Vladimir Stepanov. Work to separate from the church

· Baptists, Persecution, Kazakhstan, Pentecostals, Russia, USSR, Uzbekistan, Ukraine

Fifty years ago, the Soviet state launched yet another campaign of persecution against the Church and believers. The impetus came from the 21st Congress of the CPSU, held in January 1959. At that congress, the “complete and final victory of socialism in the USSR” was proclaimed. The head of the party and state, N.S. Khrushchev, announced the beginning of the country’s transition to communism. That was how the party referred to its utopian project.

Building a society in which all the needs of Soviet people were to be met was scheduled for 1980. In the nearer term, by the end of the seven-year plan, the Soviet Union was to “catch up and overtake America” in all economic indicators and become the world’s foremost power. In the new society, religion and those who worship God were to disappear completely. In this connection, the congress heard Khrushchev’s words that in just seven years he would show the “last priest” on television.

Baptists – at the sharp edge of persecution

Although the Khrushchev-era persecutions of 1959–1964 affected all religions, their sharp edge was directed against “sectarians,” primarily Evangelical Christians-Baptists. In propaganda literature, their lives were depicted in dark tones. They were set not only against the people but also against believers of traditional confessions. Baptists were accused of political unreliability, and fanatical rituals, even child sacrifice, were ascribed to them.

In the 1960 film “Clouds Over Borsk,” the sectarian fanatics tried to sacrifice the high-school girl Olya and nearly crucified her on a cross. It is known that there were two versions of the film: in one, the sectarians were called “Baptists”; in the other, “Pentecostals.” One version or the other was selected for screening in clubs depending on which believers were more numerous in that locality (and, despite this monstrous slander, the film is still broadcast on central television channels). It is easy to imagine the feelings such propaganda “masterpieces” were meant to stir in the trusting and spiritually illiterate Soviet population. In the eyes of many people, Baptists appeared if not as enemies, then at the very least as outcasts.

A broad front against religion

A distinctive feature of Khrushchev’s persecution was that, in addition to the secret services, literally all forces of the state and society were actively involved in anti-religious work: party and Soviet organs, factory administrations, work collectives, trade unions, the Komsomol, and public organizations. This total nature of the persecution was intended to create an atmosphere of rejection and cultural isolation for believers, in which they would feel like second-class citizens, outcasts of society, unworthy of entering the bright future together with all the people. One Soviet poetess wrote in those years: “You may pray freely, but only so that God alone may hear.”

In the second half of 1959, the Leningrad commissioner for religious cults, Vasilyev, prepared, under the classification “secret,” named lists of believers broken down by districts and enterprises of Leningrad and the region and sent them to the regional and city committees of the CPSU “for conducting appropriate atheistic work to detach them from the church” (TsGA SPb, f. 9620, inv. 1, file 56, l. 8). Then the names of believers were passed from the agitation and propaganda department of the regional and city CPSU committees to the party committees and enterprise administrations for conducting re-education talks. Against those who did not yield to re-education, various administrative measures were applied, up to dismissal, even though this constituted a violation of the law by state bodies (TsGA SPb, f. 9620, inv. 1, file 65, l. 58). A difficult time had come for Christians, and here are testimonies from that era.

“Why do you keep a Baptist in a managerial position?”

Brother Georgy Nikitich Yefimov was baptized in 1958 and at that time was a prominent figure in Kolpino, a suburb of Leningrad. He was head of the steel laboratory at the Izhora Plant, a man of science, an outstanding steelmaking specialist, and the inventor of a new grade of armor plate. Naturally, the authorities could not overlook his conversion to God, and soon troubles began for him at work.

According to the recollections of brother N.V. Osipov: “In 1960, I was sent on assignment to the Izhora Plant. There I saw a wall newspaper with an article stating that the head of the steel laboratory was a Baptist! The purpose of the article was to shame Yefimov into reconsidering. I spoke with the workers and the manager. They all treated Yefimov with respect; they did not revile him but rather pitied him. Such a man! And suddenly—a Baptist!?”

And the local newspaper “Izhorets,” in an article titled “In the Web of Sectarianism” on 15 April 1960, mocked that Yefimov had two faces: one of a specialist engineer, the other of an active sectarian. He was shamed for being a former candidate member of the CPSU, now expelled for non-payment of membership dues. The newspaper called on the party and trade union organizations to pay attention to the active sectarian.

Work was conducted with him, but since Yefimov had no intention of renouncing his faith, he was dismissed from the plant, despite his authority and the fact that the plant management valued and respected him. In those days, however, the communist ideologues ran everything, and in response to their question, “Why do you keep a Baptist in a managerial position?” the plant administration had to submit and reply with his dismissal.

Georgy Nikitich, the sole breadwinner on whom a large family with many children depended, was left without work. But as it is written: “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily” (Luke 18:7-8).

Yefimov was a key specialist; the plant could not manage without him, so soon he was invited back to work — though not as head of the laboratory, but as a group leader, and he remained in that role until retirement. His faith continued to bar him from a more responsible position, one that matched his talent, experience, and energy. He had prepared a dissertation, but “Baptist Yefimov” was not allowed to defend it or receive an academic degree. Meanwhile the completed work was placed in the archives, where its findings were used by the plant’s specialists.

Despite this, Georgy Nikitich continued to love his work, devoting all his time to it. In addition to his job at the plant, he also taught at a technical college, supervising and reviewing students’ diploma projects. In the evenings at home he read avidly, wrote, and worked through scientific journals — not only in Russian but also in German. He loved science.

His daughter Nadezhda recalls: “Even after Papa died, people remembered him. Years later, shop supervisors, as they reminisced, would say: ‘The only real specialist we had was Georgy Nikitich. Whatever you asked him, he always gave a knowledgeable answer.’

And not just the bosses — everyone spoke well of him, both as a specialist and as a person. Many knew and respected him. He never raised his voice; he was a courteous and upright leader. Although he was treated unjustly, he never complained or harbored resentment.”

“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay”

If at the management level of the Izhorsky Plant the repression took the form of firing, demotion, and denial of the right to defend a dissertation, at the level of work crews it sometimes descended into mockery and outright bullying. Here is the testimony of brother Eduard Ivanovich Lozovsky:

“At the Izhorsky Plant there were those ready to destroy me, considering me an American spy. They threatened me with arrest and a sentence of 5 to 10 years. I was summoned to the authorities by a warrant. Once they put me in some kind of chair and spun it until I lost consciousness. And they revived me with ammonia, but the Lord gave me strength to endure everything.

At the end of 1963 I transferred to open‑hearth shop No. 121 as a crane worker. There they mocked me horribly. I come to work, my locker is open, and my shirt in the shower is tied in knots. Try untying it when wet underwear is drawn tight. You spend half an hour untying it. All right, I untied it, I come out. ‘Ooh, a Baptist, yesterday you were 20 minutes late, today it’s half an hour. There is no God! Out with such parasites!’ It was hard for me; I prayed: ‘Lord! Here I am trying, and they keep doing me harm.’ This went on several times. I asked for strength to endure it all.

The one who tormented me most was the brigade leader Tolya, a giant of a man. He tied the knots, pinned me down on my shoulders more than once, and mocked me in every way. One day this Tolya, the ringleader of it all, comes up and announces in front of everyone: ‘Right now at your workplace I’ll relieve myself into your bucket, put it on your head, and won’t even laugh.’ I thought he was joking. But no, he takes my bucket, the one I used to smear the lids, and in front of everyone relieves himself into it. Then he takes off my hat, the kind all open‑hearth workers wear, puts the bucket on my head, and this runs down me. I couldn’t believe it, I thought: ‘Is this a dream?’ And the Lord said to me: ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay’ (Rom. 12:19).

A little time passed, maybe a few months, and this Tolya‑the‑giant was crushed by a train on the Izhora platform. It was fulfilled as it is written: ‘For behold, those who are far from You shall perish; You destroy all those who prostitute themselves, who depart from You. But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works’ (Ps. 72:27,28).

When he was buried, one worker, Oleg, gathered the whole brigade and announced: ‘Guys, you all saw it? So now, if anyone else does anything like that or even opens his mouth against Eduard, he’ll end up under the wheels too.’ Fear fell on the whole brigade. Some considered me a sorcerer, while others said: ‘You take a rest, let us do the work for you.’ They did this to stay on good terms with me, so that I would have no anger toward them. This was a sign for the people!”

“A double job is beyond my strength”

And here is the testimony of brother Alexei Yakovlevich Yeryomin:

“I was baptized in 1959. My coming to the church coincided with the start of Khrushchev’s persecutions. The KGB was powerful then, and the church was under its surveillance. I worked at the Ust‑Izhorsky Plywood Factory, and once during work I was called to the Party committee. A man from the KGB was there, and for four hours they worked on me, trying to get me to agree to become their agent and to inform on believers. And I told them in parting: ‘I cannot allow that. I don’t have the wisdom for it. And a double job is beyond my strength — to be both here and there.’ — ‘Well, all right, we’ll talk again.’

Then the second time I am called from work to the Party committee. I knocked. He tells me: ‘Wait.’ I wait forty minutes. That’s their tactic. In forty minutes I’m supposed to weigh carefully what awaits me if I refuse. A trick to build up fear. And again for four hours they work on me, promising to raise my salary if I agree to work for them, and painting all kinds of terrible consequences if I refuse. But I do not agree, and at the end I say: ‘Where do I go: into the car or home?’ They hiss: ‘Go home, but keep quiet. Keep quiet, or things will go badly for you, and watch yourself…’

But I had no resentment toward them, and never any turmoil in my heart. They even wrote forged letters to me. They needed to find something in me to latch onto, and they promised me 10 years in prison. And so they searched. I lived in a communal apartment, and my neighbor Nina, who worked in a special department, watched me and reported on me to them.

What saved me was that I was a valuable worker at the factory. The director and the Party organizer somewhat restrained the KGB: ‘Let him work for us a while longer, because we can’t do without him.’”

I was a steam boiler repairman; I repaired fireboxes and made a name for myself in that way. Once a repair crew was sent, and none of them could handle that job. But I, though I was not a master, just a simple bricklayer, took it on and did it! The Lord helped me! And they kept me on, because I turned out to be the worker they needed.

One summer they gave me a vacation, and I went with the children to Kremenchug, while the boss went on his rounds and one foot went through, and if both feet had gone through, he would have fallen straight into the fire. This happened because, in my absence, another worker had done the repairs his own way. After that incident, they started giving me vacation only in winter — that’s how much they needed me.

At work it was a bit tough. Everyone knew I was a Baptist, and so they looked askance at me. Once, in my little cubbyhole where I kept my things, I made a small lock. And they started breaking it, because they thought there was a Bible in there, maybe some addresses, and they needed to know. They broke and broke, but I had made it firmly. I come and see this business. But God gave me wisdom not to quarrel with them, or else they would have done me double harm. I simply wrote and posted a notice on the door:

My comrade!
Be a friend to me.
I earnestly implore you.
Why break the lock, you see?
I warn you by your conscience, I assure you!
In my stoker’s little den,
Just dirty overalls are there.
And a torn undershirt, my friend,
I’m sure, is not a thing you’d care.
But if your hands are itching so,
A more solid object find and go,
Apply your talent and your skill,
And soothe your torment, take your fill.
And where you can, then go ahead and take,
But don’t forget: the prosecutors
Guard the people’s laws for sure.
You’ll get in trouble, for goodness sake,
They’ll cure you of thieving, make no mistake.
How sorry I am for your freedom’s sake!

They read it and copied it; they liked it and started smiling at me, and their attitude toward me changed for the better. And when, after working for 20 years, I went into retirement, they said: “We will never have another worker like him.” I never let them down; the Lord helped me. Even on Sunday, if it was necessary, I came after the meeting, and even worked until morning doing everything that was needed. This work saved me from more severe persecution by the KGB, and by God’s grace I had peace and quiet in it!

Historical Lesson

Let us sum up. First Khrushchev did a good thing by condemning Stalin’s cult of personality and freeing the GULAG prisoners. But then he set out to build communism. The trouble was that Khrushchev conceived of it as a completely atheistic society. To him this was so fundamental that, having embarked upon the matter, he immediately declared not just another anti-religious campaign, but a decisive war against all believers in God, to the bitter end. He declared that by 1965 he would show the last priest on television.

In fact, he did not have much time left, because, according to the Bible, whoever touches believers touches the apple of God’s eye (Zech. 2:8). Therefore, on October 14, 1964, television showed Khrushchev for the last time as the first person of the party and state. An unprecedented in the Soviet Union removal of the leader from all posts followed, and his party comrades carried out the heavenly will, something they hardly suspected.

After that, the Soviet state’s policy toward believers softened somewhat, and the anti-religious ideological campaign sharply declined. The attempt to eradicate believers failed. The Lord was their protector and once again fulfilled the promise that the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church (Matt. 16:18).

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