Presbyter
Anatoly Ananyevich Berzhitsky was born on July 3, 1875, in the village of Mayaki, Odessa district, Kherson province. He came from a Russian priestly family. He received his initial education at the law faculty of Yuriev University, which he graduated from in 1902, and also had spiritual education. He accepted the spiritual rank after 1917.
He was first arrested on July 20, 1921, in the city of Barnaul, where he spent 40 days in prison. The next arrest occurred in 1930, after which he spent 10 months in custody. After his release, he moved to the city of Chimkent, where he worked as a planner in the regional health department.
He was arrested for the last time on September 10, 1937, accused of concealing his spiritual calling and connections with his emigrated brother. He was sentenced by the Troika of the NKVD to the highest measure of punishment and was shot on November 19, 1937. He was rehabilitated on December 12, 1957, by the military tribunal for lack of evidence of a crime. The Jubilee Archierical Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, which took place from August 12-16, 2000, announced the beginning of the church-wide veneration of the Holy Martyr Priest Anatoly.
