On Feb. 25, 1956 Kruschev made his now famous “secret speech” to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union.
Robert Conquest – one of my own personal idols – writes about this major event of the 20th century. Long-denied by the Communist higher-ups: it was said there was no such speech, it didn’t exist, Kruschev never made it … all of this was nonsense. News of the “secret speech” leaked almost immediately.
Roy Medvedev also weighs in (although a ton of columnists and writers wrote about the “secret speech” on Feb. 25):
Medvedev leads off with:
In history, some events at first appear insignificant, or their significance is hidden, but they turn out to be earthshaking. Such a moment occurred 50 years ago, with Nikita Khrushchevs so-called “Secret Speech” to the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Here’s a copy of the speech itself.
A friend of mine was selling an old (1850s) commercial building, and smacked his hand against a smooth uncracked plaster wall. The wall instantly slid like a curtain falling into a mass of rubble and dust.
This piece made me think of Reagan and the “…tear down this wall” speech. He’s still my hero, but he really just smacked his hand against a decayed plaster facade.
a, true, but there were an awful lot of evil and / or deluded people in the West trying to keep him from smacking that wall, and making fun of him for doing it.