ABSTRACT
On 12 July 1805 a tradesman and two peasants took the risky step of coming before Tsar Alexander I and asking for the freedom to practise their faith. For more than a century, the Molokans had worshipped in secret and in fear:
As soon as we would gather, the Priests would report to the Police where we were and in whose house our gathering was taking place. Immediately people are handcuffed, shackled, beaten without mercy, put into prison, chained to the wall without food, put into dark cells and sentenced to hard labor with daily punishment. 1
