In 1920, Vitebsk Province received instruction on the execution of the decree on the separation of church and state. According to instructions in the same year under the Polotsk department of public education, the Polotsk Region Commission for the Protection of Antiquities and Art was established. It included representatives of the department of public education and members of the teachers' circle of lovers of antiquity, an artist and a photographer. The commission was headed by Deinis, who had a higher pedagogical and archaeological education. The primary task of the commission was the definition and consideration of church values. In fact, the commission conducted preparatory work for the subsequent confiscation of church property. In addition, the commission did a great job of describing the Polotsk churches, the monument of 1812, the shaft of Ivan the Terrible. Activities to protect them have been initiated. The commission organized collection of exhibits for the future museum of local lore.