RT Article
T1 Zwischen Bürokratie und Ideologie: Die Antireligiöse Kommission beim Zentralkomitee als Koordinator bolschewistischer Religionspolitik in den zwanziger Jahren
JF Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte
VO 12
IS 1
SP 106
OP 142
A1 Steindorff, Ludwig
LA German
PB Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
YR 1999
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1817499556
AB From 1922 to 1929 the Soviet "Commission for the implementation of the separation of the church from the state" operated under the auspices of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (or Bolsheviks), usually being referred to by contemporaries within the Party structure as the "Anti-Religious Commission". The minutes of its meetings were first made public in the early 1990s, but have so far only been partly researched. They give a clear picture of the policies adopted towards the various communities of faith, and for the most part confirm what is known from earlier pubished sources. They also provide further evidence as to how the Soviet system functioned in the 1920s, especially the co-operation of the Party and the State. But on the other hand, there is little sign in these records of any attempt to realize the vision of the "New Soviet Man". Rather, bureaucratic commonplaces along with manipulation and intrigue constituted the daily fare of the "Old Adam" of these party operatives. Despite a variety of backgrounds and views, the characteristics of these party members and political elite were intolerance, readiness to advocate violence, and non-observance of legal norms. Indeed these were the observable features of the Bolshevik system since its origins.