On holding a round table «Religious communities on the territory of the BSSR in the 1920-1930s».

Published: February 12, 2024

On February 9, 2024, a round table «Religious communities on the territory of the BSSR in the 1920-1930s» was held at the National Archive of the Republic of Belarus (NARB). The event was co-organized by the Polotsk State University named after Euphrosyne of Polotsk and the Minsk Theological Academy. The round table was held offline and online. The round table was moderated by Deputy Head of the Publications Department of NARB I.A.Vishnevsky.

In her welcoming speech, Deputy Director of the Archive E.A.Stukanova drew attention to the fact that this round table is the next event on confessional history organized by the archive, and also noted the relevance and importance of studying the topic raised.

As part of the event, a graduate student of the Minsk Theological Academy, rector of the Church of St.Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Latygol, priest V.V.Kulichenko made a report «Ideological foundations of the attitude of the Soviet government to religion and the church»; the head of the postgraduate course at Polotsk State University named after Euphrosyne of Polotsk, candidate of historical sciences, associate professor V.V.Baranenko spoke about the problems and prospects of studying Orthodox communities in the territory of the BSSR during the period of the church schism in the 1920-1930s; Researcher at the Center for General History, International Relations and Geopolitics of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus K.A.Latyshev made a report «Post-Soviet national historiography of the history of the Old Believers in the BSSR in the 1920-1930s: Belarusian and Russian»; Deputy Head of the Publications Department I.A.Vishnevsky in his report reflected the information capabilities of the materials of the Belarusian Orthodox Holy Synod Foundation when studying Protestant communities on the territory of the BSSR; Associate Professor of the Department of History of Belarus of Modern and Contemporary Times of the Belarusian State University, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor T.V.Lisovskaya in her report drew attention to the forms and methods of organizing the religious activities of Evangelical Baptist communities in the BSSR in the 1920-1930s; the chief custodian of the funds of the State Archives of the Vitebsk Region, Candidate of Historical Sciences K.G.Karpekin presented the report «Documents of the ship-investigation authorities of the Vitebsk region as a guide to the history of the Izdze Abshchyna in the 1920-1930s»; Associate Professor of the Department of History and Tourism of the Polotsk State University named after Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor V.E.Ovseychik made a report «The Old Faithful Abshchyny of Vitsebshchyny in the 1920-1930s»; Senior Lecturer at the Department of Social, Humanitarian and Legal Disciplines, Gomel State Technical University named after P.O.Sukhoi I.A.Grishchenko spoke about the features of the parish life of the St.Nicholas Church in Gomel in the early Soviet period; Associate Professor of the Department of Religious Studies at the Institute of Theology named after St.Methodius and Kirill BSU, candidate of historical sciences A.S.Kalinina made a report «Transformation of parish life in the BSSR in the 1930s. on the example of the Kokhanovovo Peter and Paul Orthodox community (based on materials from fund 2786 «Belarusian Orthodox Holy Synod»); postgraduate student of Mogilev State University A.A.Kuleshova, Bishop of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Mogilev, Master of Theology O.V.Gabrusevich spoke about the life and work of the Adventist pastor F.N.Kuzemko in Minsk during the interwar period of the twentieth century.

All reports aroused keen interest and discussion. The texts of the reports of the round table participants are planned to be published in the collection of articles «Archive Diyalogue. Release 3».