Stundists from Chisinau: Unknown Pages of History

Abstract

On the basis of documents from various archives of the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, the Russian Federation, the press (documents) of the time, the author of the study examined the issue of the activity of Stundists in Chisinau. The first people who shared the evangelical faith were identified (Nikita Şarohovici, Ivan Solovei and others), cases of the spread of the Bible were exposed, Iosif Rabinovici’s activity at the “New Israel” house of prayer was briefly presented. The study demonstrated that not only Jews came to the divine services of the new Jewish community, but all those who wanted to hear and know the Word of God. The author of the article demonstrates the policy of the authorities towards the Stundists: they were monitored, convinced to renounce their faith and finally – exiled to peripheral regions of the Tsarist Empire.