Items

• 
  Postcard-icon of Feodosie Levițchi

  This postcard icon portrays Feodosie Levițchi (Romanian spelling) or Teodosie Levitsky (in Russian) (1791-1845), of Balta (today’s Odessa Oblast, Ukraine). It was confiscated from a Bessarabian peasant in 1938 who had been charged with Inochentist propaganda and sentenced to 45 days imprisonment. Feodosie was an important figure for the Inochentist movement as Inochentie of Balta (1875-1917) was instrumental in sponsoring the cult of his deceased predecessor and distributed mass produced icons (like the one seen here) and miracle stories across Ukraine and Bessarabia to encourage pilgrims to visit for the tomb and then later the monastery of Feodosie Levițchi founded to house his relics. Levițchi was eventually canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2009, over 100 years after the the campaign for his canonisation was first launched. Levițchi was born in the village of Korytna in Podolia, today’s Ukraine. He became a priest in 1815 and was ordained in the Church of Saint Nicholas in Balta. Levițchi soon became known for the power of his improvised preaching and, following the death of his wife in 1818, he dedicated himself to delivering increasingly apocalyptic sermons. He lived as a hermit and spent long hours in prayer, eventually writing a study which he sent to Tsar Alexander I via Alexander Nikolayevich Golytsin, the Tsar’s conservative Education minister. The Tsar enjoyed the work so much that on the 3rd May 1823 Levițchi was invited to Saint Petersburg. Levițchi seems to have had a powerful effect on Golytsin and he became a regular visitor to the priest who was soon presented to the Tsar who was reported to have been “very happy and grateful for his work in the name of God” and gave him permission to continue to spread his teachings. In the summer, he left Saint Petersburg but continued to write to the Tsar. Levițchi’s fame grew but his association with Golytsin, who was accused by powerful enemies of being a Freemason was to be his downfall. Levițchi asked for permission to return to Podolia but his request was denied and he was instead exiled to a monastery on an island on lake Ladoga where he was kept under close supervision. When he was eventually released in 1827 following the death of Alexander and enthronement of Nicholas I, he returned to Balta. There he returned to his old position in the Church of Saint Nicholas. He built a modest hostel there to offer shelter to the poor, orphans and the sick. He died on 9th March 1845. In 1909, under unusual circumstances, Inochentie of Balta, took charge of removing Levițchi’s relics from his family plot to the sanctuary of the new monastery in Balta. From this point forward, the cult of Levițchi grew exponentially under the direction of Inochentie of Balta. For related entries see:
• 
  Photo-icon of Alexandru Culeac as the Archangel Michael Bessarabia

  The three images presented here all show variants of the same photo-icon of Alexandru Culeac portrayed as the Archangel Michael. In the first image he appears alone; in the second image, his photograph appears next to that of Inochentie of Balta, and the third image is a reproduction of the photo-icon that appears inside the front cover of a booklet containing Alexandru Culeac's visions entitled "A vision that appeared in 1920". The presence of multiple examples of this photo-icon in the same file reflects the importance of this devotional image to the Archangelist community. Archangelism formed as a branch of Inochentism under the leadership of the Culeac brothers, the most prominent of whom was Alexandru Culeac (b. 1891). He was considered to be the Archangel Michael returned to earth to battle Satan at the End of Days. The Culeac brothers published and distributed their visionary experiences of divine election and the Final Judgement in the form of brochures and continued the tradition started by followers of Inochentie of Balta of using powerful visual materials to communicate their message, commissioning icons and producing photographs to reinforce their special claims. Alexandru Culeac quickly grasped the power of the image to establish his status as mediator between earthly and heavenly realities and in the image shown here we see how techniques of montage and over-painting have been used to create a striking iconization of Alexandru Culeac. In 1924, the photo-icon was printed on the inside cover page of his booklet of prophetic visions entitled "A vision that appeared in 1920" (image three). In the photo-icon, Alexandru Culeac is pictured with a flaming sword, a shield and a dove at his heart, a sign of his dual identity as both the Holy Spirit and Archangel Michael. Later, during the Soviet period, media reports and propaganda publications continued to draw attention to the significance of the production and distribution of religious images for the success of the Archangelist sect, whilst also ridiculing the crudity of their production. In Alexandru Culeac’s confession which was published in 1959 under the title "Repentance of a Sinner", he explains how important the icon that “looked just like me” was for his career, for the Archangelist movement and for the promotion of his divine status: "I decided then to make an icon with my image. I commissioned it from a painter who painted the Day of Judgement and the Ascension of the Archangel Michael, as well as my ascension to heaven. The icon was a success. And the Archangel Michael looked just like me. I declared this icon holy. And it started here. People threw themselves down on their knees in front of the icon. They kissed it and prayed to it to heal them from illness. I don’t know if the icon cured anyone but in exchange we received a handsome income. They brought us cereals, money, carpets and cattle." Intended to portray Alexandru Culeac as a religious charlatan who fooled his followers into making offerings to him, this extract from his confession (which may well have been extracted under duress) nevertheless offers us an insight into the power of the image in the Moldovan vernacular worldview. These photographs come from the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova – Military Tribunal of the 3rd Army Corps ANRM-TMC3A 738-1-6846. In addition to the materials shown here the file contains several photographs of members of the Archangelist community, two pencil sketches and another booklets entitled "The Lord has Spoken [Dumnezeu a vorbit]. Undated. București: Tipografia “Lupta” N. Stoilă. For related entries see:
• 
  Confiscated handwritten Inochentist hymn Moldova

  The images show an Inochentist handwritten hymn found by the Soviet secret police officers on an arrested Inochentist preacher in 1952 in Moldova. The hymn describes Jesus's preaching to his followers on the Mount of Olives about the End Time. The Apocalypse, according to the hymn, will begin when people would abandon the church. Then, according to the narrative, the wrath of God would descend on sinners and only those who do not abandon the true faith will be saved. The hymn is written in Romanian using the Cyrillic script. The preacher, who may not be the author of the text but was probably the copyist, wrote his surname at the end of hymn under a decorative drawing. The hymn served as evidence in the case file of the Inochentist preacher on whom it was found. The preacher was charged with sedition and anti-soviet propaganda and was sentenced to 25 years in a labor camp. From the perspective of the police investigation, the Inochentist narratives about the End Time were useful for their investigations because they labeled those “who left the Church” as sinners who were about to be struck down by God’s wrath. The officers perceived the hymn as an attempt by the Inochentist preachers to exploit the “religious superstitions” of the peasantry in order to label the Soviet regime and its representatives as “sinners” that were about to be punished by God. The hymn is attached to file number 3815, fond R-3401, from the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova. The file contains two mugshots and the above mentioned hymn. For related entries see:
• 
  Confiscated images of Archangelist women Moldova

  These photographs were confiscated by the secret police of the Moldavian SSR from a community of Archangelists in 1952. Archangelism inherited the iconographic tradition of Eastern Christianity and developed them creatively using modern techniques of photograph, photocopying, collage and multiplication. The first image was produced using the technique of photo collage. The creator of the image has utilised a copy of an Orthodox icon showing a female saint replacing the face of the saint with a photograph of the face of Elena Culiac, venerated by Archangelists as the embodiment of Virgin Mary or the Mother of God as she is more commonly referred to in Orthodox Christianity. She was the wife of Alexandru Culiac, one of the founders of Archangelism who was considered to be the embodiment of the Archangel Michael by the believers. Above the image of Elena Culiac, there is a writing similar to that used on classic orthodox icons that praises her as a saint and as an empress. The other two photographs show two groups of Archangelist women preachers. They are dressed monastic-style robes, holding icons and crosses in a stance similar to those seen in iconographic representations of saints. Archangelism emerged in Bessarabia from mainstream Eastern Orthodox Christianity but one of its distinctive features was the central role that women came to play. Unlike mainstream Christianity where only men can become priests, in Archangelism women hold leadership positions and officiate some religious services. The women had different roles and levels of status inside the community and these hierarchical differences are depicted in their visual representations. Elena Culiac was worshiped as the embodiment of Virgin Mary and she is represented according to sacred iconographic traditions. The first image creates a connection between these older representations of the Virgin Mary and Elena Culiac, encouraging the believer to worship her through this image. The clothes and stance of the women in the second and third photographs, who are shown standing or sitting in distinctive poses, underline their status as preachers. These icon-like images, however, do not gives them the same aura of sanctity associated with Elena Culiac. The small icons held in their hands may be intended to underline this difference. It is unlikely that these photographs fulfilled the same purpose as the photo-icon of Elena Culeac. The women depicted on the second and the third photographs were rather messengers of the embodied saints of the movement. There role was to deliver the word and the icons of the embodied saints to believers. It is no coincidence that three of five icons held by the preachers represent Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary is the most venerated female saint in Christianity and for Archangelist women the association with her person was the highest mark of respect and status. Not all women in the second and in the third photographs share the same status. According to police records and as the images suggest, one of them held more authority. The women represented seating on the second photograph and sitting on the left side in the third picture held a leadership role in the community. Her status is marked by a special headscarf on the second picture, and by a handkerchief placed on her left lap on the second image. Both the headscarf and the handkerchief are decorated with crosses. On both photographs she is seated on the chair in a central position. These confiscated photographs were used by the police as evidence of the women's involvement in an illegal sect and as a means of identification of other members of the group. Through these photographs the police tried to reconstruct the network of Archangelists in the south of the Moldovan SSR. These photographs are attached to a secret police investigation case file created in 1952. Today the file is preserved under number 3716 at the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova, fond R-3401, inventory 1. It contains a total number of 14 photographs that include one mugshot, one picture showing confiscated religious items produced by the police and 12 confiscated photographs. For related entries see:
• 
  Newspaper as evidence of "collaborationism" in Moldova and Transnistria

  The image shows a newspaper cutting of an article signed by Feodor Florea. Florea was a Romanian Orthodox priest who joined the Orthodox mission in Romanian-occupied Transnistria. The article contains a picture of Florea performing a religious service. This newspaper cutting was used by the Soviet secret police as evidence of his collaboration with Romania occupation in Ukraine. Following the Axis invasion of the USSR in June 1941, Romania liberated Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, which had been briefly occupied by the Soviet Union, and continued military operations over the river Dniester on territories that had never before belonged to Romania. In the occupied south-western region of the Ukrainian SSR, which was named Transnistria by the Romanian military administration, the Romanian Orthodox Church organised a mission to revive local religious life and to reopen and rebuild churches closed or destroyed by the Soviet regime. From the perspective of the Soviet regime this Romanian Orthodox missionary activity was an attempt by the Romanian occupiers to propagate its Romanian national ideology. The preaching of the Orthodox missionaries in Transnistria had an “anti-Soviet character” in that it attempted to combat the anti-religious policies and propaganda of the Soviet regime. Feodor Florea had been Dean of Odessa, had taught in the local Seminary and had written several articles in the newspaper “Молва” and in the journal “Христианская Транснистрия”, a Russian language newspaper published daily in Transnistria during Romanian occupation. The article used as evidence against him outlines the role of “Молва” to reflect the life of society and to show it the path to a “bright future” through the promotion of Christian values and morality. Feodor Florea was arrested in 1945 for “active anti-Soviet propaganda” in the occupied territories and was sentenced to 10 years of prison. The newspaper cutting is contained in the investigation case file number 2028, compiled by the secret police of Soviet Moldavia in 1945, and preserved nowadays in the archival fond R-3401, inventory 1, in the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova. The file contains investigation documents regarding Florea’s activity during the war created by the police officers and a number of newspaper cuttings similar to the above mentioned article. For related entries see:
• 
  Confiscated family album Bessarabia and Odessa

  These photographs are part of a family album found on a woman who tried to cross the border between USSR and Romania that was confiscated by the Soviet secret police in 1940. They depict different moments from the life of the family, such as a wedding and a day spent at the seaside in Odessa. The album contains images of members of the family at different ages and of some of the family’s friends. For over a hundred years both banks of Dniester river were part of the Russian Empire until 1918 when Bessarabia united with Romania and the river became frontier between Romania and the Soviet Union. The new border and the hostilities between the Soviet Union and Romania brought numerous changes to the region but did not put an end to the personal ties between the people on the two banks of the river. In the winter of 1940, a woman of Bessarabian origin living in Odessa tried to join her family that lived on the Romanian side of the frontier by crossing the frozen river Dniester. The border was frequently transgressed from both sides by people seeking a better life or escaping repression. The number of illegal crossings from the Soviet side in Romania increased during the famines and during the collectivisation of agriculture. Some of the inhabitants of the villages located close to the river also crossed to visit their relatives across the border or were practiced smuggling. Those wanting to flee from the country were helped by the people living in the border area who knew the best places to cross Dniester. Many were arrested or even killed when trying to cross. The women whose family album was confiscated by the Soviet secret police tried to illegally cross the border with the help of a guide from Nezavertailovca, a village near Tiraspol. They were both arrested and sentenced to five and three years imprisonment respectively. Family albums were of interest to secret police as the the Communist Party’s project of social engineering required extraordinary powers of the state over the citizen, including in his/her family life. The Soviet state was therefore very attentive to kinship relations, which from the regime’s perspective could in certain conditions undermine ones devotion to the state and the party. From the secret police perspective, the arrest of a citizen could lead to the development of anti-soviet sentiments amongst the members of his family or friends, who could then also become involved in different kinds of conspiracies. Collecting family pictures, as well as registering data regarding family networks of those who had been convicted was part of the secret police’s attempt to identify those parts of the society from where anti-Soviet elements were more likely to come. The album shown here was found on a person who had relatives abroad as some of the persons depicted in the photographs lived in Romania. The album therefore could be used to prove the existence of cross-border networks that were perceived as dangerous and from the perspective of the secret police and may also have been used to identify other would be transgressors. Likewise, the family photographs could provide secret police with data regarding the past of the arrested persons. For example, the economic state of the family is reflected in the material items displayed on the photographs, (clothing, housing, the quality of the photographs and the workshops were they were produced). The photography revealed the social status of those depicted on it. Likewise, the photographs allowed the officers to identify places visited by the convicted persons, and to read on their reverse notes about personal impressions, fillings, and attitudes. The abovementioned photographs are part of the file number 595, found R-3401, inventory 1, preserved at the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova. The file contains approximately 20 family photographs belonging to the woman who tried to cross the frontier, her birth certificate and an autorisation to travel to Romania issued in 1937 by Romanian Royal Diplomatic Legation in Odessa. For related entries see:
• 
  Commemoration of the dead by a family in Bessarabia

  The photograph shows a family from Bessarabia in a cemetery of Chilia Nouă celebrating Paștele Blajinilor (in Romanian) or Radonitsa (in Russian), the day when the Orthodox Christian families commemorate their deceased relatives. Almsgiving has a central place in the commemoration of the dead in Orthodox Christian tradition. It is believed that by offering to each other bread, cookies, fruits, tableware items and drinks, the believers redeem the sins of their deceased relatives, and satiate the dead’s thirst and hunger. This is why the grave in the image is covered with various items that were due to be offered as gifts. Celebrated one week after the Orthodox Easter, Paștele Blajinilor or Radonitsa is a day when the entire family are gathered in the cemetery. This family used this occasion to take a picture, a copy of which was later sent to a relative who could not attend the commemoration and who was arrested by the Soviet secret police in 1940. The photograph was confiscated from a woman arrested when trying to flee from USSR to Bessarabia (at that time part of Romania). The photograph was important for the secret police investigation because it depicted cross-border family networks. The photograph have been attached to the investigation file 595 that is preserved in the archival found R-3401, inventory 1, at the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova. The file contains another 21 family photographs, a birth certificate and a visa issued in 1937 by the Romanian Royal Diplomatic Legacy in Odessa. For related entries see:
• 
  Confiscated photographs of Archangelists Moldova

  These confiscated photographs come from a 1938 Military Court file from Romanian Bessarabia (today’s Republic of Moldova). On the 25th August 1938, a house search was conducted of the home of Vladimir Draguțan in the village of Recea, county Lăpușna. Amongst the items “used for Inochentist propaganda” discovered at Vlademir’s home were a number of religious booklets, devotional images of Alexandru Culeac, the founder of the movement, and Inochentie of Balta, a number of small crosses and several photographs of the community. The first image shows three women one of whom is named in the case file as Maria Sârbu, who was arrested at the time of the house search; the second image shows two men, one of whom may be Vladimir Draguțan; the third is a group image of what appear to be elders of the community, and the final image is of three of the Culeac brothers, the leaders of networks inspired by Inochentism that emerged in the 1920s following the death of Inochentie of Balta. Vladimir, his father Vasile and Maria Sârbu, were found guilty of Inochentist propaganda on the basis of the evidence gathered during the house search. The two men were both sentenced to six months imprisonment, Maria received a sentence of three months. In the case file, Maria Sîrbu confesses that she had “left her home village ten years previously and had been wandering as a vagabond with Inochentist sectants” ever since. During this period, women in particular are frequently reported as living as travelling preachers or propagandists for the movement, something that the Romanian Gendarmerie and Secret Police struggled to put a stop to. In the safe houses dotted across the Moldovan countryside established by the group, they also devised means to generate income for the community. Vladimir Drăguțan, in whose home Maria Sîrbu was arrested, was found to be making “small crosses from silver, with all the kit necessary for making crosses”; the gendarmes confiscated “three silver coins and five small crosses” and in his statement Vladimir admits to manufacturing them since 1931. The gendarme captain interprets the manufacture of crosses as a means to “cheat believers and sectants and with the sale of the crosses attract them from the Orthodox religion to the Inochentist sect.” In the photographs presented here we can see that all members of the community wore silver crosses very prominently outside their clothing on long chains. From the fairly large corpus of photographs of Archangelists preserved in Military Court and Gendarme files, it is evident that this was a characteristic and distinctive practice of the group. In the absence of Archangelist written testimonies from this period, the materials found in the Military Court files present us with an important record of Archangelist material cultural practices from this time. We can look upon Maria Sîrbu represented in the way she chose to be seen alongside her sisters in faith. In the first image, one of the women is seated – we cannot be sure but this one appears to be Maria as she is the place of honour – while the other two women standing behind her hold wooden crosses in their right hands, the symbol of a martyr in Orthodox iconography and a direct infringement of Orthodox canonical norms regarding visual representations of people who are not saints. Inochentie of Balta, the founder of Inochentism, also frequently appears in photographs in this pose and since his time it has served as visual marker of Inochentist identity. These photographs come from the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova – Military Tribunal of the 3rd Army Corps ANRM-TMC3A 738-1-6846. In addition to the photographs shown here the file contains a further three devotional photographs of Alexandru Culeac and Inochentie of Balta, two pencil sketches and two booklets, one entitled A Vision that appeared in the Year 1920 [O vedenie ce s’a arătat în anul 1920]. 1924. Iaşi: Institutul de Arta Grafice “Versuri şi Proză” and the other, The Lord has Spoken [Dumnezeu a vorbit]. Undated. București: Tipografia “Lupta” N. Stoilă. For related entries see:
• 
  Inventory and confiscated items from a house search of an Archangelist-Inochentist Romania

  The images show an inventory and confiscated photographs included in a case file forwarded to the Romanian 3rd Army Military Court on 2nd December 1938. The first image shows the inventory of items found in the house, which was located in Fălciu county. The officer lists the following Inochentist "propaganda" materials: "1. A brochure entitled 'The Deeds of the Archangel Michael', 2. a small icon of saint Paraschiva, 3. a cross sculpted from wood, 4. three photographs of Culeac dressed in white with a cross on his chest, 5. a photograph of Culeac dressed in vestments." The second image shows one of the photographs of "Culeac" dressed in white described in the inventory. The third image is the photograph of "Culeac dressed in vestments". The fourth image shows the first page of the brochure 'The Deeds of the Archangel Michael'. The diligent way in which the items were listed and collated by the Romanian Gendarmerie in this case reflects the importance that the Romanian authorities placed on the prevention of the spread of Inochentist "religious propaganda materials" and their important use as evidence in anti-sect trials in this period. On the 21st April 1937, the Ministry of Religions and Arts had issued Ministerial Decision no. 4.781 “Regarding banned sects and religious associations” in which it was stated explicitly that the administrative and police agencies were to stop every form of “propaganda of religious prosleytism, whether this is done verbally, in the form of writing, through brochures and journals etc. by colporteurs, or members of the illegal sect.” The police were also to confiscate all religious materials and send them together with the completed documents to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Deciziunea 4.781 1937, 3-4). This policy ensured that many Inochentist brochures, photo-icons and photographs were preserved in the case files and penal files of individuals arrested at this time. In the case featured here, the items did not result in a successful prosecution as the accused stated that the materials belonged to his daughter-in-law and that he had no knowledge of their contents or meaning. These images come from the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova – Military Tribunal of the 3rd Army Corps ANRM-TMC3A 738-1-6849. For related entries see