Church-state relations in Northern Kazakhstan (1943-1953) in the context of the activities of the council for Russian Orthodox Church affairs

This article analyzes the church life in the Northern Kazakhstan region based on valuable statistical data regarding clergy, parishioner activity, and church workers in the region, as well as the level of religiosity among the population of the Kazakh SSR during the Great Patriotic War and the first peaceful years. Drawing on previously classified correspondence between the Council for Russian Orthodox Church Affairs and its representatives in the Kazakh SSR, we examine the issues of church-state relations that existed in this region during that period and the Council’s views on the mechanisms for their resolution. The article also explores the questions surrounding the so-called patriotic activities of the Church in the Northern Kazakhstan region during the war years. The work is based on previously unavailable and unpublished documents from the Central State Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Almaty).