July 8, 2026. The Publishing House of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities (PSTGU) has released the collective monograph Orthodoxy in Central Asia and Kazakhstan During the Persecution of the Church (1917–1940s), a comprehensive historical study of Soviet religious policy.
The chapter “The Persecution of the Church in Northern Kazakhstan” was written by Priest Mikhail Berezin, a lecturer at the Almaty Orthodox Theological Seminary. In this section of the monograph, the author offers a detailed analysis of the mechanisms of state pressure on religious communities, drawing upon a substantial body of previously unpublished archival sources. Particular attention is given to the institutional dismantling of diocesan structures, repressive measures directed against the clergy, and the strategies of adaptation employed by Orthodox believers under conditions of systematic terror.
The publication makes a significant contribution to the scholarly reconstruction of the regional history of the Church and to a deeper understanding of the scale of the anti-religious campaigns carried out in Kazakhstan during the twentieth century. The volume is of both theoretical and practical value for historians, scholars of religion, as well as faculty members and students of theological educational institutions.
In the near future, printed copies of the monograph will be added to the library collection of the Almaty Orthodox Theological Seminary and will be available to readers.
Citation:
Orthodoxy in Central Asia and Kazakhstan During the Persecution of the Church (1917–1940s): Collective Monograph. Compiled by E. E. Ozmitel; Scientific Editor Priest Alexander Mazyrin. Moscow: PSTGU Publishing House, 2026. 448 pp.
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