Cult-objects as an object of antireligious struggle in the 1920s (case study of the Penza museum)

The theme of relations between the authorities and the church during the Soviet period has been in the focus of research for more than 30 years. The antireligious struggle became the quintessence of state-confessional relations in the 1920s. Based on archival materials and the Penza press, the article analyzes the activities of local authorities in confiscating cult-objects and their storage in the antireligious museum of Penza, whose work was built on displaying exhibits related to the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov, confiscated in 1927 from the Sarov monastery. This saint was highly revered by the people, so the exposure of his holiness was extremely significant to anti-religious propagandists. It is concluded that this kind of museums was one of the ways for the Soviet authorities to ideologically fight the cult of Orthodoxy in order to establish communist priorities in society.