Orthodoxy of Ukraine During the Occupation, 1939-1944: Confessional Transformations and Political Contexts

The purpose of the research paper is to analyze the influence of the social and political conditions on changes in confessional life in the occupied Ukrainian lands during World War II. The scientific novelty: it is claimed that it was social and political conditions that caused drastic changes in the confessional map of Ukraine in 1939-1945. The determinant factor of the occupation policy – the destruction of the established confessional configuration that traditionally existed on Ukrainian lands in the USSR, Poland and Romania – has been proven. Autocephalous tendencies in Orthodox life in the General Governorate, Reichskommissariat ‘Ukraine’ and ‘Transnistria’ were studied. The personal visions of the leading Orthodox bishops regarding the institutional status of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine are reflected. The specific approaches of the German and Romanian administrations to the organization of church life are highlighted. Conclusions: it is proved that despite the attempt to create a single Orthodox Church in the territory occupied by the Wehrmacht, this did not happen due to the position of the German leadership and different views of the hierarchs of the Orthodox churches. It has been proven that all institutional changes of the occupiers grossly violated the existing traditions and canonical norms, which deprived the Church of its autonomy. It was determined that multiconfessionalism and the lack of autocephalous status of Ukrainian Orthodoxy complicated the process of forming a single Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The influence of the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as the opposition of Berlin, made this process impossible during the war. It is noted that the Romanian administration in the occupied south-western lands of Ukraine (‘Transnistria’), with the support of the Romanian Orthodox Mission, contributed to the revival of Christianity, relied on the pre-revolutionary church organization, clerics and monarchism. The Ukrainian-phobic attitudes of the majority of Romanian bishops and the occupation authorities which led to the fight against the sprouts of Ukrainian autocephaly are shown. It has been proven that the rebuilt churches, the restoration of services in them, the involvement of hundreds of clerics, Christian charity and charity, raising children in the spirit of piety, etc., contributed to the revival of ancient Christian traditions and, at the same time, were a tool for the affirmation of the occupation regime.