Two brothers declared: "We have not refused to serve in that army which goes with Christ, but to serve in an army which is against God and Christ, that we cannot and will not do - we are Christians!"
First they placed them under arrest in the town of Sharlyk, Orenburg province. Then they took them to Alexandrovka, in the same province. This was where their parents lived, and the God-fighting authorities hoped that they would influence their sons, since otherwise death awaited them. But the
God-fighters were mistaken. The parents, being convinced Christians, not only did not dissuade their sons from refusing to serve in the Red army, but also, quite the reverse, supported them in their decision. Knowing that death threatened their sons, the parents said, with tears in their eyes:
"Children, dear children, you are our hope. Apart from you we have no children. You know what awaits you... But remember that you have received Holy Baptism. And that is an oath of faithfulness to the Lord God Himself... We are your parents, and you are our beloved children. We bless you to be
faithful Christians both in life and in death for Christ, the Lord of glory. The blessing of God is with you, and our fervent prayers are with you and for you... Go, dear ones, to eternity!"
faithful Christians both in life and in death for Christ, the Lord of glory. The blessing of God is with you, and our fervent prayers are with you and for you... Go, dear ones, to eternity!"
The military command was by no means expecting this. Instead of dissuasion, a blessing... And both the sons and their parents were weeping tears of tender feeling. And even those of the command who were present were not themselves... But the Soviet system is such that people do only what they are ordered to do. And the fate of these valiant soldiers was decided accordingly.
A horse-mounted convoy drove them, on foot and in summer clothes in a fierce Siberian frost, from Alexandrovka to the town of Orenburg. This is about 150 kilometres. It is not surprising that they did not reach Orenburg. So as not to freeze, they had to run, but neither their hearts nor their legs could
sustain them and they both fell and froze to death on the way.
Their parents, who had showed such exemplary firmness in confession, died on the same day, so they say, at the very same hour, suffering for their sons and knowing that in such a hard frost they were being driven down the road to Orenburg. And perhaps they killed their parents... Be that as it may, on the same day and hour the whole of this Catacomb Church family - two sons, father and mother - died a martyr's death in 1937.
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Fr. Nicetas was a catacomb priest from Orenburg who was in hiding until his death. But during this period he continued to fulfil his priestly duties. He was constantly on the move, going from village to town, from town to village, from house to house, celebrating services in "house churches", confessing
people and communicating them in the Holy Mysteries. He had to suffer very much for the Church, but he showed himself to be a true, exemplary, self-sacrificing pastor, bringing up his only son, Theodore, not so much by word and instruction as by his own example without words, teaching him to be a firm, self-sacrificing Christian.
people and communicating them in the Holy Mysteries. He had to suffer very much for the Church, but he showed himself to be a true, exemplary, self-sacrificing pastor, bringing up his only son, Theodore, not so much by word and instruction as by his own example without words, teaching him to be a firm, self-sacrificing Christian.
The young Theodore was called up and went into the army. He knew beforehand that there awaited him an impious oath, not to the Lord God, but to the God-fighting Soviet authorities who had come in the spirit and the name of the Antichrist. And Theodore decided in advance not to accept it. He prayed to the Lord to strengthen him for the feat of martyrdom. In tears he said goodbye to his parents, knowing that he would never see them again. He took a blessing from his father, Fr. Nicetas, and from his mother. He besought them to pray fervently for him, that he would not weaken...
When all the other soldiers obediently swore the oath to the Soviet authorities, he alone refused. Boldly in front off everyone he declared that he could not swear such an oath to the God-fighting authorities because he was a Christian. There was a big stir. They forced all the soldiers to come out against the confessor of Christ. And the son of the catacomb priest Fr. Nicetas, the martyr for Christ Theodore, was shot in front of all the soldiers of the unit in 1937. He was an inhabitant of Orenburg.
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In the same external circumstances as the soldier of Christ Theodore, there was also shot the soldier of Christ Peter Gerasimovich Zamesin, who fearlessly confessed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His Holy Gospel announced to men for their salvation.
"So you say that your God, Christ, came 'for the salvation of men'? But what 'salvation' can there be for you personally if we shoot you tomorrow as criminal for breaking the law?" said the chief to Peter. "Your 'law' is not law. There is only one law in the world which everyone must obey. That is the Law of God. But God allows man both to break His Law and reject the Gospel Law of love and to accept an evil law, the law of diabolic hatred. Which is what you do... I believe in eternal life in Christ and I accept death for Christ with great joy!.."
The soldier of Christ Peter was shot in 1944 or 1945.
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From a letter written in March, 1989:
"In the July issue of the newsletter USSR News Brief, we read about the fate of two Russian Christians. The brothers Alexey Anatolievich (born in 1965) and Vladimir Anatolievich (born in 1966) Shatskii, residents of the Krasnolipye village, Repyevsky district, Voronezh’ region - who are members of the Catacomb Orthodox Church.
In January 1987 they were drafted into the (Red) army. The members of the Catacomb Church consider service in the army, in particular such things as kissing the red banner, taking the oath and the like to be contrary to their religious principles. In the USSR as you may know there is no alternative service for those whose religious or other views do not allow them to fulfill their military duty.
"In the July issue of the newsletter USSR News Brief, we read about the fate of two Russian Christians. The brothers Alexey Anatolievich (born in 1965) and Vladimir Anatolievich (born in 1966) Shatskii, residents of the Krasnolipye village, Repyevsky district, Voronezh’ region - who are members of the Catacomb Orthodox Church.
In January 1987 they were drafted into the (Red) army. The members of the Catacomb Church consider service in the army, in particular such things as kissing the red banner, taking the oath and the like to be contrary to their religious principles. In the USSR as you may know there is no alternative service for those whose religious or other views do not allow them to fulfill their military duty.
On January 22, 1987, the Shatskii brothers were arrested and sentenced under article 80 of the
Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R. (Refusal to serve in the army) to three years in a labor camp. In July 1988 they were transferred from the camp for refusing to work to a prison in Yelets town, Lipetsk’ region.
All Soviet prisons are known for the severity of their regime. The prisoners are kept in locked cells for twenty-three hours a day; personal visits and parcels are forbidden. They are starving and are not allowed to buy more than five rubles worth of food per month. They have no right even to send more than one letter per month.
But Yelets’ prison has a particularly bad reputation. We have a witness, the famous Soviet dissident
K. Podrabinek, who has spent two years there. According to him, the administration of the prison
forces one part of the inmates to be executioners for others. A new prisoner is being locked with those who are told to “teach the new one.” They beat him up at any moment, without reason, night or day. They rape him. They subject him to torturous humiliating acts. They shove him in a bag (mattress cover), tie it and hang it on the wall. They tie him down to the bunk, for days or weeks. They bend him over and shove his arms and legs into the sleeves of a prisoner’s jacket. Burn him with cigarettes.
The prisoner, if he is not an executioner himself, works in the cell from sun-up to sun-down and often
after sun-down. When he works slowly, they beat him. When he does not want to give up his food,
when he refuses to take a part in beating someone also, they beat him.
In consideration of all of the above we are concerned about the fate of these two young
Christians and we plead with you to intercede for Alexey and Vladimir Shatskii...
[It is unknown what became of these pious confessors of Orthodoxy.]
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The holy Martyr of Christ, Hieromonk Metrophanes (Mikhailov) once stated that only “demonic soldiers rejected by God can serve in the Red Army”. Fr. Metrophanes was arrested in 1937 for spitting on a portrait of Lenin. He was shot to death in Petrograd on December 8, 1937.
Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R. (Refusal to serve in the army) to three years in a labor camp. In July 1988 they were transferred from the camp for refusing to work to a prison in Yelets town, Lipetsk’ region.
All Soviet prisons are known for the severity of their regime. The prisoners are kept in locked cells for twenty-three hours a day; personal visits and parcels are forbidden. They are starving and are not allowed to buy more than five rubles worth of food per month. They have no right even to send more than one letter per month.
But Yelets’ prison has a particularly bad reputation. We have a witness, the famous Soviet dissident
K. Podrabinek, who has spent two years there. According to him, the administration of the prison
forces one part of the inmates to be executioners for others. A new prisoner is being locked with those who are told to “teach the new one.” They beat him up at any moment, without reason, night or day. They rape him. They subject him to torturous humiliating acts. They shove him in a bag (mattress cover), tie it and hang it on the wall. They tie him down to the bunk, for days or weeks. They bend him over and shove his arms and legs into the sleeves of a prisoner’s jacket. Burn him with cigarettes.
The prisoner, if he is not an executioner himself, works in the cell from sun-up to sun-down and often
after sun-down. When he works slowly, they beat him. When he does not want to give up his food,
when he refuses to take a part in beating someone also, they beat him.
In consideration of all of the above we are concerned about the fate of these two young
Christians and we plead with you to intercede for Alexey and Vladimir Shatskii...
[It is unknown what became of these pious confessors of Orthodoxy.]
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The holy Martyr of Christ, Hieromonk Metrophanes (Mikhailov) once stated that only “demonic soldiers rejected by God can serve in the Red Army”. Fr. Metrophanes was arrested in 1937 for spitting on a portrait of Lenin. He was shot to death in Petrograd on December 8, 1937.