individual work without offending the believers, but "re-educating" them. He claimed that religion had disappeared in some parts of the country but in other parts (especially in the newly annexed territories) it was strong, and he warned against starting brutal offensives in those areas. He alleged that there were very few attempts to re-open churches and that this was a sign of the decline in religion. He branded those who tried to re-open churches as "former kulaks" and "falsifiers of figures". This report was contradicted, however, by the LMG's own figures (based on the 1937 census) that found perhaps half the country still held religious beliefs, even if they had no structures to worship in any longer and they could no longer openly express their beliefs. An answer to this report was found when Nazi Germany invaded in 1941. Churches were re-opened under the German occupation, while believers flocked to them in the thousands. In order to gain support for the war effort (both domestic and foreign), Stalin ended the antireligious persecution and the LMG was disbanded. Internal pressure to end the persecution came from the need to win the loyalty of religious Soviet citizens for the war effort, while external pressure came from the Allies, who would not support Stalin if he continued the campaign. Yaroslavsky turned his attention to other pursuits. In 1942, he even published a positive article about Orthodox writer Dostoevsky, describing his alleged hatred of the Germans. After the death of Yaroslavsky in 1943, the chairman of the organization became Fyodor Oleshchuk, who led it until its disbandment. Most of LMG periodicals ceased to publish by September 1941. Its official disbandment date is unknown, but traced somewhere between 1941 and 1947. See also Antisemitism in the Soviet Union Eastern Catholic victims of Soviet persecutions Persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc Persecution of Christians in the Warsaw Pact countries Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union Persecutions of the Catholic Church and Pius XII Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Soviet Union Persecution of Buddhists in the Soviet Union Persecution of Buddhists in Vietnam, in Vietnam Persecution of Muslims in the former USSR Political religion Red Terror Soviet Orientalist studies in Islam Soviet anti-religious legislation State atheism Tatar Union of the Godless USSR anti-religious campaign (1917–1921) USSR anti-religious campaign (1921–1928) USSR anti-religious campaign (1928–1941) USSR anti-religious campaign (1958–1964) USSR anti-religious campaign (1970s–1990) References Воинствующее безбожие