Victims of Khrushchev repression

29
The fate of Mathias Rakosi, the first leader of the People’s Democratic Hungary and the head of the Communist Party, sheds light on the very important factors of the 1956 events of the year. And it allows to conclude that in the Kremlin they were directly or indirectly involved in provoking anti-Soviet, anti-Russian and anti-Stalinist moods.

The tragedy of Rakosi is no exception. He is just one of many foreign leaders who fell victim to the Khrushchev repressions. In the countries focused on the USSR, there were independent figures who publicly objected to Khrushchev on questions of both domestic and foreign policy. For example, because of actions against Stalin and his legacy, about provoking Russophobic anti-Stalinism in Hungary and Poland, breaking up with China and Albania, supporting nationalist leaders in the third world, using bloody methods to crack down on local communists (in Turkey, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, Algeria). Naturally, there were opponents of satisfying the territorial claims of Japan and indulging for opportunistic reasons for the neo-colonial wars of Belgium in the Congo, Great Britain in Malaya. The “friendship” with Tito caused misunderstanding at the expense of cooperation with Albania, Romania, and Czechoslovakia.



Those who objected to Khrushchev and his party were not shot. But they were widely, publicly defamed, expelled from the party, referred to the Soviet hinterland, etc. Someone helped to escape from life. Others were driven to suicide or sudden death. The head of the Polish Communist Party, Boleslav Berut, "suddenly" fell ill and died in Moscow in the last days of the 20th CPSU Congress. William Broad, the prime minister of Czechoslovakia in 1953 – 1962, who warned more than once about the imminent attempt of Moscow to counter-revolution in the country (called the West by the Prague spring), it was for this that 1963 was sanctioned by Moscow and local Khrushchevites and, being expelled from Party, died suddenly in Prague in 1971. Nikos Zachariadis, head of the Communist Party of Greece in 1931 – 1958, the heroic leader of national resistance to fascism and the subsequent British intervention, was transferred to the USSR at the beginning of 60 and committed suicide in Surgut in 1973. Known attempts to eliminate pro-Stalinist head of Romania Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Deja.

These and other statesmen were genuine friends, allies of the USSR. But they condemned the foreign and domestic policies of the Khrushchev team and its successors, leading the USSR, the CPSU and the social community to a catastrophe.

Only some victims of the Khrushchev repressions in the socialist countries are named. But discredited, slandered, defamed at that time were in the USSR. Those expelled from the party, exiled or, at best, under supervision, as a rule, ended up living in complete obscurity.

Khrushchev fought with the dead. Under his pressure, Clement Gottwald, the founder of socialist Czechoslovakia, who “unexpectedly” died five days after Stalin’s funeral, was taken out of the mausoleum in Prague in 1962 and cremated.

From prison to opals

Much has been written about the Hungarian events of 1956. It is rightly noted that the actions and plans of the pro-Stalinist leadership of the country, which copied the practice of state and economic construction in the USSR, is the main cause of the escalation of the crisis. But until the summer of 1953, the then head of Hungary, no one in Moscow blamed for this “carbon copy”, unsafe for internal stability and bilateral relations.

Victims of Khrushchev repression


Rakosi, we recall, was the head of the Hungarian Communists (Workers' Party) from 14 June 1948 to July 18, 1956, and from mid-August 1952 to July 1953, also Prime Minister. As Gheorghiu-Dej noted, Rakosi’s policy was not criticized in Moscow immediately after Stalin’s death. Yes, the Hungarian leader was dismissed from the post of prime minister at the beginning of the summer of 1953, but the head of the Communist Party was left until the second half of July, 1956. At the same time, in 1955, it was already known that the Hungarian anti-Soviet opposition was actively emerging from the underground. The impression was made, Georgiou-Dej said, that in the leadership of the USSR, after the Twentieth Congress, they sought to accelerate the discreditation of Stalinist socialism by maintaining the main party post for Rakosi and, accordingly, anti-Soviet excesses in Hungary. Noteworthy is the assessment of the then leader of the Czechoslovak Communist Party Antonin Novotny: “If Rakosi had been removed from the post of head of the Communist Party at least in 1955, perhaps there would not be bloody events in Hungary. But Moscow for some reason did not hurry with this decision. ”

Rakosi had a rich political biography. In 1918 – 1919, he, a former Austro-Hungarian prisoner of war, participated in the Red Army in the Civil War, became one of the leaders of the Hungarian Soviet Republic (end of March - beginning of August 1919 of the year). After her fall, almost 20 years spent in Hungarian prisons, while remaining secretary of the Comintern.

He again found himself in Soviet Russia in October 1940 as a result of an agreement between Moscow and Budapest: in exchange for the liberation of Rakosi, the USSR handed over to Hungary the captured flags of the revolutionary army of 1848 – 1849 defeated by the tsarist troops. And during the years of the Great Patriotic War, Rakosi was among the leaders of the anti-fascist underground in his homeland, helped strengthen the Soviet residency, often conducted broadcasting broadcasts in Hungarian and propaganda work among fellow prisoners of war.

It is clear that Matias Rakosi was the best candidate for the USSR for leadership positions, which, with the help of the head of the Allied Control Military Commission in Hungary, KE Voroshilov, and occupied 40-x-50-x at the end. But Rakosi’s domestic policy, aimed, we repeat, almost at a blind replication of Soviet economic and domestic political practice, began, after Stalin’s death, to cause growing discontent in Hungarian society. Subsequently, already being exiled in the USSR, he recognized exaggerations, but did not consider the course towards greater unity with the USSR and friendship with Stalin, with which he had met more than once. He, according to Rakoshi’s memoirs, advised him not to overdo it in copying the Soviet experience, to take into account history Hungary, its economic, political, everyday traditions.

18 July 1956, with the participation of M. A. Suslov, A. I. Mikoyan, and Yu. V. Andropov (then Ambassador to Hungary) Rakosi, was removed from his post as head of the Communist Party at its plenum. But "for health reasons", political assessments did not sound. Although at the same plenum, Rakosi made a brief speech accusing Moscow of the fact that the devastating consequences of Stalin’s rabid criticism of Khrushchev had already led to the situation in Hungary, then it would go to other countries of people's democracy, and then to the USSR. And in the middle of August, 1956-th Rakoshi and his wife were taken "for treatment" in the USSR. Forever and ever.

For almost two months, the Rakoshi couple rested in the Barvikha sanatorium near Moscow. From there were letters to the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU about the looming threat to socialism in Hungary, about the need to intensify pro-socialist forces and figures there, more competent propaganda of the advantages of friendship with the USSR. There were no answers. But by the end of October Moscow chose Janoshe Kadar. Rakoshi protested. “Kadar,” he said, “is an opportunistic pragmatist, in which the party and state bodies will be filled with workers who are adapters of the same level, this will lead to the erosion of socialism.” Rakosi proposed to convene an international meeting of the Communist Parties to discuss the situation and the Soviet policy in Hungary before and after the coup. It is clear that such an idea could not please either Budapest or Moscow.

18 April 1957 of the Central Committee of the CPSU satisfied the request of the new leadership of Hungary to leave Rakosi in the USSR and prevent his political activities. Moreover, at the same time it was decided to change the place of residence of the Rakosi couple. Spouses moved from the suburbs in a five-room apartment in Krasnodar. This was also done because the disgraced Hungarian leader was seeking meetings with Mao Zedong, Kim Il Sung, Ho Chi Minh, Gheorghiu-Dej, Enver Hoxha, invited to the celebration of the 40 anniversary of the October Revolution. But the requests of the disgraced politician did not even reach the embassies ...

By the way, Rakoshi’s spouse Faina Kornilov (1903 of birth, Yakut by nationality, member of the CPSU from 1928) had a law degree and worked in Krasnodar in the regional prosecutor’s office, and since December 1958 has received an old-age pension.

Meanwhile, Mao, Gheorghiu-Dej and Hodge in November 1957-th asked the Soviet leadership about the state of health of Rakosi, about the possibility of his return to Hungary or about sending him for treatment in their countries. Which naturally irritated Moscow and especially Budapest (for not one of the aforementioned figures spoke of this to Kadar). And Rakosi continued to accuse the leadership of the USSR of the inaccuracy of his Hungarian policy and called for an end to, or at least mitigate, criticism of Stalin.

The defeat of the Molotov-Kaganovich-Shepilov 1957 group in its struggle against the Khrushchevites Rakosi called tragedy for socialism, the removal of the sarcophagus with Stalin from the Mausoleum, in the opinion of the Hungarian ex-leader, is blatantly blasphemy.

Therefore, at the beginning of 1962, Rakosi was expelled from the Communist Party "for political mistakes, upholding the personality cult of Stalin, slandering the fraternal Soviet Union and flagrant violations of socialist legality." Rakosi called it a betrayal, an absentee trial. He sharply criticized the decision to exclude the same “anti-party group” from the CPSU in 1962, noting that he was proud to be together with Molotov, Kaganovich, Shepilov, when Tito, long associated with the United States and England, was accepted in Moscow as his best friend .

Under double observation

As a result, in September, 1964-th Rakoshi and his wife were sent under the supervision of the KGB of the USSR to a two-room apartment with limited amenities in the Kyrgyz town of Tokmak (60 kilometers from Frunze). It was already a harsh link ...

There, the politician resumed work on his memoirs, sometimes turning to the Institute of Party History in Budapest, to the Central Archive of the Romanian Communist Party, to the IML at the CPSU Central Committee. Moscow almost always refused these requests.

From Tokmak Rakoshi sent two letters to Zhou Enlai, the pro-Stalin extracts from which were published in the PRC in 1965 – 1966.

Tokmak is located not far from the Soviet-Chinese border and, according to the Kyrgyz KGB, Rakosi’s couple would arbitrarily visit the restricted area, and talked with local residents. According to the same source, in 1966 there was a plan for the illegal crossing of the border by the Rakoshi couple, agreed with the Chinese side. But local security officers neutralized in time those who were suspected as agents. Characteristically, in the same period, publications in the PRC and Albania became frequent, harshly condemning the policy of the USSR towards Hungary and Romania.

Since in Beijing after the political and ideological gap with Moscow, they began to closely monitor the fate of Rakosi, this saved him from a "sudden serious illness" with a fatal outcome. After the resignation of Khrushchev, the couple began to insist on returning to Hungary. They were given some kind of relief - they allowed them to stay in Kislovodsk sanatoriums three times, but did not react about their departure to their homeland. Rakoshi himself continued to write indignant letters: he spent almost 20 years under the Horthy regime, "and by court decision, and now I am sitting out for an incomprehensible term in the homeland of socialism."

In 1965, the Hungarian leadership, at the suggestion of the CPSU Central Committee, agreed to transfer the Rakosi couple to the European part of the RSFSR - to a well-equipped two-room apartment in Arzamas. And since the autumn of 1967, they began to live in Gorky (Belinsky Street, 47 a building). In January 1968, Rakosi agreed to emissaries from Budapest to give up social and political activities in exchange for returning to his homeland. But he demanded to reinstate him in the party and stop his surveillance. Because of what the leadership of Hungary delayed the repatriation of the former head of the country to his homeland.

And the West, of course, "forgot" about Rakosi - not the figure. But the stay in Gorky Academician Sakharov was called an obvious violation of human rights.

Memoirs about the future

In November, 1970-th 78-year-old Rakosi became seriously ill and was admitted to the regional hospital in Gorky. He was treated by doctors who served the Soviet nomenclature. But 5 February 1971, Rakoshi, died. "Truth" came out with a brief obituary. In Budapest, it was decided that the funeral could be held at home. Rakosi’s body was cremated in Moscow, but the urn was not given to his relatives (it was delivered by an officer of the Hungarian state security).

Budapest was very interested in the memoirs of Rakosi, which have not been published anywhere else. Moscow forwarded the request to the relatives of the ex-leader. The widow and her adoptive son, who at that time, with the knowledge of the CPSU Central Committee, served as vice-rector of the Plekhanov Institute of National Economy, at first did not want to give the manuscript. But after negotiations, Budapest received at least half of the materials, and the author’s family was allowed to return to Hungary. Which they did in 1971 – 1972.

According to the memoirs of Rakosi, a closed report was drawn up for the Soviet Politburo. The main content: national specifics were poorly taken into account in Hungarian politics, but after March 1953, Moscow wanted using the mistakes of Rakosi and his colleagues to "develop the disastrous consequences of unbridled Khrushchev anti-Stalinism for all socialist countries, for their unity and unity of the world anti-imperialist movement." Khrushchev's attempt to compensate for the break with China and Albania by “friendship” with Tito failed, which was reflected in the criticism of Yugoslavia in the CPSU program (1961 year). The latest, when it was necessary to deprive Khrushchev of his posts - 1957 – 1958 years. The Brezhnev leadership is hardly able to correct such heavy mistakes. Send metastases. Moreover, with Khrushchev, the selection of leading cadres rapidly developed on the basis of their own circle, nepotism and sycophancy, on the basis of corruption, and not on ideological conviction and not on business qualities.

As for Hungary, the policy of the USSR in 1953 – 1955 contributed to the development of the crisis. With the growth of anti-Sovietism, she held back the activity of communists and working people devoted to socialism. Hungarian 1956 showed that in Moscow they are not betting on genuine communists and pro-Soviet intellectuals. Under such conditions, according to Rakoshi, the USSR and its associated socialist countries will not be able to withstand the political and economic pressure of the West with obvious consequences for them.
Our news channels

Subscribe and stay up to date with the latest news and the most important events of the day.

29 comments
Information
Dear reader, to leave comments on the publication, you must sign in.
  1. +8
    19 November 2016 06: 54
    Good analysis. Lysokuruny Khrushch is a Trotskyist in disguise, once again he was convinced of this! They say that "an obliging d.rack is worse than the enemy," but in the case of Khrushch, who fought against Stalin, the situation is somewhat different: Khrushch was not like that, but only pretended to be him to disguise, lulling his comrades and the inner circle, and Himself "master".
    1. +12
      19 November 2016 07: 13
      The selection system itself in the Communist Party was extremely Russophobic. The cadres who came to power in the CPSU were corrupt and belonged to various, most often nationalist, clans that fought for power by any means. At one time, Dherzhinsky, Stalin, and a number of WRC / b / activists warned Lenin about the inadmissibility of creating national Union republics.
      1. +12
        19 November 2016 09: 21
        Quote: captain
        The selection system itself in the Communist Party was extremely Russophobic. The cadres who came to power in the CPSU were corrupt and belonged to various, most often nationalist, clans that fought for power by any means.

        Are you writing about EP like that?
        Having written instead of the EP of the CPSU? It’s already 25 years since you were gone, and you have all the quacks ...
        Look at the realities, not fight with windmills.
        And so ... well, you know, in any regional committee of the CPSU, 2 secretaries, always Russian or Ukrainian, Belarusian, decided much more than the titular 1 secretary.
        It’s from your hunchback that the whole system was destroyed, now we have what we have.
        1. +3
          19 November 2016 10: 36
          Quote: The Bloodthirster
          in any regional committee of the CPSU, 2 secretaries, always Russian or Ukrainian, Belarusian, decided much more than the titular 1 secretary

          I don’t know if this is true or not, but if it’s true, then why do you need to fence such a garden?
          Quote: captain
          At one time, Dherzhinsky, Stalin and a number of WRC / b / leaders warned Lenin about the inadmissibility of creating national Union republics

          There were smart people. Unfortunately they did not listen.
        2. The comment was deleted.
        3. +1
          19 November 2016 18: 45
          I know about this, not by hearsay, by the way, Andropov’s article on the national question, I can’t find 1984 since that, but there were interesting moments
        4. +2
          20 November 2016 23: 48
          I don’t think that the 2nd secretaries in Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine had more power than Rashidov, Shevardnadze, Aliev, Shcherbitsky, who were also members or candidates for membership in the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.
        5. 0
          28 November 2016 08: 18
          Well, a national from a deaf aul to a leadership position, and so that a Russian deputy works.
      2. +1
        19 November 2016 10: 35
        Quote: captain
        At one time Dherzhinsky,

        Felix Edmundovich in vain with the "dick" was prescribed, all'zh gentry by origin ... lol
        Quote: captain
        Stalin and a number of WRC / b / activists warned Lenin about the inadmissibility of creating national Union republics.

        Probably at that moment Leiba Davidovich's platform was closer to "forever alive" ?!
    2. +6
      19 November 2016 08: 17
      Quote: V.ic
      his

      Khrushchev - Perlmutter is still that enemy!
    3. +1
      19 November 2016 20: 32
      we were always weaker than the west and maneuvered, but did not catch ..
      .
  2. +15
    19 November 2016 07: 20
    I can not say anything about the reliability of the statement, but the essence is true
    1. 2-0
      +2
      19 November 2016 10: 36
      Churchill is not quite right. The pope took his predecessor from the tomb and imposed a trial on the corpse.
      1. +3
        19 November 2016 12: 08
        Churchill was completely wrong - Khrushchev fought not with Stalin but with the USSR, and did not lose at all.
  3. +5
    19 November 2016 08: 00
    Tokmok is located not far from the Soviet-Chinese border and, according to the Kyrgyz KGB, the couple Rakoshi arbitrarily visited the forbidden strip, talking with local residents. According to the same source, in 1966 there was a plan for illegal border crossing by the Rakosi spouses, agreed with the Chinese side. But local Chekists in time neutralized those who were suspected of as guides.

    The distance from Tokmok to the Chinese border is directly through the mountains of kilometers 250-300, and along the road all 600. The border zone begins kilometers beyond 50. Those. the author believes that a supervised citizen can easily go to the border and be absent from the place of residence for at least a week?
    Here are the recollections of neighbor Rakoshi, Tokmak history teacher Viktor Kotlyarov
    Whether Rakoshi met with the leadership of our republic is unknown. Of course, he did not tell Kotlyarov about this. But the fact that a bodyguard was assigned to him, it is obvious - the elder of the police settled with his family in the next apartment. This is hardly a mere coincidence.

    In 1956, when an attempt was made to overthrow the socialist regime, thousands of people died. That revolution cannot be called "velvet". An uncontrollable crowd, in which the tone was set by criminals, brutally cracked down on communists, state security officers, ordinary workers and civil servants. A few months before the tragic events, Matthias Rakosi, at the insistence of Khrushchev, was removed from leadership positions and left for the USSR. “I would have been there, I would not have allowed bloodshed,” he later said to the Tokmakchanin Kotlyarov.
    1. +1
      19 November 2016 19: 08
      Live and learn! I know Tokmok only in the Zaporizhzhya region! Alas!
  4. +13
    19 November 2016 08: 22
    Yes, what can I say N. Khrushchev grave digger of the world communist movement .. He split it .. Not for nothing in the West they speak well only of the three leaders Khrushchev, Gorbachev and Yeltsin ...
  5. +11
    19 November 2016 08: 33
    It’s only six-rastrays and other figures from culture who saw the * thaw * that they themselves invented and propiarized themselves. Moreover, talents were enough only for piarastic antics. During the crush, many cultural figures wrote * memories * for the sake of their careers * and a lot of things just to stay if possible * express themselves * and publish. By the way, the death penalty was introduced in case of Khrushchev, and the number of those arrested and convicted increased sharply with an increase in the rights of * law enforcement agencies *, up to the introduction of batons and the shooting of protesters. Much has been done in terms of destroying the economy and worsening * quality of life *. Almost all of this was reflected in the jokes, where * glorification * of chewing grub was glorified.
  6. +14
    19 November 2016 09: 00
    All that we know is bad about Stalin Khrushchev said. The man who staged the execution of Soviet citizens in Novocherkassk.
  7. +5
    19 November 2016 11: 48
    It’s not worth it to defend Rakosi, whose regime by the 56th is already tired of many. Beria also planned to dismiss him for tyranny. Hungary was very lucky that after October 56th, Janos Kadar stood at the head of the country, in which the country happily lived. Who was in the 70-80s in Hungary, I think. This will be confirmed. Today, the Hungarians have nostalgia for the time of Kadar.
  8. +5
    19 November 2016 20: 14
    Words of Mao Zedong about the USSR of the Khrushchev era. As he looked into the water.
  9. +5
    19 November 2016 23: 52
    Yes, this "fighter against the cult of Stalin's personality" shit pretty much, he actually started the end of the socialist system in the USSR and Eastern Europe, the decline in popularity of the ideas of socialism in the world, he did everything possible for this, distorted and spoiled these ideas in practice, it is a pity that Stalin could not see and understand his essence in time, this predecessor of Gorbachev and Yeltsin, the true enemy of the Soviet people. Particular indignation is caused by the fact that all the post-war achievements of the country and the people are attributed to this ghoul, while in fact the foundation for these achievements was laid back under Stalin, and vice versa, all the negative that took place in the history of the country in the 30-50s is attributed to and is associated with the name of Stalin. I am outraged by the definition of "Stalinist repression", because in fact the mass repressions were essentially anti-Stalinist. Yes, Stalin signed lists of executions for his enemies, lists that included top and middle-level party and government officials who actually took a hostile position towards him, but execution lists of ordinary workers, peasants, teachers, engineers were drawn up by such figures like Khrushchev, Eikhe and others like them, seeking to intimidate and gain full power on the ground. True. most of them later got what they deserved, but unfortunately not all of them, and one of those who escaped fair punishment is the gravedigger of socialism, a Trotskyist and just a mean man Khrushchev.
    1. +1
      21 November 2016 23: 14
      I didn’t know anything written in the article. Although I had a general idea. Something. And no one wrote any criticism. This is rare. Comments have supplemented the article.
      I myself read only about the religious repressions of corn maize in our country. Both in relation to Orthodoxy and Buddhism. Camps, harsh conditions are a punishment for clergymen. Values ​​were seized and more churches were destroyed than after the revolution, they were also exiled and deceased priests of these denominations.
  10. 0
    28 November 2016 08: 17
    And those whom Khrushchev shot in 37 we will not remember?
  11. 0
    1 March 2017 02: 01
    Such an audience is only interested in one thing - to be at the top of power, no matter which one. But they consider their country a world periphery, because they recognize the primacy of Washington’s power. Their motto is better to be the first in their village than the second in the city of Washington.

"Right Sector" (banned in Russia), "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA) (banned in Russia), ISIS (banned in Russia), "Jabhat Fatah al-Sham" formerly "Jabhat al-Nusra" (banned in Russia) , Taliban (banned in Russia), Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), Anti-Corruption Foundation (banned in Russia), Navalny Headquarters (banned in Russia), Facebook (banned in Russia), Instagram (banned in Russia), Meta (banned in Russia), Misanthropic Division (banned in Russia), Azov (banned in Russia), Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Russia), Aum Shinrikyo (banned in Russia), AUE (banned in Russia), UNA-UNSO (banned in Russia), Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (banned in Russia), Legion “Freedom of Russia” (armed formation, recognized as terrorist in the Russian Federation and banned)

“Non-profit organizations, unregistered public associations or individuals performing the functions of a foreign agent,” as well as media outlets performing the functions of a foreign agent: “Medusa”; "Voice of America"; "Realities"; "Present time"; "Radio Freedom"; Ponomarev; Savitskaya; Markelov; Kamalyagin; Apakhonchich; Makarevich; Dud; Gordon; Zhdanov; Medvedev; Fedorov; "Owl"; "Alliance of Doctors"; "RKK" "Levada Center"; "Memorial"; "Voice"; "Person and law"; "Rain"; "Mediazone"; "Deutsche Welle"; QMS "Caucasian Knot"; "Insider"; "New Newspaper"