The State Archives of Minsk Region issued a book of documents on the Religious Life in Minsk Region in 1918-1941

The Religious Life in Minsk Region 1918-1941: Documents and MaterialsIn November 2015 the State Archives of Minsk Region issued a book of documents The Religious Life in Minsk Region 1918-1941: Documents and Materials / Compiled by V.M. Matokh, et al.; Edited by V.I. Adamushko, et al. – Minsk: A.N. Varaksin, 2015. – 216 pages.

The book contains 104 documents, including 99 from the State Archives of Minsk Region. Some materials are taken from previously published sources – one document from the book, The Edicts of the Soviet Power. Vol. 1. 25 October 1917 – 16 March 1918 (1957) and four documents from the Collection of Statutes and Directives of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (1922, 1924).

The documents highlight the religious situation in the Belarusian SSR in 1918-1941, the activities of the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches in Belarus. A number of documents describe the events from the history of Judaism and Islam. There are documents concerning the activity of Protestantism: Lutherans, Seventh-Day Adventists, Evangelicals. Also contains materials relating to the Old Believers, Renovationists, Leo Tolstoy𕢙s Followers, the League of Militant Atheists. Most of the documents have been published for the first time.

The book is illustrated with photocopies of documents and photographs. Contains detailed finding aids, including in the English language.