arthra
Baha'i
I have a Russian friend who had the honour of serving on the third National Spiritual Assembly of Russia after the collapse of the old Soviet Union.. He is in the United States now and we have continued to talk and share things.. Under the old Soviet Union the Faith had been outlawed but after the Soviet Union ended the Faith is now allowed to be recognized.
The following tells what happened to Baha'is in the old Soviet regime...
Soviet period
By the time the effects of the October Revolution began to spread across the Russian Empire transforming it into the Soviet Union
, Bahá'ís had spread east through Central Asia and Caucasus, and also north into Moscow, Leningrad, Tbilisi and Kazan with the community of Ashgabat alone numbering about 3000 adults.
After the October Revolution the Ashgabat Bahá'í community was progressively severed from the rest of the worldwide Bahá'í community. Initially the religion still grew in organization when the election of the regional National Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the Caucasus and Turkistan in 1925.
However the Bahá'í House of Worship was expropriated by the Soviet authorities in 1928 and leased back to the Bahá'ís until 1938 when it was fully secularized by the communist government and turned into an art gallery.
However the records of events shows an increasing hostility to the Bahá'is between 1928 and 1938. From 1928 free rent was set for 5 years and the Bahá'ís were asked to make certain repairs which they did. But in 1933 before the 5 year rent agreement was expired the government suddenly decided expensive renovations would be required. These unexpected requirements were accomplished but in 1934 complaints about the condition of the building were again laid. However inquires from abroad silenced the complaints.
But in 1936 escalated demands of were made beyond the resources of the local community. However the Bahá'ís of Turkistan and the Caucasus rallied and were able to sustain the construction requested. Then the government made moves to confiscate the main gardens of the property to provide for a playground of a school (the school itself being confiscated from the Bahá'ís originally) which would wall off the grounds from the Bahá'ís leaving only and entrance to the temple through a side entrance rather than the main entrance facing the front of the property. Protests lead to the abandonment of this plan but then in 1938 all pretexts came to an end.
The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake seriously damaged the building and rendered it unsafe; the heavy rains of the following years weakened the structure, and it was demolished in 1963 and the site converted into a public park. With the Soviet ban on religion, the Bahá'ís, strictly adhering to their principle of obedience to legal government, abandoned its administration and its properties were nationalized.
By 1938, with the NKVD (Soviet secret police) and the policy of religious oppression most Bahá'ís were sent to prisons and camps or sent abroad; Bahá'í communities in 38 cities ceased to exist. In the case of Ashgabat Bahá'í sources indicate on February 5 the members of the assembly, leaders of the community and some general members of the community to a total of 500 people were arrested, homes were searched and all records and literature were confiscated claiming they were working for the advantage of foreigners and sometimes forced to dig their own graves as part of the interrogation. It is believed one woman set fire to her self and died later in a hospital. The women and children were largely exiled back to Iran. In 1953 Bahá'ís started to move to the Soviet Republics in Asia, after the head of the religion at the time, Shoghi Effendi, initiated a plan called the Ten Year Crusade.
The Bahá'ís who moved to Turkmenistan found some individual Bahá'ís still living there though the religion remained unorganized.
Read more at:
Bahá'í Faith in Turkmenistan: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article
The following tells what happened to Baha'is in the old Soviet regime...
Soviet period
By the time the effects of the October Revolution began to spread across the Russian Empire transforming it into the Soviet Union
, Bahá'ís had spread east through Central Asia and Caucasus, and also north into Moscow, Leningrad, Tbilisi and Kazan with the community of Ashgabat alone numbering about 3000 adults.
After the October Revolution the Ashgabat Bahá'í community was progressively severed from the rest of the worldwide Bahá'í community. Initially the religion still grew in organization when the election of the regional National Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the Caucasus and Turkistan in 1925.
However the Bahá'í House of Worship was expropriated by the Soviet authorities in 1928 and leased back to the Bahá'ís until 1938 when it was fully secularized by the communist government and turned into an art gallery.
However the records of events shows an increasing hostility to the Bahá'is between 1928 and 1938. From 1928 free rent was set for 5 years and the Bahá'ís were asked to make certain repairs which they did. But in 1933 before the 5 year rent agreement was expired the government suddenly decided expensive renovations would be required. These unexpected requirements were accomplished but in 1934 complaints about the condition of the building were again laid. However inquires from abroad silenced the complaints.
But in 1936 escalated demands of were made beyond the resources of the local community. However the Bahá'ís of Turkistan and the Caucasus rallied and were able to sustain the construction requested. Then the government made moves to confiscate the main gardens of the property to provide for a playground of a school (the school itself being confiscated from the Bahá'ís originally) which would wall off the grounds from the Bahá'ís leaving only and entrance to the temple through a side entrance rather than the main entrance facing the front of the property. Protests lead to the abandonment of this plan but then in 1938 all pretexts came to an end.
The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake seriously damaged the building and rendered it unsafe; the heavy rains of the following years weakened the structure, and it was demolished in 1963 and the site converted into a public park. With the Soviet ban on religion, the Bahá'ís, strictly adhering to their principle of obedience to legal government, abandoned its administration and its properties were nationalized.
By 1938, with the NKVD (Soviet secret police) and the policy of religious oppression most Bahá'ís were sent to prisons and camps or sent abroad; Bahá'í communities in 38 cities ceased to exist. In the case of Ashgabat Bahá'í sources indicate on February 5 the members of the assembly, leaders of the community and some general members of the community to a total of 500 people were arrested, homes were searched and all records and literature were confiscated claiming they were working for the advantage of foreigners and sometimes forced to dig their own graves as part of the interrogation. It is believed one woman set fire to her self and died later in a hospital. The women and children were largely exiled back to Iran. In 1953 Bahá'ís started to move to the Soviet Republics in Asia, after the head of the religion at the time, Shoghi Effendi, initiated a plan called the Ten Year Crusade.
The Bahá'ís who moved to Turkmenistan found some individual Bahá'ís still living there though the religion remained unorganized.
Read more at:
Bahá'í Faith in Turkmenistan: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article