About the work of commissioners of the board for religious affairs under the USSR Council of ministers in Chita oblast in the second half of 1960s-1980s

The article analyzes the activities of commissioners of the Board for Religious Affairs under the USSR Council of Ministers in Chita Oblast in the 1960s-1980s. We note the complete absence of scientific publications concerning this field of research today. Also there is no statistical publications with data on religious communities and religious institutions in the region. The article is based on the analysis of a considerable amount of archival sources. These are the documents of the State Archive of the Russian Federation. The study is aimed at identifying the features of work of commissioners of the Board for Religious Affairs in the peripheral region. Chronological framework of the research is the whole period of Council existence, since its organization in 1965 until closing in 1991. We conclude that the activities of commissioners in Chita Oblast found a weak reflection in the documents throughout the time under review in comparison with other regions of the State. The analysis of documents formed a view of commissioners’ work as ineffective. It was caused, perhaps, by the little dynamics of institutionalized (registered) religious communities, as well as by the relatively weak activity of unregistered religious groups. The situation had changed in the early 1980s. Reports had become more full and there was a certain visibility of commissioners’ activity. We suggest that this changes were defined by a person of commissioner. To recreate the most complete picture of functioning and activities of religious communities in Chita Oblast, in what commissioners of the Board for Religious Affairs have been directly involved, further serious work with sources is required.