Russia: 50th Anniversary of Khrushchev's Speech

Nikita Khrushchev began the process of de-Stalinization 50 years ago, with a speech given at the 20th Communist Party Congress, held February 14-25, 1956. Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog discusses the event's significance and reviews the coverage of the anniversary. He also reproduces parts of an interview with Sergo Mikoyan, son of Soviet statesman Anastas Mikoyan. Masha Gessen publishes an excerpt from her own book, in which her grandmother Rozalia, a censor at Glavlit, listens to the speech being read by a Party functionary at a staff meeting.

1 comment

  • […] Somewhat belatedly, links to more posts by Sean Guillory’s on the 50th anniversary of Nikita Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin: Boris Kagarlitsky on “sacrificing” the dictator in order to save the system; Anne Applebaum on “authoritarian impulse” in countries new to democracy; Julian Evans on the “cult of Putin” in Russia; and Sean’s musing on, among other things, “the lack of recognition of a collective responsibility about mass repression in Russia.” (Other posts related to the anniversary are mentioned here.) […]

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