Although the Soviet Union’s constitution regulated the freedom of expression, religion and conscience, from the perspective of official state ideology, religion was viewed as the direct antipode of the communist worldview. Being perceived...
moreAlthough the Soviet Union’s constitution regulated the freedom of expression, religion and conscience, from the perspective of official state ideology, religion was viewed as the direct antipode of the communist worldview. Being perceived as its enemy and a hindrance which needed to be removed to establish and build the perfect socialist society and state. According to this, an actual religious policy was developed, which in practice, was rendered utterly contrary to constitutional provisions.
One of the findings of the research is confusion over Soviet religious legislation in terms of its abstract and ambiguous wording. This created a situation where there was a lack of legal unanimity, which is why the various institutions and officials were often guided by interpretations based upon their current personal or situational needs.
Although it is generally believed that religious literature was directly prohibited in the Soviet era, the result of the research revealed an exciting fact that in reality, this was not the case. That it appeared to be so in practice, stemmed from the various possibilities for interpretation. In order to be printed, every publication required the permission of the censor, which meant that religious literature deemed ideologically unsuitable received no such permission. However, if necessary, religious literature could also be formalized as illegal and labelled anti-Soviet, reactionary or as religious propaganda (which was forbidden), and on this basis could be used to convict people.
Underground Christian publishing began in some form shortly after the war, but the organized and purposeful activities started in the second half of the 1960s, when the situation changed and the new generation had matured. Underground publishing became more widespread, as it was the only means of self-expression free from censorship, which could also be actively used by dissident movements. In the absence of any other means to obtain the necessary literature, Estonian Christians needed to acquire and prepare the necessary literature themselves. Although part of this literature was not illegal per se, it was, however, done in secret, as without the permission of the censor, its publication would at least be classified as unofficial, if not unlawful.
The activities were quite similar for all denominations, but sources and methods differed. The most common copying method was the printing of several copies in the typewriter simultaneously, which depending on the thickness of the paper could result in 5–12 copies at a time. Photocopies were also used, with some publications appearing in this format. Tape recordings of sermons were also used, which were subsequently typed out on a paper medium and compiled into a book format. In the same way, Russian audio bibles were distributed. Rotators and other printing and duplicating machines made it possible to publish larger circulations, which were often self-made and used different techniques, such as hectographs, offsets, and silk-screen printing, mimeographic method, etc. The most powerful and rarest were underground printers with offset printing, with which it was possible to produce tens of thousands of books with double-sided print.
In the print activity, the denominations were divided into two groups: ecumenical (Baptists, Methodists and Lutherans), and non-ecumenical (Jehovah's Witnesses (who were the only underground organisation the author researched) and Adventists). As there was active interaction between members of the first group, particularly between Methodists and Baptists, their literature was quite similar. However, members of the second group exchanged and printed strictly confessional literature, which for the most part, was not exchanged with other churches. Underground publishers can also be divided on the basis of publishing forms: organizational and self-propelled publishing. Jehovah's Witnesses would be categorized under the first group, in whose case all publishing took place jointly, as an organization and conspiratorially. During the Soviet period, more than 5 million A4-sized pages were printed without anyone getting caught even once.
The Adventist Church was also engaged in joint publishing. A remarkable achievement was the creation of a secret publishing department within the congregation with two committees dealing with the selection of literature, its translation, editing, printing, and the compilation of Bible study material. Regrettably, regular foreign contact was non-existent and original works were randomly obtained from abroad or people resorted to using materials from the pre-occupation period.
Other churches took a more autonomous path (especially among the Baptists and Methodists), where there was a lack of both a coherent joint activity and of limitations on material to be published. Therefore, there were many individual actors, many of whom were pastors who translated and printed what they personally considered interesting. In the 1970s, there was an emergence of different fellowships and youth groups who were very socially active and who gave out various self-compiled periodicals, participated in book binding, printing and distribution and brought new life to the church in general. The sources of foreign literature were Finnish tourists and members of various missionary organizations who, via the shipway that opened in 1965, brought bibles and other religious literature to Estonia under their clothes. Regular contact was established with these individuals, bringing about a massive and clandestine import of Christian literature into Estonia, from where it was passed on to the entire Soviet Union. In terms of religious literature, Estonia became a transit country, from which hundreds of thousands of copies of spiritual literature passed through.
Baptists from Narva's Russian-speaking group had a special place in the underground publishing of Christian literature, who were publishing Russian-language Bibles, gospels, and songbooks in enormous quantities. They were the so-called underground Baptists, who broke off from the official union in 1961. While practically nobody was imprisoned for the reproduction and distribution of Christian literature, illegal printing was a criminal offense and several of the Baptists in Narva ended up in jail.
Both free-churches and the Lutheran Church stood out with the creation of their own Estonian theological literature, which were reprints of sermons, as well as historical works and self-compiled educational literature, which contributed to the preservation of Estonian theology. The Lutheran Church played an especially important role due to its unique position, which succeeded in preserving its Institute of Theology and obtaining permission to reproduce its own spiritual material. The Institute of Theology’s lecturers chose the materials to be printed as needed, after which the books remained in the Institute of Theology’s library.
One of the most important reproducers of underground Christian literature was Tarmo Soomere, who was associated with the Lutheran church. At the end of the 1970s, he brought the reproduction of Christian literature to an entirely new level, creating a vast network of organized printers across Estonia, who for a fee, reproduced hundreds of books in the thousands.
The dissemination of Christian literature opens up a very interesting and new angle on religious policy within the Soviet Union. A common motif that arose pertaining to Estonia was Estonia's special status compared to other Soviet republics due to significantly greater religious freedom and from a more relaxed relationship with the local government. Several different reasons have been given by the interviewees, the most important of which is the geographical location of Estonia, namely its proximity to the west and its attraction as a tourist destination, which resulted in the nickname “Sovetskii Zapad” (The Soviet West). It is believed that, as a result, the Soviet Union was able to show the world that they possessed religious freedom. The general opinion of the informants was that the local authorities were simply more reasonable than elsewhere, the same applies to the KGB, who has a firm grasp of whether the activities of one group of believers or another were truly a threat to the security of the State, which is why they were frequently viewed as minor offenses and were often ignored. Therefore, practically all informants said that they were not directly afraid of the central government, since they were accustomed to merely receiving threats. Based upon the memories of informants, it can be said that persecution and general pressure by the authorities united different churches together and aided in the establishment of interdenominational and ecumenical relations.
