Activities of an unregistered religious group of Christians in the Smolensk region in the 1960s and 1980s
The article examines the history of the activities of the founder of an unregistered religious group, which initially operated in the Latvian SSR, and then in the Lithuanian SSR. A special role in the group was played by its leader, who, not yet being a believer, had served a sentence for a criminal offense. Then, probably, there was a reassessment of moral values and he became a believer. The activities of the head contradicted the norms of the Soviet criminal legislation. Thus, it was found that the head of a religious group forced believers to perform a whole system of actions and rituals, urged believers to abandon active social life. The head was forced to leave the Baltic States and moved to the Smolensk region. In the new conditions, a religious group was created, which, by the nature of its activities, continued the activities of a religious group in the Baltic States. The religious group operated in the regional center and in one of the district centers. Based on archival material, an idea of the activities of a religious group and its leader is given. Archival materials allow us to draw conclusions about the quantitative composition of a religious group, its religious practices and creed, about the specifics of this group, which defined itself as different from the practices of Baptist and Pentecostal organizations. The leader of a religious group was convicted of violating Soviet legislation in the field of freedom of conscience. After serving his sentence, the head of the group returned to preaching activities, which representatives of a special Soviet body defined as fanatical. The Soviet executive authorities sought to influence the activities of the religious group and its leader. It is concluded that the Soviet state created conditions for the introduction of such groups into the legal field.