In June 1965, a meeting on the methodology of atheist propaganda was held in Leningrad, where the head of the methodological office on atheism shared the following story with colleagues. Recently, a local factory worker died in the village of Lisiy Nos. This worker was, according to his comrades, an unbeliever, and the factory director, the party committee and the trade union decided that his funeral would be "civil", "with a civil rally" and a memorial service at the local cemetery. They agreed with the widow that she would deliver the coffin to the cemetery. But when the plant's employees arrived at the cemetery,they saw a local priest who was already conducting a religious funeral. The staff waited until the end of the service, and then the comrades from the factory began to "bicker" among themselves about who would deliver the speech. And while the comrades continued to argue, the priest decided to defuse the situation, " showing how well he learned what he was taught at the theological academy." The priest was well aware of the details of the deceased's life, and he talked about what a good family man he had been, what good children he had raised, even mentioning them by name, and what a good neighbor he had been, and how well he had looked after his homestead. When he finished, the priest said that he would not talk about what a good worker he was, as this is already evident from the fact that so many of his comrades came to see him off on his last journey. The Leningrad atheist worker noted that after such a speech by the priest, "neither the trade union committee, nor the party committee, nor the directorate-no one dared to open their mouths." 11. Russian State Archive of Socio-political History [RGASPI]. f. 606. Op. 4. d. 37. l. 76-77. page 430This episode illustrates the main purpose of this article: to understand what was the reaction to the "ideological vacuum" of the late Soviet era, which was formed as a result of the state's anti-religious policy; in ... Read more