To Make a Village Soviet: Jehovah's Witnesses and the Transformation of a Postwar Ukrainian Borderland

In June 1949, the Soviet state arrested seven farmers from the village of Bila Tserkva for treason, despite their lack of wealth or power. This case study explores why the state targeted these individuals, who belonged to a small and misunderstood religious minority, the Jehovahs Witnesses. The author argues that the incident demonstrates the sheer ambition of the state's plans for Sovietization of borderland communities and the possibilities created by communities that resist assimilation.

Format: Paperback / softback
Publication date: 15 August 2022
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press

In June 1949, the Soviet state arrested seven farmers from the village of Bila Tserkva. Despite their lack of wealth or power, these men were unknown outside their community and their small, isolated village on the southwestern border of Soviet Ukraine was largely unheard of. However, the state deemed them dangerous traitors who posed a threat to public order. Following a regional court's conviction, they were sentenced to twenty-five years of imprisonment for treason.

In her book, To Make a Village Soviet, Emily Baran delves into the reasons behind the state's decision to target these individuals for removal from society. Bila Tserkva was transformed into a space where Soviet laws and institutions reigned supreme, yet Sovietization was a aspiration as much as it was a reality. The arrested men belonged to a small and misunderstood religious minority, the Jehovahs Witnesses, and both Witnesses and their neighbors challenged the government's attempts to fully integrate the village into socialist society.

Drawing from the case file and interviews with the families of survivors, Baran argues that what happened in Bila Tserkva demonstrates the sheer ambition of the state's plans for the Sovietization of borderland communities. This compelling history seeks to explore the power and the limits of state control, as well as the possibilities created by communities that resist assimilation.

Weight: 392g
Dimension: 228 x 151 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780228010555