The Russian Church in the Service of the Nazis

By the beginning of World War II, there was not a single functioning Orthodox church in 25 regions of the RSFSR, and no more than 5 churches functioned in 20 regions. In Ukraine, there was not a single functioning church in the Vinnitsa, Donetsk, Kirovograd, Nikolaev, Sumy, Khmelnytsky regions; one each operated in Luhansk, Poltava and Kharkov. According to the NKVD, by 1941 there were 3,021 Orthodox churches operating in the country, of which almost 3,000 were located in the territories of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, Poland and Finland that ceded to the USSR in 1939-1940.

The membership of the Union of Militant Atheists in 1932 reached 5 million people. It was planned to increase the number of its members to 22 million by 1938. The circulation of anti-religious publications reached 140 million copies by the beginning of the war.

Many myths are associated with the date of the German attack on the USSR, which have become especially widespread in the church environment. According to one of the most famous, the date of June 22 was allegedly chosen by Hitler in accordance with astrological forecasts. This legend is also repelled by those who are not averse to presenting the events of June 1941 as a campaign of “pagan Germany” against “Orthodox Rus'”.

Usually the night from Saturday to Sunday was the most "undisciplined" in the Red Army. In the military units, baths were arranged, followed by abundant libations; command staff on Sunday night, as a rule, was absent being with their families; for the rank and file, this night has always been the most suitable for "self-driving". It was this, quite earthly calculation (and not at all the "whisper of the stars") that guided the Nazi command when choosing several dates for the attack on the USSR. The events of the first day of the war brilliantly showed the validity of this calculation.

Having received the news of the beginning of the war, the guardian of the patriarchal throne, Met. Sergius (Stragorodsky), as modern church historians say, released his "Message to the Shepherds and Flocks of the Orthodox Church of Christ." The fact of his appearance on 06/22/1941 is still disputed.

The message said: “The fascist robbers attacked our Motherland... The pitiful descendants of the enemies of Orthodox Christianity want to once again try to bring our people to their knees before untruth... But this is not the first time the Russian people have to endure such tests. With God's help, this time too, he will scatter the fascist enemy force into dust ... The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox to defend the sacred borders of our Motherland. The message also contained a hidden reproach to the authorities, who claimed that there would be no war. At the Metropolitan Sergius, this place is expressed as follows: “... we, the inhabitants of Russia, hoped that the fire of war, which had engulfed almost the entire globe, would not reach us ...” ... It is curious that long before the corresponding appeal of the Kremlin, Metropolitan. Sergius has already called "sly considerations" about "possible benefits" on the other side of the front as nothing more than a direct betrayal of the Motherland.

In the history of wars, it is impossible to find an analogue of such an initially loyal attitude towards the aggressor, which was demonstrated by the population of the regions of the USSR occupied by the Germans. And the fact that so many Russians were ready to go over to the Germans in advance looks incredible to many. But that's exactly what happened. Examples of an initially hostile attitude towards the expulsion of the Bolsheviks were the exception rather than the general rule. German filmmakers did not need to resort to artificial scenery in order to capture on film examples of the Soviet population meeting German troops with bread and salt and throwing flowers on German tanks. These shots are the clearest evidence of such an abnormal perception of an alien invasion ...

Is it any wonder that the Russian emigration took the German attack on the USSR with no less enthusiasm. For many Russian exiles, there was a real hope of an early "liberation" of the Motherland. Moreover, such hopes were met regardless of church jurisdiction (and not only in ROCOR - as Soviet historiography tried to present it). The German invasion of the USSR was welcomed by the Parisian ROCOR hierarch, Met. Seraphim (Lukyanov), who later transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate. In his address on the occasion of the German attack, he stated: “May God bless the great Leader of the German people, who raised the sword against the enemies of God himself ... May the Masonic star, hammer and sickle disappear from the face of the earth.” On June 22, 1941, Archimandrite John (Shakhovskoy, future Archbishop A. San Francisco): "The bloody operation to overthrow the Third International is entrusted to a skilled German surgeon, experienced in science." And even the cleric of the Moscow Patriarchate, Fr. Georgy Benigsen recalls the beginning of the war in Riga: "There is hidden joy on all faces ...".

V. Tsypin: “In all the cities and in many villages left by the Soviet administration, priests were announced, either in the position of exiles, or hiding underground, or earning a living by some craft or service. These priests received permission from the occupying commandants to hold divine services in closed rooms.” Another eyewitness (psalmist of the Nikolo-Konetsky parish of the Gdovsky district of the Pskov region S. D. Pleskach) noted the following: “The Russian people completely changed as soon as the Germans appeared. Ruined temples were erected, church utensils were made, vestments were delivered from where they were preserved, and temples were built and repaired a lot. Everywhere was painted ... When everything was ready, then a priest was invited and the temple was consecrated. At that time there were such joyful events that I cannot describe.

Such feelings were characteristic of the population of the most diverse regions of the occupied territory. Journalist V. D. Samarin describes the German occupation in Orel as follows: “A religious feeling, hidden deep under the Bolsheviks, woke up, surfaced to the surface of the soul. Prayers filled the churches, miraculous icons were carried around the villages. They prayed like they hadn't prayed for a long time."

Adolf Hitler and Orthodox emigration

"... if the government of the German Reich wishes
to involve the Russian Orthodox Churches in cooperation
in the fight against the communist godless movement...
then the government of the Reich will find full consent and support from our side
."
Met. Evlogii (Georgievsky), October 1937

It is noteworthy that the first contacts of the Russian emigration with Hitler date back to the early 1920s. The intermediary in these contacts was Alfred Rosenberg. Born in the Russian Empire, studied at Kiev University and served in the Russian army during World War I, Rosenberg spoke Russian better than German. Surrounded by Hitler, he found fame as the best specialist in Russia and the "Russian soul", and it was he who was entrusted with the development of racial theory in Nazi ideology. It is possible that it was he who convinced Hitler of the expediency of friendly relations with the Russian Orthodox Church in Germany. Thus, in 1938, the Nazis built the Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin and financed the overhaul of 19 Orthodox churches from the imperial treasury.

In addition, by Hitler's decree of February 25, 1938, Russian parishes subordinate to Metropolitan Evlogy (Georgievsky) were transferred under the jurisdiction of the German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (hereinafter - ROCOR). Quoted here Prof. Pospelovsky is inclined to dramatize this event somewhat, exposing it as one of the cornerstones of the church-emigre schism. However, it must be taken into account that the confrontation between the Karlovtsy Synod and Met. Evlogiem began long before Hitler came to power and was nevertheless church-administrative, and not theological and not political in nature. It would also be fair to note that only 6% of Russian emigrant parishes were under the jurisdiction of Met. Evlogy, and the remaining 94% were subordinate to the Synod Abroad. Even proceeding only from elementary arithmetic logic,

Hitler was probably guided by the same logic, who wished to “centralize” the Orthodox parishes on the territory of the Reich, and therefore subordinated the Eulogian “minority” to the synodal “majority” (it would be strange if he did the opposite. In the story of the Evlogian parishes, Hitler was driven by the idea to centralize everything to facilitate control over religious organizations.7 To achieve this goal, he created the Reichsministry of Religious Cults, granted the German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church the state status of a “corporation of public law” (which only Lutherans and Catholics had) and transferred 13 Evlogian parishes under the jurisdiction of the German Diocese.

As for the construction of an Orthodox cathedral by the Nazis and the overhaul of 19 churches, this beneficence is also associated with a letter of thanks to Hitler signed by the then First Hierarch of ROCOR, Metropolitan Anastassy (Gribanovsky).

Hitler acted as a "builder and trustee" of churches, and the expression of gratitude by the primate of the Church for such a good deed is a completely normal and natural phenomenon for traitors. It is impossible not to take into account the fact that in the pre-war 1938, Hitler was personified as a man who honestly won the elections and headed a government recognized by all countries of the world.

As noted above, Hitler was perceived by the Russian emigration as a counterbalance to godless Bolshevism. Back in 1921, the Supreme Monarchist Council was negotiating with Hitler about possible assistance in the event of his coming to power in the preparation of the clergy for Russia liberated from the Bolsheviks. Unlike the leaders of Western democracies, Hitler did not allow himself the expression "Russian communism", preferring another term - "Judao-Bolshevism" to this. Such terminology suited the Russian emigration quite well and did not hurt the ear. The Russophobic passages in Mein Kampf were little known, and it is not surprising that even the most notorious Russophiles like I. A. Ilyin urged the Russian emigration "not to look at National Socialism through Jewish eyes."

It would be fair to assume that Hitler's pro-Orthodox gestures were of a diplomatic and propagandistic nature. Such gestures could win sympathy in the countries of potential allies, in countries with a predominantly Orthodox faith (Romania, Bulgaria, Greece). On September 1, 1939, the German Wehrmacht broke into the Polish border. World War II has begun...

Despite the fact that Hitler acted as an outright aggressor, his attack on Poland did not seriously affect the perception of him by the Russian emigration. This circumstance allowed the Nazis to make another pro-Orthodox gesture after the occupation of Poland. A general return to the Orthodox, parishes taken from them, began. As the magazine "Church Life" wrote, "... the Orthodox population is met with a benevolent attitude from the German authorities, who, at the first request of the population, return to them the church property taken by the Poles." In addition, with the support of the German authorities, an Orthodox theological institute was opened in Wroclaw.

Church policy of the Nazis in the occupied regions of the USSR

“Orthodoxy is a colorful ethnographic ritual”
(Reich Minister Rosenberg).

The areas occupied by the Germans (almost half of the European part of the USSR) were subjected to territorial division into Reichskommissariats, which consisted of districts, regions, districts, districts and volosts. The front-line territory was under the control of the Wehrmacht. Northern Bukovina, Moldova, Bessarabia and the Odessa region were transferred to Romania. Galicia was annexed to the Polish General Government. The rest of the territory was the Reichskommissariat "Ukraine" (with the center in Rivne). The central part of Belarus formed the General Commissariat of Belarus. The north-west of the Brest and Grodno regions went to East Prussia (all-German laws were in force here). Most of the Brest, as well as the Pinsk and Polesye regions, went to the Reichskommissariat "Ukraine", and the north-west of the Vilna region - to the general district of Lithuania.

The national question, according to the Nazi ideologist Rosenberg, was “to reasonably and purposefully support the desire for freedom of all these peoples ... to separate state formations (republics) from the vast territory of the Soviet Union and organize them against Moscow in order to liberate the German Reich for the coming centuries from the Eastern nightmare.

As for the religious policy of the Germans in the occupied lands, it can hardly be characterized unambiguously. Several mutually exclusive approaches dominated here, but the most common were two ...

The position of Reich Minister of the Eastern Lands Alfred Rosenberg can be formulated something like this: “The way of life of the Russian people has been shaped for centuries under the influence of Orthodoxy. The Bolshevik clique deprived the Russian people of this pivot and turned them into an unbelieving, unruly herd. For centuries Russians have been drummed from ambos that "all power is from God." The tsarist government, having failed to provide its subjects with a decent standard of living, was able, with the help of the Church, to form in the people the consciousness that deprivation, suffering and oppression benefit the soul. Such a sermon ensured the rulers the servile obedience of the people. This point was completely ignored by the Bolsheviks, and it would be foolish of us to repeat their mistake. Therefore, it is in our own interests to revive these Orthodox postulates in the minds of the people, if we want to keep them in check. Much better,

Such was the position of Rosenberg, which determined the attitude of the Nazis towards the Russian Orthodox Church and which was guided to one degree or another by Nazi officials. Its main provisions were outlined in a letter from Rosenberg to the Reichskommissars of Ostland and Ukraine dated May 13, 1942. They can be formulated as follows: Religious groups should not engage in politics. They should be divided according to national and territorial features. Nationality must be especially strictly observed in the selection of leaders of religious groups. Territorially, religious associations should not go beyond the boundaries of one diocese. Religious societies should not interfere with the activities of the occupying authorities.

The church policy of the Wehrmacht can be characterized as the absence of any policy towards the Church. Their own code of conduct, loyalty to old traditions contributed to the spread among the German military of a steady antipathy towards manifestations of Nazi fanaticism and racial schizophrenia. Only this can explain the fact that front-line generals and officers turned a blind eye to directives and instructions from Berlin, if they were based on the theory of "untermensch". A lot of evidence and documents have been preserved not only about the warm welcome of the German army by the Russian population, but also about the “non-Nazi” attitude of German soldiers towards the population of the regions of the USSR they occupied. In particular, documents have been preserved about orders to German soldiers to remember that they are not in the occupied territories, but on the land of an ally. Quite often, the soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht showed sincere friendliness and sympathy for the people who suffered for two decades under the rule of the Bolsheviks. In the ecclesiastical question, such an attitude resulted in all-round support for the restoration of church life.

The military not only willingly supported the initiatives of the local population to open parishes, but also provided various assistance in the form of funds and building materials for the restoration of destroyed churches. A lot of evidence has also been preserved that the German military themselves took the initiative to open churches in the territories under their control and even ordered this to be done. So, for example, in the memorandum of Z. V. Syromyatnikova “On the stay in the territory of the Kharkov region occupied by German troops from December 15 to 22, 1941” preserved in the materials of the Department of Propaganda and Agitation of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. it was noted: “The German command pays special attention to the work of churches. In a number of villages where churches have not been destroyed, they are already working ... In villages where they were destroyed, an order was given to the elders to immediately find premises and open churches.

Sometimes the initiative of the Germans took anecdotal forms. The same fund also contains a certificate from the representative of the Sebezh commandant’s office dated 10/8/1941: “It is given that the German authorities, which liberated the peasantry from the Bolsheviks, are raising the question of opening a service in the Livskaya church, and therefore I personally authorize you, Rybakov Yakov Matveyevich, in the absence of a priest - to take the place of a priest and perform a church rite. Request: there can be no refusals, in which a real certificate signed by the representative of the German authorities Engelhard was issued ”... To which Rybakov replies:“ I can’t be a priest, because I didn’t receive a blessing from the bishop, in addition, according to Christian law, bigamists they can’t be priests, and I’m a bigamist”…

It should be noted that the assistance of the German army in the restoration of Russian Orthodox churches has always been based on the principles of "Christian humanism". The commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, himself took part in the Orthodox service in Borisov with German officers.

The above characteristics and examples quite clearly reflect the diversity of church life in the territories of the USSR occupied by the Germans, for it becomes quite obvious that the scope and nature of the “religious revival” largely depended on the local characteristics of the occupation administration (NSDAP and SS or Wehrmacht). Therefore, it is advisable to consider the position of the ROC in the territories occupied by the Germans not by periods of war, but by regions and regions.

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