Politburo And The Church, Kremlin Archives

N. Petrovsky, S.G. Petrov

Note from the Polish Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) to the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on the trial of Catholic Polish priests in Belarus. May 15, 1922

No. 24-21 ¹²

May 15, 1922

Top secret

In Ts.K. R.K.P.

In view of the fact that Ts.K. R.K.P., based on the proposal of Ts.B. K.P. Belarus ¹⁷ , it was decided to initiate a trial against Catholic priests in Minsk, arrested for their opposition to the confiscation of valuables from Catholic churches, and the process will be conducted in Polish and comrades from Moscow will be delegated as accusers, among them Comrade LESCHINSKY, a member of the Polburo of the Central Committee RCP.

Polish Bureau Ts.K. R.K.P. ¹⁸ considers it necessary to express his opinion on the proposed process and related circumstances and consequences:

1) The behavior of Catholic priests during the confiscation of valuables (Minsk, Gomel, Petrograd, Moscow and a number of other localities), as well as the already held trials against Orthodox priests (Moscow, Shuya) require the most actively resisting Catholic priests to be brought to justice.

The value of the process will be threefold ¹ *: a) it can provide factual material for anti-religious propaganda, however, subject to a wellorganized process; b) will oppose antagonisms that may arise on religious grounds (the Orthodox are punished, the Catholic are condescending); c) indicate to local authorities that the Catholic Church is not privileged, as is often commented on in connection with the Riga Treaty.

At the same time, however, it should be emphasized:

2) The role of the Catholic religion is largely different from that of the Orthodox (the Catholic religion, perhaps, penetrates deeper into private and public life, it does not know any schisms and sectarianism, is more universal, is associated by the population with the national issue and, most importantly, Until ² * 1917 it was a suppressed religion, for which thousands of believers suffered.

In view of this, it is not necessary to count on the significance of the process for anti-church propaganda or hope for a split among believers (as is already happening among the Orthodox).

The question is further complicated by the canonical peculiarities of Catholicism, which were already pointed out in his note by the Polish Foreign Minister Skirmunt.

3) The trial, due to the international character of Catholicism, will undoubtedly evoke a response in all Catholic countries (Italy, France and Poland), headed by the Pope and, in all likelihood, will entail diplomatic complications, especially since the process will lead, according to our information, to the need to bring Archbishop Tseplyak to justice (like Tikhon) ¹⁹ .

4) Poland, based on the Riga Treaty, will raise issue ²⁰ especially sharply . Here one should point to the note dated April 28, p. in which there is already a protest against the removal of valuables from Catholic churches. To this day, the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs has not responded, since the People's Commissariat of Justice has not yet given an opinion, since from a legal point of view the arguments of the Polish Government are correct ²¹ .

Taking the foregoing into account, the Polish Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP considers it necessary to indicate that the conduct of the process is expedient only under the following conditions:

1) Bringing the process to its logical end, without stopping before complications that might arise.

2) Parcels to Minsk except for Comrade Leshchinsky, whose role is reduced to revealing the socio-political background of the crime, an expert on the legal and canonical side of the case. This is all the more necessary, [because] the process will receive wide publicity abroad and the diplomatic speeches of the interested parties will be based - on the legal formulation of the process and that private protection is allowed to participate in the process.

3) Careful preparation of the required material.

In this regard, the term of the process should be postponed for several days.

Secretary of the Polbureau of the Central Committee of the RCP S. Geltman

- L. 13. Typewritten original, signature - autograph. In the upper left corner is the stamp of the Polish Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) with the handwritten inscription “Secretariat. Moscow " and the date " 15 / V.1922 ". Above, handwritten notes: 1) "Polish Bureau of the Central Committee"; 2) "Arch [iv] P [olit] 6 [yuro]". Handwritten incoming number of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) with the date "23 / V-22". In the upper right corner there is a stamp of the Bureau of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the RCP (b).

Notes and Comments:

1 * Revised by hand from the originally printed huge.

2 * Corrected by hand from originally printed after

¹⁷The Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Belarus - was formed (after the liberation of the Belarusian territories from German intervention and the annulment of the Brest Peace) at the VI North-Western Regional Conference of the RCP (b) on December 30-31, 1918 in Smolensk, which proclaimed itself the I Congress of the CP ( b) B. The Congress organizationally formalized the Communist Party of Belarus as an integral part of the RCP (b). In January 1919, at the suggestion of V.I. Lenin, the Central Committee of the RCP (b) decided to unite the Byelorussian SSR and the Lithuanian SSR into one state. Accordingly, the "two component parts of the RCP (b)" - the Communist Parties of Belarus and Lithuania, were subject to unification, which happened at the unification congress (II Congress of the CP (b) B) on March 4-6, 1919. A single party within the RCP (b) received name: Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Lithuania and Belarus (CP (b) L and B). After the liberation of the Belarusian territories from the Polish intervention and after an unsuccessful attempt to establish Soviet power in Lithuania, the Central Committee of the RCP (b) in September 1920 authorized the division of the CP (b) L and B into two separate parties: KP (b) B and KP (b) L. For the practical guidance of party work in the BSSR, the Central

Bureau of the CP (b) B (Central Bank) was established. On March 1519, 1922, the VI Congress of the CP (b) B was held. The Central Bank as the supreme party organ of the CP (b) B existed until the campaign to "enlarge" the BSSR (May 1923) by the counties of the Vitebsk, Gomel and Smolensk provinces. On February 4, 1924, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) made a decision to create the Provisional Belarusian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), to which the functions of the Central Bank of the CP (b) B were transferred and entrusted with the implementation of measures to "enlarge" the BSSR. authorized the division of KP (b) L and B into two separate parties: KP (b) B and KP (b) L. For the practical guidance of party work in the BSSR, the Central Bureau of the CP (b) B (Central Bank) was established. On March 15-19, 1922, the VI Congress of the CP (b) B was held. The Central Bank as the supreme party organ of the CP (b) B existed until the campaign to "enlarge" the BSSR (May 1923) by the counties of the Vitebsk, Gomel and Smolensk provinces. On February 4, 1924, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) made a decision to create the Provisional Belarusian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), to which the functions of the Central Bank of the CP (b) B were transferred and entrusted with the implementation of measures to "enlarge" the BSSR. authorized the division of KP (b) L and B into two separate parties: KP (b) B and KP (b) L. For the practical guidance of party work in the BSSR, the Central Bureau of the CP (b) B (Central Bank) was established. On March 15-19, 1922, the VI Congress of the CP (b) B was held. The Central Bank as the supreme party organ of the CP (b) B existed until the campaign to "enlarge" the BSSR (May 1923) by the counties of the Vitebsk, Gomel and Smolensk provinces. On February 4, 1924, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) made a decision to create the Provisional Belarusian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), to which the functions of the Central Bank of the CP (b) B were transferred and entrusted with the implementation of measures to "enlarge" the BSSR. The Central Bank as the supreme party organ of the CP (b) B existed until the campaign to "enlarge" the BSSR (May 1923) by the counties of Vitebsk, Gomel and Smolensk provinces. On February 4, 1924, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) made a decision to create the Provisional Belarusian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), to which the functions of the Central Bank of the CP (b) B were transferred and entrusted with the implementation of measures to "enlarge" the BSSR. The Central Bank as the supreme party organ of the CP (b) B existed until the campaign to "enlarge" the BSSR (May 1923) by the counties of the Vitebsk, Gomel and Smolensk provinces. On February 4, 1924, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) made a decision to create the Provisional Belarusian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), to which the functions of the Central Bank of the CP (b) B were transferred and entrusted with the implementation of measures to "enlarge" the BSSR.

On May 12-14, 1924, the VIII Congress of the CP (b) B was held, which, instead of the Provisional Belarusian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), organized the Central Committee of the CP (6) B.

^eighteen718 files of the archival fund 63 "Polish Bureau of Agitation and

Propaganda under the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks" for 1917-1931 have been preserved in the RCKHIDNI. If we proceed from the normative documents of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), deposited in one of the cases of this fund (RCKHIDNI, f. 63, op. 1, d. 1), then the creation of the Polish Central Bureau under the Central Committee of the RCP (b) instead of the "Polish CEC of Russia "To preserve" Polish communist groups within Russia in the form of Polish communist sections under the local committees of the R.K.P. " was initiated by the head of the Cheka F.E.Dzerzhinsky on 09.06 1919 at a meeting of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) (§ 5). The top party leadership of Soviet Russia and the Cheka was not satisfied with the decision of the Polish CEC to dissolve Polish groups and to relocate itself "to Ukraine as an overseas representation of the Polish Communist Party" (ibid., Fol. 1a). A little later, June 28, 1919, at a meeting of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), the territorial boundaries of the work of the established Polish Bureau were outlined: only “within Russia”, “without conducting foreign work” (ibid., fol. 2ob.). On July 9, 1919, the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) approved the first personnel (3 people), and on July 25, 1919 - the official name: “Polish Bureau of Propaganda and Agitation under the Central Committee. R.K.P. " (ibid., fol. 3, 4). July 19, 1920, in addition to this Bureau, headed by S. S. Dzerzhinskaya, another one was created: the Polish Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), consisting of 5 people, chaired by F. E. Dzerzhinsky. In the fall of 1920, the Polish Bureau of Propaganda and Agitation under the Central Committee of the RCP (b) became the corresponding department of the Polish Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b). By 1922, the Polish Bureau consisted of 6 people under the chairmanship of Yu. Yu. Markhlevsky and S. Geltman as secretary. It was called upon to determine and coordinate the work of numerous regional, provincial and local Polish departments (local Polburo). The Polish Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) consisted of three departments (agitprop, publishing and accounting), a secret section, a affairs department, a party archive and a library. Meetings were held every week on Thursday in the presence of members of the Bureau, representatives of the Polish Communist Party, the Executive Committee of the Comintern, heads of the Polish sections of the People's Commissariats, etc. The departments were subordinate in their work to the relevant departments of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), main issues "- directly to the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the RCP (b). Among these "special assignments", in addition to informative work ("informational") about the "views, moods and needs" of the Polish population of the RSFSR, The Polish Bureau, together with the VChK-GPU, was called upon to fight “against Polish counter-revolution and espionage,” “recommend employees,” and give “opinions on specific issues”. To help the NKID, the Polish Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) had to recommend employees to the "personnel of the mission and various commissions" for Poland, give "opinions on notes and negotiations", as well as "considerations and materials for notes." Moreover, the NKID undertook to send to the Polburo "all materials relating to relations with Poland or directly related to Poland" (RCHIDNI, f. 17, op. 84, d. 168, sheets 1-2, 3, 6-8). See also: ibid., D. 328. give "conclusion on notes and negotiations", as well as - "considerations and materials for notes." Moreover, the NKID undertook to send to the Polburo "all materials relating to relations with Poland or directly related to Poland" (RCHIDNI, f. 17, op. 84, d. 168, sheets 1-2, 3, 6-8). See also: ibid., D. 328. give "conclusion on notes and negotiations", as well as - "considerations and materials for notes." Moreover, the NKID undertook to send to the Polburo "all materials relating to relations with Poland or directly related to Poland" (RCHIDNI, f. 17, op. 84, d. 168, sheets 1-2, 3, 6-8). See also: ibid., D. 328.

¹⁹Even earlier, on May 12, 1922, PA Krasikov wrote about the “need to bring Archbishop Tseplyak to justice” (GARF, f. 1235, op. 140, file 60, fol. 108-rev. ). This was the second order of this kind from the head of the V department of the NCJ; it supplemented the “attitude” No. 202 sent on April 21, 1922. P. A. Krasikov suggested that the employees of the Petrograd Department of Justice “investigate all cases of direct and indirect influence exerted by Mr. Tseplyak on believing Catholics, in order to provoke in the latter resistance to the orders of the Soviet government "And" to take the strictest measures to suppress his further criminal activity. " The above measures should have been applied to Archbishop Ya.G. Tseplyak, as in his actions was seen "a conscious desire to oppose the orders of the Soviet government in order to disrupt the campaign to confiscate church values." By "actions" PA Krasikov meant a protest sent "to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, in which Mr. Tseplyak" demanded to suspend the "further removal of valuables from Catholic churches" and return "already seized property." The original of this protest dated April 22, 1922, on the letterhead of the Mogilev Roman Catholic Archbishop-Metropolitan, signed by Archbishop Y. G. Tseplyak and for the Secretary of the

Archdiocesan Administration - D. A. Ivanov, was preserved in the

State Archive of the Russian Federation, f. A-353, op. 6, d. 6, l. 3031. Other originals of the statements of Archbishop Ya.G. Tseplyak to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee with protests and requests regarding the seizure of church valuables were also deposited there (in particular, dated May 18, 1922 - no. - d. 9, fol. 87rev.). Moreover, the answer to PA Krasikov's instructions has also survived: a copy of the resolution of the investigator “on the most important cases under the KOPICHKO Gubotust of the Petrograd Soviet” dated May 29, 1922 (file 9, sheet 83-ob.). This Petrograd investigator, “having examined the case for No. 70 on the subject of crime [in] gr. TSEPLYAK in disobeying the orders of the Soviet government ", accused the Catholic archbishop of violating the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on the confiscation of church valuables and the desire to disrupt the" confiscation company "itself. Tseplyak's telegram, which he sent to the Yaroslavl priest Rutkovsky, was recognized as part of the crime. The priest was advised not to issue an inventory of the property of the church, since, according to Tsepljak, such requirements were illegal. Investigator Kopichko, on the basis of this, decided “to involve gr. TSEPLYAK, Ioanna to the case as a defendant on charges of the above criminal act. " So that the archbishop did not evade "from the investigation and the trial," he was signed "not to leave the city of Petrograd until his case was examined in the Court." Subsequently, this Petrograd case was transformed into one of the accusatory episodes at the Moscow trial in the case of Ya. G. Tseplyak in March 1923 (see note 12 to file 25). ²⁰ Article VII of the Peace Treaty between Russia and Ukraine, on the one hand, and Poland, on the other, signed on March 18, 1921 in Riga, read:

"1. Poland grants persons of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian nationalities in Poland, on the basis of equality of nationalities, all the rights ensuring the free development of culture, language and the performance of religious rites. Mutually Russia and Ukraine provide persons of Polish nationality in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus with all the same rights. [...]

2. Both contracting parties mutually undertake neither directly nor indirectly to interfere in matters concerning the organization and life of the church and religious communities located on the territory of the other party.

3. Churches and religious societies, to which persons of Polish nationality belong in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, have the right, within the limits of internal legislation, to independently organize their internal church life.

The aforementioned churches and religious societies have the right, within the limits of internal legislation, to use and acquire movable and immovable property necessary for the performance of religious rites, as well as the maintenance of the clergy and church institutions.

On the same basis, they have the right to use temples and institutions necessary for the performance of religious rites.

The same rights are enjoyed by persons of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian nationality in Poland. "

See: SU. 1921. No. 41-42. S. 217-236; USSR foreign policy documents. M., 1959.T. 3.S. 626-627.

²¹Having gained independence as a result of the collapse of the Russian Empire and having defended it in the Soviet-Polish war of 1920, Poland felt itself to be a kind of outpost for the protection of Catholic interests in the Soviet republics. This position was reinforced by the fact that practically all Catholic clergy in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine were of Polish nationality. To exert diplomatic pressure on the Soviet leadership, the seventh article of the Riga Peace Treaty between Poland, Russia and Ukraine of March 18, 1921 was most often used (see note 20 to d. 24). The campaign to confiscate church values in 1922 was the reason for an intensive exchange of diplomatic notes. The noted Polish note dated April 28, 1922 (according to other sources - April 27, 1922) was only the first of six in time of writing. Following her, the Chargé d'Affaires of Poland to the RSFSR Stefansky sent another one - dated May 30, 1922. Both of these notes denied the legal validity of the decree on the separation of church from state of January 23, 1918 and subsequent religious acts of the Soviet leadership in relation to the Catholic Church. They also spoke about violations of the seventh article of the Riga Treaty. In particular, paragraphs 2 and 3, which proclaimed the non-interference of the parties in the religious affairs of churches and societies located on the territory of the other party (see comm. 20 to file 24). The Polish side argued that the Riga Treaty of 1921 restored the ownership of the Catholic Church to church property in the RSFSR and that the Catholic Church "can be governed exclusively according to the norms of canon law." Cited in a note dated April 28, 1925 and a reference to Art. 16 (p. 3) the Riga agreement "on settlements between Russia and Poland for property and capital belonging to religious societies or intended for the maintenance of churches and clergy." According to the Polish side, the Soviet leadership also violated this article by applying the decree on the seizure of church valuables of February 23, 1923 to the Catholic Church. Poland lodged a protest over the violation by the local commissions for the confiscation of church valuables of the instructions of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the People's Commissariat of Justice on the seizure procedure of February 28, 1922. For example, violations were indicated during the seizure of valuables in a Catholic church in Georgians in Moscow. In a note dated May 30, 1922, protests were expressed against the prosecution of Catholic priests by the Belarusian authorities in Minsk and against the initiation of a criminal case against Archbishop Ya. G. Tseplyak.

Before answering the notes that had come, the Russian side sent its note dated May 31, 1922 to the Polish mission in Moscow, accusing the chairman of the Polish delegation to the Mixed Conciliation Commission Klim of calling on the Catholic Polish clergy in Belarus to resist the seizure of church valuables.

Later, in a note dated July 22, 1922, the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs examined Polish claims about the legality of Soviet normative religious acts, violations of the seventh article of the peace treaty of March 18, 1921, and other above. Using the conclusion of the NCJ staff, the Soviet diplomats unambiguously recognized the Polish notes of April 28 and May 30, 1922, the desire to prove "that persons of Polish nationality of the Catholic religion should enjoy greater privileges in Russia than persons of other religions." In the Soviet note, such an approach to the interpretation of the articles of the peace treaty and acts of Soviet religious legislation was rejected as untenable. Before the Soviet government, it was stated in the diplomatic message, all believers are equal, regardless of their confessional affiliation. Therefore, the internal religious legislation rightfully applies to Catholic churches, their property and the order of religious life. The seventh article of the Riga Agreement does not say anything about the right of ownership, but includes only the concept of “the right to use property”. On the issue of governing the Catholic Church, one should be guided not only by canon law, but also by the norms established by civil authority. Article 16 of the peace treaty has in mind “only those property and capital that are subject to re-evacuation to Poland, that is, belonged to religious societies and churches that are now located (in 1922 - but includes only the concept of "the right to use property." On the question of governing the Catholic Church, one should be guided not only by canonical rights, but also by the norms established by civil authority. Article 16 of the peace treaty has in mind “only those property and capital that are subject to reevacuation to Poland, that is, belonged to religious societies and churches that are now located (in 1922 - but includes only the concept of "the right to use property." On the issue of governing the Catholic Church, one should be guided not only by canon law, but also by the norms established by civil authority. Article 16 of the peace treaty has in mind “only those property and capital that are subject to re-evacuation to Poland, that is, belonged to religious societies and churches that are now located (in 1922 -Comp.) On the territory of Poland ". Violations of the procedure for the seizure of church valuables by local commissions, according to the Soviet note, must be appealed in a legal way - through the Central Committee of Pomgol at the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The Catholic clergy is prosecuted only because of "illegal methods of interference in the execution of government orders by local authorities" and calls for believers to disobey "state power in Russia."

This was the response of the Soviet side to the claims of the Polish government in connection with the campaign to confiscate church values. At the same time, the NKID accused Poland of violating articles of the Riga Treaty and the Polish Constitution in relation to the Orthodox population (bans on services, closing parishes, expelling Orthodox priests, beating up Orthodox parishioners, destroying churches, etc.). Thus, the Soviet leadership did not disdain in a diplomatic duel with a recent military adversary to defend the interests of the Russian Church, which in their country they subjected it to "persecution and oppression" no less cruel than the Polish government.

Four days before this note was sent from Moscow, on July 18, 1922, another Polish note was drawn up in Warsaw protesting the opening of a shrine with the relics of a Catholic saint in Polotsk, blessed A. Boboli (see note 10 to d. 25). In this act of the Soviet authorities, the Polish government again saw an "unheard of" violation of Art. VII of the Riga Treaty. A response Soviet note verbale was sent to the Polish embassy on August 15, 1922. Based on the acts of the internal legislation of the RSFSR, it explained that the Soviet government in the campaign to uncover the relics of the saints “is not fighting against the legality of qualifying certain relics in terms of their incorruptibility”, “ but only wants to protect the people from age-old deception and exploitation of their religious feelings by the clergy on the basis of all kinds of "miracles", relics invariably accompanying the cult at all times and among all peoples. " The execution by the local authorities of Polotsk of the "orders of the central government", "the opening of the relics of Andrei Boboli, as the exposure of the age-old deception" was done without violating the seventh article of the peace treaty, "within the limits of domestic legislation." Further in the diplomatic message, as well as in the note of June 22, 1922, the Soviet leadership reproaches the Polish Republic for carrying out incessant persecution and persecution of the Orthodox Church in Poland, contrary to its fundamental laws. Based on the presence in Poland of "religious persecution of the darkest times of the Middle Ages" against the Orthodox Church and its believers, the note of the NKID invites the Polish Embassy in Moscow to continue to pay more attention to the termination of the latter in their country,

See: Izvestia of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. 1922.2 August. (No. 171); Revolution and Church. 1923. No. 1-3. S. 5257; USSR foreign policy documents. M., 1961.T. 5.S. 521-529, 753.