«ВЕЛИКИЙ ТЕРОР» ПРОТИ ПРАВОСЛАВНОГО ДУХОВЕНСТВА СУМЩИНИ: КАТУВАННЯ ТА ВИКОНАВЦІ

The article is devoted to one of the important issues of «The Great Terror» - persecution of the Orthodox clergy. The conditions, under which the persecution was conducted in Sumy region, were analyzed. It has been estimated, that illegal methods of investigation were widely used in the period of "The Great Terror" for the purpose of falsification of the criminal cases and acquisition of data against suspects and other persons, which was necessary for the bodies of the NCDA. The beating of prisoners prevailed among illegal methods; everyday tortures were a daily occurrence. Alongside with the latter, the methods of a psychological pressure of the individual were used, which can also be regarded as tortures. The methods of tortures, used by investigators in Sumy region, are described. It was determined, that nearly every investigator used tortures, including psychological pressure and beatings. Some of them were marked by extreme cruelty. Such methods of investigation were approved by the authorities, as leaders of the NCDA of different levels. The encouragement of such methods was both in oral commendation and in the form of receiving the state awards for high rates of solving crimes. The mass terror was applied not only to the acting clerics, but to those, who officially changed the activity sphere as well. Accordingly, such obtained data was often the only evidence of the guilt of accused clergy. The organization under the name of «troika» was carrying out the sentences of shooting down; the investigators were initiating new criminal cases. The basis for the initiation of the criminal cases was also the interrogation under tortures. They were particularly required, when the so-called "counterrevolutionary religious organizations» were opened, which the clergy of several regions sometimes belonged to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]