Confessional Policy in the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War in 1941-1945

The book contains the information about the status and activities of churches and religious groups in the Soviet Union before and during the Great Patriotic War in 1941-1945. The causes which led to the change in the policy of the Soviet government against the religious organizations are identified, the analysis of the activities of the Soviet state on creating a new system of state-church relations, the main stages of its development are represented. The activity of the newly created authorities on "Religious Affairs" - the Council for Russian Orthodox Church and the Religious Affairs Council is revealed. The authors show a response to the change in the state-church relations in the center and different strata of Soviet society and also the ratio of official policy and propaganda with a specific embodiment of the state church policy. M.I. Odintsov and A.S. Kochetova analyze the situation and activity of religious organizations in the occupied territories of the USSR. The plans and main directions of the Nazi policy towards religion and religious organizations in the occupied territories of the USSR, directives of the political and military leadership of Nazi Germany are studied. The authors compare the religious policies of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and show their similarities and differences, emphasizing that the last ones were most clearly expressed from the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The book features a wide source base. The documentation of 6 major Russian archives was used for solving the research problem.