Politburo And The Church, Kremlin Archives

N. Petrovsky, S.G. Petrov

Resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on the implementation of the values found in the KievPechersk Lavra. From the minutes of the meeting of the Politburo

No. 48, item 12 of February 12, 1925

No. 23-53 ⁴⁶

STRICTLY SECRET

IT WAS RESOLVED LISTENED:

AS FOLLOWS:

12. About the values found in b. Kiev-

12. Set aside for a week.

Pechersk Lavra, (Comrade Bryukhanov)

Secretary of the Central Committee

- L. 79- Typewritten extract on the letterhead of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) 1925, made on February 12, 1925. Above the text of the extract is the mailing address: “Com. Quiring, Bryukhanov ". In the lower right corner there is a handwritten note referring to the Politburo resolution, protocol No. 49, item 15 of February 19, 1925 (No. 23-54).

- APRF, f. 3, op. 1, d.475, l. 23. Draft minutes of the Politburo meeting. The original on the form of the Politburo resolutions, the column "They listened" on a typewriter, the column "Decided" by hand. The first printed name of Kvirit was deleted from the speakers. "For a week" is attributed by the hand of L. Z. Mehlis. At the bottom, in his own hand, is the mailing address: “Extracts from com. Quiring, Bryukhanov ". The last line of the form “By whom (signature) was sent” is the autograph of PS Lepeshinskaya. L. 4: “Present: members of the Politburo: comrades. Zinoviev, Kamenev, Stalin, Rykov, Tomsky. Candidates: com. Frunze, Dzerzhinsky. Central Committee members: comrades. Krasin, Rakovsky, Pyatakov, Tsyurupa, Kamenev, Bubnov, Zalutsky ¹*, Uglanov, Smirnov, Kaganovich, Mikhailov, S. Schwartz, Andreev, Dogadov. Kand [idats]: Vareikis, Smilga. Members of the Central Control Commission: comrades. Gusev, Kuibyshev, Yanson, Shkiryatov, Yaroslavsky ² * ".

Notes and Comments:

¹* Further crossed out Vareikis, Smilga.

²* Further crossed out Schwartz.

⁴⁶O. Yu. Vasilieva and PN Knyshevsky, relying on the publication in the émigré newspaper Dni (Berlin) of January 6, 1925, interpret the “repeated 'cleaning' of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra" as follows. in its basements, several pounds of gold and 110 pounds of silver artwork were found, sheltered from the evil eyes of property managers in 1922. Church jewelry with 360 diamonds, several bags of old interest-bearing papers worth several million rubles and "counterrevolutionary" correspondence of Tikhonov's persuasion were also found ". See: Vasilyeva O. Yu., Knyshevsky P. N. Red conquistadors. S. 191-192. Apparently, the source of information for the émigré newspaper was the Soviet press, which was quite actively discussing this story. So, for example, in the newspaper "Izvestia" (1925 January 6), a note was published, aimed at discrediting Patriarch Tikhon, who, in the opinion of its author, not only concealed the discovered values, but also sent "intelligence information" abroad through the "monastic agents". On this occasion, Patriarch Tikhon was forced to contact the editorial office of the newspaper on January 10, 1925, with a request to publish his refutation (Izvestia. 1925, January 18). In his letter, the head of the Russian Church announced that he took over the management of the monastery at the beginning of 1924 after the Soviet regime deprived the Ukrainian archpastors of the “actual opportunity to govern”. Therefore, he could not make an order to conceal valuables in the Lavra, and even more so to communicate through monks with "foreign counter-revolution" and with "counter-revolutionary groups within the USSR." (See: Acts of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon ... p. 350). in the opinion of its author, he not only concealed the discovered values, but also sent “intelligence information” abroad through the “monastic agents”. On this occasion, Patriarch Tikhon was forced to contact the editorial office of the newspaper on January 10, 1925, with a request to publish his refutation (Izvestia. 1925, January 18). In his letter, the head of the Russian Church announced that he took over the management of the monastery at the beginning of 1924 after the Soviet regime deprived the Ukrainian archpastors of the “actual opportunity to govern”. Therefore, he could not make an order to conceal valuables in the Lavra, and even more so to communicate through monks with "foreign counter-revolution" and with "counter-revolutionary groups within the USSR." (See: Acts of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon ... p. 350). in the opinion of its author, he not only concealed the discovered values, but also sent “intelligence information” abroad through the “monastic agents”. On this occasion, Patriarch Tikhon was forced to contact the editorial office of the newspaper on January 10, 1925, with a request to publish his refutation (Izvestia. 1925, January 18). In his letter, the head of the Russian Church announced that he took over the management of the monastery at the beginning of 1924 after the Soviet regime deprived the Ukrainian archpastors of the “actual opportunity to govern”. Therefore, he could not make an order to conceal valuables in the Lavra, and even more so to communicate through monks with "foreign counter-revolution" and with "counter-revolutionary groups within the USSR." (See: Acts of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon ... p. 350). On this occasion, Patriarch Tikhon was forced to contact the editorial office of the newspaper on January 10, 1925, with a request to publish his refutation (Izvestia. 1925, January 18). In his letter, the head of the Russian Church announced that he took over the management of the monastery at the beginning of 1924 after the Soviet regime deprived the Ukrainian archpastors of the “actual opportunity to govern”. Therefore, he could not make an order to conceal valuables in the Lavra, and even more so to communicate through monks with "foreign counter-revolution" and with "counter-revolutionary groups within the USSR." (See: Acts of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon ... p. 350). On this occasion, Patriarch Tikhon was forced to contact the editorial office of the newspaper on January 10, 1925, with a request to publish his refutation (Izvestia. 1925, January 18). In his letter, the head of the Russian Church announced that he took over the management of the monastery at the beginning of 1924 after the Soviet regime deprived the Ukrainian archpastors of the “actual opportunity to govern”. Therefore, he could not make an order to conceal valuables in the Lavra, and even more so to communicate through monks with "foreign counter-revolution" and with "counter-revolutionary groups within the USSR." (See: Acts of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon ... p. 350). after the Soviet regime deprived the "de facto possibility of government" of the Ukrainian archpastors. Therefore, he could not make an order to conceal valuables in the Lavra, and even more so to communicate through monks with "foreign counterrevolution" and with "counter-revolutionary groups within the USSR." (See: Acts of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon ... p. 350). after the Soviet regime deprived the "de facto possibility of government" of the Ukrainian archpastors. Therefore, he could not make an order to conceal valuables in the Lavra, and even more so to communicate through monks with "foreign counter-revolution" and with "counter-revolutionary groups within the USSR." (See: Acts of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon ... p. 350).