The Soviet Union's State Politics and the Issue of Batumi Mosque (“Orta Jame”) registration in the 1940s

Abstract

The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) and the combination of internal and external political causes (e.g., the necessity of utilizing religious issues in international politics) compelled the Soviet autho­rities to engage in dialogue with various confessions, primarily with the Russian Orthodox Church. It became necessary to establish an organ through which the country's leadership could implement religious policy.

In 1943, the Council for Religious Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church was established under the Coun­cil of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union (1943-1965), which focused on issues related to the Russian Orthodox Church but also addressed matters concerning non-Orthodox religious organizations. However, despite certain contradictions, another special body was created to work with non-Orthodox organizations. By the decree No. 572 of May 19, 1944, the Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults established under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR was responsible for the Armenian-Gregorian, Old Believer, Greek-Catholic, Catholic, and Lutheran churches, as well as the religious associations of Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists, and sectarian organizations (including Adventists, Baptists, and other Christian sects officially permitted in the USSR).

The first result of the activities of the Central Apparatus of the Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults in the field of religious policy was the decree №1603 of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, dated November 19, 1944, "On the Procedure for Opening Buildings of Religious Cults." This decree was followed by submissions from Muslims and Muslim organizations of various Soviet republics to the Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults requesting the reopening of mosques closed in the 1930s.

The paper discusses and analyzes the issues related to the reopening and registration of the mosque in Batumi – Orta Jame, based on documents preserved in the Central State Archive of Adjara, the National Archive of Georgia, and the State Archive of the Russian Federation.