Orthodoxy of Ukraine During the Occupation, 1939-1944: Confessional Transformations and Political Contexts
Abstract
The purpose of the research paper is to analyze the influence of the social and political conditions on changes in confessional life in the occupied Ukrainian lands during World War II.
The scientific novelty: it is claimed that it was social and political conditions that caused drastic changes in the confessional map of Ukraine in 1939-1945. The determinant factor of the occupation policy – the destruction of the established confessional configuration that traditionally existed on Ukrainian lands in the USSR, Poland and Romania – has been proven. Autocephalous tendencies in Orthodox life in the General Governorate, Reichskommissariat ‘Ukraine’ and ‘Transnistria’ were studied. The personal visions of the leading Orthodox bishops regarding the institutional status of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine are reflected. The specific approaches of the German and Romanian administrations to the organization of church life are highlighted.
Conclusions: it is proved that despite the attempt to create a single Orthodox Church in the territory occupied by the Wehrmacht, this did not happen due to the position of the German leadership and different views of the hierarchs of the Orthodox churches. It has been proven that all institutional changes of the occupiers grossly violated the existing traditions and canonical norms, which deprived the Church of its autonomy. It was determined that multiconfessionalism and the lack of autocephalous status of Ukrainian Orthodoxy complicated the process of forming a single Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The influence of the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as the opposition of Berlin, made this process impossible during the war.
It is noted that the Romanian administration in the occupied south-western lands of Ukraine (‘Transnistria’), with the support of the Romanian Orthodox Mission, contributed to the revival of Christianity, relied on the pre-revolutionary church organization, clerics and monarchism. The Ukrainian-phobic attitudes of the majority of Romanian bishops and the occupation authorities which led to the fight against the sprouts of Ukrainian autocephaly are shown. It has been proven that the rebuilt churches, the restoration of services in them, the involvement of hundreds of clerics, Christian charity and charity, raising children in the spirit of piety, etc., contributed to the revival of ancient Christian traditions and, at the same time, were a tool for the affirmation of the occupation regime.
References
Alexeev, W., & Stavrou, T.G. (1976). Great Revival. The Russian Church under German Occupation. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Burgess Publishing Company [in English].
Armstark, R. (1982). Die Ukrainische Autokephale Orthodoxe Kirche. Erinnerungen des Metropoliten Vasyl K. Lypkivskyj. Wurzburg: Augustinus [in German].
Beglov, A.L., Vasileva, O.Yu., Zhuravskii, A.V., Safonov, D.V., Petrushko, V.I. & Firsov, S.L. (2008). Russkaia Pravoslavnaia Tserkov: XX v. [Russian Orthodox Church: XX century]. Moskva [in Russian].
Borshchevych, V. (1998). Avtonomna Pravoslavna Tserkva na Volyni [Autonomous Orthodox Church in Volyn]. Lutsk: RVV Volynskyi derzhavnyi universytet imeni Lesi Ukrainky [in Ukrainian].
Borshchevych, V. (2000). Ukrainske tserkovne vidrodzhennia na Volyni (20-40-vi rr. XX st.) [Ukrainian church revival in Volyn (20-40s of XX century)]. Lutsk: RVV «Vezha» Volynskoho derzhavnoho universytetu imeni Lesi Ukrainky [in Ukrainian].
Burko, D. (1988). Ukrainska Avtokefalna Tserkva – vichne dzherelo zhyttia [The Ukrainian Autocephalous Church is an eternal source of life]. Saunt-Bavnd-Bruk, Niu Dzhersi [in Ukrainian].
Chaplin, V & etc. (Eds.) (1997). Pravoslavnaia Tserkov na Ukraine i v Polshe v XX stoletii. 1917-1950 gg. Sbornik [Orthodox Church in Ukraine and Poland in the XX century. 1917-1950: Collection]. Moskva [in Russian].
Сhrysostomus, J. (1968). Kirchengeschichte Ruslands dwr neusten Zeit. III Band. Die Russische Kirche in und nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Munchen-Salzburg: Anton Pustet [in German].
Curtiss, J.S. (1957). Die Kirche in der Sovietunion (1917-1956). Munchen: Isar [in German].
Dallin, A. (1998). Odessa, 1941-1944: A case staid of soviet territory under foreign rule. Center for Romanian Studies [in English].
Dublianskyi, A. (1962). Ternystym shliakhom zhyttia mytropolyta Nikanora Abramovycha: do 20-littia arkhypastyrskoho sluzhinnia. 1942-1962 [The thorny path of Metropolitan Nikanor Abramovich’s life: to the 20th Anniversary of archpastoral service. 1942-1962]. London: Vydannia Heneralnoho Tserkovnoho Upravlinnia UAPTs v Velykii Brytanii [in Ukrainian].
Dudra, S. (2010). Metropolita Dionizy (Waledynski). 1876-1960. Warszawa: Warszawska Metropolia Prawosławna [in Polish].
Dziubyna, S. (1995). I stverdy dilo ruk nashykh (Spohady) [And confirm the work of our hands (Memories)]. Varshava: Ukrainskyi arkhiv [in Ukrainian].
Feodosii (Protsiuk) (2004). Obosoblencheskie dvizheniia v Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi na Ukraine (1917-1943) [Separation movements in the Orthodox Church in Ukraine (1917-1943)]. Moskva [in Russian].
Firecide, H. (1971). Icon and swastika: The Russian Orthodox Church under Nazi and Soviet Control. Cambrige [in English].
Fletcher, W. (1971). The Russian Orthodox Church Underground, 1917-1970. Oxford [in English].
Heyer, F. (1953). Die Orthodoxe Kirche in der Ukraine von 1917 bis 1945. Koln-Braunsfeld: Verlagsgesellschaft Rudolf Miller [in German].
Heyer, F. (2003). Kirchengeschichte der Ukraine in 20. Jahrhundert: von der Epochenwende des Estern Weltkrieges bis zu den Anfangen in einem unabhangigen ukrainischen Staat. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht [in German].
Hordiienko, V. (1999). Pravoslavni konfesii v Ukraini periodu Druhoi svitovoi viiny (veresen 1939 – veresen 1945 rr.) [Orthodox denominations in Ukraine during the Second World War (September 1939 – September 1945)]. (Candidate’s thesis). Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
Hordiienko, V.V. (1998). Nimetsko-fashystskyi okupatsiinyi rezhym i pravoslavni konfesii v Ukraini [German-fascist occupation regime and Orthodox denominations in Ukraine]. Ukrainskyi istorychnyi zhurnal, 3, 107-119 [in Ukrainian].
Hridina, I.M. (2010). Dukhovne zhyttia naselennia Ukrainy v roky Druhoi svitovoi viiny (1939-1945 rr.) [Spiritual life of the population of Ukraine during the Second World War (1939-1945)]. Donetsk: DonNU [in Ukrainian].
Ilarion (1966). Na Holhoti, Ukrainska Pravoslavna Tserkva na Kholmshchyni pid nimtsiamy. Spohady. 1939-1945 [On Golgotha, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Kholm region under the Germans. Memoirs. 1939-1945]. Vira y Kultura, 5, 18-24; 6-7, 2-7; 8-9, 10-16; 10-11, 1-5; 12, 1-7 [in Ukrainian].
Ilarion (1967). Na Holhoti, Ukrainska Pravoslavna Tserkva na Kholmshchyni pid nimtsiamy. Spohady. 1939-1945 [On Golgotha, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Kholm region under the Germans. Memoirs. 1939-1945]. Vira y Kultura, 1-2, 10-11 [in Ukrainian].
Ilarion (1973). Ideolohiia Ukrainskoi tserkvy [Ideology of the Ukrainian Church]. Kholm; Vinnipeh [in Ukrainian].
Kosyk, V. (1993). Ukraina i Nimechchyna u Druhii svitovii viini [Ukraine and Germany in the Second World War]. Paryzh; Niu-York; Lviv: Naukove tovarystvo im. T. Shevchenka [in Ukrainian].
Lysenko, O.Ye. (1997). Tserkovne zhyttia v Ukraini [Church life in Ukraine]. Kyiv: Instytut istorii Ukrainy NANU [in Ukrainian].
Minenko, T. (2000). Pravoslavna tserkva v Ukraini pid chas Druhoi svitovoi viiny. 1939-1945 (Volynskyi period) [The Orthodox Church in Ukraine during the Second World War. 1939-1945 (Volyn period)]. Vol. 1. Vinnipeh; Lviv [in Ukrainian].
Mironowicz, A. (2006). Kosciol prawoslawny na ziemiach polskich w ХІХ і ХХ wieku. Bialostok [in Polish].
Mykhailutsa, M.I. (2006). Relihiina polityka rumunskoi okupatsiinoi vlady v Pivdennii Bessarabii i Transnistrii (kinets 1930-1944 rr.) [The religious policy of the Romanian occupation authorities in South Bessarabia and Transnistria (end of 1930 – 1944)]. Odesa: Optimum [in Ukrainian].
Mykhailutsa, M.I. (2008). Pravoslavna tserkva na Pivdni Ukrainy v roky Druhoi svitovoi viiny (1939-1945) [The Orthodox Church in the South of Ukraine during the Second World War (1939-1945)]. Odesa [in Ukrainian].
Mykhailutsa, M.I. (2011). Orhanizatsiia relihiinoho zhyttia v hubernatorstvi Transnistriia (1941-1944 rr.) [Organization of religious life in the governorate of Transnistria (1941-1944)]. Ukrainskyi istorychnyi zhurnal, 2 (497), 80-90 [in Ukrainian].
Mykhailutsa, M.I. (2019) Pravoslavne zhyttia v Odesi: vid revoliutsii do stalinskoho oderzhavlennia (1917-1945) [Orthodox life in Odessa: from the revolution to Stalin's nationalization (1917-1945)]. Kherson: Oldi-plius [in Ukrainian].
Mykhailutsa, M. (2020). Alliance over the abyss: contacts of the Romanian Orthodox Mission in Transnistria and the bishops refugees from the Don and Kuban (1943-1944). Danubius, XXXVІІІ, 331-338 [in English].
Myhaylutsa, M. & Tselykh, O. (2013). Light and Shadow of the Pastoral Service of the Orthodox Missionaries in “Transnistria” (1941-1944). Danubius, XXXІ, 257-265 [in English].
Mylus, V. (2008). Derzhavna vlada i pravoslavna tserkva na Volyni u druhii polovyni 30-50-kh rokakh XX stolittia [State Power and the Orthodox Church in Volyn in the second half of the 1930s and 1950s]. Lutsk [in Ukrainian].
Nikolai, mitropolit (1947). Slova, rechi, poslaniya [Words, speeches, messages]. Moskva [in Russian].
Odintsov, M. (1990). Khozhdenie po mukam. 1930-1938 [The Road to Calvary. 1930-1938]. Nauka i religiya, 7, 56-57 [in Russian].
Odintsov, M. (2005). Vlast i religiya v gody voiny: Gosudarstvo i religioznye organizatsii v SSSR v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny:1941-1945 gg. [Power and Religion during the War: The State and Religious Organizations in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War: 1941-1945]. Moskva [in Russian].
Oliinyk, Pavlo (1995). Zoshyty [Notebooks]. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
Osadchuk, P. (1992). Sekretna sprava reikhu. OUN-UPA v donesenniakh nimetskoi rozvidky [The secret file of the Reich. OUN-UPA in reports of German intelligence]. Viche, 4, 137-144 [in Ukrainian].
Pashchenko, V. (1997). Pravoslavia v novitnii istorii Ukrainy [Orthodoxy in the modern history of Ukraine]. Vol. I. Poltava [in Ukrainian].
Pospielovsky, D. (1984). The Russian Church under the Soviet Regime, 1917-1982. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press [in English].
Prelovska, I. (Comp.) (2010). Istoriia Ukrainskoi Pravoslavnoi Tserkvy, 1686-2000: navchalnyi posibnyk dlia studentiv bohoslovskykh uchbovykh zakladiv [History of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 1686-2000: a study guide for students of theological educational institutions]. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
Riznychenko, O. (Comp.) (2011). Ukrainska Avtokefalna Pravoslavna Tserkva chasiv Druhoi svitovoi viiny. Mytropolyt Feofil (Buldovskyi) [Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church during World War II. Metropolitan Feofil (Buldovskyi)]. Kharkiv [in Ukrainian].
Shkarovskiy, M.V. (1999). Russkaia Pravoslavnaia Tserkov pri Staline i Khrushcheve gosudarstvenno-tserkovnye otnosheniia v SSSR v 1939-1964 godakh [Russian Orthodox Church under Stalin and Khrushchev: state-church relations in the USSR in 1939-1964]. Moskva [in Russian].
Shkarovskiy, M. (2002). Natsistskaia Germaniia i Pravoslavnaia Tserkov (Natsistskaia politika v otnoshenii Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi i religioznoe vozrozhdenie na okkupirovannoi territorii SSSR) [Nazi Germany and the Orthodox Church (Nazi policy towards the Orthodox Church and religious revival in the occupied territory of the USSR)]. Moskva [in Russian].
Shkarovskiy, M. (2003). Politika Tretego reikha po otnosheniiu k Russkoi Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi v svete arkhivnykh materialov (sbornik dokumentov) [The policy of the Third Reich towards the Russian Orthodox Church in the light of archival materials (collection of documents)]. Moskva [in Russian].
Shkarovskiy, M. (2007). Krest i svastika. Natsistskaia Germaniia i Pravoslavnaia Tserkov [Cross and swastika. Nazi Germany and the Orthodox Church]. Moskva [in Russian].
Smyrnov, A. (2021). Mizh khrestom, svastykoiu i chervonoiu zirkoiu: ukrainske pravoslav’ia v roky Druhoi svitovoi viiny [Between the Cross, the Swastika and the Red Star: Ukrainian Orthodoxy during the Second World War]. Odesa: Vydavnychyi dim «Helvetyka» [in Ukrainian].
Solovei, R. (2004). Activitatea Guvernamintului Transnistriei on domeniul social-economic şi cultural: 19 auq. 1941 – 29 ian. 1944. Iaşi [in Romanian].
Sorokin, A.K. (Ed.) (2019). Pravoslavie na Ukraine v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny: sbornik dokumentov i materialov [Orthodoxy in Ukraine during the Great Patriotic War: a collection of documents and materials]. Moskva [in Russian].
Stepovyk, D. (1992). Druhe vidrodzhennia Ukrainskoi Avtokefalnoi pravoslavnoi tserkvy u 20-mu stolitti: pytannia kanonichnoi iierarkhii v roky druhoi svitovoi viiny [The second revival of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the 20th century: the issue of the canonical hierarchy during the Second World War]. In Istoriia relihii v Ukraini. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
Stokolos, N. (2003). Konfesiino-etnichni transformatsii v Ukraini (XIX – persha polovyna XX st.) [Religious and ethnic transformations in Ukraine (XIX – first half of XX centuries)]. Rivne [in Ukrainian].
Svitich, A.K. (1997). Pravoslavnaia Tserkov v Polshe i eio avtokefaliya [Orthodox Church in Poland and its autocephaly]. In Chaplin, V & etc. (Eds.). Pravoslavnaia Tserkov na Ukraine i v Polshe v XX stoletii. 1917-1950 gg. Sbornik. Moskva, pp. 1-231 [in Russian].
Sylvestr (1946). Tserkovnyi ustrii v Ukraini [Church organization in Ukraine]. Novyi Ulm [in Ukrainian].
Sziling, Jan (1988). Kościoły chrześcijańskie w polityce niemieckich władz okupacyjnych w Generalnym Gubernatorstwie (1939-1945). Torun: Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika [in Polish].
Tsypin, V. (1994). Istoriia Russkoi Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi. 1917-1990 [History of the Russian Orthodox Church. 1917-1990]. Moskva [in Russian].
Vasilieva, O.Yu. & Lykova, L.A. (Comp.) (2009). Russkaia Pravoslavnaia Tserkov v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine 1941-1945 gg.: Sbornik dokumentov [The Russian Orthodox Church in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945: Collection of Documents]. Moskva [in Russian].
Velychkivskyi, M. (1965). Sumni chasy nimetskoi okupatsii (1941-1944) [Sad times of German occupation (1941-1944)]. Vyzvolnyi shliakh, 7-8, 800-838 [in Ukrainian].
Vintskovskyi, T., Kiazymova H., Mykhailutsa, M. & Shchetnikov, V. (2010). Okupatsiinyi rezhym u hubernatorstvi «Transnistriia» [The occupation regime in the Governorate of ‘Transnistria’]. In Ukraina u Druhii svitovii viini: pohliad z XXI stolittia. Istorychni narysy. Vol. 1. Kyiv, 413-446 [in Ukrainian].
Vlasovskyi, I, (1949). Yak bulo z obranniam na kyivsku katedru arkhiiepyskopa Ilariona (Ohiienka) roku 1941 [What happened with the election of Archbishop Hilarion (Ohienko) to the Kyiv Cathedral in 1941]. Tserkva i narid (Vinnipeh), 1-2, 17-32 [in Ukrainian].
Vlasovskyi, I. (1998). Narys istorii Ukrainskoi Pravoslavnoi Tserkvy [Essay on the history of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church]. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
Voloshyn, Yu. (1997). Ukrainska pravoslavna tserkva v roky natsystskoi okupatsii (1941-1944 rr.) [The Ukrainian Orthodox Church during the Nazi occupation (1941-1944)]. Poltava [in Ukrainian].
Voronyn, O. (1992). Istorychnyi shliakh UAPTs [The historical path of the UAPC]. Kensinhton: Voskresinnia [in Ukrainian].
Yakunin, G. (2004). Russkaia Pravoslavnaia tserkov v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny 1941-1945 gg. [Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945]. Toliatti [in Russian].
Zinkewych, O. & Voronyn, O. (Eds. & Comp.). (1987). Martyrolohiia Ukrainskykh Tserkov: u 4 t. T. 1: Ukrainska Pravoslavna Tserkva [Martyrology of the Ukrainian Churches in Four Volumes. Vol. I: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Documents, Materials, Christian Samvydav from Ukraine]. Toronto-Baltimore [in Ukrainian].
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
