherland.

The head of the Church, Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), addressed his flock on the very first day of the war, 12 days earlier than Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (Dzhugashvili). “This is not the first time that the Russian people have had to endure trials,” wrote Bishop Sergius. “With God’s help, this time too he will scatter the fascist enemy force into dust.” Our ancestors did not lose heart even in worse situations because they remembered not about personal dangers and benefits, but about their sacred duty to the Motherland and faith, and emerged victorious. Let us not disgrace their glorious name, and we, the Orthodox, are relatives to them both in flesh and in faith. The Fatherland is defended by weapons and a common national feat, a common readiness to serve the Fatherland in difficult times of trial with everything that everyone can.”

The next day of the war, June 23, at the suggestion of Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky), Leningrad parishes began collecting donations for the Defense Fund and the Soviet Red Cross.

On June 26, 1941, a prayer service was held in the Epiphany Cathedral for the granting of Victory.

After the prayer service, Metropolitan Sergius addressed the believers with a sermon, which included the following words: “Let the storm come. We know that it brings not only disasters, but also benefits: it refreshes the air and drives out all sorts of miasmas: indifference to the good of the Fatherland, double-dealing, serving personal gain, etc. We already have some signs of such a recovery. Isn’t it joyful, for example, to see that with the first strikes of the thunderstorm, we have gathered in such a large number in our church and are consecrating the beginning of our nationwide feat in defense of our native land with a church service.”

On the same day, Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad addressed his flock with an archpastoral message, calling on them to defend the Motherland. The influence of these messages can be judged by the attitude of the occupation authorities towards the dissemination of pastoral messages. In September 1941, for reading the first message of Metropolitan Sergius in churches in Kyiv, Archimandrite Alexander (Vishnyakov) - rector of the St. Nicholas Embankment Church - and Archpriest Pavel Ostrensky were shot; in Simferopol, Archpriest Nikolai Shvets, a deacon, was shot for reading and distributing this patriotic appeal Alexander Bondarenko, Elder Vincent.

The messages of the Primate of the Church (and there were over 20 of them during the war) were not only of a consolidating nature, but also had explanatory purposes. They determined the firm position of the Church in relation to the invaders and the war in general.

On October 4, 1941, when Moscow was in mortal danger and the population was going through anxious days, Metropolitan Sergius issued an Message to the Moscow flock, calling for calm among the laity and warning the wavering clergy: “There are rumors, which we would not like to believe, that there are among our Orthodox the faces of shepherds who are ready to go into the service of the enemies of our Motherland and the Church are marked with a pagan swastika instead of the holy cross. I don’t want to believe this, but if, despite everything, such shepherds were found, I would remind them that the Saint of our Church, in addition to words of admonition, was also given by the Lord a spiritual sword, punishing those who violate the oath.”

In November 1941, already in Ulyanovsk, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) addressed a message that strengthened the people’s confidence in the approaching hour of Victory: “May the all-wise and all-good Arbiter of human destinies crown our efforts with final victories and send successes to the Russian army, the guarantee of the moral and cultural prosperity of mankind.”

In his messages, Metropolitan Sergius paid special attention to believers in the temporarily occupied territories. In January 1942, in a special address, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens reminded the Orthodox that, while in captivity of the enemy, they should not forget that they are Russians, and that they would not, consciously or through thoughtlessness, turn out to be traitors to their Motherland. Metropolitan Sergius also contributed to the organization of the partisan movement. Thus, the message emphasizes: “Let your local partisans be for you not only an example and approval, but also a subject of constant care. Remember that every service rendered to a partisan is a merit to the Motherland and an extra step towards your own liberation from fascist captivity.”

The metropolitan's messages violated Soviet laws, for they prohibited any activity of the Church outside the walls of the temple and any interference in the affairs of the state. Nevertheless, all the appeals and messages issued by the locum tenens responded to all the main events in the military life of the fighting country. The patriotic position of the Church was noticed by the country's leadership from the first days of the war. On July 16, 1941, the Soviet press began publishing positive materials about the Church and believers in the USSR. Pravda published information about the patriotic activities of the Orthodox clergy for the first time. Such reports in the central press have become regular. In total, from this time to July 1945, over 100 articles and messages were published in the central press (the newspapers Pravda and Izvestia), which to one degree or another touched upon religious problems and the topic of the patriotic participation of believers in the Great Patriotic War.

Guided by civic feelings, hierarchs, priests and believers did not limit themselves to prayers for granting victory to the Red Army, but from the first days of the war participated in providing material assistance to the front and rear. The clergy in Gorky and Kharkov, and then throughout the country, organized a collection of warm clothes and gifts for the soldiers. Money, gold and silver items, and government bonds were contributed to the Defense Fund.

In fact, Metropolitan Sergius managed to legalize the collection of money and belongings of believers (illegal according to the decree “On Religious Associations” of April 8, 1929) only in 1943, after a telegram to I. Stalin (Dzhugashvili) dated January 5. It said: “I cordially greet you on behalf of the Orthodox Russian Church. In the New Year, I prayerfully wish you health and success in all your endeavors for the benefit of your native country entrusted to you. With our special message I invite the clergy and believers to donate for the construction of a column of tanks named after Dmitry Donskoy. To begin with, the Patriarchate contributes 100 thousand rubles, the Yelokhovsky Cathedral in Moscow contributes 300 thousand, and the rector of the cathedral, Nikolai Fedorovich Kolchitsky, contributes 100 thousand. We ask the State Bank to open a special account. May the national feat led by you end in victory over the dark forces of fascism. Patriarchal Locum Tenens Sergius, Metropolitan of Moscow."

In the response telegram, permission to open an account was given. There were also words of gratitude to the Church for its activities: “To the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Sergius, Metropolitan of Moscow. I ask you to convey to the Orthodox clergy and believers my greetings and gratitude to the Red Army for caring for the armored forces of the Red Army. Instructions to open a special account in the State Bank have been given. I. Stalin."

With this permission, the Church de facto received the right of a legal entity. At the end of 1944, each diocese sent to the Synod a report on its activities in total terms from June 22, 1941 to July 1, 1944. The clergy and believers collected funds for defense needs, gifts to soldiers of the Red Army, the sick and wounded in hospitals , to provide assistance to disabled people of the Patriotic War, children and child care institutions, and families of Red soldiers. The collections were not only monetary, but also precious items, food and necessary things, such as, for example, waffle towels for hospitals. During the reporting period, contributions from parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church amounted to 200 million rubles. The total amount of funds collected during the entire war period exceeded 300 million rubles.

Of this amount of money collected, 8 million rubles were used to purchase 40 T-34 tanks built at the Chelyabinsk tank plant. They formed a column with inscriptions on the turrets of combat vehicles: “Dmitry Donskoy.” The transfer of the column to the Red Army units took place in the village of Gorenki, which is 5 kilometers northwest of Tula, at the location of the military units being completed.

The 38th and 516th separate tank regiments received formidable equipment. By this time, both had gone through difficult battle paths. The first took part in the battles on the Demyansk bridgehead, near Vyazma and Rzhev, liberated the cities of Nevel and Velikiye Luki, and beat the enemy near Leningrad and Novgorod. Near Tula, the combat paths of the regiments will diverge. The 38th will go to the southwestern regions of Ukraine, the 516th to Belarus. The military fate of the Dmitry Donskoy combat vehicles will be different. It will be short and bright for the 38th regiment, and long for the 516th. But on March 8, 1944, the day the church column was presented, they stood on the same snow-covered field. According to the state, each was entitled to 21 tanks. Only the 516th regiment received this number, the 38th received nineteen.

Considering the high significance of the patriotic act of believers, on the day of the transfer of the column a solemn meeting was held, at which Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) of Krutitsky spoke to the tank crews on behalf of Patriarch Sergius (Stragorodsky). This was the first official meeting of a representative of the episcopate of the Russian Orthodox Church with soldiers and commanders of the Red Army.

The 38th separate tank regiment was the first to receive baptism of fire in the Uman-Botoshan operation, participating as part of the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front in the liberation of the southwestern regions of Ukraine and part of Bessarabia. Having completed a 12-day combined march in the area of ​​Uman, the regiment took battle on the night of March 23-24, 1944. By March 25, together with the rifle units of the 94th Guards Rifle Division of the 53rd Army, the settlements of Kazatskoye, Korytnoye, and Bendzari were liberated. The first battles brought the first losses of combat vehicles. At the beginning of April 1944, only 9 tanks remained in the regiment. But the will to win and the desire of the army to carry the name of Dmitry Donskoy on the armor with honor did not weaken. The personnel of the 38th Regiment distinguished themselves by their heroic actions during the crossing of the Dniester River and subsequent access to the state border of the USSR. For the successful completion of combat missions, by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of April 8, 1944, the regiment was given the honorary name “Dnestrovsky”. In less than two months, the regiment fought over 130 km, and managed to overcome more than 500 km by marching off-road in its tanks. During this period, the tankers destroyed about 1,420 Nazis, 40 different guns, 108 machine guns, knocked out and captured 38 tanks, 17 armored personnel carriers, 101 transport vehicles, captured 3 fuel depots and captured 84 German soldiers and officers.

Twenty-one soldiers and ten officers of the regiment died a brave death on the battlefields. For their courage, valor and heroism, 49 tank crews were awarded orders and medals of the USSR.

Subsequently, while in the reserve of the Headquarters, the 38th regiment was renamed the 74th separate heavy tank, and then reorganized into the 364th heavy self-propelled artillery regiment. At the same time, taking into account the high combat merits of the personnel during the Uman-Botosha operation, he was awarded the title “Guards” and retained the honorary name “Dnestrovsky”.

Another regiment that received combat vehicles from the Dmitry Donskoy column, the 516th separate flamethrower tank, began combat operations on July 16, 1944, together with the 2nd assault engineer brigade of the 1st Belorussian Front. Due to the flamethrower weapons installed on the tanks (which were secret at that time), units of this regiment were involved in special combat missions and in especially difficult sectors of the front in cooperation with assault battalions. In the letter of gratitude from the regiment command addressed to Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich) there were the following words: “You said:“ Drive out the hated enemy from our Great Rus'. Let the glorious name of Dmitry Donskoy lead us to battle, brother warriors.” Fulfilling this order, privates, sergeants and officers of our unit, on the tanks handed over by you, full of love for their Mother Motherland, for their people, successfully defeat the sworn enemy, expelling him from our land... The name of the great Russian commander Dmitry Donskoy is like unfading glory weapons, we carried on the armor of our tanks forward to the West, to complete and final victory.”

The tankers kept their word. In January 1945, they boldly acted in the assault on the strong fortifications of Poznan, and in the spring they fought on the Zeyalovsky Heights. Tanks "Dmitry Donskoy" reached Berlin.

The boundless courage and heroism of the tankers is evidenced by the fact that 19 people, fighting until their last breath, burned in their combat vehicles. Among them, tank platoon commander Lieutenant A.K. Gogin and driver mechanic A.A. Solomko were posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.

Thus, in the struggle for common ideals during the Great Patriotic War, the patriotic aspirations of Russian believers and clergy merged with the heroism and valor of the Red Army soldiers. As many years ago, the banners of Dmitry Donskoy floated above them, symbolizing victory over a strong enemy.

There is no doubt that fundraising for the Defense Fund, for gifts to the Red Army, to help orphans, disabled soldiers, and families of the dead was an important part of the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church during the war. But there was another most important form of activity - prayers for the victory of the Russian army. One of the greatest prayer books during the war years was Hieroschemamonk Seraphim Vyritsky.

When the Germans entered the city, the elder reassured many who were confused, saying that not a single residential building would be destroyed. (In Vyritsa, indeed, only the station, the savings bank and the bridge were destroyed.) For a thousand days he stood in prayer for the salvation of Russia. He offered constant prayer not only in his cell, but also in the garden on a stone in front of an icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov feeding a wild bear, built on a pine tree. The elder called this corner “Sarov”. In 1942, Father Seraphim wrote about his vigils:

“Both in joy and in sorrow, monk, sick elder
He goes to the holy icon in the garden, in the silence of the night.
To pray to God for the world and all people
And he will bow to the elder about his homeland.
Pray to the Good Queen, Great Seraphim,
She is Christ's right hand, a helper to the sick.
Intercessor for the poor, clothing for the naked,
In great sorrows he will save his servants...
We perish in sins, having retreated from God,
And we insult God in our actions.”

The elder saw the Victory, which he was bringing closer with his prayers. Father Seraphim did not stop receiving people after the war. There are even more of them. These were mostly relatives of missing soldiers.

Particular mention should be made of the patriotic activities of the Church in the temporarily occupied territory. Priests were sometimes the only link between the partisans and local residents and received the glorious nickname “partisan priests.”

The “Partisan of the Patriotic War” medal recognized the activities of Father Fyodor Puzanov from the village of Brodovichi-Zapolye in the Pskov region. During the war he became a scout for the 5th Partisan Brigade. St. George's Knight of the First World War, he, taking advantage of the relative freedom of movement allowed to him by the occupiers as a priest of a rural parish, conducted reconnaissance work, supplied the partisans with bread and clothing, was the first to give them his cow, and reported data on the movements of the Germans. In addition, he held conversations with believers and, moving from village to village, introduced residents to the situation in the country and at the fronts. In January 1944, during the retreat of German troops, Father Theodore saved more than 300 of his fellow countrymen from being deported to Germany.

Father Vasily Kopychko, rector of the Odrizhinskaya Assumption Church in the Ivanovo district of the Pinsk region in Belarus, was also a “partisan priest.” From the beginning of the war, he performed divine services at night, without lighting, so as not to be noticed by the Germans. The pastor introduced the parishioners to the reports of the Information Bureau and the messages of Metropolitan Sergius. Later, Father Vasily became a partisan liaison and continued to be one until the liberation of Belarus.

The monastics also made their contribution to the victory. (At the end of the war, not a single active monastery remained on the territory of the RSFSR; only in the annexed regions of Moldova, Ukraine, and Belarus there were 46.) During the years of occupation, 29 Orthodox monasteries resumed their activities in the territory temporarily occupied by the enemy. For example, the Kursk Holy Trinity Convent began operating in March 1942. In just a few months of 1944, the nuns donated 70 thousand rubles to the Defense Fund, the Dnepropetrovsk Tikhvin Convent - 50 thousand, the Odessa Mikhailovsky Convent - 100 thousand . rubles. The nuns helped the Red Army not only with donations, but also by collecting warm clothes and towels, which were so needed in hospitals and medical battalions. The nuns of the Odessa St. Michael's Convent, together with their abbess, Abbess Anatolia (Bukach), collected and donated a significant amount of medicines to military doctors.

Patriotic church activities in the first years of the war were noticed and appreciated by the Soviet leadership, having a certain influence on the change in the religious policy of the state during the war period.

On the day of Easter, May 6, 1945, in his diary the writer M. M. Prishvin wrote: “... We were near the Church of St. John the Warrior in a close crowd, going far beyond the church fence into the street. Steam from the breath of those standing in the church poured out of the side door above their heads. If only a foreigner could see how Russians pray and what they rejoice at! When “Christ is Risen!” was heard from the church. and all the people joined in - it was joy!

No, the victory was not achieved by cold calculation alone: ​​the roots of victory must be sought here, in this joy of closed breaths. I know that it was not Christ who led people to war and no one was happy about the war, but again, it was not just calculation and external calculation that determined victory. And when now every commoner, led by his interlocutor into thinking about life, says: “No, there is something!” - he turns this “no” to the atheists and to himself, who did not believe in victory. And then “something” is God, who determines, as in this Matins, his internal organization and free order, and this “something” (God) is!”

The Lord will have mercy on Russia and lead it through suffering to great glory.

Venerable Seraphim of Sarov

As a result of the First World War, unleashed by the so-called “world community,” the last kingdoms on earth - Russian, German and Austro-Hungarian - were destroyed. World power passed into the hands of a secret world government, which everywhere, with the help of money and violence, imposed its liberal “democratic” order, and in Germany, the end result of democracy - a fascist dictatorship. It seemed to them that there was not much to it: to move pro-fascist Europe, led by Germany, against Russia in order to completely destroy the Orthodox country, which still stood as an insurmountable obstacle to the path of world evil, in the fire of this war. On the eve of this aggression, the Soviet government unexpectedly managed to split the united front of the aggressors and break out of isolation. The country was undergoing a large-scale rearmament of the Army, which was planned to be completed by the end of 1942.

The situation of the Russian Orthodox Church on the eve of the war seemed to be catastrophic: out of 57 thousand churches, only a few thousand remained, out of 57 seminaries, not a single one remained, out of more than 1000 monasteries, not a single one. There was no Patriarch either. The “Union of Militant Atheists,” the largest “non-profit organization” of those years, planned to close the last Orthodox church already in 1943. It seemed that Russia was lost forever. And only a few knew then that from the moment of the destruction of the Orthodox Kingdom on March 2, 1917, the Mother of God herself took Russia under her leadership, notifying us of this with the miraculous appearance of her Sovereign image. It is now a widely known fact that in the summer of 1941, during the most critical days of the war, the Mother of God appeared to Metropolitan Elijah (Karam) of the Lebanese Mountains through his fervent solitary prayers. She discovered what needs to be done so that Russia does not perish. To do this, churches, monasteries, and religious educational institutions should be opened. Bring back priests from prisons, from the fronts, and start serving them. Don’t surrender Leningrad to the enemy, surround the city with the Kazan Icon. Prayers should be served in front of this icon in Moscow. This icon should be in Stalingrad, which cannot be surrendered to the enemy. The Kazan icon must go with the troops to the borders of Russia, and when the war is over, Metropolitan Elijah must come to Russia and talk about how she was saved. The Bishop contacted representatives of the Russian Church and the Soviet Government and conveyed to them the will of the Mother of God. I.V. Stalin promised Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad and Metropolitan Sergius to fulfill everything that Metropolitan Elijah had conveyed, because he no longer saw any possibility of saving the situation. Everything happened as predicted. After the Victory, in 1947, Metropolitan Elijah visited the USSR more than once. He was awarded the Stalin Prize (200 thousand rubles), which, together with a donation from Lebanese Christians (200 thousand dollars), he donated for the orphaned children of Red Army soldiers. By agreement with Stalin, he was then given a cross and a panagia with precious stones from all the republics of the Soviet Union - in gratitude from all our land.

Even on the first day of the war, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) called the Patriotic War sacred cleansing thunderstorm and called on all Christians to defend their Motherland and the Church with all their might from the fascist invaders. Obviously, he was familiar with the prophecy of St. Anatoly of Optina, spoken after the revolution, that the Germans would soon enter Russia, but only in order to rid it of godlessness. And their end will come in their own land. The same assessment of the outbreak of war as the Patriarchal Locum Tenens and the same confidence in the coming Victory were voiced in the address of the Chairman of the State Defense Committee I.V. Stalin to the Soviet people on July 3, 1941:

“Comrades! Citizens! Brothers and sisters! Soldiers of our army and navy!

I am addressing you, my friends!...The war with Nazi Germany cannot be considered an ordinary war.... It is...about the life and death of the peoples of the USSR, about whether the peoples of the Soviet Union should be free or fall into enslavement.. .. All our strength is in support of our heroic Red Army, our glorious Red Navy! All forces are used to defeat the enemy! Forward, for our Victory!” In those same days, the song “Holy War” was sung for the first time, which became the national march of the Great Victory. It was written by A.V. Alexandrov, who served as a psalm-reader in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in the 1920s.

I.V. Stalin called for turning the country into a single military camp during the Great Patriotic War, where there is no place for laxity and the usual profiteering from military supplies, but “everything for the front, everything for Victory.” He uttered prophetic words that echoed like an alarm bell in every heart that loves the Motherland: “Our cause is just, Victory will be ours!”

From the very first days of the War, millions of believers went to the front. The Red Army soldiers, defending the Fatherland, showed miracles of heroism, as has been the case at all times. The Nazis, who did not receive any resistance in Europe, were dumbfounded by the tenacity and fighting qualities of our soldiers. This is evidenced by their numerous letters home, now published in many publications. Already in the very first days of the War, fascist pilots, for example, received instructions not to approach Soviet aircraft closer than 100 meters in order to avoid ramming, which immediately became a common method in air battles. Hundreds of fascist tanks were burned using ordinary “glass containers” with a flammable mixture. Sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a former student, killed 309 fascists in the first year of war alone. Home front workers were in no way inferior to front-line soldiers, fulfilling 7-8 or more daily quotas. Even teenagers in the factories of Udmurtia gave 2-3 adult norms. In the Cathedral of St. Alexandra Nevsky works as the treasurer of A.A. Mashkovtseva, who has 73 years of work experience! During wartime, as teenagers, they worked in an artel that sewed pouches for machine guns produced by the current Kalashnikov concern. They often stayed to work at night because... machine guns without their production could not be sent to the army. And then the adults, appreciating their childish work, issued work books for them. Mason of Izhstroy M.I. Kamenshchikova and two assistants laid 28,200 bricks during a shift - this was an all-Union record; they lifted an entire floor of an industrial building! Not a single modern builder can believe such a result. For this labor feat, she received a bonus of 2 thousand rubles, her friends - 1 thousand each (the general’s monthly salary was then 2,200 rubles).

Moscow legend has conveyed to us that in October 1941, J.V. Stalin turned for advice to Blessed Matrona (who wandered around Moscow apartments without registration) and she predicted victory for him if he did not leave Moscow. The traditional military parade on Red Square breathed new strength into the city’s defenders. “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat, Moscow is behind us!” - this call of the political instructor of the Panfilov heroes V.K. Klychkov accurately reflects the fighting spirit of the defenders of the Fatherland. I will give an excerpt from the speech of the Chairman of the State Defense Committee I.V. Stalin at the military parade on November 7, 1941: “Comrade Red Army men and Red Navy men, commanders and political workers, partisans and partisans! The whole world looks at you as a force capable of destroying the predatory hordes of German invaders... The war you are waging is a war of liberation, a just war. Let the courageous image of our great ancestors - Alexander Nevsky, Dimitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dimitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov - inspire you in this war. Death to the German occupiers! Long live our glorious Motherland, its freedom and independence!” According to the testimony of Air Marshal Alexander Golovanov, in December 1941, in conditions of absolutely unflyable weather and with a frost of fifty degrees outside, on the instructions of J.V. Stalin, he made a “fly-over of the cross” over Moscow on an LI-2 plane with the miraculous Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God on board. And already on December 9, the city of Tikhvin was liberated.

It was near Moscow that Hitler, who had easily conquered Europe with the help of the money of Western bankers and the satanic forces with whom he regularly came into contact, felt unable to resist Divine grace. Here, by and large, his forecasts did not come true and all his plans failed. During the Nativity Fast, the Red Army began its offensive, aided by truly Siberian frosts, and the position of the Nazis became no better than Napoleon’s “great” army. It was they who first appeared in penal units, where an unprecedented number of soldiers ended up - 62 thousand people. To date, entire volumes of testimonies have been collected about the miraculous assistance of the Holy Heavenly Powers to our soldiers. Wehrmacht soldiers, who more than once saw “Madonna helping the Russians” in the sky, reported the same in their letters.

On Christmas Day 1942, in his Archpastoral Message, Metropolitan Sergius wrote: “Near Moscow the enemy was overthrown and expelled from the Moscow region.... So, dare, stand courageously and unshakably, maintaining faith and fidelity, and see salvation from the Lord: the Lord will overcome and overcome for you...". This is a continuation of the gospel science of Generalissimo A.V. Suvorov, “The Science of Victory”: “Pray to God, victory comes from Him! God is our general! This first offensive of ours lasted until Easter.

In 1942, Easter was very early - April 5th. The holiday coincided with the 700th anniversary of the defeat of German knights by Alexander Nevsky on the ice of Lake Peipsi. The Germans were driven back from Moscow, the front stabilized. On Saturday, April 4, at 6 o’clock in the morning, the radio announced, quite unexpectedly for everyone, that the Moscow commandant’s office was allowing free movement on Easter night. This was the first demonstrative step towards the interests of the country's Orthodox Christians during the years of Soviet power. The people received this news with delight. This is what is written in the report of the head of the NKVD of Moscow and the Moscow region M.I. Zhuravleva: “In total, 85 thousand people attended services in the Moscow region in 124 operating churches (as of June 22, there were only 4 operating churches, but with the beginning of the War, churches were spontaneously opened). From the messages received by the NKVD Directorate, it is clear that the believing population and clergy reacted positively in connection with the religious holiday of Easter, as well as the received permission for the unhindered movement of the population... on the night of April 4-5, as evidenced by the following statements: “That’s what everyone is saying.” “that the Soviet government oppresses believers and the Church, but in reality it turns out not so: despite the state of siege, they were allowed to perform divine services, walk around the city without passes, and so that the people knew about it, they announced it on the radio...”

“Lord, what a joyful day today is! The government accommodated the people and allowed them to celebrate Easter. Not only were they allowed to walk around the city all night and serve church services, they also gave us cheese curds, butter, meat and flour today. Thanks to the government."

After that Easter, the Church called on all the people to raise funds for arming the Army and helping the wounded. There was also a collection of donations in the churches of Udmurtia. The priest of the Assumption Church in Izhevsk, V.A. Stefanov, gave all his savings - 569 thousand rubles, and in 1944, parishioners and clergy of Udmurtia contributed 1,108 thousand rubles to the Defense Fund and 371 thousand rubles in bonds. The foreman of the tractor brigade from Azino, P.I. Kalabin, contributed 155 thousand rubles for the construction of tanks and aircraft. and another 10 thousand rubles. to the Defense Fund. (This is a donation comparable to the cost of a T-34 tank).

In the winter of 1942, with a frost of twenty degrees, the unheated and newly cleared Yelokhovsky Cathedral in Moscow was full of people praying for victory to be granted to the Russian army. Cathedral parishioner G.P. Georgievsky recalled the days of Great Lent in 1942: “Everyone tried to confess and receive communion. There were so many people who wanted to fast that the priests were forced to offer communion during the presanctified liturgies on Wednesdays and Fridays. On ordinary days for Communion, especially on some Saturdays, so many communicants gathered that the service began at 6:30 am. in the morning and ended at 4-5 o’clock in the afternoon.” Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) served in Leningrad throughout the blockade, living in an unheated church building. The city leadership, at his request, allocated “Cahors” and flour for worship in all seven churches of the city, however, the liturgical prosphora was baked the size of a small button.

This joint work of the state and the church to repel the fascist invasion was the beginning of a radical change in their relations. But the rapprochement of the positions of the Church and the Soviet government began even earlier. Here are its main stages:

2. August 16, 1923 - the Decree of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, signed by J.V. Stalin, was sent to all party organizations, prohibiting the pogrom of the Church and the persecution of believers.

4. On November 11, 1939, the Politburo decided to cancel the instructions of V.I. Lenin dated May 1, 1919, ordering the destruction of churches and mass executions of the clergy. The Solovetsky camp is closed. Over 30,000 “church members” were released from the Gulag.

5. Summer 1941. The Will of the Mother of God on how Russia can be saved was conveyed to the Soviet leadership. This was done by Metropolitan Elijah (Karam) of the Lebanese Mountains.

The years 1941-1942 showed J.V. Stalin that, despite the persecution, the attitude of the Church towards the Russian state did not change. The Church is doing everything to protect him. This led to a sharp turn in relations that began after the historic meeting of J.V. Stalin with the highest hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church on September 5, 1943. At that meeting, a decision was made on the immediate restoration of the Moscow Patriarchate, the educational and publishing work of the Church, and the creation of bodies regulating state-church relations. In conclusion, J.V. Stalin said words that allow us to understand that such a sharp turn in attitude towards the Church was not shared by all of his fellow party members : “This, lords, is all I can do for you for now.” Indeed, the decade of rapid revival of the Russian Orthodox Church that followed this meeting ended with the death of J.V. Stalin on March 5, 1953. During wartime, the leadership of the army and defense industry was dominated by Russian patriots who had not forgotten God. From the top leadership, I.V. Stalin almost graduated from the Tiflis Theological Seminary, sang in the choir of the Exarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, A.I. Mikoyan studied at the Theological Academy, church singers in his youth were G.K. Zhukov, V.M. Molotov, K E. Voroshilov. The Chief of the General Staff, former colonel of the Tsarist Army B.M. Shaposhnikov openly professed Orthodoxy. A.M. Vasilevsky, who replaced him in this post, is the son of a priest who served in Kineshma at that time, and the head of counterintelligence “SMERSH” V.S. Abakumov is the priest’s brother. Directly from exile, Bishop Luka (Voino-Yasenetsky) was appointed Chief Surgeon of all evacuation hospitals in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and at the same time Bishop of Krasnoyarsk and Yenisei. At the end of the war, he was awarded the Stalin Prize, 1st degree, for his work in the field of purulent surgery.

The clergy in the occupied territories were in the most difficult situation. The fascist authorities demanded their assistance and prayers for the victory of German weapons. Failure to fulfill their demands or to pay tribute to the name of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' during services was punishable by reprisals from the Germans or policemen; partisans and underground fighters were punished for serving the occupiers. Most of the clergy in the occupied areas did not cooperate with the occupiers. Priest Alexander Romanushko in Belarus, instead of holding a funeral service for a policeman killed by partisans, took the entire police garrison and all the relatives of the murdered man to the partisans. Although there were also many traitors. Someone even composed an akathist to “the blessed Adolf Hitler”! It was these people who, in the majority, came under repression by the Soviet government after the War.

In those heroic years, the whole world looked with hope and gratitude at the heroic struggle of our people against fascism.

"I want to pay tribute to the Russian people, from whom the Red Army has its origins and from whom it receives its men, women and supplies. The Russian people give all their strength to war and make the highest sacrifices."

<...>The world has never seen greater selflessness than that shown by the Russian people and their army under the command of Marshal Joseph Stalin." (1943)

US President Franklin Roosevelt.

"The destinies of humanity are at stake in this great battle. On one side there is light and progress, on the other there is darkness, reaction, slavery and death. Russia, while defending its socialist freedom, is fighting at the same time for our freedom. By defending Moscow, they are defending London".

L. Feuchtwanger. 1942

“It is with the greatest admiration and respect that I send my sincere congratulations on the 25th anniversary of the Red Army and Navy, which so courageously defended the amazing achievements of Soviet civilization and destroyed a mortal threat to the future development of human progress.”

A. Einstein. February 1942

"I don't know what communism is, but if it creates people like those fighting on the Russian front, we must respect it. It is time to discard all slander, because they give their life and blood so that we can live We should give not only our money, but all the spiritual capacity for friendship that we possess, to help them<...>Russia, you have won the admiration of the whole world. Russians, the future is yours."

Charlie Chaplin. 1943

This prophecy of a non-Orthodox, but an honest man, completely coincides with the prophecy of St. Seraphim of Sarov: “The Lord will have mercy on Russia and will lead it through suffering to great glory.”

But even then completely different voices were heard. Senator G. Truman, who in August 1945, having become president, tested atomic bombs on Japan, even at the beginning of the war said without hiding that “if the Germans win, then we must help the Russians, and if the Russians win, we must help the Germans.” , and let them kill each other as much as possible." That's what they did. Immediately after Churchill's speech in Fulton in 1946, a meeting of US industrial magnates took place, as if waiting in the wings. It was like they were off the chain. Here are excerpts from their resolution: “Russia is an Asian despotism, primitive, vile and predatory, erected on a pyramid of human bones, skilled only in arrogance, betrayal and terrorism.” To put the conqueror of European fascism in its place, this meeting of racists called for placing their atomic bombs “in all regions of the world and without any hesitation dropping them wherever it is expedient.” And this was said about the allies, who only a year and a half earlier saved the Anglo-American troops from defeat in the Ardennes, when the same Churchill humiliatedly asked Stalin to organize a “major Russian offensive on the Vistula front” so that the Germans would transfer part of their troops from France to the Eastern Front . These are the words from Stalin's response to Churchill, published a week after the Fulton speech on March 14, 1946 in the newspaper Pravda. “In essence, Mr. Churchill and his friends in England and the United States are presenting nations that do not speak English with something like an ultimatum: accept our dominance voluntarily, and then everything will be all right, otherwise war is inevitable<...>but nations shed blood during 5 years of brutal war for the sake of freedom and independence of their countries, and not in order to replace the rule of the Hitlers with the rule of the Churchills." Eleven years after the Victory, N. Khrushchev at the 20th Congress of the CPSU will almost completely repeat Churchill's Fulton speech regarding The Soviet state and Marshal of Victory I.V. Stalin, will release Bandera and policemen from the camps and promise to “show the last priest on TV.” A little later, A.I. Solzhenitsyn, this “literary Vlasovite,” begging the “world community” for a Nobel Prize, cried out: "I need this bonus. Like a step in a position(?), in a battle! And the sooner I get it, the harder I will become, the harder I will hit!" And together with all his enemies, he hit Mother Russia, who was seriously ill with the decaying communism, with all his might: “There is no nation in the world more despicable, more abandoned, more alien and unnecessary than the Russian.” He used the words spoken very long ago by the Asian Khan Tamerlane about Jewish moneylenders. Today he is echoed by liberals from the fifth column, for example, G. Khazanov: “In this country goats with plucked sides graze, mangy inhabitants timidly make their way along the fences. I am used to being ashamed of this homeland, where every day is humiliation, every meeting is like a slap in the face, where everything - the landscape and the people - offends the eye. But how nice it is to come to America and see a sea of ​​smiles!” There are also many of these in our time, especially in Ukraine.

The spiritual content of the Great Patriotic War is clearly indicated by its chronology. The war began on June 22, the Day of All Saints, who shone in the Russian land. The historical defeat of the Germans near Moscow began on December 5-6, 1941. These days, the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky. And on July 17, 1944, the day of the murder of the Royal Family, 56 thousand fascist prisoners of war were escorted through the streets of Moscow. Thus, Soviet Russia, waging a victorious war with Germany, which the last Russian Sovereign was not allowed to defeat, honored the day of His memory.

The Great Patriotic War ended on Easter, and on the Feast of the Holy Trinity, June 24, a Victory Parade was held on Red Square. And at the behest of Generalissimo I.V. Stalin, warrior George on a white horse accepted it! How did the Church treat Stalin? Like all the people - with delight.

The ever-memorable Archpriest Dimitry Dudko, who spent many years in prison: “If you look at Stalin from the Divine point of view, then he is truly a special person, given by God, preserved by God. Stalin saved Russia and showed what it means to the whole world.”

Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy 1 (Simansky) before the funeral service on the day of J.V. Stalin’s funeral said: “The great leader of our people, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, has passed away. The power, the great, social power, in which our people felt their own strength, with which they were guided in their creative works and enterprises, with which they consoled themselves for many years, was abolished. There is no area where the gaze of the great Leader does not penetrate.... As a man of genius, in every matter he discovered what was invisible and inaccessible to the ordinary mind.” I.V. Stalin, as a man of his era, wavered in his faith in God, together with all of Russia, and together with all of Russia, in the end, came to Repentance, preserving the Church of Christ among all temptations.

Fortunately, the best representatives of our young generation are able to distinguish between truth and lies, understand the continuous nature of the historical process and realize its high spiritual meaning. For example, this is what Honored Artist of Russia Oleg Pogudin said: “It took a war for the people’s heads to get back into place at least a little bit... If we speak from the position of a believer, then the Great Patriotic War is a huge act of redemption. The stunning, fantastic feats of sacrifice, self-denial, and love that people demonstrated during these years generally justified the entire existence of the Soviet period in Russian history.”

To this I just want to add: “Let us bow to those great years...” Everything else is from the evil one.

Vladimir Shklyaev , employee of the Missionary Department of the Izhevsk diocese

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet government closed most of the country's churches and tried to eradicate Christianity, but in the souls of the Russian people the Orthodox faith was warm and supported by secret prayers and appeals to God. This is evidenced by the decayed finds that search engines encounter in our time. As a rule, the standard set of things for a Russian soldier is a party card, a Komsomol badge, an icon of the Mother of God hidden in a secret pocket and a pectoral cross worn on the same chain with a personalized capsule. Rising to the attack, along with the calling cry “For the Motherland! For Stalin!" the soldiers whispered “With God” and were already openly baptized. At the front, cases were passed down from mouth to mouth when people managed to survive only with God’s miraculous help. The well-known aphorism, tested and confirmed over the years, was confirmed in this war: “There are no atheists in war.”

Bleeding Church

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, a five-year plan aimed at the complete destruction of the clergy and the Orthodox faith was in full swing. Temples and churches were closed and the buildings were transferred to the local authorities. About 50 thousand clergy were sentenced to death, and hundreds of thousands were sent to hard labor.

According to the plans of the Soviet authorities, by 1943 there should have been no working churches or priests left in the Soviet Union. The sudden outbreak of war upset the plans of the atheists and distracted them from fulfilling their plans.

In the first days of the war, Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow and Kolomna reacted faster than the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. He himself prepared a speech for the citizens of the country, typed it on a typewriter and spoke to the Soviet people with support and blessing for the fight against the enemy.

The speech included a prophetic phrase: “The Lord will grant us victory.”

Only a few days later, Stalin first addressed the people with a speech, beginning his speech with the words “Brothers and sisters.”

With the outbreak of the war, the authorities had no time to engage in a propaganda program directed against the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Union of Atheists was dissolved. In cities and villages, believers began to organize meetings and write petitions for the opening of churches. The fascist command ordered the opening of Orthodox churches in the occupied territories in order to win over the local population. The Soviet authorities had no choice but to give permission to resume the work of churches.

Closed churches began to open. The clergy were rehabilitated and released from hard labor. The people were given tacit permission to visit churches. The Saratov diocese, which did not have a single parish under its control, leased the Holy Trinity Cathedral in 1942. After some time, the Church of the Holy Spirit and some other churches opened.

During the war, the Russian Orthodox Church became Stalin's adviser. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief invited the main clergy to Moscow to discuss the further development of Orthodoxy and the opening of theological academies and schools. The permission to elect the main patriarch of the country came as a complete surprise to the Russian church. On September 8, 1943, by decision of the Local Council, our Orthodox Church acquired a newly elected Head, Metropolitan Sergius of Starogorodsky.

Fathers on the front line

Some priests supported the people in the rear, instilling faith in victory, while others dressed in soldiers' greatcoats and went to the front. No one knows how many priests without a cassock and a cross, with a prayer on their lips, went to attack the enemy. In addition, they supported the spirit of Soviet soldiers by holding conversations in which the mercy of the Lord and his help in defeating the enemy were preached. According to Soviet statistics, about 40 clergy were awarded medals “For the Defense of Moscow” and “For the Defense of Leningrad.” More than 50 priests received awards for valiant work. Father-soldiers who lagged behind the army enlisted in partisan detachments and helped destroy the enemy in the occupied territories. Several dozen people received medals “Partisans of the Great Patriotic War.”

Many clergy, rehabilitated from the camps, went straight to the front line. Patriarch of All Rus' Pimen, having served time in hard labor, joined the Red Army and by the end of the war had the rank of major. Many Russian soldiers who survived this terrible war returned home and became priests. Machine gunner Konoplev became Metropolitan Alexy after the war. Boris Kramarenko, a holder of the Order of Glory, dedicated himself to God in the post-war period, going to a church near Kiev and becoming a deacon.

Archimandrite Alipy

Archimandrite Alypiy, abbot of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, who took part in the battle for Berlin and received the Order of the Red Star, talks about his decision to become a clergyman: “In this war, I saw so much horror and nightmare that I constantly prayed to the Lord for salvation and gave him the word to become a priest, having survived this terrible war.”

Archimandrite Leonid (Lobachev) was one of the first to voluntarily ask to go to the front and went through the entire war, earning the rank of sergeant major. The number of medals he received is impressive and speaks volumes about his heroic past during the war. His award list contains seven medals and the Order of the Red Star. After the victory, the clergyman dedicated his further life to the Russian church. In 1948, he was sent to Jerusalem, where he was the first to lead the Russian Spiritual Mission.

Holy Bishop Surgeon

The heroic sacrifice of all oneself for the good of society and the salvation of the dying by Bishop Luke of the Russian Orthodox Church is unforgettable. After university, without yet having church rank, he successfully worked as a zemstvo doctor. I met the war in my third exile in Krasnoyarsk. At that time, thousands of trainloads of wounded were sent to the rear. Saint Luke performed the most difficult operations and saved many Soviet soldiers. He was appointed chief surgeon of the evacuation hospital, and he advised all medical workers in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

At the end of his exile, Saint Luke received the rank of archbishop and began to head the Krasnoyarsk see. His high position did not prevent him from continuing his good work. He, as before, operated on the sick, after the operation he made rounds for the wounded and advised doctors. Along with this, he managed to write medical treatises, give lectures and speak at conferences. Wherever he was, he always wore the constant cassock and hood of a priest.

After revision and addition of “Essays on Purulent Surgery”, the second edition of the famous work was published in 1943. In 1944, the archbishop was transferred to the Tambov See, where he continued to treat the wounded in the hospital. After the end of the war, Saint Luke was awarded the medal “For Valiant Labor.”

In 2000, by the decision of the Orthodox Diocese, Archpriest Luke was canonized. On the territory of the Saratov Medical University, the construction of a church is underway, which is planned to be consecrated in the name of St. Luke.

Help the front

Clergy and Orthodox people not only fought heroically on the battlefield and treated the wounded, but also provided material assistance to the Soviet Army. The priests collected funds for the needs of the front and bought the necessary weapons and equipment. On March 7, 1944, forty T-34 tanks were transferred to the 516th and 38th tank regiments. The ceremonial presentation of the equipment was led by Metropolitan Nikolai. The donated tanks were used to equip the column named after. Dmitry Donskoy. Stalin himself declared gratitude to the clergy and Orthodox people from the Red Army.

Having united with the people, our Orthodox Church held divine liturgies in honor of the fallen heroes and prayed for the salvation of Russian soldiers. After the service, meetings were held in churches with Christians, and it was discussed who and how the Russian Church and civilians could help. Using the collected donations, the clergy helped orphans left without parents and families who had lost their breadwinners, sending parcels with necessary things to the front.

Parishioners from Saratov were able to raise funds that were enough to build six Alexander Nevsky aircraft. During the first three years of the war, the Moscow diocese collected and donated donations worth 12 million rubles to the needs of the front.

During the Great Patriotic War, for the first time in their reign, the authorities allowed the Russian church to hold a religious procession. On the holiday of Great Easter in all major cities, Orthodox people gathered together and performed a great procession of the Cross. The Easter message written by Metropolitan Sergius contained the following words:

“It is not the swastika, but the Cross that is called upon to lead our Christian culture, our Christian life.”

The request to perform a religious procession was submitted to Marshal Zhukov by the Leningrad Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky). There were fierce battles near Leningrad, and there was a threat of the city being captured by the Nazis. By a wonderful coincidence, the day of Great Easter, April 5, 1942, coincided with the 700th anniversary of the defeat of the German knights in the Battle of the Ice. The battle was led by Alexander Nevsky, who was later canonized and considered the patron saint of Leningrad. After the religious procession, a miracle truly happened. Part of the tank divisions of the North group, on Hitler's orders, was transferred to help the Center group for an attack on Moscow. Residents of Leningrad found themselves in a blockade, but the enemy did not penetrate the city.

The hungry days of the siege in Leningrad were not in vain for both civilians and the clergy. Along with ordinary Leningraders, clergymen died of hunger. Eight clergy of the Vladimir Cathedral were unable to survive the terrible winter of 1941-1942. The regent of St. Nicholas Church died during the service. Metropolitan Alexy spent the entire blockade in Leningrad, but his cell attendant, monk Evlogy, died of starvation.

Some churches in the city that had basements set up bomb shelters. The Alexander Nevsky Lavra donated part of the premises for a hospital. Despite the difficult times of famine, divine liturgies were held in churches every day. The clergy and parishioners prayed for the salvation of soldiers who were shedding blood in fierce battles, remembered the untimely departed soldiers, and asked the Almighty to be merciful and grant victory over the Nazis. They remembered the prayer service of 1812 “during the invasion of adversaries,” and included it in the service every day. Some of the services were attended by the commanders of the Leningrad Front along with the Commander-in-Chief Marshal Govorov.

The behavior of the Leningrad clergy and believers became a truly civil feat. The flock and priests united and together steadfastly endured hardships and hardships. There were ten active parishes in the city and northern suburbs. On June 23, churches announced the start of collecting donations for the needs of the front. All funds in reserve were given away from the temples. Expenses for maintaining churches were reduced to a minimum. Divine services were held at those moments when there were no bombings in the city, but regardless of the circumstances, they were held daily.

Quiet Prayer Book

The quiet prayer of St. Seraphim Vyritsky during the days of the war did not stop for a minute. From the first days, the elder prophesied victory over the Nazis. He prayed to the Lord for the salvation of our country from the invaders day and night, in his cell and in the garden on a stone, placing in front of him the image of Seraphim of Sarov. Indulging in prayer, he spent many hours asking the Almighty to see the suffering of the Russian people and save the country from the enemy. And the miracle happened! Although not quickly, four painful years of war passed, but the Lord heard quiet pleas for help and sent mercy, granting victory.

How many human souls were saved thanks to the prayers of the unforgettable elder. He was the connecting thread between Russian Christians and heaven. Through the prayers of the monk the outcome of many important events was changed. At the beginning of the war, Seraphim predicted that the inhabitants of Vyritsa would escape the troubles of the war. And in fact, not a single person from the village was injured; all the houses remained intact. Many old-timers remember an amazing incident that occurred during the war, thanks to which the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, located in Vyritsa, remained unharmed.

In September 1941, German troops intensively shelled the Vyritsa station. The Soviet command decided that for the correct targeting the Nazis would use the high dome of the church and decided to blow it up. A demolition team led by a lieutenant went to the village. Approaching the temple building, the lieutenant ordered the soldiers to wait, and he himself went into the building for a familiarization inspection of the facility. After some time, a shot was heard from the church. When the soldiers entered the temple, they found the lifeless body of an officer and a revolver lying nearby. The soldiers left the village in panic, the retreat soon began, and by the Providence of God the church remained intact.

Before taking holy orders, Hieromonk Seraphim was a famous merchant in St. Petersburg. Having taken monastic vows, he became the head of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The Orthodox people greatly revered the clergyman and came to him from all over the country for help, advice and blessings. When the elder moved to Vyritsa in the 30s, the flow of Christians did not decrease, and people continued to visit their confessor. In 1941, St. Seraphim was 76 years old. The reverend's health condition was not important; he could not walk on his own. In the post-war years, a new stream of visitors poured into Seraphim. During the war, many people lost contact with their loved ones and, with the help of the elder’s superpowers, wanted to find out about their whereabouts. In 2000, the Orthodox Church canonized the hieromonk.

To the 75th anniversary of the counter-offensive near Moscow

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the threat of complete destruction loomed over the Russian Orthodox Church. The country declared a “godless five-year plan,” during which the Soviet state was supposed to finally get rid of “religious remnants.”

Almost all the surviving bishops were in camps, and the number of operating churches throughout the country did not exceed several hundred. However, despite the unbearable conditions of existence, on the very first day of the war, the Russian Orthodox Church, in the person of the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), showed courage and perseverance, and discovered the ability to encourage and support its people in difficult times of war. “The protection of the Most Holy Virgin Mother of God, the ever-present Intercessor of the Russian land, will help our people survive the time of difficult trials and victoriously end the war with our victory,” with these words Metropolitan Sergius addressed the parishioners gathered on June 22, Sunday, at the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow. The bishop ended his sermon, in which he spoke about the spiritual roots of Russian patriotism, with words that sounded with prophetic confidence: “The Lord will grant us victory!”

After the liturgy, locked in his cell, the locum tenens personally typed the text of the appeal to the “Pastors and flock of Christ’s Orthodox Church,” which was immediately sent out to the surviving parishes. In all churches, a special prayer for deliverance from enemies began to be read during services.

Meanwhile, the Germans, having crossed the border, rapidly advanced through Soviet territory. In the occupied lands they pursued a well-thought-out religious policy, opening churches and conducting successful anti-Soviet propaganda against this background. Of course, this was not done out of love for Christianity. Wehrmacht documents released after the end of the war indicate that most of the open churches were subject to closure after the end of the Russian campaign. Operational Order No. 10 of the Reich Main Security Directorate speaks eloquently about the attitude towards the church issue. It stated, in particular: “... on the German side, in no case should there be any explicit support for church life, the organization of divine services or the holding of mass baptisms. There can be no talk of re-establishing the former Patriarchal Russian Church. Particular care should be taken to ensure that, first of all, no organizationally formalized merger of the Orthodox Church circles that are in the stage of formation takes place. Splitting into separate church groups, on the contrary, is desirable.” Metropolitan Sergius also spoke about the treacherous religious policy pursued by Hitler in his sermon at the Epiphany Cathedral on June 26, 1941. “Those who think that the current enemy does not touch our shrines and does not touch anyone’s faith are deeply mistaken,” the bishop warned. – Observations of German life tell a completely different story. The famous German commander Ludendorff... over the years came to the conviction that Christianity is not suitable for a conqueror.”

Meanwhile, the propaganda actions of the German leadership to open churches could not but cause a corresponding response from Stalin. He was also encouraged to do this by those movements for the opening of churches that began in the USSR already in the first months of the war. Gatherings of believers were held in cities and villages, at which executive bodies and commissioners for petitions for the opening of churches were elected. In rural areas, such meetings were often headed by collective farm chairmen, who collected signatures for the opening of church buildings and then themselves acted as intercessors before the executive bodies. It often happened that employees of executive committees at various levels treated favorably the petitions of believers and, within the framework of their powers, actually contributed to the registration of religious communities. Many churches opened spontaneously, without even having legal registration.

All these processes prompted the Soviet leadership to officially allow the opening of churches in territory not occupied by the Germans. The persecution of the clergy stopped. The priests who were in the camps were returned and became rectors of the newly opened churches.

The names of the shepherds who prayed in those days for the granting of victory and, together with all the people, forged the victory of Russian weapons, are widely known. Near Leningrad, in the village of Vyritsa, there lived an old man known today throughout Russia, Hieroschemamonk Seraphim (Muravyov). In 1941 he was 76 years old. The disease practically did not allow him to move without assistance. Eyewitnesses report that the elder loved to pray in front of the image of his patron saint, the Monk Seraphim of Sarov. The icon of the saint was mounted on an apple tree in the garden of the elderly priest. The apple tree itself grew near a large granite stone, on which the old man, following the example of his heavenly patron, performed many hours of prayer on sore legs. According to the stories of his spiritual children, the elder often said: “One prayer book for the country can save all the cities and villages...”

In those same years, in Arkhangelsk, in the St. Elias Cathedral, the namesake of the Vyritsa elder, Abbot Seraphim (Shinkarev), who had previously been a monk of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, served in the St. Elijah Cathedral. According to eyewitnesses, he often spent several days in the church praying for Russia. Many noted his insight. Several times he predicted the victory of the Soviet troops when circumstances directly pointed to a sad outcome of the battle.

The capital's clergy showed true heroism during the war. The rector of the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at the Danilovsky cemetery, Archpriest Pavel Uspensky, who lived outside the city in peacetime, did not leave Moscow for an hour. He organized a real social center at his temple. A 24-hour watch was established in the church, and a bomb shelter was set up in the basement, which was later converted into a gas shelter. To provide first aid in case of accidents, Father Pavel created a sanitary station, where there were stretchers, dressings and all the necessary medicines.
Another Moscow priest, rector of the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, Archpriest Pavel Tsvetkov, established a shelter for children and the elderly at the temple. He personally carried out night watches and, if necessary, took part in extinguishing fires. Among his parishioners, Father Pavel organized a collection of donations and scrap non-ferrous metals for military needs. In total, during the war years, the parishioners of the Elias Church collected 185 thousand rubles.

Fundraising work was also carried out in other churches. According to verified data, during the first three years of the war, the churches of the Moscow diocese alone donated more than 12 million rubles for defense needs.

The activities of the Moscow clergy during the war period are eloquently evidenced by the resolutions of the Moscow Council of September 19, 1944 and January 3, 1945. about awarding about 20 Moscow and Tula priests with medals “For the Defense of Moscow.” The authorities' recognition of the Church's merits in defending the Fatherland was also expressed in the official permission for believers to celebrate church holidays and, first of all, Easter. For the first time during the war, Easter was openly celebrated in 1942, after the end of the fighting near Moscow. And of course, the most striking evidence of the change in the policy of the Soviet leadership towards the Church was the restoration of the Patriarchate and the opening of the Theological Seminary for the training of future clergy.

The new vector of church-state relations ultimately made it possible to strengthen the material, political and legal position of the Russian Orthodox Church, protect the clergy from persecution and further repression, and increase the authority of the Church among the people. The Great Patriotic War, becoming a difficult test for the entire people, saved the Russian Church from complete destruction. In this, undoubtedly, the Providence of God and His good will for Russia were manifested.