The Case of Blessed Nastya of Viratyino: “Hiding Behind Religious Prejudices, She Was Making Anti-Soviet Agitation”

Abstract

This article studies local practices of the groups of “True Orthodox Christians” in Tambov region in the 1950s, which resulted in the criminal persecution of some of the believers. The study is based on Alexander Klibanov’s personal archive and materials form Tambov archives, as well as field research. The studied practices are divided into four groups: 1) practices of political non-participation (abstaining from participating in elections, joining public organizations, signing Soviet documents); 2) religious practices (refusal to attend an official church; meetings of believers at home; home prayer and sermon); 3) economic practices (rejecting wages, state loans, pensions and social