The problems of modern historiography of the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the state during the “Khrushchev persecution” (1958-1964)

The present article analyzes the modern historiography of the “Khrushchev” anti-church campaign of 1958-1964. In general, the topic of the administrative and repressive policy of the Soviet state towards the Russian Orthodox Church during the “Khrushchev persecution” (1958-1964) has an extensive historiography, which can be divided into two stages (Soviet and post-Soviet). In the period from the 1960s to the 1980s, the theme of the “Khrushchev” anti-religious campaign was touched upon by emigrant and dissident circles. Soviet historiography actually ignored the subject of the “Khrushchev persecution”. The object of the article is the historical works of M. I. Odintsov, V. A. Alekseev, D. V. Pospelovsky, O. Y. Vasilyeva, A. V. Gorbatov, T. A. Chumachenko, M. V. Shkarovsky, Prot. V. Tsypin and others whose scientific works first appeared in the 1990s. The approaches proposed by these historians to the description of the “Khrushchev” anti-church campaign of 1958-1964 are basic for modern researchers. In the last two decades, the process of accessing unique archival documents of regional origin has begun, most of which have not yet been introduced into scientific circulation. The author has developed a periodization of the historiography of the “Khrushchev” persecutions of the period 1958-1964. The works devoted to the “Khrushchev” anti-religious campaign can be divided into several basic groups: journalistic emigrant and dissident literature, Soviet propaganda historiography, post-Soviet church historical analytics, all-Russian and regional scientific historiography.