How the USSR Handled Christianity and Islam

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Our historical documentary series on the history of the Cold War continues with a video on the religion in the USSR, as we trey to show how the Soviet Union handled various religions, chief among them Orthodox Christianity and Islam.
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[@TheColdWarTV]

Want FREE tickets to Japan? Use my code: COLDWAR10 and link: bit.ly/3sWqzcr to get 10% off your Bokksu subscription and automatically be entered in their giveaway! Anyone who subscribes before December 31st, even as a gift, will be eligible to win ✈ 🥳

[@OnlyBugmenWantedHandles]

The Bible tells us not to go to bed angry, and it's almost midnight my time, so I'll say it here; I'm calm as I can be. Good night.

[@yasinibrahim]

You really need to stop acting like women were forced to wear the veil, simply not true

[@yasinibrahim]

They actually were not happy with this forced removal of the veil

[@jonassavimbi967]

Can k&g make videos about Angola civil war and FSLN?

[@toserveman9265]

The fledgling USSR was the first country to enact anti-semitic laws in the early 1920's. Always the privilaged lot

[@geronimozarza8495]

Stalin pre WW2: Obliterate religion. Stalin during WW2: Actually, religion isn't that Bad. Stalin post WW2: Obliterate religion again

[@badluck5647]

Post Cold War: Religion is bad--except the Russian Orthodox

[@ElBandito]

There are no atheists in foxholes.

[@briandelaney9710]

Khrushchev was actually the major persecutor of religion after WWII. Stalin did suppress the Eastern Catholic Church in Western Ukraine

[@MrPigeonaids]

One thing that I would agree with Stalin

[@davidw.2791]

Dr Nisu Unn And you don’t have to be obliged to any more liking, any more than you owe Hitler for anti-smoking or Goring for forest preservation.

[@Artur_M.]

Honestly, Stalin being declared "a leader by divine right" and "the true defender of the Holy Church" is surprisingly unsurprising and on-brand. Literally the "red tsar".

[@acc314]

based

[@christiankalinkina239]

@@SoryRN hohol?

[@donut9719]

@@SoryRN Didnt expect to see you here...whens your next RON vid? 😂

[@itsblitz4437]

Stalin in some ways did act like a Tsar, the same people that Stalin tried to purge. He hated the Tsar so much, he ironically became the Tsar.

[@aristophanesghost3839]

@Goosa Poosa the soviets murdered millions, too. Both are abhorrent.

[@soniasiddiqui1775]

My grandfather was a Soviet soilders who was a sunni Muslim born in tatarsan, he was a very religious man and he carried a togbi during ww2. He died on 2015

[@Alex-lw3yk]

Salam alikum Brother Which country are you from ? I am also Muslim.

[@musify_phonkmusic]

RIP

[@brianlevine5213]

Your grandfather waits for his family in a beautiful garden.

[@lvateinn8258]

🙏

[@ballistictip9301]

🙏

[@samvodopianov9399]

My grandfather sat for 5 years in prison for possesing religious marerial and being a protestant leader in the USSR. Crazy times...

[@buffymcmuffin5361]

How did he get to be released?

[@samvodopianov9399]

@@buffymcmuffin5361 He got released I think because of change in local leadership. Also a few years later he was given permit to leave USSR.

[@darthvenator2487]

The Soviet Union was really the creation of the devil!

[@gumpmosh]

Have you ever seen his case? What article was he convicted? Cause "possesing religious marerial and being a protestant leader" is not enough for 5 years in prison

[@darthvenator2487]

@@gumpmosh as he said those were crazy times. And Soviet union was a crazy place.

[@snuckel4]

Well this is interesting, my Grandpa (A muslim) told me when he was still an Indonesian Airforce pilot in that cold war era and he went to Moscow, Soviet Union to study and train. During the holy month Ramadhan he told me he had to be quiet about doing fasting and praying during that time due to strict rule of it. That's only the surface I guess, he doesnt talk about it anymore after that.

[@dannyf5339]

So your grandpa able to go back to Indonesia? i heard thousands Indonesian Students on Socialist Country Cannot go home after 1965 and become stateless

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

If the grandfather of the PKI member had been to Moscow, how did he survive the PKI massacre by the army?

[@snuckel4]

@@carkawalakhatulistiwa bruh no he's not a member of PKI

[@AB8511]

@Håkan Bergvall that may be true, but in Indonesia in 1965-1966 they were too trigger happy, even in my taste...

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

@@snuckel4 jadi apakah dia anggota organisasi dibawah PKI itu seperti SOBSI, Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani, Lekra, dan Corps Gerakan Mahasiswa Indonesia (CGMI). Menggigat mereka juga di bantai juga oleh angkatan darat

[@tremorsfan]

In my college dorm there was a book from the 80s about the eventual fall of the Soviet Union. The first chapter talked about religion.

[@ahmedshaharyarejaz9886]

What was the Title of that book? Can you recall it by any chance?

[@phil4863]

Could it be the Soviet union on the brink ?

[@mikeyorkav4039]

Sure that wasnt factually incorrect and biased...

[@arthas640]

It's pretty telling that many socialist parties first goals when gaining power has been to try and limit the power, wealth, and influence of religious organizations and to run smear campaigns. They want their party to take the place of religious intitutions when it comes to welfare and charity, and they want their party to be the absolute authority in peoples lives so they force out the competition. The communists especially were always afraid of churches/mosques/temples and it's why they often straight up rewrote religious documents. I'm not sure to what degree it's changed but for a long time Christianity was allowed in China but they had their own version of the Bible and they hand picked preachers, priests, etc. so that the entire religion had a pro communist bend to it. Hitler did the same and it was a big reason why many religions opposed him.

[@EnigmaEnginseer]

@@mikeyorkav4039 If that turned out to be the case then the USSR and that book would have a lot in common.

[@mudman5229]

Soekarno: where is nearest mosque? I want to Friday prayer Soviet officer: "intense sweat"

[@theshadowman1398]

The same Soekarno who committed many acts of adultery ?

[@mudman5229]

@@theshadowman1398 yes, he also asked Soviet to find imam Bukhori tomb, and soviet agree with it. The only thing Soviet disagree is when he ask his sex tape.

[@foxtrotwhiskey874]

@@mudman5229 instead to gain leverage , CIA provided sex tapes of priests and alter boys , that to by the truck load.

[@hilmyzulfikar9243]

@@theshadowman1398 You mean from his "sex tape" made by the soviets? in which Soekarno instead asks for more?

[@finns935]

@@hilmyzulfikar9243 sex tape made by the US ( CIA )

[@11darkarcues11]

I'm gonna be honest, I'm always braced for the worst when it comes to discussion of the Church under the USSR, even my history professors in college normally hand waived it away as some trite thing that isn't worth talking about very much, but you did a pretty good job covering it.

[@Abdirahman_Mohamed]

Theres literal videos on youtube of Cheka and NKVD burning churches and shooting churchgoers, how can they waive it off?

[@rightwingreactionary]

@@Abdirahman_Mohamed Most professors are leftards. What did you expect?

[@goran797]

Of course your professors waive it away. They sympathize with the communists.

[@KhanhNguyen-vz4rx]

Not sure what kind of course did you take on the USSR, but if it was only an overview/introductory course, I'd say it is reasonable to not focusing to much on religion. While a lot can be said about this, the impact of state atheism on the USSR over the course of history is much less pronounced than say, the Holomodor, which I believe any starting course will talk about and there won't be any glossing over.

[@Abdirahman_Mohamed]

@@rightwingreactionary true and based

[@DavidKutzler]

When I lived in Texas, I was told that, to keep the shootings to a minimum, it was commonly agreed at social events to never discuss politics, religion or barbeque.

[@misterlaith4308]

As a professional Texan, myself we *totally* follow these terms

[@foxtrotwhiskey874]

Especially BBQ!

[@DavidKutzler]

@@foxtrotwhiskey874 I was once at a party and was making small talk with the host. I said, "This barbeque sauce is delicious. What brand is it?" He looked at me like I had just pissed on his suede cowboy boots and said, "I've never bought barbeque sauce in my life. I made this myself." Trying to recover, I said, "Well it's really good. What's in it?" He looked at me like I had just asked if I could peek in his wife's underwear drawer and said, "I can tell by the way you talk you're not from around here, so I'm gonna tell you this friendly like. In Texas, a man doesn't ask another man, 'what's in your barbeque sauce?'"

[@foxtrotwhiskey874]

@@DavidKutzler yup! sounds everybit Texas!

[@user-xg8yy7yl1d]

@@DavidKutzler Barbecue sauce made by a Texan cowboy who never bought Barbecue sauce in his life sounds like good stuff.

[@compatriot852]

In Lithuania, the Soviets' oppression over religion was quite apparent especially when they began to target holy sites, such as the the hill of crosses

[@matimus100]

Praying or Karma doesn't save innocent women and children's lives anywhere in the world 🌎 today

[@marcoantunes4951]

@@matimus100 prayer and karma are different things. Karma isn’t their to save you or not.

[@randomestchannel]

@@matimus100 p sure my praying saves me from huge amounts of diarrhea and sickness

[@meme-potentialsearch8010]

@@matimus100 chill out kid

[@manuhakala]

@@matimus100 Neither does voting

[@juanjuri6127]

The Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood is one of the most impressive religious buildings in all of Russia, built in St Petersburg in 1883 to commemorate the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. It suffered severe looting and damaging during the Revolution, and it was closed in 1932. During the war, it became a makeshift morgue and field hospital for the countless casualties of the siege on the city (Leningrad at the time). Since after the war it was repurposed as a warehouse for vegetables, it was known for a while as "Savior on Potatoes" by the locals. It was reopened as a museum in the 70s, and currently works as both a museum and a church.

[@constantinejohn8433]

Don't forget that Buddhism was also persecuted in Buryaad-Mongolian, Kalmyk and Tuva Republics of the Soviet Union. Thousands of monks were arrested, imprisoned and/or killed. Majority of Buddhist temples and pieces of art were destroyed. All connections to Tibet were obliterated

[@phil4863]

Satan (communists) simply purging other satanists(buddhism)

[@nicholasneyhart396]

@phil How is Buddhism satanic? They don't believe in satan, nor any gods because they are.a secular philosophy.

[@ctrlaltdelmeir184]

@Humanity Galatica @phil WTF, that is a terrible thing to say

[@BroJo676]

​@@nicholasneyhart396This fails to prove why Buddhism shouldn't have been targeted by Communist.

[@nicholasneyhart396]

​@@BroJo676That sir, what in no way relevant to my comment. Someone said Buddhism is satanic, and I refuted their point.

[@Queen-of-Swords]

You don't seem to have mentioned the many "Old Believers" who fled from persecution during the Stalin era. Agafia, the famous hermit woman who lives in the Taiga, is a survivor of this. Her family basically hid in the wilderness, built shacks and grew their own food until they were discovered some time in the 1970's. She is still alive.

[@AG-ig8uf]

"Old Believers" were prosecuted and on the run long before communist take over of Russia.

[@kylephilipe8347]

You didn’t seem to have mentioned the fact that they literally killed MILLIONS of the old believers. An entire genocide of a group of people never talked about

[@madeofgrease9220]

was she a nun?

[@LuisAldamiz]

Actually Old Believers hid from persecution from the Orthdox Church, as they did not accept some of their reforms from the 17th century, go figure! Being pretty much a property-less church, I'm sure that they did not have to hide from the Bolsheviks as much as lang-grabbing popes and imams.

[@annasolovyeva1013]

"old believers" were actually prosecuted by the tzars. The official Orthodox church sees "old believers" as a heresy. See, the Russian Empire was an authoritarian regime with the Orthodox church being de-facto government organisation. Therefore, they discriminated against anyone who didn't attend the official Orthodox Church. Soviet atheists didn't fight heresy, they were primarily against institutionalised religion. Agafia's family, Lykovy, fled to the forests before the revolution.

[@MTCason]

As a child during the Cold War in America I remember dozens of Russian families who would come through our community after emigrating due to religious persecution. Some of them had truly harrowing stories and most of them had to flee with little more than the shirts on their backs. For all of the abuses that happened during the Russian Empire, NOTHING justifies the wholesale liquidation of any people group based upon a social criteria like sex, religion, political affiliation, etc. Seeing those haggard people so glad to be away from the USSR but so destitute and unsure how to start life over in America was an experience that will never leave me.

[@MTCason]

@@fullsend8738 It wasn't funny and they weren't wealthy. They were so poor they were destitute; one family living out of a car until the church helped find them housing and I can remember another having no Christmas the year they came through other than what the church could provide. These were people forced to choose between their freely practicing their faith or extreme persecution. No one should have to make that choice; and be forced to leave their homeland.

[@artair70]

@@fullsend8738 " Soviet Russia virtually had no homelessness" LIAR

[@artair70]

@@fullsend8738 No it really isn't, it's a ridiculous statement.

[@dinam211]

Thank you for having a compassionate mindset! Unfortunately many people didn’t and still don’t share your viewpoint. People like you allowed me and my family to have a chance to flourish.

[@user-hk6my4td9e]

​@@artair70 Idiot, he said everything correctly. Even in the worst times for the Union, they tried to settle people somewhere or they were helped by relatives, friends and simply caring people.

[@VersedNJ]

I seen a short flick of Russian Orthodox priests and their leaders blessing Soviet tanks before going into battle. It seemed with full approval of the Soviet State;

[@1vlaadchamp198]

Stalin during world war 2 rehabilitated the clergy, after they had been persecuted and shut down in the years prior. Many people in the USSR were religious, and the Bolsheviks brought them back (with conditions) for war support reasons. After that the church operated through the filter of the state, it existed, but heavily monitored and restricted. Khrushchev was the last soviet leader to really attempt any persecution of the orthodoxy AFAIK. Many of the members orthodox church actually worked for the state through the security agencies in the USSRs later years. The church in essence got absorbed into the state and "sovietified" since it couldn't completely be gotten rid of in Soviet society.

[@MatthewChenault]

That was after 1941. Prior to 1941, the Orthodox Church was severely persecuted by the regime. For instance, in 1937, the Soviet Union had 87,000 orthodox priests and clergymen executed by various means, including, but not limited to, firing squad, NKVD assaults on the streets, and drowning them in the local river during the middle of winter. In fact, in some of the old parishes, they’ve found piles of skeletal remains underneath the floorboards of the parish where the NKVD had nuns executed and disposed of by burying them underneath the residences that would be repurposed for other means. When you look into the stuff the Soviets did to the Christians, it’ll make the Holocaust look tame by comparison. At least with the latter, the Nazis had the sense to conduct their extermination in designated camps. The Soviets, by contrast, would murder Christian converts in the streets and have public executions of clergymen.

[@anthonyoer4778]

Do you not understand socialism? Everything must benefit the state. The state decides a purpose... For example, Albania under communism outright banned religion, while CCP "approves" clergy members.

[@wackyruss]

*saw not seen

[@adriang.6186]

@@MatthewChenault do you have sources to these claims?

[@marijusp]

Catholic church in Lithuania was not mentioned in this video 🤔 Catholic church was notoriously anticommunist and played very important part in anti-soviet resistance movement in Lithuania. Soviets tried to control Catholic church, but it was to difficult to do. It's no coincidence, that Catholic Lithuania was first to flee Soviet Union 😉

[@Nope_handlesaretrash]

Thats actually fascinating given the churches role in supporting Marxists in South America. I wonder where the divergence comes from?

[@ErickeTR]

There was also heavy persecution occuring in Russia and the Ukraine, unfortunately unmentioned in the video. Many Catholic bishops were summarily executed and tortured.

[@ErickeTR]

@@Nope_handlesaretrash during the Second Vatican Council, an agreement was reached between the modernist clergy (that is, those who fell under the condemnations of Pope Pius X and others) and the eastern patriarchs, which consisted in the promise that they would participate and observe the council, as long as there were no condemnation of communism or socialism during its meetings. And also, many american countries were under right wing dictatorships during the 70s and early 80s, a fertile ground for philo-marxist ideas flourishing.

[@Nope_handlesaretrash]

@@ErickeTR good points, thanks for the feedback 👍

[@jacobking4504]

@@Nope_handlesaretrash The Church never supported Marxists in South America. Liberation theology did not begin as a Marxist ideology and was supported initially but eventually condemned due to its association with Marxism.

[@michaeldunham3385]

I think you nailed this topic very well, yes religion did not die in the Soviet Union but it is difficult to crasp how important it was to the ordinary citizens. I've never never bothered with the fancy churches in Moscow, St Petersburg or the Golden Ring.... I've have visited a few way out there in the East around Chusovoy, very old wooden structures. Here for most of people in the west who identify as Christians, Christmas Day is possibley the most special day, in modern day Russia New Year is the most special day. That's why it's difficult sometimes to gauge how much damage if any the Soviet Union did to religion in Russia. For most though apart from the fact the 25th of December is a working day in Russia (yes I know it is not the Orthodox Christmas day which is the 7th of January) it will however look like Christmas back home, the big holiday is though New Years where people exchange gifts and eat a special meal, so I'd say communism did have an affect on religion in Russia.

[@briandelaney9710]

Pascha is most important to Orthodox

[@ihl0700677525]

I think Easter or Passover is the most important and "special" in most branches of Christianity, including Orthodox, Catholics, and most Protestant denominations. Christmas is ofc the most popular in Western countries, but IMO far from being the most important in term of Christian doctrine.

[@theoutlook55]

Wow. Thanks for the insight.

[@GerardPerry]

Even though Francis Chan is kinda an heretic nowadays, he made a trenchant point about the Bolsheviks persecution of Christianity vs. the CCP's in China. Namely, while the former was largely successful because Christianity was located in church buildings and patriarchs-which can be destroyed and arrested/executed respectively-the latter completely failed because Chinese believers focused on discipleship. So Mao and his successors' destruction of churches and martyring of Christians only resulted in the growth of the Church.

[@MatthewChenault]

There is a way, actually. Just look at the number of parishes left before and after the second religious purge in the Soviet Union. It went from well over 20,000 parishes to less than 200 between 1928 to 1941. 99% of all the parishes in the Soviet Union were either repurposed, desecrated, abandoned, or outright destroyed. The main reason why New Year’s is celebrated more often than Christmas has to do with the Soviets preferring it over Christian holidays. In fact, under Lenin, Christmas had been banned throughout Russia with any public displays of the holiday being outlawed by the state, which stood for at least several generations. It had a critical impact on Russia that is still felt today.

[@serendipity1999]

Well, my grandparents, as well as my parents' grandparents, who lived in the USSR, were more religious and traditional than today's youth (Azerbaijanis from Georgia). Despite the restrictions, people performed their religious rites and celebrated Islamic holidays at home, but could not do so in public. One of the bad things of that time was the destruction of historical religious sites. One of them was the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Baku, demolished in 1937.

[@mrperfect-mh4qm]

why follow blind faith?

[@user-oj2rk2ll3t]

I recently watched a video in Russian about an actual protest rally by the baptists at the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Moscow in 1966 against persecution. 30 of the protesters received prison terms up to 3 years, and later one of the organizers, Georgy Vins, was exchanged for some Soviet spies and flown to the US, where he was recieved by president Carter, a baptist himself. I very much hope you touch on this and other events later on, and I also would love to see the Jews in the Soviet Union episode!

[@TheColdWarTV]

The evangelical churches were persecuted even after Khrushchev's removal from power, largely because they represented a threat to the power of Soviet leadership. Both Orthodox and Islamic leadership had accepted Party authority so low-level belief was not seen as a threat. The evangelical churches however swore belief to a higher power and were therefore outside of the control structures of the CPSU so were a threat. We'll talk about it more as part of the dissident movement inside the Soviet Union.

[@Nemerian]

@@TheColdWarTV Add to that that evangelicals have their powerbase in good old America, and are congregationalist, so hard to keep under one roof, organization wise.

[@abdurrahmanqureshi3030]

My guy.. you really think this channel would expose the ties between Judaism and The Soviet Union? That would be a miracle.

[@dostoievskyiii6251]

@@abdurrahmanqureshi3030 the soviet union hated jews lmao in ww2 before the declaration of war by the germans they fired all jews in positions of power to satisfy hitler, not to talk about the religious persecution and the extremely anti-semetic russian society

[@gumpmosh]

@@dostoievskyiii6251 What's the point of such pathetic lies?

[@luigidisanpietro3720]

*"I may have issues with the Church, but I believe in Religious Freedom."* - Gen. Enrique Grostieta (Rides his horse wearing a cowboy hat while carresing a lever-action rifle and a Giant Cross on his chest.)

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

But he is right, if you believe in practicing a democratic system its very hypocritical to silence Religion in favour of Atheism as that violates free speech. Also not all Believers think that the Churches of the world should interfer with Poltics and Social issues.

[@LuisAldamiz]

Gorostieta mabe? Who was him?

[@user-hb7py7xy7b]

It's important to remember that church was one of the biggest landlords and owned the biggest number of serfs. In eyes of majority cities population church was just another Emperor's department.

[@owoodward72]

I’m interested in knowing more about the Soviet response to Buddhism in it’s Far Eastern territory. I’m curious if there was an official Buddhism to supplant the indigenous one.

[@yomama9538]

In Mongolia the communists killed almost all of the lamas.

[@manojpatra2840]

Buddhism is an ATHEISTIC RELIGION. communists only dealt with superstitions.

[@owoodward72]

@@manojpatra2840 I am by no means an expert in Buddhism but as I understand it some manifestations of the religion are theistic in nature or at least have beliefs that would go against the materialist philosophy promoted by the State.

[@manojpatra2840]

@@owoodward72 I come from a family of Buddhists. Buddhism is highly anti-materialistic and atheistic. the only flaw with Buddhism can be superstitions due to corrupt monks and the communist sorted those problem out beautifully.

[@SuperBooboohaha]

@@manojpatra2840 Buddhists in Tibet disagree with you

[@jerrynelson5289]

The reason Religion was suppressed early Soviet Union because they were seen counter revolutionaries from Tsarist time where the church were closely allied with The Tsardom.

[@animuslite8809]

it probably had to do with how many small hats were in the government

[@Miraihi]

@@animuslite8809 Nice antisemitic dogwhistle. In actuality there were practically no people of Jewish descend except Trotsky.

[@laosi4278]

it already mentioned in video that the anti religion is alredy unseparated part in communist dogma

[@Thor.Jorgensen]

@@Miraihi And let's not forget how Stalin persecuted all of them. People ought to easily remember how Trotsky was first exiled and then later murdered with an ice pick in Mexico by one of Stalin's assassins. Stalin even got himself killed because he had told his cabinet and guards that he would never see a Jewish doctor. So they had to call for a Russian doctor. The closest by they could find was several weeks away by train. And when he arrived to find that Stalin had suffered a stroke, he was already long gone.

[@apsifox5874]

@@laosi4278 I'm not a communist but I still want to remove religious delusions. Religion is an outdated parasite at this point hiding in gaps in scientific knowledge which are filled in all the time. God is a human construct and an outdated concept as well.

[@ionutvidasimiti4508]

What about the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and its persecution?! It was the only one forbidden first in the Soviet Union and then this policies were followed in Romania in 1948 against the Romanian Greek Catholic church and in Czechoslovakia in 1950 against the Slovak Greek Catholic Church.

[@UkraineJames2000]

My parents were apart of a Pentecostal community in Ukraine, who would have church in each other's homes. Going by their stories, they would often get harassed by Militsiya and even KGB. My Grandfather was always in trouble with the law (and even served time in jail) for smuggling bibles from Estonia back to Rivne. Religious freedom was not very strong in the USSR to say the least.

[@samvodopianov9399]

Yes protestants too - Russian baptists and pentacostals were jailed a lot. Many pastors were executed. My grandfather sat in prison for 5 years.

[@stefanodadamo6809]

Abject subservience is the only reason why Romania and Czechoslovakia followed the Soviet tune. It was like when Fascist Italy had implemented "racial laws" to ape Nazi anti-Semitism.

[@ErickeTR]

I was expecting it to be brought at some point, but unfortunately that was unmentioned in the video (which is still great, though).

[@timurermolenko2013]

That's out of radar for the westerners. For them, it's just one of facets of GREAT RUSSIAN. But it was significant in resisting occupation

[@jovanweismiller7114]

You neglected to mention a couple of rather important points. There is a great deal of evidence that Alexei, Patriarch of Moscow, was a KGB agent and you missed the active persecution of Byzantine Rite Catholics to the point that after WWII the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was forcibly 'unified' with the Russian Orthodox Church and all its property was vested in the Orthodox.

[@Damian.99]

correct

[@harrybalanovsky2169]

Whats the difference? Church is just a tool in hands of rulers, if wealthy enough, it may use rulers as a tool. That's the main thing he pointed. And religion is a tool of people who rule the churches. If you want to be a believer, it's not nessecery to give your posessions to that organisation. They will do nothing in return, and for psychological help you better ask for a qualified specialists...

[@abedmarachli7345]

@@josephmolto7087 What he says is the core of the Protestant Church doctrine and the most important slogan (There is no holiness except for the Bible) and I think he is right in these matters. Church and papal thought originally came from Egypt, specifically from Alexandria through Saint Anthony and the brotherhoods through Saint Pachom, which is the seed of what are called monasteries and churches, in Europe The first was Saint Benedict, but it turned from a symbol of asceticism into a method of collecting money and influence

[@arthas640]

@@josephmolto7087 revisionists and communist apologists usually like to simplify things by making it seem like the church was a tool of the tsar rather than a semi autonomous group that he was often butting heads with. There were a few times I've heard about where the Russian nobility found excuses to curtail the authority of various churches or excuses to take some of their wealth. From what I've heard part of the reason serfdom was officially abolished but effectively continued into the 20th century was to make it so that the church couldnt use serfs to work their land and turn a profit but allowed nobles to own land and tie peasants to that land in a system nearly identical to serfdom.

[@DoIoannToKnow]

schismatic catholics got pranked, thats all. We do a little pranking, we're just some pranksters

[@nyimdewan3353]

In that letter Lenin himself said that the Muslims should join the revolution to retain their honor which was snatched by Tsars...Their mosques used to be destroyed and harsh taxing rules were implemented on Muslims by the Russians..Lenin also asked the Buddhits and others to join for creating a country where they can practice their faith without any Hassel..The peasant christians were told that the priests were corrupted and they should fight them... That's how they lured religious people

[@hishamalaker491]

Not true, they fought many Muslim insurgencies and even independent state sin the caucasus and central asia.

[@oxyplik3542]

In my town main Orthodox Church temple was use as sport hall , and communism was looks like immortal power , but suddenly fall apart . Glory to God I seen end of Soviet .

[@ekmalsukarno2302]

The Cold War, can you please make a video about South Africa during the Cold War. That way, you can explain how the apartheid system functioned, as well as the role that South Africa played during the Cold War. Thank you very much.

[@khairulhelmihashim2510]

South Africa was a paradox to Western nations values, similar as few junta ruled South American countries. Needed for fighting the communists despite undemocratic governance.

[@ilililililililli2531]

Rhodesia is a better topic tbh. From the breadbasket of Africa to 100 million plus dollar notes

[@badluck5647]

South Africa was also working against both blocs monopolies on nuclear weapons.

[@ilililililililli2531]

@@madibacitizen2430 Racism? There was no racism. Whites fought with black against communism. A lot of blacks also had a tradition of joining the military. And it was the breakbasket of Africa, they fed the rest of Africa. Stop coping. Rhodesia is now a country that relies on foreign aid.

[@omarhaq9635]

It could be about Cuba 🇨🇺 supported leftists not only in Angola but all across the content including in South Africa 🇿🇦

[@nickhanlon9331]

Newt Gingrich wrote a thesis about the high birth rates in Central Asia undermining the Soviet Union and the role Islam would play in bringing doing this. He wrote it the 1970s.

[@thunderbird1921]

Central Asia is really interesting, but that theory actually has been questioned by some. For one the regions varied in cultural influence greatly. Kazakhstan was heavily Russified in areas (and still is to this day) while Turkmenistan was more Islamic IIRC. Had they had more time, it's possible ethnic mixing and Communist influence might have made those areas more secular, but we'll never know for sure.

[@jtsnowman66]

I like the plug for The Great War. It is a fantastic channel that still continues with a new (not so new now…) host, covering all sorts of topics from the post-war period.

[@agbook2007]

@C&M K He is now hosting on the Time Ghost World War II series.

[@jtsnowman66]

@C&M K He left TGW after the end of WW1 to continue with other projects including the WW2 day by day channel. TGW as i stated is still very good and informative. They have branched out as Real Time History to cover other topics, such as their week by week coverage of the Franco Prussian War. They're also one of the creators behind the Nebula streaming platform

[@yari4046]

glad that i found this channel, its so hard to find videos about the soviet union that arent just "soviet union bad" or "soviet union was perfect", history is rarely so black and white

[@evanlewis659]

Yeah but wasn’t it tho, I mean they promote communism as a system that is meant to bring a utopia paradise, but in the end brings nothing but death, persecution and constant fear.

[@Skullnaught]

I mean it was kinda bad

[@arthas640]

@@Skullnaught yeah, hard to find many things to put in the "good" column. Most of the "good" things people have to say about them werent really that good and werent thanks to the USSR. They get credit for needing major famines after WW2 but that was a global trend relating to artificial fertilizers, free trade globally, and industrialized farming. They get credit for developing Russia and eastern Europe but if anything they stymied development when we look at countries on the other side of the iron curtain. They get credit for ending slavery and serfdom but both were already disappearing and the state effectively continued serfdom until the collapse of the USSR. They get credited for defanging the church who were already liberalizing and society was becoming increasingly secular anyways. They get credited for many scientific advancements but the USSR lagged behind the west and in order to try and keep up they diverted resources the common man needed in favor of lavish displays, for example the USSR could produce enough toilet paper or socks for people for their entire history even as they produced far more guns and weapons then they could use and they were barely able to feed their citizens when they were trying to outdo the west in the space race.

[@sabrinatscha2554]

It was way worse than this guy made it out to be. I get trying to be Unbiased and everything, but it was bad. Really really bad.

[@arthas640]

@@sabrinatscha2554 That's a running theme I've noticed lately. People often downplay anything bad if it's targeted towards previously dominant groups, like Christian churches. I've seen Nazi-esque rants about Christianity on sites that gets ignored by mods but even much milder stuff aimed at Jews or Muslims get flagged for hate speech (as it should be). Same goes for history like this, they'll downplay or ignore how bad it was because it was aimed at churches but they'll go to great lengths to discuss the same treatment aimed at other groups like the Kulaks. I see the same thing happen in east Asia, people rarely bring up the fact that Christians have been subjected to the same treatment as Jews during the Holocaust in North Korea which was previously the 2nd most Christian part of Asia behind the Philippines and in China they've been persecuted harshly in the past and even today face discrimination and mistreatment but it's all just kind of ignored. I've even seen quite a few people on social media mocking these sorts of events, often framing it as some sort of karmic retribution for mistreatment by Christians in other parts of the world in decades or centuries prior.

[@billhanna2148]

Thank you 🙏 for your excellent work 👏👏 And I love your humourous take on the "bell button" .. it's a clever hook that makes me watch to the end of every episode just to hear it 👍🤓🤣😂🙏

[@aletheiai]

Thou shalt have no other cult before Stalinism.

[@apttewly]

@پیاده نظام خان bro you're an iranian or smth out here defending the ussr? lmao

[@rustyrazor1853]

Ahahahaha the whole "to quote Jeff Goldblum" and "to paraphrase Jeff Goldblum" cracks me up! You should make it a recurring reference!

[@lucofparis4819]

I greatly appreciated this program. It helped flesh out the extent to which this antireligion practice and unilateral dogmatist state atheism that Soviets (and perhaps communists in general?) adopted was operating and evolving. It really hammers home the point that the Bolcheviks were oblivious of the irony embedded in their forming of what can best be described as an _atheocracy_ i.e. everything they supposedly hated, but of their own doing, by their own doing, and for their own doing. In most ways, they effectively became the very thing they swore to destroy, even when it comes to the sciences, as their take on biology with the likes of Lysenko clearly demonstrated. I hope that one day people will begin to figure out _en masse_ that the fundamental flaws of all these political ideologies weren't that they were too religious or too areligious, but that they were too ideocratic; and that their harm stemmed specifically from that deleterious aspect.

[@kayzeaza]

The problem was that they went from Orthodox being the state religion to atheism being the state religion. A good country must separate church and state completely! Like America did when they established their country.

[@yohaneschristianp]

Fanaticism is the key.

[@terminusadquem6981]

Not all atheist think it's the people but the religion is the problem. 🙂

[@lucofparis4819]

@پیاده نظام خان 'No' to what? Do you mind elaborating?

[@lucofparis4819]

@@terminusadquem6981 I'm not completely sure I understand your particular phrasing. Would you mind rephrasing what you were saying so that I can ascertain what you meant?

[@jackjones6482]

Love your videos, but I can't help finding the background music a distraction. I know it helps make the talking less stale, but the rising crescendo and volume ends up being hard to focus away from. I know licensing can be expensive for a smallish creator, but if you're able to select another track, or perhaps turn down the volume a bit, I'd be grateful. Thanks again for the content, keep on trucking.

[@Lee-ip9bm]

a video on my religion judaism and its history with the union would be a welcome addition since this channel does its research! cant wait

[@ctrlaltdelmeir184]

Shalom!

[@mrperfect-mh4qm]

no one cares abt your relixion bruh...we all focused on tech and science

[@suem6004]

In my opinion having lived there the final year of Soviet Union the key was truth or glasnost. People were actually being able to tell the truth of the Soviet experiment. Wildly popular were the журнали. With truth came an actual nostalgia for what was primordial Russian...the Orthodox Church. Just outside my window was a tiny disused brick chapel. But in spring I started to see people cleaning up, repairing, freshening up the church. By Easter I witnessed a vigil with lights emanating from the church, a low hum of singing, and church bells peeling. It was perhaps Russia...or true Russia, emerging from hibernation. Now, many orthodox are live streaming services on youtube. They have come a long way.

[@user-ud5uo8fm4x]

Glasnost doesn't mean truth and "журнали" is an incorrect spelling. Are you sure you lived there?

[@die1mayer]

Russia has a broken soul, because it's natural development was confused with the introduction of foreign ideas like Enlightenment and Marxism which were products of a urban intelligentsia and ill-suited for a young, agrarian country like Russia.

[@AT-AT26]

@@die1mayer The only reason Russia even came out of being an agrarian society was because of Marxists. Russia would go from a broken state that barely survived WW1 with often only having 1 gun per like 2 or 3 soldiers to being the first civilisation in human history to ever go to space in a couple of decades and also being the foundation of the 2nd strongest civilisation possibly in human history and now has less money than Italy and a worse gdp per capita than China. 2 countries they were consistently better than in every metric for decades before.

[@die1mayer]

@@AT-AT26 First man-made object which went into space was the german rocket V2 in 1944. Russia was far behind Germany in industry and technology.

[@AT-AT26]

@@die1mayerGermany was a relatively industrialised country by the time the USSR was even created and then overtook them in tech by sending the first man, women, animal and satellite. A lot more impressive then just shooting an object into the sky especially since any civilisation could do that but the USSR was the first to actually make space the final frontier whilst barely a couple decades earlier they were using horse-drawn carriages with machine guns as the peak of their technological might

[@stephenterranova8455]

Wow, I love these videos...I learn so much! Thank you for all the hard work, effort and love you put into these.

[@pozloadescobar]

Hi TCW, do you have plans to tell the story of Jews in the Soviet Union? The history of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast may provide for an interesting narrative. Thank you for your continued high-quality, well-researched output!

[@yvettemoore1228]

@Billy Soto Mártires del Batallón de San Patricio not iirc. ‘Birobidjian’ was another name for the Tsarist ‘Pale of Settlement’ ie just a very large ghetto

[@hiraeth4408]

Also a good opportunity to clarify the conspiracies surrounding Jewish dominance and involvement in the USSR/Revolution

[@andrewliberman7694]

@Billy Soto Mártires del Batallón de San Patricio It was not a Zionist colony but an oblast set up as by the Soviet government as an alternative to Zionism. The official language was Yiddish not Hebrew.

[@andrewliberman7694]

@Billy Soto Mártires del Batallón de San Patricio Which unfortunately it became during the purges. Many of it's residents were swallowed up into thebGulag

[@timurermolenko2013]

@@andrewliberman7694 Zionism does not equate Hebrew. So it was reasonable that they choose the language of Jews that was spoken by plurality of Jews. Modern Israel Hebrew is an artificial language that was created to emphasize the historical ground up why they occupied Palestine. Plus, adopting Hebrew could lead to more religion among Soviet Jews, so that's something that wouldn't work.

[@seanhaber7847]

During seminary I read a book titled The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness by Leon McBeth (1987). It was a formative book in particular a section that described the Baptists of the Soviet Union and other eastern block countries. I find it interesting how the Soviets took a blind eye in many cases because of the temperance stance of the Baptists. With the eyes on the Ukraine these days, it is worth noting that the Ukraine was known as "the Soviet Bible Belt" at one point. Unfortunately, this book is now a cliffhanger because we know what happened to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe but there was no revised editions of the book to fill readers into what happened to the Baptist church after the fall of communism. Discussing this book might bring up two video ideas: temperance movements in the Soviet Union and Ukraine being the "Soviet Bible Belt."

[@MrJMB122]

Orthodox Christianity not Baptist which at best is a heterodox group.

[@kocerarif]

A Concise and exquisite presentation with the taste of a documentary. Thanks for the effort.

[@sabflash]

Thanks for your job!! Very interesting as usual

[@duboislili]

Best channel I have found so far on the cold war and Soviet Union. A real expert.

[@zmeu_md3831]

im from a post soviet republic , my grandparents and parents told me that in soviet times religious practices were illigal and they celebrated christmas and other hollidays in secret .

[@airliners6430]

All respect to this channel, great production work and videos overall. However, Ushanka Show with Sergei is the class of KZbin on this subject matter. Just my humble opinion.

[@A_10_PaAng_111]

Religion was 1 thing that communism wasn't able to overcome in the USSR and its satellite states.

[@brokenbridge6316]

Nice n informative video. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.

[@marius_m.]

A most interesting book on how the Church survived in post-ww2 U.S.S.R.: Everyday Saints and Other Stories by Tihon Shevkunov

[@goyonman9655]

Sounds like a great read

[@MEyck97]

Lenin and Stalin were the first redditors

[@chilldude30]

They get all my upboats

[@NBrioDaZueraRules]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2Lcq6Kfiq56fdU

[@geoffreycanie4609]

Great content guys, thanks for this

[@Waldemarvonanhalt]

It would be interesting for OP to do a video on relationships in the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries. I remember seeing an article that talked about East German women feeling less pressure to choose men based on their income.

[@matthewkopp2391]

I find it striking how similar Lenin’s decree is similar to Jefferson’s „freedom to and freedom from“ religion. With the obvious difference of Jefferson being a rational deist vs Lenin rational atheist. Jefferson valued liberty more than economic equality and Lenin economic equality over liberty. The living church idea is similar to the French church of reason. The atheist mistake is not understanding that an ideology is a religion.

[@analizbar]

by the same logic, you can accuse that science is religion, and growing rational-science in modern world is same as forcing religion to the people, anyone who doesn't follow science will be accused to be dumb person by modern society. The matters isn't you can't forcing something to be dominant in society, but what based/method that 'something' built on from,, Scientific Socialism is built from materialist understanding of the world, materialism is same as scientific method, marx surely advocating scientific method for everything. By the way, what liberty Jefferson advocating? He have more than 600 slaves on his life

[@thorthewolf8801]

It would be good if you covered religion in the satellite states as well!

[@fearlesssquatcher5737]

Yeah, especially Catholic influence in Poland.

[@joshc2501]

@@fearlesssquatcher5737 East Germany too, I'm curious how Poland came out of the Iron Curtain very Catholic however East Germany very Atheistic.

[@tng2057]

Spanish Republic technically was not part of the Cold War, however its radical atheist approach planted its downfall big time.

[@davidw.2791]

Fearless Squatcher This reminds me of that memoir written by a certain blonde Playboy Bunny who hailed from Poland. In her prologue, she reminisced about Socialist Scarcity and the oppressing of the church, and how much freer it was after her family snuck off into North America. Only problem is - and I don’t mean to come off as actually being sex negative here - is that if the USSR never dominated eastern Europe and she did get to live her life out in Poland, would it have been remotely approved to have her live like a Playboy model or become one in a harem of an older man? Maybe she’ll have some actual healthy Catholic Guilt if she had immigrated to America from a non communist Poland. :P

[@athish-REAL]

@پیاده نظام خان Are You High Or Something 😂😂

[@nicknmm09]

I know these vids aren’t as popular as some others but I want to tell you there great

[@deluca1031]

This really helps me on the arguements i'm having with my fellow friends. Really appreaciate you guys covering this topic!

[@alexanderkomosa2254]

In Degrelle's book "War in the East" he describes how what were once beautiful othodox churches were being used as stables and storage facilities. He also describes a beautiful moment in which Ukrainian villages occupied by German forces were able to gather and sing ancient psalms for the first time in decades. He was a Catholic but had deep respect for Othodox rituals.

[@malikialgeriankabyleswag4200]

In Solzhenitsyn's book 200 years together he said they acted paradoxically in incentivising 'anti-Religion' propaganda, but at the same time made anti-Judaic sentiments a crime and anti-Semitism punishable by death

[@nunbiz7328]

@@malikialgeriankabyleswag4200 Makes you think 🤔

[@gulliverthegullible6667]

What on earth is beautiful about that? Religion is a tool of oppression, especially Christian orthodoxy. Tsarist and modern Russia are perfect examples of this. The Soviet Union had many flaws, but trying to erase religious superstitions was one of its strong points.

[@nunbiz7328]

@@gulliverthegullible6667 No one asked Commie Rat

[@gulliverthegullible6667]

@@malikialgeriankabyleswag4200 Have you ever looked at what Russia was like in the times of the tsars? There was a reason for the revolution, even if it ultimately failed in a horrible way. You can't easily judge history from hindsight. Btw. I am not a communist.

[@shaider1982]

Hope you guys can discuss on Khruschev's science projects. He seem to like rockets almost as much as corn.

[@ianmathwiz7]

Almost.

[@here_we_go_again2571]

Khruschev was the only world leader who had been a guest at President Eisenhower's Gettysburg, Pennsylvannia farm (retreat) who knew anything about livestock. He and Eisenhower discussed how to improve the supply of beef for the world.

[@beachboy0505]

An amazing video 📹 The old film 🎥 footage is amazing

[@goranjosic]

Really interesting subject! Great video (documentary)!

[@Matti_us_Alpe]

Nothing about judaism in the USSR?

[@touchme2556]

13:45

[@hiraeth4408]

@Undercover FBI agent Not true unfortunately.

[@The_Honcho]

Muslims: whew, bad day to be a Christian in Russia right? USSR: Yeah…

[@terrorgaming459]

Us muslims just chilling dont mind us

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

@@terrorgaming459 USSR: US..

[@kristindreko3194]

Thank you for this video, may God bless you!

[@valmid5069]

Book Recommendation: *Tortured For Christ, an inspiring story of a Romanian Jewish Christian pastor who suffered persecution and tortured by Nazis and Communists during WW2-Cold War eras*

[@D_zot]

"The editorial office of the journal "Science and Religion" receives many letters from workers, collective farmers and intellectuals with questions concerning Soviet legislation on cults. Reader E. T. Orlova from Voronezh asks: what forms of religious associations of believers exist in the USSR and who owns prayer buildings and objects intended for religious purposes? Reader S. I. Timofeev from Kemerovo asks: for what purposes can the funds of religious associations be collected and spent, are forced collections of money from believers allowed, and can a priest personally dispose of the property and money of a religious society? The pupils of the Dmitrov orphanage Nikolai Konkov, Galina Demyanskaya, Yuri Bakhtov, Lyudmila Boldyreva and others write that their studies, rest and sleep are continuously disrupted by the deafening ringing of the bells of a nearby church and ask: is it possible to limit the ringing of bells? The answers to these and a number of other questions are given by Comrade A. Valentinov" "QUESTION. What forms of religious associations of believers exist in the USSR and what is the meaning of their formation? ANSWER. Currently, there are two forms of religious associations: a society and a group of believers. It is customary to call such an association of believers a religious society, which includes more than 20 adult citizens. If the number of believers is less than 20 people, then such an association is called a group. All religious associations enjoy equal rights regardless of the number of believers. Religious societies and groups are created by believers to jointly meet their religious needs. They hire or elect ministers of worship and other persons serving the needs of the cult, perform religious rites, organize prayer and other meetings related to the worship. Religious associations and ministers of worship should not engage in activities other than activities aimed at satisfying the religious needs of believers." "QUESTION. Church bells sometimes interfere with people's work and rest. Is it possible to limit it? ANSWER. State bodies may make recommendations to religious associations to restrict the ringing of bells, if it is necessary and supported by the population. Bell ringing is especially inconvenient for the population in cases when the church is located near a school, hospital, children's institutions and other state and public buildings. But before making recommendations on the restriction or termination of church bell ringing, it is necessary to explain to believers the need for such a decision, it is necessary to explain to them that the restriction of church bell ringing does not in any way mean a restriction on the freedom of religious worship, that bell ringing for worship services is not mandatory at all, as, for example, religious processions and open-air ceremonies are not mandatory. Believers know the time of church services even without bell ringing, this ringing has no other meaning. But it is impossible to indiscriminately prohibit church bell ringing, regardless of local conditions and the mood of the population. Considering the importance of these considerations, it is established that the restriction of bell ringing is allowed only in agreement, respectively, with the Council for Religious Cults under the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of Ministers of the USSR." @ The journal "Science and Religion" dated October 10, 1961

[@hughmungus1767]

It's interesting to contrast the policies on church bell ringing in the Soviet Union with other countries' reactions to the Call to Prayer from mosques. In a Muslim country, I suspect you would face a great deal of anger if you objected to the Call to Prayer but in a Western country, I expect that a great many people would object heartily to hearing the Call to Prayer blaring over loudspeakers at times when most people are sleeping.

[@halguy5745]

the godless five year plan sounds like some industrial/black metal conceptual album title

[@qazifaran]

very informative. good work!

[@TheColdWarTV]

Thank you!

[@Ioha68977]

@@TheColdWarTV "ARTICLE 124. In order to ensure to citizens freedom of conscience, the church in the U.S.S.R. is separated from the state, and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of antireligious propaganda is recognized for all citizens."(1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union)

[@KagetTadashi]

Some unique facts that I were knowing was one of the lyric composer of 1977 version of Soviet anthem was a muslim (if I'm not mistaken) and one of the main engineer that make rockets for Gagarin (and maybe for Sputnik) to go out of space was a muslim. IDK why but it seems that CCCP were kind to muslims especially since our first president, Sukarno force Kruschchev to found and reopen Imam Bukhari, one of the hadits writer (if you do not know hadits, then search it, because I didn't know how to explain it), and also reopen the Blue Mosques of Leningrad which since then both of them and if I remember read the articles, all mosques with the pilgrimages, step by step became normal again. But, that is what became my remebering for the articles that I found about 5 years ago and its Russian one. CMIIW Such a good video to increase our knowledge 👍🏽

[@alexplotkin3368]

Great episode and great historical research. I learned a lot. I commend this channel for planning a future episode on the history of Jews and Judaism in the USSR. This is an important, complicated, painful and tragic topic in the history of the Cold War that needs telling. As you said, this is a topic that is subject to enormous amounts of disinformation, falsification and lies. Your appreciation of all of this is welcome. I look forward to this future episode. Keep up the fine work. 🙂

[@ianmathwiz7]

2:20 FWIW, I can't actually find the "Communism begins where atheism begins" quote anywhere in the Manifesto. In fact, the only place I can find that quote is on evangelical websites. The closest Marx quote I can find is "Communism begins from the outset (Owen) with atheism; but atheism is at first far from being communism; indeed, that atheism is still mostly an abstraction," which is in the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 rather than the Manifesto.

[@robertsansone1680]

Great documentary. Thank You.

[@petterbirgersson4489]

Yes, please make an episode about sex and sexual/reproductive politics on both sides of the iron curtain. For example, there are many stories about women who traveled from Sweden to Poland to have an abortion because the abortion laws were quite harsh in Sweden in the 60s. Today it's the other way around. Many polish women go to Sweden to have an abortion. There are many stories about the topic of sexual politics.

[@TheColdWarTV]

"There is no sex in the Soviet Union" In all seriousness however, there is an excellent podcast called the Soviet Sex Podcast that I would highly recommend if you are interested in the subject.

[@davidw.2791]

Which probably means that the lives of someone like Izabella St. James would have been so much different in a timeline where there was no Soviet Bloc. She talked about how moral the church helped people be while the communists wrecked everything. I’d love to find out if that same church would approve of her chosen vocation and lifestyle, over in Free USA or god forbid domestically.

[@stephenjenkins7971]

@@davidw.2791 Regardless, I think the issue is that the USSR specifically suppressed people while the Church doesn't have that kind of power. At least, used to not have that kind of power considering Poland's current state...still not as bad as under the USSR tho, for sure.

[@pcu9284]

@@TheColdWarTV in the Soviet union, you don't have sex, sex has you

[@Waldemarvonanhalt]

Michel Foucault-thought changed home address.

[@xOdySx]

Eager to see video how you perceive Jewish people situation in Communism era. Also good to see situation in other satellites nations. For instance in Poland some priests and believers were harassed and even killed even after first "free elections" in 1989... When Poland was invaded in 1939 by Germany and USSR clergy was among first to be catched and executed or sent to camps and prisons...

[@redline841]

Based comment

[@xOdySx]

@پیاده نظام خان really?? What a troll you are.

[@starwarsnerd1055]

Jewish people were also treated harshly in the USSR With many going to jail

[@gumpmosh]

@@starwarsnerd1055 Ravings of a madman

[@historyeditz8326]

That is good thing.

[@jonassavimbi967]

Can k&g make videos about Angola civil war and FSLN?

[@yimveerasak3543]

I love your presentation. Thanks

[@stephanieellison7834]

This is interesting because I want to ask about Russia's love for Indian movies and such during the latter part of USSR history. How was Indian religion or spirituality handled by the gov't and by the people, since you would almost always see elements of Hindūism in the movies, whether it was as simple as the bindu or dot on the woman's forehead or something as elaborate as a scene in a temple, though it might not have been about venerating a deity, celebrating a holiday festival, etc., anything that would indicate Hindūism? How was this handled in USSR times?

[@Noscainum]

It just wasn't taken seriously. Religion in Indian films was looked upon as a colorful setting.

[@yanaynarmon8943]

Well, hinduism was only in the series, so no one had a problem on that. And also Indian and Mexican movies becomed popular in late USSR. In this times state already falling apart, and we had a lil bit more freedom

[@user-zr5im7ys7q]

I was very fond of Indian films as a child. I don't remember any serious religious issues being discussed there. We liked spectacular fights.

[@MrTTuguldur]

Soviets have also purged the Buddhism in Mongolia, looted all of their treasury and deported them to Russia. Purged around 30000 people. Buddhism have suffered the most and as always purge included bourgeois and ideological enemies to the state.

[@MrTTuguldur]

@@phil4863 included

[@ilovemuslimfood666]

The Living Church was certainly a lot smaller than the dominant Russian Orthodox denomination, but it wasn’t insignificant. They were heavily persecuted by the Orthodox Church for being “heretical”, and it led Living Church adherents to flee to the untamed wilderness of Siberia, where many Living Church communities still exist today.

[@AxelPoliti]

Good and insightful job

[@a_02_prakashnayak59]

please have an episode on 1971 indo-pak war. when the Cold War came close to HOT

[@Keefan1978]

Thanks! A very big and important topic indeed. Two remarks. Firstly: as the video stated, the post-war repressions targeted not only the Orthodox church or the Muslims. This video names Baptists and Evangelicals, but perhaps the most extreme and thorough repressions - starting already in the Stalin time - were the ones many smaller organisations and religious communities had to endure. F. e. many members of the Pentecostals, Methodists, Jehovah's Witnesses or also Siberian Shamanists and Buddhists were mass executed or sent to the Gulags already in the 1920s and 1930s because of their religious convictions. And also the Catholic church operating on the territory of the Soviet Union was repressed heavily. Secondly: an interesting topic is the co-operation of the religious authorities with the NKVD/KGB - it was widespread and perhaps really in a way a necessary evil (as some historians have pointed out) as the religious leaders either had to cooperate or wouldn't have had the possibility to carry out their religious work at all. Looking forward to the next videos on the religion and the Cold War!

[@rwboa22]

Also to add, and what needs to be brought up was "Latinisation" of the Russian and other languages in the former USSR. When the Bolsheviks gained control of Russia in the October Revolution, one of their main focuses on besides eliminating religion for Militant State Atheism (as Trotsky advocated for War Communism) was to "Latinise" all of the languages. This would mean that the Cyrillic alphabet in the Russian language (an alphabet used by the Orthodox Church since the evangelization of the Southern Slavs by Cyril and Methodius) as well as Arabic would be replaced with the Latin alphabet, something already carried out in the Republic of Turkey by Kemal Attaturk not because the Turkish Arabic alphabet represented the Sultan, but that the Turkic languages (including that spoken in Soviet Central Asia) are very rich in vowels, something that Arabic is not (thus why Kazakhstan is readoption a variation of the Turkic Latin alphabet for the Kazakh language). However under Stalin, Latinisation of the languages were put to the side in favor of Sovietization (in essence a Bolshevik variation of Russification) in which the languages in the former USSR would use variations of the Russian Cyrillic alphabet instead of that language's orthography, save for the Baltic languages (Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian), Volga German, and Yiddish languages, which retained the Latin (Baltic and German) and Hebrew (Yiddish) alphabets respectively. This use of Cyrillic in languages other than the Church Slavonic and East Slavic languages (Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian) would, upon collapse of the USSR, would see the Moldovans adopt the Latin alphabet used in the Romanian language (used prior to Stalin seizing Bessarabia) and the aforementioned Kazakh language adopting the Kazakh Turkic Latin alphabet in place of Kazakh Cyrillic (despite some wanting the Kazakh language to revert using the Kazakh Arabic alphabet).

[@Byezbozhnik]

Some fascinating background footage here. Can someone point me to these two particular films: around timestamp 12:25 and around timestamp 15:31. What are they? How can I find out more about them?

[@townsmd]

The Liberation Theology shout-out was pretty cool!

[@The_Lucent_Archangel]

The graciousness of the Orthodox Church during WW2 after decades of persecution is emblematic just as the Islamic defiance and violent backlash at Soviet anti-theist practices was. This is the binary between those two broad faiths. Christians will endure and bear the tribulations or attacks on their faith, giving to some the impression of weakness and low-hanging fruit for atheists to ridicule and supplant. It's rather telling how hesitant even the most ardent anti-religion sorts are to act the same way toward that other Abrahamic faith, by contrast.

[@ibexhunter5624]

Very well said

[@benyameenyitzhak1036]

I was thinking the same thing. I believe that it comes down to the theology, whereas Christ says that on judgment day He'll separate the sheep from the goats so our trust is that Jesus Christ will deliver justice as He said that He would (I'm Orthodox Christian too). Whereas in Islam, a person cannot insult, mock, apostatizes or really question the authenticity of the prophet or his religion. It is a blessing/guaranteed heaven if a Muslim kills someone who does so and violence is an encouraged action. So one trusts in God and the other has to be violent now.

[@andrewlim9345]

Good documentary on Soviet policies towards Christianity and Islam. Cycles of persecution and tolerance. Can see some parallels with Communist China.

[@gingermane3313]

Good information 🙏🏼❤️

[@friday26th]

ZnaNIYE, come on David, the subtitles had it right! Otherwise, another great episode

[@eriksniped5111]

I never liked the Soviet Union I don't know why , it never stuck with me and never will!

[@terrorgaming459]

Hmmm prejudging

[@arnavbhagwat4232]

The Soviet Union is a country that hasn't existed for 30 years. Who cares?

[@Vahki100]

An evil state, best left to rot. There is a current trend for support for it, much like for Nazi Germany, done by mindless idiots who do it half out of a desire to appear edgy and half out of their own ignorance of facts. The young generation is doomed if this continues, unable to find democracy or any resemblance to tolerance.

[@manojpatra2840]

@@Vahki100 russian empire was more evil kiddo.

[@Vahki100]

@@manojpatra2840 You're compering apples with oranges, brat.

[@dudermcdudeface3674]

Religion springs from emotion, and the Communists despised emotion. The conflict was fundamental.

[@HM-rz8nv]

I'm a communist, and i don't despise emotion. I think emotion, when grounded in rational considerations, passions and empathy for others, can be an excellent thing. and if someone is driven purely by chaotic emotions, well, i'm not necessarily against such a person either, but they're probably not the most rational person either. Propaganda may have told you to believe such simplistic caricatures of communist, but it's just not true.

[@dudermcdudeface3674]

@@HM-rz8nv You may believe you're a communist because of abstract ideas, but there are ideas and then reality. I highly doubt you'd ever want to meet the kind of people who tried to implement Communism. They were largely psychotic, compulsive liars even by the standards of terrorists and dictators, and that says something about the nature of what they believed.

[@afds_bm]

Awesome video! What’s the name of the soundtrack that plays at the start and end of your videos?

[@yahwehsonren]

Thank you from Indonesia

[@hiraeth4408]

A video on Judaism would also be very interesting, considering it is commonly believed and claimed that Jews led the revolution and ran the Soviet government (despite persecution, suppression of Zionism, ostracization, rejection of the Holocaust in Soviet schooling, etc.) - Good opportunity to clarify this theory.

[@kayzeaza]

Will you do a video about the Buddhists that like in South West Russia?

[@bennorwood8433]

Can you please do a video about newspapers in the USSR

[@Efsaaneh]

Fun fact: despite the ban on religion, the mosque in Agdam, Azerbaijan kept secretly working throughout the entire history of the soviet union (with pauses) until it was destroyed by armenian occupants

[@intranext1359]

" Atheisim is not a religion" - Atheists

[@ADITYAKUMAR-ut4zl]

It's an ideology

[@RadkeMaiden]

It's like not playing tennis.

[@indianboy59]

@@ADITYAKUMAR-ut4zl using that logic, Religions are failed ideologies created by their founders for personal gains. But are they?

[@GUNROCKS1990]

Interesting to hear I’m not really Pro religious or atheist I think god still exist.

[@aswfabt]

I’m pretty sure the name for that is *agnostic*

[@christidiscipulus1576]

@@aswfabt agnostic is someone who doesn't know if God exists or not this guy is a theist.

[@debras3806]

Bob OK, I encourage you to look into the claims of Jesus Christ -- the way He predicted His death and resurrection and then there's overwhelming evidence they happened... Is quite breathtaking

[@zhshsG7]

That was pretty good. I now want to find the role that religion played in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

[@thunderbird1921]

A LOT in some areas IIRC, Lithuania and Latvia both had big Christian communities, a significant portion of which were Catholics or even Lutheran Protestants. Even in the historically Orthodox Christian areas of the USSR, there is evidence of resistance to state Atheism (I've seen footage from Russia in 1991 that showed a new Russian flag being blessed by clergy and the Communist Soviet banner being hurled into the street). I think being so oppressive to religion backfired spectacularly for the Communists.