70 Years On, Russia Is Still Reckoning With Stalin

Opinion | Seventy years ago today, on Feb. 25, 1956, then-Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev took to the podium in Moscow’s Palace of Congresses and spoke for over four hours on “The Cult of Personality and its Consequences.” In an address that quickly (if inaccurately) became known as the “Secret Speech,” Khrushchev attacked his predecessor Josef Stalin for orchestrating state terror, held him personally responsible for the imprisonment, deportation, torture or death of hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens and mocked his leadership of World War II and foreign policy. The revelations profoundly shocked listeners: senior communists asked to stay behind beyond the end of open proceedings of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party. Read Full Article »