Problems of formation of religious policy in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany (1945–1946)

About the authors:

Grigory N. Bespalko, Post-Graduate Student, Department of General History, Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M. V. Lomonosov, Arkhangelsk, Russia

krzdrfr@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6742-6556
Elizaveta A. Kertsderfer, Bachelor (Museology and Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites), independent researcher, Tyumen, Russia

lisakerzd@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7238-8081

Abstract:

The article examined the activities of officials of the Soviet military administration in Germany in the field of their interaction with German religious organizations from 1945 to 1946 inclusive, studied the process of forming a religious policy by the authorities of the Soviet zone of occupation of Germany, the problems due to which the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks seriously criticized the work carried out by Soviet functionaries for the indicated period. At the same time, before in domestic historiography there were no studies devoted to the study of the causes of the mentioned problems. The study showed that incorrect ideas about the religious life of the German people during the period of National Socialism, which arose under the influence of Soviet propaganda during the twelve-year period preceding the occupation of Germany, led to an underestimation by the propaganda department of the Soviet military administration of the role of religion in the life of most Germans. At the same time, the authors refute the assertion that the reasons for the failures in the formation of religious policy in the territory of the Soviet zone of occupation were the materialistic worldview and the biased attitude of the Soviet leadership towards church organizations. There is also a lack of a special department in the structure of the occupation administration at the intrazonal level for more than six months from the date of its formation, focused on working with German religious organizations. However, as the authors proved, and with the formation of an essay on church affairs in the Propaganda Directorate, there were no positive changes in religious policy. The natural result of the incident was an unsatisfactory assessment of the work of the Propaganda Department by the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

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