The Gates of Hell: An Untold Story of Faith and Perseverance in the Early Soviet Union

by Matthew Heise

Decimated by war, revolution, and famine, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia was in critical condition in 1921. In The Gates of Hell, Matthew Heise recounts the bravery and suffering of German-Russian Lutherans during the period between the two great world wars. These stories tell of ordinary Christians who remained faithful to death in the face of state persecution.

520 pages, Hardcover

Published May 11, 2022

Reviews

[Joshua Upole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers a targeted insight into the Soviet Union through the lens of the small Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia from WW1 and the Russian revolution through the start of WW2. The reader is presented with individual stories within that church, mainly focused on the church in the two main cities of Moscow and Leningrad, but touching on those in the other regions as well. From these stories the reader will hear of the tragic torture, harassment, family separation, deprivation of citizenship, and ultimately the execution that the Church faced in a state that was in its founding principles set against it from the beginning. The corruption of children, thievery, lies,and defamation that the Church suffered at the hands of the state and by those zealous communists who advanced the Soviet agenda on their own is truly heartbreaking. Praise God that the Lutheran Church in Russia was not killed permanently, being reincarnated years later by those from whom their churches, pastors, and congregations were taken.

[Madelyn Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need time to collect my thoughts on this book. It so heartbreaking, stirring, encouraging. It’s a warning, yet it also offers hope.

[Jordan G · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would not recommend this book unless you are only interested in the history of the Lutheran Church in Russia from 1920’s-early 1940’s. I did not feel connected to any of the people and there is no real development into the lives of the people. For instance, the author touched on Robert Robinson who was a Christian working at the Ford factory in Russia. He glosses over 40 years of his life in less than 1/2 a page. It had the potential to be an engaging story, but nothing more was said. The writing was a little rough and much like reading a school report. The structure was also hard to follow at times. Each chapter seemed to be its own topic and not written chronologically. Also, there were unnecessary words that lengthened sentences but gave no real meaning. For instance, at one point he said, “she wrote him a letter in extremely clear English”. There was no context as to why “extremely clear English” was needed. The author could have just said, “She wrote him a letter.” There were a lot of examples like that and details that could have explained the context were left out and irrelevant explanations were often included. This made for a very exhausting read. I was disappointed because I really wanted to like this book and the topic is interesting to me, however; this book didn’t deliver what was expected.

[Benjamin Huckel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book caught my eye at a Christian bookshop some time last year. It's an epic read, in places harrowing and difficult to continue, in other places joyful, light, as we snatch glimpses of the light between gaps in the clouds.

The tale of the persecution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia isn't widely known, and in fact I don't think the persecution of the wider Church in the years of the Soviet Union is widely known. An estimated 12-20 million Christians were martyred, many of them Lutherans along with Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox believers.

This book tells the tale of the fiercest persecution during the 20s and 30s up until the Soviets finally achieved the destruction of public Christianity. It discusses the experiences of Catholics and Orthodox outside the particular Lutheran experience. It gives the reader a clear look at the tactics of the Soviet government during the persecution. It's a must-read, not only for those who want to learn more about seldom-told Lutheran stories during this period, but for those who desire a deeper acquaintance with the history of the wider Church at the time.

[Isabel Hogue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This contribution to the literature of Soviet Socialism describes, beginning with the October 1917 Bolshevik take over, the State's use of its administrative agencies and legal system to plunder and destroy the institutions of religion, family, and civil society. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia was a particular target. This is the story of men and women who tried to keep the faith alive.

The Marxist has a hatred of religious practice in general and Christian teaching specifically, because to "love your neighbor as yourself" negates the possibility of class warfare. Love breaks the cycle of "violence and class struggle" on which the Communist/Socialist State's power depends.
(page 170)

After twenty years of class warfare, "various ethnic groups were [being] accused of conducting espionage for some foreign power, and for Lutherans, it was generally supposed that those ties were to Nazi Germany or Fascist Finland. These victims were fed to [the State's] Moloch-like death machine whose appetite was strong in 1938."
(page 382)

[Robert Herring]

For those who dismiss the idea of religious persecution in the 20th century they need to read this book. The depth of detail laid out in these pages takes your breath away as the reader is confronted by the brutality of communism in Russia. The author has presented a sensitive subject with great care. You can’t read this book and not be changed.

[S K Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first quarter of the book is a bit slow but it then becomes a truly compelling telling of the lives of martyrs.