Defaced portraits of Soviet leaders Moldova
Item
Title
Defaced portraits of Soviet leaders Moldova
Portrete profanate ale liderilor sovietici, Moldova
Осквернённые портреты советских вождей, Молдова
Description
These mass produced postcard-sized portraits of three soviet leaders, Nikita Khrushchev, Lavrentiy Beria and Anastas Mikoyan, have been torn and inserted into an envelope as evidence in a secret police personal file referring to a collective penal case. They were found during the search of a house of an Inochentist leader on February 11th 1953, a few weeks before Stalin’s death.
From the perspective of secret police, the disrespectful attitude towards the abovementioned leaders of those who had torn these pictures equated to an anti-Soviet act. The origin of the defaced images is open to a number of possible interpretations. Given the fact that the secret police officers claimed to have found the small portraits in the attic of the Inochentist leader’s house, the size of the portraits and the fact that the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin is missing from amongst them, the photographs may constitute fake evidence created by the secret police or somebody in collaboration with them. However, the tearing of the image of any of the Soviet leaders would have been a risky strategy even for high ranking secret police officers. Alternatively, the portraits may have been torn by the Inochentist community themselves. The case against the leaders of the community does not mention the torn pictures but instead translates the group’s actions into the language of the Soviet criminal code. The leaders of the group were convicted for creating an anti-Soviet sect, organizing illegal religious meetings and encouraging peasants not to fulfil their obligations towards the state. One of the two on trial was also convicted for having formerly collaborated with Nazi forces. This file is a good example of how problematic interpreting secret police files can be and the often ambiguous nature of the evidence presented within them.
The Soviet regime had its own iconographic tradition, which aimed at dominating the gaze of Soviet citizens who were supposed to participate in the building of Socialism in USSR. Soviet policy in the Moldavian countryside was not only a project of transforming the social and economic life of the villages, but also aimed at replacing the culture of traditional peasant communities with a new Stalinist culture in which there was no place for religion. The Inochentist communities, which were perceived as anti-Soviet sectarians, represented an obstacle towards the projects of the Soviet state. As with Eastern Orthodoxy more generally, the vernacular tradition of the Inochentists attributed a major role to icons. The intrusion of atheist Soviet iconography into the everyday life of villages seriously disturbed Inochentist sensibilities. Later in the case file, a few days after Stalin’s death one of the witnesses reported having heard one of the Inochentist leaders saying “why do you hang his portrait, is he a saint to be viewed by everyone, or what?” This case nicely illustrates the battle to dominate the gaze of Soviet peasantry.
Inochentism represents a form of local vernacular Orthodoxy drawing heavily on the conservative monastic tradition. During the first decades of the 20th century several versions of Inochentism emerged in Bessarabia. The abovementioned case refers to the followers of Ioan Zlotea. When the territory of Bessarabia was (re)occupied by Soviet forces in 1944, Inochentists once again became a target due to their maintenance of values opposed to Soviet policies applied in the countryside. Accusations included refusing the draft to the army, resisting mobilization for work on Sundays, refusing to vote in elections and refusing to join the Communist Youth Organizations. In the context of collectivization of agriculture and the recent famine in Moldova Inochentists shared a culture of apocalyptic rumor with many other religious groups in rural Russia and Ukraine.
These images can be found in the file ASIS, 023171, Vol. 1-2. This file also contains nine mugshots of one arrested Inochentist and two other unknown persons produced by secret police and used in the secret police lineup. The identification of the arrested Inochentist took place in Soviet Ukraine, in the village where, according to the file, he served as a policeman during the German occupation. In addition, the file contains three mugshots of sentenced Inochentist leaders taken by secret police officers as a standard procedure during registration of the identity of the arrested persons.
For related entries see:
From the perspective of secret police, the disrespectful attitude towards the abovementioned leaders of those who had torn these pictures equated to an anti-Soviet act. The origin of the defaced images is open to a number of possible interpretations. Given the fact that the secret police officers claimed to have found the small portraits in the attic of the Inochentist leader’s house, the size of the portraits and the fact that the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin is missing from amongst them, the photographs may constitute fake evidence created by the secret police or somebody in collaboration with them. However, the tearing of the image of any of the Soviet leaders would have been a risky strategy even for high ranking secret police officers. Alternatively, the portraits may have been torn by the Inochentist community themselves. The case against the leaders of the community does not mention the torn pictures but instead translates the group’s actions into the language of the Soviet criminal code. The leaders of the group were convicted for creating an anti-Soviet sect, organizing illegal religious meetings and encouraging peasants not to fulfil their obligations towards the state. One of the two on trial was also convicted for having formerly collaborated with Nazi forces. This file is a good example of how problematic interpreting secret police files can be and the often ambiguous nature of the evidence presented within them.
The Soviet regime had its own iconographic tradition, which aimed at dominating the gaze of Soviet citizens who were supposed to participate in the building of Socialism in USSR. Soviet policy in the Moldavian countryside was not only a project of transforming the social and economic life of the villages, but also aimed at replacing the culture of traditional peasant communities with a new Stalinist culture in which there was no place for religion. The Inochentist communities, which were perceived as anti-Soviet sectarians, represented an obstacle towards the projects of the Soviet state. As with Eastern Orthodoxy more generally, the vernacular tradition of the Inochentists attributed a major role to icons. The intrusion of atheist Soviet iconography into the everyday life of villages seriously disturbed Inochentist sensibilities. Later in the case file, a few days after Stalin’s death one of the witnesses reported having heard one of the Inochentist leaders saying “why do you hang his portrait, is he a saint to be viewed by everyone, or what?” This case nicely illustrates the battle to dominate the gaze of Soviet peasantry.
Inochentism represents a form of local vernacular Orthodoxy drawing heavily on the conservative monastic tradition. During the first decades of the 20th century several versions of Inochentism emerged in Bessarabia. The abovementioned case refers to the followers of Ioan Zlotea. When the territory of Bessarabia was (re)occupied by Soviet forces in 1944, Inochentists once again became a target due to their maintenance of values opposed to Soviet policies applied in the countryside. Accusations included refusing the draft to the army, resisting mobilization for work on Sundays, refusing to vote in elections and refusing to join the Communist Youth Organizations. In the context of collectivization of agriculture and the recent famine in Moldova Inochentists shared a culture of apocalyptic rumor with many other religious groups in rural Russia and Ukraine.
These images can be found in the file ASIS, 023171, Vol. 1-2. This file also contains nine mugshots of one arrested Inochentist and two other unknown persons produced by secret police and used in the secret police lineup. The identification of the arrested Inochentist took place in Soviet Ukraine, in the village where, according to the file, he served as a policeman during the German occupation. In addition, the file contains three mugshots of sentenced Inochentist leaders taken by secret police officers as a standard procedure during registration of the identity of the arrested persons.
For related entries see:
Aceste portrete ale liderilor sovietici Nikita Hrușciov, Anastas Mikoian și Lavrentii Beria, sunt de dimensiunile unei cărți poștale, și au fost produse în masă. Portretele au fost introduse într-un plic și atașate drept probă incriminatorie într-un dosar de urmărire penală din arhiva poliției secrete a Moldovei Sovietice. Acestea au fost identificate în timpul unei percheziții în casa unui lider inochentist pe 11 februarie 1953. Din perspectiva ofițerilor poliției, tratarea cu nerespect a celor trei portrete, care au fost rupte, reprezenta un act antisovietic. Originea portretelor nu este clară, existând câteva ipoteze în această privință. Având în vedere faptul că dosarul susține că potretele au fost găsite în podul casei unui Inochentist și că acestea nu conțin imaginea lui Iosif Stalin, exista posibilitatea ca portretele să constituie niște probe false produse de ofițeri, sau de cineva în colaborare cu poliția secretă. Totuși, ruperea portretelor oricărui lider sovietic reprezenta o acțiune riscantă chiar și pentru ofițerii de rang înalt. De asemenea, portretele ar fi putut fi rupte de unul dintre Inochentiști. Dosarul de urmărire penală nu face referire la potrete, în schimb traduce activitatea comunității inochentiste în limbajul codului penal sovietic. Liderii grupului au fost condamnați pentru organizarea unei secte antisovieitce, organizare de întruniri religioase ilegale și de încurajare a țăranilor spre a nu-și înteplini obligațiunile față de stat. Unul din cei trei acuzați a mai fost învinuit de colaborare cu autoritățile naziste în perioada războiului în Ucraina. Dosarul este un bun exemplu ce redă complexitatea interpretării dosarelor poliției secrete și cât de ambigue pot fi probele pe care acestea le conțin.
Regimul sovietic avea propria tradiție iconografică ce avea drept obiectiv dominarea vizuală a spațiului și încurajarea cetățenilor în a participa la procesul de construire a socialismului. Politica sovietică în mediul rural al Moldovei nu a fost doar un proiect de transformare a vieții sociale și economice a comunităților țărănești, ci urmărea și înlocuirea culturii țăranilor cu o nouă cultură de tip stalinist, în care nu era loc pentru religii. Comunitățile inochentiste reprezentau un obstacol pentru politicile regimului sovietic. La fel ca și creștinismul ortodox, cultura vernaculară inochentistă atribue un rol central incoanelor. Invazia iconografiei sovietice în mediul rural a perturbat sensibilitățile inochentiștilor. Unul dintre martorii din dosar a raportat faptul că a auzit de la unul din învinuiți, la câteva zile după moartea lui Stalin, următoarele: ”de ce îi aranjați portretul, este oare el un sfânt ca să fie văzut de toată lumea?” Acest caz redă confruntarea pentru dominație în spațiul vizual din comunitățile țărănești Sovietice.
Inochentismul reprezintă o formă vernaculară a creștinismului ortodox ce are la bază tradițiile conservatoare monastice. În primele decenii ale secolului al XX-lea în Basarabia au apărut câteva variante ale inochentismului. Cazul menționat se referă la adepții lui Ioan Zlotea. Când teritoriul Basarabieie a fost (re)ocupat de Uniunea Sovietică în 1944, inochentiștii au devenit din nou o țintă a represiunii din cauza tradițiilor lor opuse politicilor regimului în mediul rural. Acuzațiile includeau refuzul de a efectua serviciul militar, de a fi mobilizați în activitățile de lucru colectiv în zilele de Duminică, refuzul de a vota și de a se alătura Komsomolului. În contextul colectivizării agriculturii și a foametei, la fel ca în alte grupuri similare din Rusia și Ucraina, în cultura inochentistă apar zvonuri apocaliptice.
Portretele pot fi găsite în dosarul ASIS, 23171, Vol. 1-2. Dosarul mai conține nouă fotografii în arest ale unui inochentist și ale unor persoane necunoscute, fotografii ce au fost utilizate în procesul de identificare prin declarațiile martorilor. Identificarea a avut loc într-un sat din Ucraina unde, conform dosarului, inochentistul acuzat a avut o colaborare activă cu autoritățile germane în perioada războiului. Dosarul mai conține, de asemenea, încă trei fotografii în arest produse de ofițeri în procesul standard de înregistrare a identității persoanelor arestate.
Pentru descrieri similare vezi:
Subject
Evidence, criminal
Totalitarianism
Religious sects
Sects
Communism--Soviet Union--History--Sources
Evidence fabrication
Evidence photographs
Trials (Political crimes and offenses)--Soviet Union
Communism and religion
Christian sects--Soviet Union
Creator
Dumitru Lisnic
Source
Arhiva Serviciului de Informații și Securitate al Republicii Moldova ASIS, 023171, Vol. 1-2.
Publisher
Hidden Galleries (ERC project no.677355)
Date
1953
Contributor
Igor Cașu
Rights
Arhiva Serviciului de Informații și Securitate a Republicii Moldova.
Format
Image/jpg
Photo
Language
RU
Type
Image
Identifier
ASIS, 023171, Vol. 1-2.
Bibliographic Citation
Dumitru Lisnic, ”Defaced portraits of Soviet leaders Moldova”
Date Created
2018
Extent
Various
Defaced portrait of Nikita Khrushchev 
Torn portrait of Lavrentiy Beria 
Torn portrait of Anastas Mikoyan