OPPRESSION BY THE SOVIET AUTHORITIES IN THE SOCIO-RELIGIOUS SPHERE DURING THE THIRD DECADE OF THE 20TH CENTURY (BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF PROTESTANT ORGANISATIONS)

Abstract

In the early 1930s, the Bolshevik leadership outlined measures to combat Protestant organisations, including Seventh-day Adventists, Baptists, Evangelical Christians, and Christians of the Evangelical Faith. The authorities deployed state security agencies, which launched a large-scale repressive campaign against Protestant believers and their leaders. The consequences of these actions included the mass removal and physical elimination of organisational leaders, resulting in the destruction of church structures and the subsequent practically illegal existence of individual congregations.