End of a Church. September 21, 1923

This short newspaper account presented the closing of a rural church as a practical, almost cheerful act of modernization. Railroad workers met, voted overwhelmingly to shut a building they said only a few old women still used, and then moved quickly from decision to spectacle: the cross came down, a red flag went up, the iconostasis was smashed, and the bells were redirected to industrial needs. The piece captured how early Soviet antireligious propaganda tried to make desacralization look like common sense, and to recast community life around clubs, meetings, and public debate instead of ritual.

Original Source: Summary from Moskovskaia pravda, No. 213, September 21, 1923.

A great meeting was held at Petropavlovsk by the railroad men of that station, at which almost all of them were present, over 600 men. At that meeting was discussed the question of the church at Petropavlovsk. The workmen saw no use in keeping a church which is not visited by anybody except a few old women. When this question was put up at the meeting, only 15 out of 600 voted against closing the church. The chairman was taken by surprise and said that the decision whether or not to close the church belonged to the Soviet of the Executive Committee and therefore could not be decided at the meeting. It was then decided to ask the Executive Committee to close the church. The next question was, what to do with the church. There were several proposals. The majority were for changing it into a club of the Communist youth. The church with its golden cupola stands on a hill and overlooks the whole settlement. The golden cross on the cupola was hateful to the Communists and it was decided to remove it. Shortly afterwards, by means of a rope, a couple of men reached the cupola and removed the cross and hoisted the red flag instead. Only a few toothless women were crying. Another group at the same time were breaking down the "iconostas" and other church rubbish. The old folk standing outside were expecting God's punishment but nothing came. The church bells were handed over for the needs of airship construction. So the church was changed into a clubhouse, in which several disputes with the clergy were held.

Source: Boleslaw B. Szczesniak, ed. and tr., Russian Revolution and Religion; a collection of documents concerning the suppression of religion by the Communists, 1917-1925 (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959).