Староверие Литвы в 1944-1953 гг.: «новый курс» советских властей, деятельность ВСС, изменение численности поморских общин

This article examines the relationship between Soviet authorities and the PomorianOld Believer Church of Lithuania during 1944–1953, in particular, the position andorganizational activities of the Supreme Old Believer Council in Vilnius, the plan to establisha central body of the bespopovtcy in the USSR. It also researches the question as to how thereligious policy of the Soviet authorities at that time and the position of the leadership of theChurch influenced the changes in the network of Pomorian communities in Lithuania. It isimportant to show the different types of communication between the authorities and theleadership of the Church within the framework of “the new course” of religious policy and insubsequent years. So far, these issues have been insufficiently or fragmentarily studied inhistoriography due to the limited use of archival material. Therefore, this article employsgeneralized data from materials relevant to our topic found in three archives of Lithuania – theState Central Archives of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Special Archives and the archive of theSupreme Old Believer Council of Lithuania in Vilnius.