Russian Orthodoxy and Anti-Semitism: Focusing on the publication of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion

When the Soviet system collapsed and the new “faith” that had dominated that society, Marxism-Leninism, was abandoned, it was not surprising that Orthodoxy was considered as the faith to replace it. Historically, in Russia, Orthodoxy and the state recognized each other's roles and always maintained a close relationship. Until just before the Russian Revolution, the Russian Orthodox Church was influential in all strata of society, including the intelligentsia. During the Soviet period, the Orthodox Church was forced to give way to the new communist ideology as a state ideology, and Orthodoxy, as a fundamental part of the system, was to be extinguished. However, during World War II, Stalin enlisted the Orthodox Church in the fight against Nazi Germany, and the Church and the state were restored to a cooperative relationship, and Russian Orthodoxy was able to survive in an atheistic Soviet society because of its political usefulness. In the post-Soviet period, Russian Orthodoxy was revived as an alternative to fill the ideological vacuum, gradually regaining its pre-revolutionary status in Russian society and becoming very close to the powers that be. Since Putin's rise to power, a number of phenomena have been observed in Russia, including the rise of nationalist tendencies in various sectors of Russian society, and the Russian Orthodox Church has joined the movement. The most prominent phenomenon is the fact that Russian nationalist ideology in the post-Soviet period has been linked to the Russian Orthodox Church, and the policies of the Putin administration, especially with regard to religion, can be interpreted as state-centered nationalist tendencies. The most characteristic of these phenomena is the role of Russian Orthodoxy in the spread of anti-Semitic ideology in modern Russia. This study examines the anti-Semitic tendencies of the Russian Orthodox Church, focusing on the publication of the Protocols of Zion.