Andrii Smyrnov
Between Berlin and Moscow: The Orthodox Church on the Polish Territories from 1939 to 1948
Andrii Smyrnov, Department of History of the National University of Ostroh Academy
Andrii Smyrnov is a professor at the Department of History of the National University of Ostroh Academy. His research interests are focused primarily on the church history, religious studies, and church-state relations. Smyrnov earned his Doctor of Historical Sciences degree (doktor nauk) in 2021 at the National University of Ostroh Academy. He is the author of Between the Cross, the Swastika and the Red Star: Ukrainian Orthodoxy during the Second World War (2021) as well as a number of publications on the history of religion. In 2012, he was a Petro Jacyk Visiting Scholar at the University of Toronto, and in 2013–2014 he held John Kolasky Memorial Fellowship at the University of Alberta. In 2022, Smyrnov also received a Research Fellowship at the German Historical Institute in Warsaw. In July 2024, he was a DAAD visiting scholar at the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe. He serves as a member of the Expert Council under the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, Synodal Commission for the Inter-Christian relations of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Pathways to Peace Initiative steering group of the Conference of European Churches, and the World Council of Churches reference group for the pilgrimage of justice, reconciliation, and unity.
Project Description
“Between Berlin and Moscow: The Orthodox Church on the Polish Territories from 1939 to 1948”: the story of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church during the Second World War is shaded in controversy and murky references that result from both wartime political developments and the postwar situation within Poland. Accordingly, until full archival access becomes available, research on this segment of church history entails sifting through conflicting and often contradictory accounts of its activities during this period. The postwar Polish Orthodox Church faced a number of daunting challenges, headed by a greatly reduced constituency and the redefinition of its position within the new political order. An overview of the situation, development, and activities of the Polish Orthodox Church during the Second World War and aftermath is the subject of this research project.