Child Sacrifice in the Soviet Press: Sensationalism and the "Sectarian" in the Post-Stalin Era

The blood libel is normally associated with anti-Semitic traditions, but in Soviet atheist propaganda of the 1950s and early 1960s it was evangelical Christians who were accused of ritually killing young children. In the existing scholarly literature, the anti-religious campaigns of the Khrushchev era tend to be explained in terms of a quest for scientific, rational modernity, but by focusing on the blood libel I uncover a rather more sensationalist dimension to them. The shocking and emotive stories and images found in the press and other published materials had a powerful impact on the popular imagination, and even when the Soviet government criticized such approaches after 1964, fears of a “sectarian” conspiracy remained. Drawing on two case-studies from the archives, I examine in detail the legal proceedings, the press coverage, and public reactions and I suggest that belief in the blood libel should be understood not only in terms of concerns over religious boundaries but also, and perhaps primarily, in relation to anxiety about the safety of children.