When Stalin was buried. When was Stalin taken out of the Mausoleum? Why was Stalin taken out of the Mausoleum? Why was there such a hurry?

More about Stalin's death

Farewell to the leader
The funeral of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, who died on March 5, 1953, took place four days later, on March 9

Died March 5, 1953 Joseph Stalin. Thousands of people came to say goodbye to the leader, whose body was first in the House of Unions and then in the Mausoleum. What the newspapers wrote about and how witnesses of the events remember the farewell days - in the Kommersant photo gallery. On this topic:

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The one who was our father, teacher and friend, who, together with the great Lenin, created our powerful party, our socialist state, who showed us the path to communism, has left us. The great Stalin, the creator of our happiness, has died!”

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On March 9, 1953, the funeral of Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, took place in Moscow. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this was the most important funeral in the history of the Soviet Union. Lenin died too quickly, Khrushchev was buried without special honors, Andropov and Chernenko were in power for only a few months, they did not have time to get used to them. Only Brezhnev's funeral could compare with Stalin's. But Brezhnev ruled for only 18 years, while Stalin ruled for almost 30. Those who were born at the beginning of his reign became adults. Those who were of mature age managed to grow old. Stalin's rule was an era; a significant part of the life of Soviet people passed under it. Therefore, it is not surprising that the funeral of the Soviet leader was unprecedented in its scope at that time and caused a gathering of a huge number of people, which ended in a stampede with numerous deaths. Life found out how the leader of the Soviet Union was buried 65 years ago.

Preparation

After the blow, which occurred on March 1, Joseph Stalin lived for several more days, but could not speak and was partially paralyzed. On March 5 at 21:50, doctors confirmed the death of the Secretary General. By this time, his closest associates had already managed to divide government and party posts among themselves and managed to return to the Near Dacha just in time for the leader to give up the ghost.

After his death, they began to go about their business, appointing Nikita Khrushchev responsible for organizing the funeral, who formed a commission to organize the funeral with the participation of Shvernik, Kaganovich and several other party leaders.

It was decided to begin a nationwide farewell to the Generalissimo the very next day, so that as many people as possible would have time to say goodbye to him. Therefore, a number of procedures were accelerated. For example, almost immediately after his death, Stalin's body was taken away for a post-mortem autopsy. Already six hours after death, a whole group of pathologists worked with the body of the deceased. Before the autopsy procedure, the death mask was removed from the face of the deceased. This was done by the famous sculptor Manizer.

The leader's brain was removed and transferred for storage to the Brain Institute. In those days, the brains of members of the Politburo, prominent scientists and scientific figures were necessarily transferred for storage to this institute, where scientists examined them for differences from the brains of ordinary people.

While doctors were working on Stalin’s body, his favorite uniform was sent to the dry cleaners, patched up, and Generalissimo shoulder straps and gold buttons were sewn on it, since it was decided to bury him in it. At the same time, the architect Posokhin was given the task of sketching a new inscription on the Mausoleum as quickly as possible, since without much debate it was decided to bury the deceased leader there, next to Lenin.

to improve" the face of the deceased, lightening the "spots" from smallpox and age spots. Already in the afternoon of March 6, the body was taken to the Hall of Columns, and at 16 o'clock the farewell ceremony began.

By this time, the hall was decorated with portraits of Stalin, and velvet panels with the coats of arms of the Union republics were hung on the columns. There were 16 of them in total. The coffin stood in the center, on a high pedestal and was literally buried in flowers. At the head of the bed hung the banner of the Soviet Union. The Generalissimo's awards lay on the satin fabric in front of the coffin. The chandeliers hanging in the hall were covered with black cloth.

There was an orchestra in the hall playing funeral melodies from various classical composers. The new leaders of the Soviet state stood in the honor guard at the coffin one by one. A military escort was also present.

Soviet citizens learned of Stalin's death only on March 6, when it was announced on the radio and published in newspapers. Three days of mourning were declared on the occasion of his death. Cinemas and other entertainment venues did not work, and any entertainment events in the country were cancelled.

On the same day, the construction of a pantheon was announced, in which Stalin would eventually be reburied. This decision was made through the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers. It was planned to build a pantheon in Moscow, which would become a resting place not only for the dead leaders - Lenin and Stalin, as well as some major figures buried in the Kremlin wall, but also for the future leaders of the USSR. The decree on the creation of the Moscow pantheon was published in newspapers on March 7, and an open competition for projects was also announced. However, they quickly forgot about the pantheon in the heat of the struggle for power, and this topic was not raised again.

Parting

People came out to say goodbye to the deceased leader. Mostly from Moscow, but some came from other cities, mainly as delegates from enterprises. Since entry into Moscow was limited for the period of the events, trains were checked, and ordinary passengers were not allowed into the city, with the exception of delegates from work groups and those traveling on business trips.

The columned hall of the House of Unions was literally buried in wreaths; there were not even hundreds, but thousands. All large enterprises and departments were required to send a funeral wreath.

Foreign delegations that began to arrive in Moscow did not stand aside either. These were mainly representatives of countries where a socialist regime had already been established. A Chinese delegation was present, led by Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong's right-hand man (Mao sent a personal wreath, separate from the Chinese Communist Party). Leaders of the countries of "people's democracy" were present - Gottwald, Georgiu-Dej, Ulbricht, Bierut, Rakosi and others.

Leaders of communist parties from capitalist countries arrived - the Englishman Pollitt, the Italian Togliatti, the Finnish Pessi, the Austrian Koplenig, etc. All of them had the opportunity to stand in the guard of honor at the coffin along with Soviet leaders.

From Bolshaya Dmitrovka, queues of many kilometers spread out, consisting of people who wanted to see the leader at least once to say goodbye. Some believe that hundreds of thousands of people who came to say goodbye to the deceased leader are evidence of the enormous love and gratitude of Soviet citizens. Others are sure that this is explained by the totalitarianism of the state in which these people grew up and were formed.

But we should not forget one more important fact. Stalin did not travel around the country very often; at that time only a few people throughout the USSR had televisions, so for most people the farewell ceremony was the only opportunity to see the leader live, even if he was deceased. Everyone understood that this was a historical moment and were eager to witness it. Therefore, in the huge queues there were those who idolized Stalin, and those who hated him, but realized the historicity of the moment, and those who went “because everyone else did,” and those who wanted to show off to their friends and colleagues.

Places in the queues had been taken since night. Even taking into account the limited entry into the capital, a lot of people gathered. No one has counted the exact number of participants in the mourning ceremonies.

Crush

During these days, another event occurred that forever became an integral part of these funerals. We are talking about a serious stampede in the area of ​​Trubnaya Square, which resulted in numerous casualties. Although the stampede is usually associated with Stalin’s funeral, it happened during the farewell ceremony on March 6. On the first day when Stalin's death was announced, crowds of people chaotically rushed to the House of Unions.

People tried to get to Bolshaya Dmitrovka and decided that the easiest way to get there would be through Trubnaya Square, but it was blocked in advance by trucks. The crush happened on the descent from Rozhdestvensky Boulevard to the square; the front rows were stopped by trucks, and from behind, human waves continued to roll in on them from the descent. As a result, those who stood in front were literally crushed and trampled by those pressing from behind. The exact number of victims of the stampede has still not been established. Various sources estimate them to range from several tens to several thousand people.

Funeral

Late in the evening of March 8, the farewell ceremony was completed. The doors of the House of Unions were closed. After midnight the removal of wreaths began. Since there were not many mourning wreaths, but very, very many, it was decided to take them to the Mausoleum and lay them out near it. The most important wreaths (about a hundred pieces) - from Soviet leaders, leaders of other states, leaders of large foreign communist parties and relatives of the deceased were sorted to participate in the burial ceremony. They were carried behind the coffin.

Late at night, assembly points were opened for delegations of workers who were supposed to be present on Red Square during the day. Whoever was included in these delegations was not allowed in; all delegates received special passes. They met at these assembly points, after which they proceeded in an organized manner to Red Square in order to be there by morning. A few hours before the funeral, at 9:30 am, the entrance to Red Square was closed for delegates.

On the morning of the funeral, road traffic within the Garden Ring was completely closed. The only exceptions were special vehicles that had passes.

At 7 am, a cordon was built along the route of the funeral cortege. At the same time, a formation of troops and representatives of workers' delegations took place on Red Square. In total, 4,400 military personnel and about 12 thousand delegates were stationed on the square.

At about 10 o'clock in the morning, mourning wreaths and Stalin's awards began to be taken out of the House of Unions. At 10:15, his closest associates (Beria, Khrushchev, Mikoyan, Kaganovich, Molotov, Bulganin, Malenkov and Voroshilov) took the coffin in their arms and carried it to the exit of the building. At 10:23 he was installed on an artillery carriage covered with red.

The funeral delegation lined up in accordance with the unspoken hierarchy. The first to go were members of the Presidium of the Central Committee (as the Politburo was called at that time), followed by Stalin's relatives, then members of the Central Committee, deputies of the Supreme Council, delegates from foreign communist parties and, finally, an honorary military escort.

On special satin pillows, Stalin's awards were carried by marshals, army generals, as well as several colonel generals and lieutenant generals. The Marshal's star was carried by Marshal Budyonny. Marshal Zhukov, who was then in disgrace, was not present at the ceremony. After the war, he was sent to command the secondary Ural Military District.

The procession set off to the musical accompaniment of Chopin's funeral march (Lenin was buried to the discordant singing of "We fell victim in the fatal struggle"). The ceremony was broadcast live on the radio, the announcer was the famous Levitan.

The ceremony was scheduled minute by minute. At 10:45 the procession reached the mausoleum. The coffin was transferred from the gun carriage to a special pedestal. Three minutes later the funeral meeting began. From a political point of view, this part of the ceremony was the most important. Formally, the comrades-in-arms paid tribute to the memory of the departed leader. Informally, each of them spoke in his speech about his vision of the future in the post-Stalin era. In addition, the order of speakers at the funeral meeting revealed the unspoken hierarchy of the new government.

The meeting was opened by Khrushchev, who acted as the funeral director. However, he did not give a speech and invited Malenkov to the microphone, who after Stalin’s death headed the Council of Ministers and was considered the leader of the country. In his speech, the Prime Minister not only paid tribute to the memory of the deceased, but also outlined a new direction in which the country will develop. According to Malenkov, it turned out that, first of all, the country must solve pressing economic problems and improve the standard of living of Soviet workers, who received very little good during the long Stalinist era. Malenkov also expressed confidence in the possibility of the peaceful existence of two systems - capitalist and socialist. The new head of state acted like a “dove.”

hawk." He immediately tried to stake his claim as Stalin's main successor and continuator of his line, declaring the need to maximize military potential and unite the entire country against the machinations of internal and external enemies.

The last to speak was Molotov, who also stated the need to continue Stalin’s policies.

At 11:54 the meeting ended and Stalin’s comrades, in the same composition in which they carried the coffin to the mausoleum, lifted it and carried it inside the building, the name of which had already been changed. Above the entrance it was now written: “Lenin - Stalin.”

At 12 o'clock an artillery salute was given over the Kremlin. At the same moment, all plants, factories, ships, etc. They gave a long beep. And at all workplaces where this was possible, a five-minute silence was announced. A funeral march sounded, which was replaced by the anthem of the Soviet Union.

At 12:10 the troops began to pass by the mausoleum. Planes flew in the sky. The national flag was again raised at half-mast over the Kremlin.

The funeral ceremony went smoothly. The participants did not deviate even for a minute from the pre-determined schedule. The almost 30-year Stalinist era has ended. The struggle of his closest associates for power began.

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Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (1879-1953) died on March 5, 1953 at his dacha in Kuntsevo near Moscow. The death of the leader of the Soviet people became news No. 1 all over the world. In Paris, Lisbon, Berlin, New York and thousands of other cities on the planet, the largest newspapers came out with huge headlines on the front pages. They informed their citizens about the most important political event. In some countries, public transport conductors addressed passengers with the words: “Stand up, gentlemen, Stalin has died.”

As for the USSR, a 4-day mourning was declared in the country. All ministries, departments, main departments and departments, plants and factories, higher education institutions and schools stood up. Only production facilities with a 24-hour schedule worked. The world's first state of workers and peasants froze in anticipation of the main thing. It was Stalin's funeral, scheduled for March 9, 1953.

Farewell to the leader

To bid farewell to the people, the leader’s body was exhibited in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. From 16:00 on March 6, access to it was opened. From the streets of Moscow, people flocked to Bolshaya Dmitrovka, and already walked along it to the Hall of Columns.

There, on a pedestal, buried in flowers, stood a coffin with the body of the deceased. They put on a gray-green uniform with gold buttons. Next to the coffin, orders and medals lay on a satin covering, and mourning music sounded. The leaders of the party and government stood guard of honor at the coffin. People walked past in an endless stream. These were ordinary Muscovites, as well as residents from other cities, who came to say goodbye to the head of state. It is assumed that of the 7 million residents of Moscow, 2 million wanted to see the dead leader with their own eyes.

Foreign delegations were admitted through a special entrance. They passed without a queue. This was common practice at the time. For some reason, the authorities treated foreigners much more reverently than their citizens. They were given the green light everywhere, and the funeral ceremony was no exception.

The people walked for 3 days and 3 nights. On the streets there were trucks with spotlights installed on them. They were turned on at dusk. In the dead of night, the House of Unions closed for 2 hours and then reopened. The radio broadcast classical music around the clock.

It should be noted that people were in an extremely depressed mood these days. A large number of heart attacks were recorded, and mortality increased sharply. But there are no exact statistics for this period of time. Everyone was overcome by one desire - to get into the Hall of Columns and see the one who was already elevated to the rank of a monument during his lifetime.

Huge crowds of people went to say goodbye to Stalin

Death of people

All streets in the center of the capital were fenced with trucks and soldiers. They held back crowds of thousands of people moving towards the House of Unions. As a result of this, crowds began to form here and there. Order was maintained only on Bolshaya Dmitrovka (at that time Pushkinskaya Street). On the remaining streets within the Boulevard Ring there was a massive crowd of citizens, which was practically not regulated by anyone.

As soon as people got to the center, they found themselves sandwiched on all sides by trucks and troops. And people kept coming and coming, which only worsened the situation.

The bulk of people gathered in the Trubnaya Square area. At this point Petrovsky, Rozhdestvensky, Tsvetnoy boulevards, Neglinnaya and Trubnaya streets connect. There was a rumor that it was from Trubnaya Square that the easiest way to get to Bolshaya Dmitrovka. Therefore, huge streams of people rushed towards her.

There was one huge crush in this place. In this case, a huge number of people died. How many? The exact numbers are unknown, and no one counted the dead. The crushed bodies were thrown into trucks and taken out of the city. There they were buried in common graves. It is noteworthy that among the victims there were those who came to their senses and asked for medical assistance. But this meant that the wounded had to be taken to hospitals. In this case, the whole world would have known about the mass stampede, which, naturally, would have cast an unsightly shadow on Stalin’s funeral. Therefore, the wounded were buried along with the dead.

This is what eyewitnesses later said: “The crowd of people was so great that terrible crushes arose. These were real human tragedies. People were pressed into the walls of houses, shop windows were broken, fences and gates collapsed. Men tried to escape on lampposts, but fell down and found themselves under the feet of the crowd. Some got out of the dense mass and crawled over their heads. Others dived under the trucks, but the soldiers did not let them get to the other side. The crowd swayed from side to side, like one huge living organism."

All the alleys from Sretenka to Trubnaya Street were clogged with a solid mass of people. Not only adults, but also children died. People had never seen Stalin alive and wanted to at least look at the dead one. But they never saw him. Their journey to the Hall of Columns turned into a struggle for survival. The crowd shouted to the military: “Remove the trucks!” But they replied that they could not do this, since there was no order.

The bloodthirsty leader went to the next world and took with him a huge number of subjects. During his lifetime, he never got enough of human blood. According to the most conservative estimates, at least 2 thousand people died. But, most likely, the true death toll was much higher.

Funeral day

On March 9 at 7 a.m., troops appeared on Red Square. They cordoned off the areas through which the funeral procession was supposed to move. At 9 am, workers gathered in the main square of the country. They saw two words on the mausoleum - Lenin and Stalin. The entire Kremlin wall was covered with wreaths of fresh flowers.

At 10:15 a.m., the leader’s closest associates lifted the coffin with his body into their arms. With the heavy sarcophagus they headed towards the exit. Officers helped them carry the honorable burden. At 10:22 a.m. the coffin was placed on a gun carriage. After this, the funeral procession set off from the House of Unions to the Mausoleum. Marshals and generals carried the Generalissimo's awards on satin cushions. The top leaders of the country and the party followed the coffin.

At 10:45 a.m., the coffin was placed on a special red pedestal in front of the mausoleum. The funeral meeting was opened by the chairman of the funeral commission N. S. Khrushchev. G. M. Malenkov, L. P. Beria, V. M. Molotov made farewell speeches.

At 11:50 a.m., Khrushchev announced the closure of the funeral meeting. The leader's closest associates again took the coffin and brought it to the mausoleum. At exactly 12 o'clock, after the striking of the Kremlin chimes, an artillery salute was fired. Then the whistles sounded in factories across the country from Brest to Vladivostok and Chukotka. The funeral ceremony ended with 5 minutes of silence and the Anthem of the Soviet Union. Troops passed by the mausoleum with the bodies of Lenin and Stalin, armadas of airplanes flew in the sky. This is how Comrade Stalin ended his life.

Stalin's grave near the Kremlin wall

Stalin's second funeral

The body of the leader of the peoples was in the mausoleum until October 31, 1961. From October 17 to October 31, 1961, the XXII Congress of the CPSU was held in Moscow. It was decided to remove the embalmed body of the leader from the mausoleum. On the night of October 31 to November 1, this decree was carried out. Stalin's coffin was buried near the Kremlin wall, and Lenin's body took a place in the center of the pedestal.

At 18:00 on October 31, Red Square was cordoned off. The soldiers dug a grave. At 21:00 the sarcophagus was moved to the basement. There, the protective glass was removed from him, and the body was placed in a coffin. The gold star of the Hero of Socialist Labor was removed from the uniform, and the gold buttons were replaced with brass ones.

The coffin was covered with a lid and lowered into the grave. It was quickly covered with earth, and a white marble slab was laid on top. The inscription was stamped on it: “Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich 1879-1953.” In 1970, the tombstone was replaced with a bust. This is how Stalin’s second funeral took place quietly, secretly and unnoticed.

Late in the evening of October 31, 1961, when the entire Anglo-Saxon world was celebrating Halloween, an event took place on Red Square in Moscow that absolutely fit into the context of the “alien” holiday. Stalin's body was taken out of the mausoleum...

The decision to remove the leader’s body was made the day before, on October 30, at the closing of the Communist Party Congress. However, it remains a mystery why the decision was implemented in record time - in just 24 hours?

Formally, the initiators of the removal of the body were the workers of the Leningrad Kirov Machine-Building Plant, and a certain delegate I. Spiridonov, on behalf of the Leningrad party organization, voiced it to the congress. The decision was made unanimously, and the next day, in the morning, the information was published in the Pravda newspaper.

Probably, the authorities thus prevented a negative public reaction, but there was no popular unrest, and they decided to start the reburial in the evening.

Perhaps Nikita Khrushchev, the then head of the party, remembering that “Russians take a long time to harness,” decided to take advantage of the moment - before the citizens “go quickly.” But this is unlikely. Most likely, the decision to remove Stalin from the mausoleum and the exact date of reburial were determined long before the October Congress of the CPSU Central Committee.

There may be several versions here. The most exotic one is about the connection between the removal of Stalin’s body and the Western holiday of Halloween.

During his trip to the USA in 1960, where Nikita Khrushchev’s famous speech “with a shoe” took place, the head of the USSR learned about the Halloween holiday. The inquisitive Nikita Sergeevich simply could not help but notice the abundance of pumpkins in New York in mid-October and inquire about the nature of the phenomenon. Probably, having learned the connection between Halloween and evil spirits, he decided to move it to Soviet soil - just for one day.

But another version looks more plausible. On October 30, 1961, on the eve of the removal of the leader’s body from the mausoleum, the most powerful hydrogen bomb in history was tested in the USSR. Most likely, the leaders of the Soviet Union decided to connect two events: in the explosion of the “Tsar Bomba” they saw an excellent symbolic ritual - farewell to the cult of Stalin.

From the memoirs of the commander of a separate regiment, Fyodor Konev:

“At exactly noon on October 31, I was called to the government building and told to prepare a company for Stalin’s reburial at the Novodevichy cemetery. At first they were going to rebury it there, next to my wife.”

13.00. Within an hour, another decision was made - to bury Stalin near the walls of the Kremlin. Members of the Politburo seemed to be afraid that at the Novodevichy graveyard the General Secretary might... be dug up and stolen by admirers. After all, there is no proper security at the cemetery.

14.00-17.00. A grave two meters deep was dug right behind the Mausoleum. Its bottom and walls were laid with 10 reinforced concrete slabs, each measuring 1 meter by 80 cm. At the same time, the command was given to the commandant of the Mausoleum to prepare the body for removal from the sarcophagus.

“The coffin was prepared in advance,” says Devyatov. - The most common. High-quality, solid, but not made of valuable wood and without any inlay with precious metals. They covered him with red cloth.

17.30-21.00. Preparing the body for reburial. They decided not to change Stalin’s clothes, so he remained in the same uniform. True, the gold embroidered shoulder straps of the generalissimo were removed from the jacket and the Star of the Hero of the USSR was taken away. They are still preserved. The buttons on the uniform were also replaced. But the talk about a smoking pipe being placed in the coffin is just a tale. According to eyewitnesses, there was nothing there. Stalin was transferred from the sarcophagus to the coffin by four soldiers. Everything was done quickly, carefully and extremely correctly.

22.00. The coffin was closed with a lid. But then an incident arose - in the haste, they completely forgot about the nails and hammer. The military ran to get the tool - and after about twenty minutes they finally nailed the coffin shut.

22.30-23.00. 8 officers carried out the coffin with Stalin's body. A funeral procession of two dozen people proceeded to the dug grave. There were no relatives or friends of Stalin among those present. The coffin was lowered into the grave on ropes. According to Russian custom, some threw in a handful of earth.

After a short pause, the military buried the grave - in silence, without volleys or music. Although they were preparing the body for reburial to the sound of drums, a parade rehearsal was taking place on Red Square. By the way, thanks to this we managed to avoid curious spectators (the entire area was blocked off).

23.00-23.50. A funeral table was prepared for the members of the burial commission. According to the unpublished recollections of one of the then members of the Politburo, it was in a small building behind the Mausoleum (there is a kind of passage room there). Immediately after the grave was buried, everyone was invited there. Cognac, vodka and jelly stood between various snacks. Not everyone touched the table. Someone left defiantly. Someone was crying in the corner.

Nov. 1.
1.00-2.00. The servicemen covered the grave with a white stone slab, where the name and year of birth were written - 1879. By the way, the year of birth was indicated incorrectly - and this error was not corrected. In reality, Joseph Vissarionovich was born in 1878.

“We saw his metrics, where exactly the year 78 appears,” say expert historians. - But there is no talk of any mistake. Stalin deliberately wrote off a year and a month for himself. Interesting fact, isn't it? He alone can say a lot about a person.

Somewhere between 2.00 and 6.00. The inscription above the entrance to the Mausoleum is replaced by another. There was a whole story about her. Even on the first day of Stalin’s “movement” into the Mausoleum, it was decided to immediately paint over the letters “LENIN” with black (granite-like) paint. To make it more similar to natural stone, bluish “sparkles” were interspersed into the paint. And a new inscription “STALIN LENIN” was placed on top.

But the first rains and cold weather did their job - the paint began to wear off, and the original letters treacherously appeared above the Mausoleum. Then they decided to completely replace the slab with the inscription. For your information, it weighs 40 tons. And this is not just a slab - it also served as a support for the railings of the stands located on top of the Mausoleum. The Kremlin commandant instructed the commandant of the Mausoleum, Mashkov, to take the old slab to the Golovinskoye cemetery and cut it... into monuments.

But he took it and disobeyed. The stove was taken on his personal instructions not to the churchyard, but to the factory. There it lay untouched until the moment when Stalin was taken out of the Mausoleum. The factory workers said that the hand did not rise to break it. And who knows? And they turned out to be right. The old stove was returned to its original place, and the one with the inscription “STALIN LENIN” was taken to the same factory. It is still kept there. You never know...

On the morning of November 1, a huge line lined up at the Mausoleum. Many were surprised not to see Stalin inside. The military personnel standing at the entrance to the Mausoleum and in the premises were constantly approached and asked: where is Joseph Vissarionovich? The employees patiently and clearly explained what their superiors told them to do. Of course, there were visitors who were outraged when they learned that the body was interred. They say, how is it possible - why didn’t they ask the people? But the vast majority took the news completely calmly. One might even say indifferent...

Why were they reburied near the Kremlin wall?

Participants in the operation to remove Joseph Vissarionovich from the mausoleum recalled years later that the Novodevichy Convent cemetery was initially chosen as the site of reburial. This idea was abandoned a few hours before the burial. Allegedly, the authorities were worried that Stalin might subsequently be dug up by the leader’s ardent admirers, of whom there were millions more in the USSR. However, it is very hard to believe that the main officials of the country were guided by a careful attitude towards the leader’s body. Then what is the reason?

It must be said that Stalin’s burial at the Kremlin wall took place in extreme secrecy - about 30 people were directly involved in the operation itself. Moreover, relatives were not invited to the farewell ceremony. In other words, there is no one to confirm that it was Joseph Vissarionovich who was buried near the Kremlin, except for “secret” soldiers and officers with high officials.

It is no coincidence that after the reburial, rumors spread throughout Moscow that Khrushchev buried not the body of the “great helmsman” at the Kremlin walls, but someone else, or a completely empty coffin. Stalin's body was allegedly burned in the crematorium. It is, of course, no longer possible to verify these legends.

Why was the reburial accompanied by a parade?

On the evening of October 31, 1961, Red Square was closed - a rehearsal for the parade, which was to take place on November 7, was supposed to take place there. When the participants in the operation to remove Stalin's body were fumbling around in the mausoleum, just a few tens of meters away from them brave Soviet soldiers were marching, heavy military equipment was humming...

At first glance, it seems that combining a parade rehearsal with a secret reburial operation looks quite logical. Allegedly, as participants in the removal of the body recall, this was a good reason for closing Red Square.

This seems a little naive, since Red Square late at night could hardly be called a very busy place - especially at a time when most people went to bed at nine or ten o'clock. And, of course, it is unlikely that people became very nervous about the blocking of the country’s main square even during the daytime.

Most likely, the reason was different. Probably, the party bosses of the Soviet Union again resorted to their favorite language of symbolism. The parade became a demonstrative act of strength and power before the dead tyrant was “expelled” from the pyramid.

Why was all the gold removed from Stalin's body?

A participant in the reburial operation, the commander of a separate regiment, Fyodor Konev, recalls in his memoirs that in preparation for the reburial, the gold shoulder straps of the Generalissimo, the star of the Hero of Socialist Labor were removed from Stalin and the gold buttons on his uniform were cut off and replaced with brass ones.

The nature of such a decision is not at all clear - it was not the gold that the top officials of the USSR were sorry for. If the removal of shoulder straps and orders could still be attributed to a kind of act of debunking, but where do the buttons come from? Why create additional fuss with sewing on new, cheap ones.

Here we are dealing either with some very strange ritual, understandable only to its participants, or with the fact that the gold buttons from Stalin’s jacket were taken by the highest officials of the state as a trophy, a talisman.

Why was the mausoleum opened the next day?

This looks very strange. On the morning of November 1, a traditional line lined up in front of the mausoleum. True, the inscription “Lenin-Stalin” adorning the pyramid was covered with a cloth with the lonely surname of Vladimir Ilyich.

Why did the country's top officials, accustomed to insure themselves even in small things, decide to take a risk and let people into the mausoleum with the “lonely” Lenin. Moreover, according to eyewitnesses, Red Square was not even reinforced with security? Were the party bosses really so confident in the cold-blooded reaction of the people?

Stalin’s absence actually did not cause a negative reaction or fermentation among visitors, but who could have somehow predicted this then? Was it not the hydrogen bomb in the hands of the authorities that so humbled the hearts of Joseph Vissarionovich’s admirers?

The motives of the statesmen and the secret of the composure of the citizens of the USSR, the majority (and certainly those who were ready to stand in a three-hour line at the mausoleum) who revered Stalin as the winner of the Great Patriotic War, we will certainly never unravel.

Why was the monument erected on Stalin’s grave only 10 years later?

Immediately after the burial of Stalin’s body, the grave was covered with a heavy marble slab with the years of the leader’s life. It remained in such a modest state for exactly 10 years, until in 1970 the slab was replaced by a bust of Joseph Vissarionovich by the sculptor Nikolai Tomsky.

Why exactly then - not earlier and not later? After all, Nikita Khrushchev, the main destroyer of the cult of Stalin, was removed back in 1964. And here the answer must be sought in the once fraternal China.

This is what Stalin’s burial place looked like until the beginning of 1970, until a monument was erected for the 90th anniversary of the Generalissimo

A CPC delegation led by Comrade Zhou Enlai attended the congress. On October 17, N. Khrushchev, in a report on the work of the Central Committee, criticized I. Stalin, at the same time, he “published” the differences between the CPSU and the Labor Party of Albania so that the CPC could be criticized... The CPC delegation headed by comrade. Zhou Enlai brought two wreaths - to Lenin's mausoleum and Stalin's grave (by the end of this congress, Stalin's body was taken out of the Mausoleum - A. Ch.). On the ribbon of the wreath on Stalin’s grave there was an inscription: “To the great Marxist, comrade I. Stalin. As a sign that the CPC did not share N. Khrushchev’s position directed against I. Stalin.”

Since the late 1960s, the USSR and China have been on the brink of a major war. China's dissatisfaction with the suppression of the Prague Spring by Soviet troops, after which the leaders of the Celestial Empire declared that the Soviet Union had embarked on the path of "socialist imperialism", and three border conflicts between the two superpowers in 1969, forced the Soviet authorities to look for ways to normalize relations. And party leaders saw one of the methods of calming China in the “partial rehabilitation” of Stalin, whose figure remained a cult in the PRC.

The head of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Alexei Kosygin, even promised the head of the Chinese government to return the name to Stalingrad in exchange for loyalty, and to coincide with the 90th anniversary of Joseph Vissarionovich, but at the last moment the Soviet leadership played back.

Ultimately, the authorities decided to limit themselves to opening a monument at Stalin’s grave. True, such half-measures did not satisfy the Chinese, and in the same 1970, a crowd of Red Guards, the “hegemons” of the cultural revolution in China, blocked the USSR Embassy in Beijing, continuously chanting for several days: “Long live Comrade Stalin!”

How Georgia was almost renamed in honor of Stalin

The fact that the removal of the Secretary General’s body from the Mausoleum did not cause a stir is, in principle, understandable and explainable. Unlike what happened immediately after his death. When Stalin first died, people seemed to go crazy, making proposals to perpetuate his name. I have unique documents in front of me. They have never been published anywhere. When you read them, it seems like this is some kind of joke. But scientists, ministers, architects and other intelligent people cannot offer SUCH!

It was planned to build an entire district in Moscow “In Memory of Comrade STALIN”. It was supposed to have a Stalin Museum, the Stalin Academy of Social Sciences, a sports center for 400 thousand people (that is, several times larger than Luzhniki) and a number of other buildings.

“Central Committee of the CPSU Central Committee to Comrade Malenkov. The area “In Memory of Comrade Stalin” should become a center for displaying the most advanced science and technology in the world, the best achievements of all types of arts, a meeting place at world congresses, meetings, conferences, competitions and festivals of the best people of our country with the working people of the whole world.

Everything being built in the area “In Memory of Comrade Stalin” must be built to last, according to the best designs, from the best materials, with the most advanced, perfect methods.”

And, judging by the document, this should be a nationwide construction project - and the main contribution (20-25 billion rubles) would have to be collected by the working people of the country. It was planned to hand over the area by December 21, 1959, on the eightieth birthday of the Secretary General. And, by the way, it would be located in the South-Western District, directly adjacent to Moscow State University. Moscow State University itself would bear the name not of Lomonosov, but of Stalin.

In general, there are about 40 items on the list. Just look at the proposal to rename the Leningradskoye Highway in honor of Stalin. They also wanted to call the Soviet Army “after Comrade Stalin.” Point 23 states that the Georgian SSR will be renamed into the Stalin SSR. If they had done this then, it would clearly be more difficult for Georgia today to seek support abroad.

But seriously, the list of absurd projects can be supplemented with the idea of ​​moving March 8th to another day (the Secretary General died on the 5th, and the whole week after this date would be considered mourning, and March 9th would be the day of remembrance of Stalin). Less ambitious proposals include the establishment of the Order of Stalin or the writing of an oath in honor of the leader, which every worker would take, the creation of the Stalin region in Uzbekistan (at the expense of certain districts of the Tashkent and Samarkand regions)... But this is already so, “little things”.

This is what Stalin's pantheon in the Kremlin might have looked like.

Necropolis of Stalin

If all these proposals were simply discussed (of course, in all seriousness), then the construction of Stalin’s pantheon was practically a resolved issue. If the idea had required less significant effort and Khrushchev had not come to power, I assure you, now there would be a Stalinist necropolis in the center of Moscow. The corresponding resolution of the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers of the USSR was even signed, after which the best architects of the country got to work.

Three versions of the pantheon project were developed. According to one of them, the building was supposed to be installed on the site of GUM, just opposite the Mausoleum.

“The size of the area enclosed by walls is 200×165 m, the walls are erected in two rows and are used for burials. In this case, the building is round with two rows of columns and a platform for the leaders of the Party and the Government. Under the stands there are two floors with an area of ​​about 2000 square meters. meters for the museum. It will be necessary to move, move or dismantle the building of the Historical Museum, which crowds the site and does not allow a wide passage.”

The Pantheon would look like a huge rotunda with a dome. The entire building from the outside would be surrounded by two rows of slender granite columns.

I quote the architect Ionov: “In terms of its architectural and color expressiveness, the building must be kept in strict forms, the color of the walls and columns is dark, but cheerful, speaking of the victorious march of communism (dark red granites and marbles or dark gray with inlay decoration from different stones flowers and metal)".

It was also planned to decorate the pantheon with ceramics and bronze. The dome would be covered with durable scaly materials, and the spire... with pure gold. On the spire - of course - there would be a red ruby ​​star!

Reference

“Approximate calculations of the total cost of construction of the Pantheon:

a) territory 90,000 sq. m for 200 rub. sq. meter
90,000 x 200 = 18 million rubles.

b) wall 400 x 15 = 6000 sq. m for 1500 rub. sq. meter
1500 x 6000 = 90 million rubles.

c) a building of about 150,000 cubic meters. m for 1000 rubles. for 1 cubic m
1000 x 150000 = 150 million rubles.

d) finishing work 22 million rubles.
Total 280 million rubles.”

For your information, Stalin’s body would be transferred to the pantheon, and in the future all famous personalities would be buried there. Moreover, the leaders and leaders of the party, members are in sarcophagi, and others of lower rank are in urns. By the way, the pantheon would have a volume of 250-300 thousand cubic meters.

Another version of the project (the Central Committee was more inclined towards it) involved the construction of a pantheon behind the “mergs” - in the Kremlin itself in the south-eastern part, on the left side at the entrance through the Spasskaya Tower. In this case, it would be much smaller in size (should not exceed 100 thousand cubic meters). Well, and, accordingly, only the leaders would rest there.

The pantheon project (fortunately or unfortunately, as you wish) remained on paper. And Stalin still rests at the Kremlin wall. There is talk among scientists that the body is still in good condition. However, not once in 50 years has it occurred to any of the state leaders to exhume the remains of the Secretary General.

Some are even convinced that it is impossible to open Stalin’s grave without consequences for the entire country. And they draw an analogy with Tamerlane’s grave - according to legend, it was because it was opened that the Second World War began.

Eva Merkacheva

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Council of Ministers of the USSR decide:

In order to perpetuate the memory of the great leaders Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, as well as outstanding figures of the Communist Party and the Soviet state, buried on Red Square near the Kremlin wall, to build a monumental building in Moscow - the Pantheon - a monument to the eternal glory of the great people of the Soviet country.

Upon completion of the construction of the Pantheon, transfer into it the sarcophagus with the body of V. I. Lenin and the sarcophagus with the body of I. V. Stalin, as well as the remains of outstanding figures of the Communist Party and the Soviet state buried at the Kremlin wall, and open access to the Pantheon to the broad masses of working people ".
Architects - A. Khryakov, Z. Brod

Architect - D. Chechulin

Judging by the descriptions, the pantheon was planned to be built 3.5 km southwest of Moscow State University. Those. it turns out the area of ​​​​the modern street. Lobachevsky.