Resistance by Image: Arrest Photographs of True Orthodox believers, Ukraine 1952
Item
Title
Resistance by Image: Arrest Photographs of True Orthodox believers, Ukraine 1952
Образи насильства над віруючими на фотографіях таємної поліції, Україна
Description
These arrest photographs come from a 1952 secret police penal file on a group of 23 believers who were arrested in the Kiev region of Ukraine. The file contains two versions of their arrest photographs taken by the MGB officers. As the photos were being taken, the believers intentionally closed their eyes, turned their heads away, or sang while the officers tried to restrain them. Their gloved hands are clearly visible in the images. Police officers later tried to correct these “tainted” photographs by removing the evidence of their violent intervention from the prints, which one can see in the spruced-up copies with the hands of the policemen roughly shaded out. The handless photos were used in the formal documentation of the case, while the smaller-size, original photos with the hands were appended to the back of the arrest questionnaires.
The MGB official closing indictment charged the group with conducting anti-Soviet activity and propaganda as members of the “ecclesiastical-monarchist organization ‘the True Orthodox Church.’” However, no one knew much about them. Their co-villagers described them as Stundists or Baptists and knew nothing more than the fact that, even though they displayed Orthodox icons, crosses and church books in their homes, they never went to Orthodox Church and did not recognize Orthodox priests. The members of the group lived isolated lives; they rarely talked to their neighbours, avoided representatives of the Soviet authorities and never discussed their faith except to repeat the phrase: “God knows” (Bog znaet). All we know about them now is that they were poor peasants who gathered for prayer in secret in their homes, sometimes travelling between villages to pray together. They refused to enroll in local collective farms or to work at other state enterprises, never paid taxes or registered for other Soviet documents, and never used money (“the mark of the dragon”) or sent their kids to public school.
The pre-trial review of the believers was brief: a mere three days of interrogations and then an additional night of twenty-two orchestrated confrontations between the arrestees and witnesses (conducted from 9pm until 4am). During the review, the believers refused to answer questions, responding to everything by saying simply “God knows” or “I will only answer to the Judgment of God.” During the whole process they never stopped singing and praying. They continued when the police came for them, as their arrest photographs were being taken, during the interrogations that preceded their trial and even during the court hearing. The case lasted 9 days between the arrests and the court hearing with the final decision of 25 years in labour camps handed down to most of the defendants.
For more about the case see:
Tatiana Vagramenko, Gabriela Nicolescu, The Hand at Work or How the KGB File Leaks in the Exhibition. In Martor Journal (forthcoming, 2021).
For related items see:
The MGB official closing indictment charged the group with conducting anti-Soviet activity and propaganda as members of the “ecclesiastical-monarchist organization ‘the True Orthodox Church.’” However, no one knew much about them. Their co-villagers described them as Stundists or Baptists and knew nothing more than the fact that, even though they displayed Orthodox icons, crosses and church books in their homes, they never went to Orthodox Church and did not recognize Orthodox priests. The members of the group lived isolated lives; they rarely talked to their neighbours, avoided representatives of the Soviet authorities and never discussed their faith except to repeat the phrase: “God knows” (Bog znaet). All we know about them now is that they were poor peasants who gathered for prayer in secret in their homes, sometimes travelling between villages to pray together. They refused to enroll in local collective farms or to work at other state enterprises, never paid taxes or registered for other Soviet documents, and never used money (“the mark of the dragon”) or sent their kids to public school.
The pre-trial review of the believers was brief: a mere three days of interrogations and then an additional night of twenty-two orchestrated confrontations between the arrestees and witnesses (conducted from 9pm until 4am). During the review, the believers refused to answer questions, responding to everything by saying simply “God knows” or “I will only answer to the Judgment of God.” During the whole process they never stopped singing and praying. They continued when the police came for them, as their arrest photographs were being taken, during the interrogations that preceded their trial and even during the court hearing. The case lasted 9 days between the arrests and the court hearing with the final decision of 25 years in labour camps handed down to most of the defendants.
For more about the case see:
Tatiana Vagramenko, Gabriela Nicolescu, The Hand at Work or How the KGB File Leaks in the Exhibition. In Martor Journal (forthcoming, 2021).
For related items see:
Ці фотографії арешту з кримінальної справи МДБ від 1952р. проти групи з 23 віруючих, що були заарештовані у Київській області, Україні. Справа містить дві версії фотографій арешту, зроблені оперативниками. В той час, як їх фотографували, віруючі спеціально закривали очі, відвертали обличчя чи співали, у той час як офіцери намагалися утримати їх: на фото видні їх руки і чорні рукавички. Органи згодом намагались виправити ці “зіпсовані” фотографії, прибираючи докази їх жорстокого поводження зі світлин, що можна побачити на підчищених копіях, де руки були вже замальовані. Фотографії с заштрихованими руками оперативників були використані у офіційних документах по справі, в той час як менші за розміром оригінальні світлини з руками прикріплені на звороті анкет заарештованих.
В обвинувальному висновку група звинувачувалася у проведенні антирадянської діяльності і пропаганді як члени “церковно-монархістської організації ‘Істинно-православної церкви.’” Тим не менш, про них мало що було відомо. Їх сусіди іноді називали їх штундистами або баптистами і також знали, що вони мали православні ікони, хрести і церковні книжки вдома, але ж ніколи не ходили у православну церкву і не визнавали православних священників. Віруючі жили відокремлено: вони рідко розмовляли з сусідами, уникали представників радянської влади і ніколи не розмовляли про свою віру, тільки відповідали однією фразою: “Бог знає”. Все, що ми знаємо про них зараз, це те, що вони були бідними селянами, що таємно збирались на молитву у своїх домівках, іноді їздили у сусідні села, щоб помолитись разом з іншими віруючими. Вони відмовлялися вступати до місцевих колгоспів, чи працювати на інших державних організаціях, ніколи не платили податки, не отримували радянські документи і ніколи не користувалися грошима, не відправляли своїх дітей до державної школи.
Досудове розслідування було коротким: три дні допитів і одна ніч, під час якої провели двадцять дві очні ставки між арештованими і свідками (з 9 вечора до 4 ранку). Під час розгляду справи віруючі відмовлялись відповідати на питання, просто повторюючи “Бог знає” чи “тільки буду відповідати перед Судом Божим.” Вони не переставали співати і молитися. Вони співали і молилися коли оперативники прийшли за ними, коли їх фотографували, коли допитували, і навіть під час судового засідання. Увесь процес між арештом і винесенням вироку зайняв 9 днів. Вирок - 25 років трудових таборів для більшості підсудних.
Subject
Communism and Christianity--Europe, Eastern
Communism--Europe--History--20th century
Secret police (secret service)
Totalitarianism
Religion and state--Europe
Christian sects--Soviet Union
Communism and culture--Soviet Union
Communism--Soviet Union--History--Sources
Evidence photographs
Insurgency
Soviet Union. Ministerstvo gosudarstvennoĭ bezopasnosti
Trials (Political crimes and offenses)--Soviet Union
Creator
Tatiana Vagramenko
Source
Галузевий державний архів Служби безпеки України, ГДА СБУ ф. 6, спр.
Publisher
This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme No . 677355
The research for this entry was funded by Irish Research Council, GOIPD/2017/764
The research for this entry was funded by Irish Research Council, GOIPD/2017/764
Date
1952
Rights
Copyright for these images belongs to the State Archive Branch of the Security Services of Ukraine
Type
Image/ jpg
Image
Image
Identifier
SBU Archive, f. 6, spr.
Coverage
Ukraine
Soviet Union
20th Century
Soviet Union
20th Century
Bibliographic Citation
Tatiana Vagramenko "Resistance by Image: Arrest Photographs of True Orthodox believers" http://hiddengalleries.eu/digitalarchive/s/en/item/443
