The Soviet state bodies, aimed to address the problems of religious denominations in the interwar period (1918-1940)

This article is dedicated to the government bodies authorized to implement the religious policy of the Soviet state in the interwar period. In the interwar period in the USSR, there were three groups of authorities responsible for overseeing the activities of religious denominations. The first group consisted of bodies concerned with technical implementation of the Soviet legislation on religious cults. They were authorized to register or remove the registration of religious communities, to transmit the building and other structures in the use of religious communities (republican Departments of Cults, provincial or regional executive bodies). The second group consisted of the institutions that determined the religious policy of the state, considered relevant legislation and resolved questions regarding the registration and liquidation of religious communities (Interdepartmental Commission at the Commissariat of Justice (1918), the 8th Division of the Commissariat of Justice (1918-1922), Antireligious Commission (1922-1929). The third group included the bodies which had the prerogatives of both of the above groups: registration or deregistration of religious communities, harmonization of legislation concerning religious cults (the Commission for Religious Affairs of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR (1929-1934) and the other one, under the same name, which operated under the Presidium of the USSR Central Committee (1934-1938), the Councils of People's Commissars (all-union and republican), and the Supreme Soviets (all-union and republican) (1938-1943)). In the interwar period in the USSR, there were many bodies responsible for the development and implementation of the religious policy of the state, which led to all sorts of violations and abuses. Attempt to unify the bodies responsible for the relationship between the state and religious groups was made in 1943, when the Council for Russian Orthodox Church at the Councils of People's Commissars of the USSR was established, and in 1944, when the Council for Religious Denominations, also at the Councils of People's Commissars of the USSR, was formed.