Authors

Discussion

Soviet annexation of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in 1940 opened a period of severe persecution and arrest of the Orthodox clergy in this region. During the Nazi occupation of Russia in 1941-1944 thousands of churches were reopened, a huge number of Orthodox clergy received the opportunity of church service. Some of the arrested representatives of the Orthodox clergy fell into the hands of Soviet punitive bodies not on the territory of the RSFSR, but on the territory of the Baltic republics. Having analyzed archives of the Baltic Lands, we can restore the process of reopening of churches in the period of the Nazi occupation, establish the reasons and degree of participation of the Orthodox clergy in the Nazi propaganda campaigns, as well as receive information loyalty of Orthodox clergy to the Soviet and Nazi authorities and to identify groups of priests who were primarily subjected to repression.