ToPics
Death OF STALIN
On 5 March 1953, Stalin dies at the age of 74.
Millions of Soviet citizens and Communists throughout the world are in mourning.
For prisoners in the Gulag camps there is at last some hope of liberation. All of them recall that memorable day when the news of his death is announced at morning appel.
In the remote villages of Siberia and Central Asia, where hundreds of thousands of families have been exiled for life, reactions are mixed. Some children come home from school upset by the anguish and despair of their teachers and friends; some cry, others are relieved. At home, their parents are full of hope and their eyes shine in a new way, but they remain discreet for fear of the consequences if they display their joy too openly.
Stalin’s death is followed by various amnesties, major reforms and the end of the mass concentration camp system. But liberation and return sometimes take long years..
Rimgaudas Ruzgys: Life after the death of Stalin
Rimgaudas Ruzgys: “Then, after Stalin died, things got a bit better. The young Lithuanians started buying bikes… Our family bought a small K125 motorbike. While I was still a youngster, we went to Ulan-Ude, the capital, 150 km away, to buy that motorbike. I came back on it, with no licence or experience in riding one, through the fields and the forest… we were four or five mates who bought the bikes and rode them back. Later, when we were 15 or 16, after Stalin died, we started organising activities, dancing traditional dances, and the girls made national costumes. Everyone did what they could, as well as they could. We put on shows in our village, because a lot of people had lived there for quite a time. Some people managed to get instruments and began to play them; little bands were formed. There were older people and younger ones, some with accordions, others with violins, percussion, and girls playing the guitar. We would gather near the huts in the evening and dance on the bare earth. We even took part in an outside event, a regional festival; it was an excursion. Life changed a little.”
Frost, radio and tears
The death of Stalin, and especially its announcement, remains an extremely clear event in Kasimirs Gendels’s memory, even if in practice the dictator’s death did not bring any immediate radical changes; liberation came later.
Antanas Seikalis recalls the day of Stalin’s death
“The day of Stalin’s funeral, we were not taken out to work. They brought us all together on the central square in the camp and at noon on the dot they ordered us to take off our hats. The weather was still cold.
And among us there were some Poles. They were hidden by other prisoners. They took off their hats and started throwing them into the air.
But they didn’t know there was a KGB captain watching everyone from the watchtower. He saw what happened but didn’t know who had done it.
For a long time no one was punished, but a fortnight later they interrogated us one by one. No one told on the Poles. Anyway we had a good laugh when they started to throw their hats into the air to celebrate the event. I’ll always remember Stalin’s funeral. In the end, these are good memories.”
Olga Vidlovskaia : Stalin’s death
Olga Vidlovskaia remembers Stalin’s death
Eela Lõhmus hears of Stalin’s death in Kolyma
Eela hears of Stalin’s death at the camp in Kolyma
She describes how, after his death, the numbers sewn on the prisoners’ clothes were removed.
Antanas Panavas: The system relaxes
“It was before March 1953, Stalin’s death. We could see out there the effect of one man’s death on the whole system. Stalin was dead, that was all. But afterwards, we suddenly felt there were changes at the top, we could read the papers and we had the radio. Suddenly things became easier with the kommandantura. Until then we had to report there every two weeks to sign the book and show we hadn’t escaped.
We older Lithuanian deportees used to joke that we’d already written several books. We had to go and sign in every two weeks and so did every member of the family.”
Zygmunt Turzanski learns Stalin has died (Original in Polish)
In this excerpt, Zygmunt Turzanski discusses the consequences of Stalin's death on the living conditions in the camp. He also recounts how one of his acquaintances organized a small party during the tribute to Stalin.
Bogdan Klimchak remembers the announcement of Stalin's death at school (Original in Ukrainian)
Bogdan Klimchak, a Ukrainian deported in 1946 because the village where he lived with his family was to be handed over to Poland, tells how he learned of Stalin's death: from his teacher in tears. During recess, Russian students accused "people like him" of being responsible for Stalin's death.
Vera Chopik: the announcement of Stalin's death in the camp (Original in Ukrainian)
In this excerpt, Vera Chopik recounts the announcement of Stalin's death in the camp. She also discusses the changes in the living conditions in the camp after Stalin's death.
Ada Shlaen on Stalin's death: "The whole town was in tears"
In this excerpt, Ada Shalen recounts the desolation that took over the kolkhoz where she lived, near Birobidjan, when Stalin died.
A radio programme: Was Stalin’s death the death of the Gulag? (1/2)
A radio programme in the “ La Marche du Monde” series on RFI with the historians Oleg Khlevniuk and Catherine Gousseff, in which this world event is analysed via many testimonies and INA archives from the period.
A radio programme: Was Stalin’s death the death of the Gulag? (2/2)
A radio programme in the “ La Marche du Monde” series on RFI with the historians Oleg Khlevniuk and Catherine Gousseff, in which this world event is analysed via many testimonies and INA archives from the period.
