Authors

Discussion

On the 16th of September 2025, the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church canonised three Orthodox chaplains murdered in Katyn together with nearly 22 thousand Polish officers executed by the NKVD. The act of canonization marked the culmination of celebrations for the centenary of the autocephaly, or the church's independence, which dates back to 1924. However, one of the stereotypes still functioning in Polish society links Orthodoxy with Russianness and associates its beginning with the period of partitions and Russian religious pressure.

This presumption is erroneous, as Orthodoxy was present in the territory of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from its beginnings. Moreover, over time, it gained its own local peculiarities, which distinctly distinguished the "Kievan" Orthodoxy from its "Moscow" version.

After the partitions of Poland and especially after the November uprising, the Orthodox communities on the territory annexed by the Russian Empire were incorporated into the Russian Orthodox Church. Orthodoxy, as one of the three pillars of the imperial ideological doctrine, was protected and promoted, which manifested itself, among other things, in forcing members of the Greek Catholic Church to convert to Orthodoxy. The abolishment of the Uniate Cholm eparchy in 1875 was especially shocking because of the strong resistance of the population, which caused numerous arrests and over one hundred casualties. These events were widely discussed in the press and literary works, creating an unequivocal representation of the Unites as Polish patriots, and the Orthodox as oppressors and Russifiers.

This conviction is not without grounds, as Orthodoxy was used here as an instrument of Russification, which may be clearly traced in contemporary press and memoirs, such as those written by Evlogii Georgievskii. However, does it mean that the local Orthodox population, and especially Orthodox clergymen, were Russifiers themselves? What can be said about their identity? It is not easy to answer this question, as we don't have many autobiographical sources available. Thus, in my presentation, I will primarily aim to pose the question and demonstrate some hints found in existing memoirs, rather than seeking the answer.