Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

’, continued CRA repre- sentative Nikolai Vasilev, supported by the sincere confession of pastor (presbyter) Anatolii Kiiukhantsev, who observed, “The newspapers write a lot about us. We are hated; we are aware of it and feel it.’ After Khrushchev’s dismissal in 1964, the antireligious campaign was brought to an end and attitudes toward religious believers became more cautious, yet fear and intolerance toward sectarians - and Baptists in particular - continued to prevail in Soviet society. Such prejudices were common among ordinary people as well as authorities. For instance, in the town of Borovichi, officials of the local and municipal trade union commit- tees suggested that because of her religious affiliation, a junior nurse named Sosunova should not be allowed to live in the room given her by a hospital (her employer).”” Whereas the Council for Religious Affairs, which was in 21 Informatsionnyi otchet...za 1961 g. TsGA Spb, f. 9620, op. 1, d. 55, 1. 43. 2 Informatsionnyi otchet...za 1961 g. TsGA Spb, f. 9620, op. 1, d. 55, 1. 44. 3 Informatsionnyi otchet leningradskogo upolnomochennogo SDRK za 1962 g. [Informational Report the Leningrad Representative of the Council for Religious Affairs for 1962], TsGA Spb, f. 9620, op. 1, d. 61, 1. 57. 4 Informatsionnyi otchet...za 1961 g. TsGA Spb, f. 9620, op. 1, d. 55, 1. 44. 25 Information provided by Department of Culture instructor Aksenova of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions on 30 March 1966. “O nekotorykh faktakh religioznosti i antireligioznoi raboty v Novgorodskoi obl.” [About certain facts of religiosity and antire- ligious work in the Novgorod oblast], Gosudarstvennyi Arkhiv Novgorodskoi Oblasti [State 139 charge of religious policy in the USSR, carried out a specific policy towards each confession (denomination) or even trend within the confessions, in the eyes of society, all sectarians were hostile. On 17 November 1976, Liter- aturnaia gazeta printed an article about Georgii Vins, leader of the unreg- istered Council of Churches of the Evangelical Christians-Baptists. As a result, Novgorod area authorities took action against local Baptists, who in fact belonged to the registered All-Union Council of Evangelical Chris- tians-Baptists. In the village of Parfino, both registered and non-registered Baptists were targeted by the KGB. Representatives of the local authori- ties visited factories where they incited workers against the Baptists. “They represented us as people dangerous to society.... People have begun to avoid us; they are even afraid to talk to us’, wrote Raisa Nikolaeva, a Baptist church member who sought the protection of CRA chairman Vladimir Kuroiedov and Communist Party Secretary Leonid Brezhnev.” (Both letters were forwarded to a Novgorod representative of the CRA.) Many Soviet citizens did not share the imposed hostility toward the Baptists. Believers recalled instances when unbelieving bosses, co-workers or a