PROTESTANTS-PENTECOSTS IN THE POST-WAR REPRESSION IN SOUTHERN UKRAINE 1945-1953

Abstract

The article examines one of the dramatic pages in the history of the Pentecostal religious movement, which is related to the repression against them in the postwar years of 1945-1953 (the period of late Stalinism). The object of the study are the communities of Pentecostals of the south of Ukraine, which operated on the territory of modern Mykolayiv and Odesa regions. The historiography of the question is given. It is shown that, despite thorough scientific studies on the activities of Protestant movements in Ukraine during the Soviet era, some intelligence related to the Pentecostals is not enough. For the most part, the movement of the latter was studied in the context of other Protestant denominations, usually Baptists. Repressions 1945 – 1953 insufficiently covered. Based on fourteen cases stored in the Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine and the archive of the USBU in Mykolaiv region, the work of repressive bodies (KGB – MGB of the USSR) to identify and neutralize leaders and activists of the Pentecostal communities of the Ukrainian South is shown. As an example, the personal case of Kits Andriy Mykhailovych, arrested in 1946 and sentenced to correctional camps in 1947, is given. The content of other cases is analyzed. The absurdity and artificiality of the accusations and the severity of the sentences are shown.