How did the state imposed atheism of the USSR work out?

Question by : How did the state imposed atheism of the Soviet Union work out?
Did the Church operate in secret? and how?
I’d like to know because I would have wished to see religion disappear in the Soviet republics.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Al
As with your own wishes and beliefs, such things as Hope, Faith, Love, Loyalty, Preferences and Desire cannot be dictated by any law. When dictatorial force is applied,the public display and practice is stifled, but the heart wants what it wants and no other human or group can change that. By example, your own preference to see religion disappear would not be changed if it were suddenly made illegal to make wishes concerning religion. Atheism was popular for a short while in the USSR but the people began to need something to believe in. When the state imposed ban was finally lifted and people were able to display their beliefs openly, religion made a comeback stronger than ever.

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☭IN SOVIET RUSSIA☭ says

Religion may have been badly opressed in the USSR and Yugoslavia, but Albania was by far the worst state for religion, here’s the article from Wikipedia:

Socialist People’s Republic of Albania
Further information: Religion in Albania
State atheism in Albania was taken to an extreme during the totalitarian regime installed after World War II, when religions, identified as imports foreign to Albanian culture, were banned altogether.[46]
The Agrarian Reform Law of August 1945 nationalized most property of religious institutions, including the estates of monasteries, orders, and dioceses. Many clergy and believers were tried, tortured, and executed. All foreign Roman Catholic priests, monks, and nuns were expelled in 1946.[47]
Religious communities or branches that had their headquarters outside the country, such as the Jesuit and Franciscan orders, were henceforth ordered to terminate their activities in Albania. Religious institutions were forbidden to have anything to do with the education of the young, because that had been made the exclusive province of the state. All religious communities were prohibited from owning real estate and from operating philanthropic and welfare institutions and hospitals. Although there were tactical variations in Hoxha’s approach to each of the major denominations, his overarching objective was the eventual destruction of all organized religion in Albania. Between 1945 and 1953, the number of priests was reduced drastically and the number of Roman Catholic churches was decreased from 253 to 100, and all Catholics were stigmatized as fascists.[47]
The campaign against religion peaked in the 1960s. Beginning in 1967 the Albanian authorities began a violent campaign to try to eliminate religious life in Albania. Despite complaints, even by APL members, all churches, mosques, monasteries, and other religious institutions were either closed down or converted into warehouses, gymnasiums, or workshops by the end of 1967.[48] By May 1967, religious institutions had been forced to relinquish all 2,169 churches, mosques, cloisters, and shrines in Albania, many of which were converted into cultural centers for young people. As the literary monthly Nendori reported the event, the youth had thus “created the first atheist nation in the world.”[47]
The clergy were publicly vilified and humiliated, their vestments taken and desecrated. More than 200 clerics of various faiths were imprisoned, others were forced to seek work in either industry or agriculture, and some were executed or starved to death. The cloister of the Franciscan order in Shkodër was set on fire, which resulted in the death of four elderly monks.[47]
Article 37 of the Albanian Constitution of 1976 stipulated, “The State recognizes no religion, and supports atheistic propaganda in order to implant a scientific materialistic world outlook in people.”,[49] and the penal code of 1977 imposed prison sentences of three to ten years for “religious propaganda and the production, distribution, or storage of religious literature.” A new decree that in effect targeted Albanians with Christian names stipulated that citizens whose names did not conform to “the political, ideological, or moral standards of the state” were to change them. It was also decreed that towns and villages with religious names must be renamed. Hoxha’s brutal antireligious campaign succeeded in eradicating formal worship, but some Albanians continued to practice their faith clandestinely, risking severe punishment. Individuals caught with Bibles, icons, or other religious objects faced long prison sentences. Religious weddings were prohibited.[50]
Parents were afraid to pass on their faith, for fear that their children would tell others. Officials tried to entrap practicing Christians and Muslims during religious fasts, such as Lent and Ramadan, by distributing dairy products and other forbidden foods in school and at work, and then publicly denouncing those who refused the food, and clergy who conducted secret services were incarcerated.[47] Catholic priest Shtjefen Kurti, had been executed for secretly baptizing a child in Shkodër in 1972.[51]
The article was interpreted by Danes as violating The United Nations Charter (chapter 9, article 55) which declares that religious freedom is an inalienable human right. The first time that the question came before the United Nations’ Commission on Human Rights at Geneva was as late as 7 March 1983. A delegation from Denmark got its protest over Albania’s violation of religious liberty placed on the agenda of the thirty-ninth meeting of the commission, item 25, reading, “Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief.”, and on 20 July 1984 a member of the Danish Parliament inserted an article in one of Denmark’s major newspapers protesting the violation of religious freedom in Albania.

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☭IN SOVIET RUSSIA☭ says

Religion may have been badly opressed in the USSR and Yugoslavia, but Albania was by far the worst state for religion, here’s the article from Wikipedia:

Socialist People’s Republic of Albania
Further information: Religion in Albania
State atheism in Albania was taken to an extreme during the totalitarian regime installed after World War II, when religions, identified as imports foreign to Albanian culture, were banned altogether.[46]
The Agrarian Reform Law of August 1945 nationalized most property of religious institutions, including the estates of monasteries, orders, and dioceses. Many clergy and believers were tried, tortured, and executed. All foreign Roman Catholic priests, monks, and nuns were expelled in 1946.[47]
Religious communities or branches that had their headquarters outside the country, such as the Jesuit and Franciscan orders, were henceforth ordered to terminate their activities in Albania. Religious institutions were forbidden to have anything to do with the education of the young, because that had been made the exclusive province of the state. All religious communities were prohibited from owning real estate and from operating philanthropic and welfare institutions and hospitals. Although there were tactical variations in Hoxha’s approach to each of the major denominations, his overarching objective was the eventual destruction of all organized religion in Albania. Between 1945 and 1953, the number of priests was reduced drastically and the number of Roman Catholic churches was decreased from 253 to 100, and all Catholics were stigmatized as fascists.[47]
The campaign against religion peaked in the 1960s. Beginning in 1967 the Albanian authorities began a violent campaign to try to eliminate religious life in Albania. Despite complaints, even by APL members, all churches, mosques, monasteries, and other religious institutions were either closed down or converted into warehouses, gymnasiums, or workshops by the end of 1967.[48] By May 1967, religious institutions had been forced to relinquish all 2,169 churches, mosques, cloisters, and shrines in Albania, many of which were converted into cultural centers for young people. As the literary monthly Nendori reported the event, the youth had thus “created the first atheist nation in the world.”[47]
The clergy were publicly vilified and humiliated, their vestments taken and desecrated. More than 200 clerics of various faiths were imprisoned, others were forced to seek work in either industry or agriculture, and some were executed or starved to death. The cloister of the Franciscan order in Shkodër was set on fire, which resulted in the death of four elderly monks.[47]
Article 37 of the Albanian Constitution of 1976 stipulated, “The State recognizes no religion, and supports atheistic propaganda in order to implant a scientific materialistic world outlook in people.”,[49] and the penal code of 1977 imposed prison sentences of three to ten years for “religious propaganda and the production, distribution, or storage of religious literature.” A new decree that in effect targeted Albanians with Christian names stipulated that citizens whose names did not conform to “the political, ideological, or moral standards of the state” were to change them. It was also decreed that towns and villages with religious names must be renamed. Hoxha’s brutal antireligious campaign succeeded in eradicating formal worship, but some Albanians continued to practice their faith clandestinely, risking severe punishment. Individuals caught with Bibles, icons, or other religious objects faced long prison sentences. Religious weddings were prohibited.[50]
Parents were afraid to pass on their faith, for fear that their children would tell others. Officials tried to entrap practicing Christians and Muslims during religious fasts, such as Lent and Ramadan, by distributing dairy products and other forbidden foods in school and at work, and then publicly denouncing those who refused the food, and clergy who conducted secret services were incarcerated.[47] Catholic priest Shtjefen Kurti, had been executed for secretly baptizing a child in Shkodër in 1972.[51]
The article was interpreted by Danes as violating The United Nations Charter (chapter 9, article 55) which declares that religious freedom is an inalienable human right. The first time that the question came before the United Nations’ Commission on Human Rights at Geneva was as late as 7 March 1983. A delegation from Denmark got its protest over Albania’s violation of religious liberty placed on the agenda of the thirty-ninth meeting of the commission, item 25, reading, “Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief.”, and on 20 July 1984 a member of the Danish Parliament inserted an article in one of Denmark’s major newspapers protesting the violation of religious freedom in Albania.

Скроз луд says

I won’t be able to say to you about Soviet but I can say to you about Yugoslavia (it was the same communist regime).
So on the end of the WW2 they destroyed all churches(and mosques) that were or old or damaged in war. After that churches and mosques weren’t able to be constructed. Everything that was owned by church(spas, birth book, land & etc.) was taken. Some remained like gardens for monasteries and church backyards. On TV you were unable to see monasteries, monks, priests. It was forbidden. There were in some movies but in around 20% of then were they presented like evil and in rest they were neutral. Christmas Easter and other religious holidays were workable days and you weren’t able to take day of for that day. Slava (religious holiday) celebrated by Serbs, Macedonians and Montenegrins was hunted many folks celebrate it and Party was hunting them. If you were Party member you would be kicked out if you were seen in church or church married or your children were baptized. Also if you were some boss on work you would be reduced.
Same was for Muslims. Ramadan and other thing if you were party member were forbidden and etc. Mosques also lost land etc.

But public services were allowed and there was a liturgy on Sunday.

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