The Campaign of Confiscation of Saints’ Relics as an Element of Communist Anti-religious Politics
The elimination of religion was a fundamental ideological goal of the communist state. According to Marxist theory, religion was a product of material conditions. Working from this premise, militant atheism initially considered that religion would disappear on its own through the coming of the new society system. After the revolution the Bolsheviks started a massive persecution. When it became clear that religion was not dying out on its own, the USSR began general antireligious campaigns. One of the lesser known campaigns was confiscation of saints’ relics, carefully preserved for the purposes of veneration or as a touchable or tangible memorial.

The elimination of religion was a fundamental ideological goal of the communist state. According to Marxist theory, religion was a product of material conditions. Working from this premise, militant atheism initially considered that religion would disappear on its own through the coming of the new society system. After the revolution the Bolsheviks started a massive persecution. When it became clear that religion was not dying out on its own, the USSR began general antireligious campaigns. One of the lesser known campaigns was confiscation of saints’ relics, carefully preserved for the purposes of veneration or as a touchable or tangible memorial.