** of doctors
In his later years, Stalin lived at the Kontsevo villa, 30 kilometers northwest of Moscow. His habits are still the same, he goes to bed late at night, gets up around 11 a.m., asks the service staff to bring tea and snacks, and starts work after breakfast.
Stalin's dacha.
The Kontsevo villa was heavily guarded, and apart from the service staff and Vlasik and Boskorebeshev, who worked beside him, Stalin usually had no one to talk to. His relatives were not around, and his eldest son died as early as World War II. The youngest son, Vasily, was not angry, and despite the flattery of the people around him, who made him the commander of the Moscow Military District at a young age, he was an alcoholic and did not learn anything. Stalin personally dismissed him in 1952 and sent him to study at the Academy of the General Staff. He liked his daughter, Svetlana, but he rarely saw her, as a mother of two and a graduate student at the Academy of Social Sciences, rarely came home. Stalin felt lonely in his heart. Stalin's only way of socializing was through dinner. Beria, Malenkov, Bulganin, Khrushchev, Voroshilov and others were regulars at the table. Dinner was a long one, and they talked while eating, and made decisions at the table on important matters of the party and the state.
The youngest son Vasily, the daughter Svetlana and Stalin.
Before World War II, from left to right: younger sons Vasily, Zhdanov, daughters Svetlana and Stalin, and eldest son Yakov.
In his later years, Stalin's health deteriorated, he suffered from diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis and rheumatic myalgia. Rheumatic muscle pain, already a ** disease, which Stalin himself believed was caused during exile in Siberia. As early as the 20s of the 20th century, he always felt pain in his hands, so he listened to the advice of his doctor and went to the hot springs in Matesta in Sochi every year**. But the disease has never been cured.
Despite his high blood pressure, he continued to bathe in the bath as he had done in Siberia. For lunch, as usual, drink a small amount of fragrant Georgian wine, but refuse to take medicine. Earlier, he trusted Academician Vinogradov, who treated him, and used his prescription to take some medicine, but slowly the Minister of Internal Affairs Beria hinted to Stalin that "the old man was suspicious", so Stalin began to suspect the medical staff around him and refused to use any medicine. Soon, he made up his mind to quit smoking.
One day in November 1952, Academician Vinogradov went to see Stalin, and found that Stalin's health had deteriorated sharply, so he made a record in his medical record and demanded that Stalin strictly enforce the system of work and rest and completely stop all activities. When Beria told Stalin about Vinogradov's opinion, Stalin expressed extreme dissatisfaction and suspicion, shouting: "Shackle him!" Shackled! "Soon, Vinogradov **. Then there were the doctors who served in the Kremlin: M. Sheh Wolfsey, Bau Kogan, Feldman, Greenstein, Ettinger, MKogan, Egorov, V. Vasilenko, Zelenin, Preobrazhensky, Popova, Zakusov, Shereshevsky, Mayorov and others followed**.
On January 13, 1953, TASS reported that the Soviet Union had cracked a group of doctors assassination, a group of doctors**. This group of doctors was bribed by foreign intelligence services to shorten the life expectancy of Soviet party and state leaders with harmful medical methods, assassinating A. A. Zhdanov and A. S. S. Shcherbakov, as well as attempting to assassinate high-ranking Soviet generals A. M. Vasilevsky, L. A. Govorov, I. S. Konev, and S. M. Shtemenko. On the same day, Pravda published an editorial entitled "Despicable spies and murderers in the guise of professors and doctors," pointing out that they were spies of British and American intelligence agencies, members of the "Jewish Joint Relief Committee," an international Jewish bourgeois nationalist organization, and specialized in terrorist activities. The editorial again emphasized the argument that the class struggle would become more and more acute, saying: "Some have come to the conclusion that the danger of assassination and espionage no longer exists. Only right-leaning opportunists can think and talk like this, because they stand on the anti-Marxist position of the extinction of the class struggle. They do not understand, and cannot understand, that our achievements do not lead to the extinguishing of the struggle, but to the sharpening of the struggle, and that the smoother the movement we push forward, the more intense the struggle of the people against the enemy. ”
Despite the announcement that this "terrorist group" had been dismantled, no direct evidence of their crimes had been found. The accusations were based solely on a denunciation letter from Timachuk, a Jewish female doctor who worked in a Kremlin hospital. On January 20, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decided to award her the Order of Lenin for her meritorious work in exposing her. For the first time in the Soviet Union, an informant was awarded a medal.
Order of Lenin. After their arrest, the doctors were subjected to surprise interrogations. Interrogations were generally conducted at night, similar to the methods used during the Great Purge of the thirties of the twentieth century. The purpose is to extract "confessions" from the doctors admitting the accusations against them.
The leadership of the Soviet Party was very concerned about the course of the interrogation of the "case of the conspiracy of doctors". Stalin was going to find a few people to come to his dacha to talk about the case. On February 28, 1953, Stalin woke up a little later than usual, and after a short rest, he felt much better. So he began to read the documents and read reports from North Korea, where both sides had ceased fire and were negotiating an armistice agreement. Later, I read the interrogation transcript of the "doctor's conspiracy case". In the evening, at his command, Malenkov, Beria, Khrushchev and Bulganin came to his dacha.
Several people had dinner together, discussing and deciding a lot of issues as usual. Marshal Bulganin first gave a detailed account of the military situation in the DPRK. Stalin again stated that the situation in Korea was already peaceful, and decided that the next day Molotov would propose to the leaders of China and North Korea that they fight to the end in negotiations, but eventually stop military operations.
Beria spoke for a long time. He rambled on and on about the "doctor's conspiracy case." He said: "Liu Ming (director of the Investigation Bureau of Special Important Cases of the Ministry of **) has irrefutable proof that this group (Wolfsy, Kogan, Feldman, Greenstein, Ettinger, Egorov, Vasilenko, Shereshevsky, etc.) has been secretly shortening the lives of senior leaders for a long time." Zhdanov, Dimitrov, Shcherbakov (the list of victims we are figuring out further) were all killed by this group. For example, Zhdanov's ECG was secretly changed ......Concealing that he had a myocardial infarction and making him walk and work quickly led him to ...... dead endAnd the main thing is that it was all espionage for the Jewish bourgeois nationalist organization 'Jewish United Relief Committee'. The thread has reached into the depths: party and army functionaries are involved. Most of the defendants have confessed to ......”
What is the situation with Vinogradov? Stalin asked Beria.
The picture shows Beria (second from right) with Stalin in 1936.
This professor is not only unreliable, but also has a long tongue. He told a doctor in his clinic that Comrade Stalin had committed high blood pressure several times, and each time it was dangerous......”
Well," Stalin interrupted Beria, saying, "what are you going to do next?"Have the doctors confessed?Tell Ignatiev (Minister of Ministers) that if we can't get the full confession of the doctor, we will cut off his head ......”
All confessed. With the help of Timmaschuk and other patriots, we are completing the investigation and will ask for your approval for a public trial ......”
Then, their conversation began to move on to something else. They chatted until 4 a.m. on March 1. According to Khrushchev's recollections, Stalin drank quite a lot that day, was quite drunk, but in high spirits. When everyone parted, Stalin also sent them to the corridor.
Sudden cerebral hemorrhage
March 1 was a Sunday, and at about 11 o'clock, Stalin's room was still alive, and there was no tea or snacks to be served. The attendants around Stalin began to feel uneasy, but without Stalin's call, no one else could enter his room at will. What to do?The service staff could not think of anything to do, so they had to wait for Stalin's call. Until 10 o'clock in the evening, Stalin's room was silent. The staff began to get nervous and decided to go to Stalin's room to have a look. When the attendants entered the bedroom, they found Stalin lying on the floor in pajama pants and a shirt. Apparently, Stalin got up from the bed and fell. The staff picked him up from the floor and placed him on the couch in the dining room next door. Stalin tried to say something several times, but could only make some unclear sounds. The cerebral hemorrhage caused him to lose the ability to speak, and it also caused him to lose consciousness later.
The guards and staff called Ignatiev, and he suggested calling Malenkov and Beria, but Belia could not be found. Beria was responsible for Stalin's health and safety, and Malenkov did not dare to take any measures without Beria's permission. Finally, in a villa, Beria was found fooling around with the same woman. Malenkov called ** again to inform Khrushchev and Bulganin, asking them to go to Stalin's dacha immediately.
Malenkov. At 3 o'clock in the evening, they came to Stalin's bedside. When the officer on duty reported to them, Beria said: "What are you panicking about! Didn't see Comrade Stalin sleeping soundly! All the crew go out and don't disturb his sleep! So they all went home.
Soon after returning home, Malenkov called Khrushchev again, saying: The Cheka members called ** from Comrade Stalin again, and they said that there must be something wrong with Comrade Stalin, and suggested that everyone go to Stalin's dacha again. Khrushchev asked Malenkov to inform Voroshilov and Kaganovich to go as well. Malenkov also informed Stalin's daughter Svetlana and second son Vasily.
At about 7 a.m. on March 2, Khrushchev, Malenkov, and Beria again arrived at Stalin's dacha, followed by Bulganin, Voroshilov, Kaganovich, and the doctors. When Svetlana and Vasily arrived home, the house was packed. Svetlana described: "The doctors I never knew and who treated him for the first time (Academician Vinogradov, who had been caring for my father for many years, was in prison) were busy around him. They put leeches on his neck and the back of his head, do an electrocardiogram, and look through his lungs. A ** kept injecting him, and a doctor kept writing down his condition in a notebook. Everything is doing as it should be. Everyone is busy trying to save a life that can never be saved. The Academy of Medical Sciences is convening a special meeting somewhere to discuss further measures. In the small hall next door, another medical meeting was constantly going on, also deciding what to do. A set of artificial respiration equipment was taken from a scientific research institute, and several young experts followed, and it seemed that no one else would use it except them. ”
From time to time, Beria approached the doctor and shouted: "Can you guarantee the life of Comrade Stalin?" Do you understand your full responsibility for the health of Comrade Stalin? I warn you ......”
Stalin was lying on the couch in a state of unconsciousness, he was wearing clothes, which were soaked in urine, which indicated that incontinence had occurred. The doctor's diagnosis was inexorable: Stalin's right arm could not move, and his right leg was paralyzed. He couldn't even speak. With such a serious disease, it is completely impossible to return to work, and usually people with this disease do not live long, and the outcome is often fatal.
Stalin and Khrushchev.
On March 4, Beria, Malenkov, Khrushchev and others decided to issue a circular on Stalin's illness. "On the night of March 1, Comrade Stalin suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in his house in Moscow, which eroded the brain areas that play an important role in life," the report said. Comrade Stalin lost consciousness, his right arm and leg were paralyzed, he lost the ability to speak, his heart activity and breathing were seriously out of ......The ** against Comrade Stalin was always carried out under the supervision of the ** Committee of the CPSU ** and the Soviet ** ......Comrade Stalin's serious illness will prevent him from taking part in leadership work for a considerable period of time. "The next day, March 5, at 2 o'clock and 4 p.m., two more briefings were issued.
PravdaThe "Iron Warrior" died
On March 5, Stalin's condition deteriorated, and doctors repeatedly diagnosed him with "a sharp disturbance of blood circulation in the coronary arteries of the heart, lesion changes in the posterior wall of the heart", "severe collapse", "condition continues to deteriorate", ......Vasily ran into the hall several times and drunkenly shouted: "Bastards, my father was killed!" "Svetlana stood aside like a wooden man, and the members of the Presidium of the CPSU, tired from lack of sleep and overwhelmed, sat on circle chairs and sofas. On this day, Stalin's face was gray, his lips were blue, his breathing was very weak, and he looked in pain. As he lay dying, he suddenly opened his eyes, glanced at everyone standing around him, and then raised his left hand, pointing to the sky, as if to say something. But he said nothing (he couldn't speak), he put his hand down heavily, closed his eyes as if he were asleep, and stopped breathing. The time was exactly 21:50 on March 5.
Stalin's remains.
The next day, a joint meeting of the CPSU**, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was held, at which it was decided to appoint Malenkov as chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Beria, Molotov, Bulganin and Kaganovich as vice-chairmen of the Council of Ministers, and Voroshilov as chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. And it was decided to merge the Ministry of the USSR and the Ministry of Internal Affairs into the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with Beria as the minister. The original Presidium of the CPSU ** and the Standing Bureau of the Presidium were abolished, and a new Presidium was established. The new Presidium was reduced from 25 to 10 members: Malenkov, Beria, Molotov, Voroshilov, Khrushchev, Bulganin, Kaganovich, Mikoyan, Saburov, and Berusin. ** From the original 10 members to 3, Ignatiev, Bosbelov, and Shatarin were elected secretaries of the CPSU.
Stalin's children at his funeral.
On March 9, the newly elected Soviet leadership held a solemn memorial and funeral for Stalin. The congress was presided over by Khrushchev, chairman of the funeral committee, and attended by leaders of the party, government, and military of the Soviet Union, leaders of the Communist and Workers' Parties, representatives of various countries, and millions of people in Moscow. Malenkov, Beria and Molotov spoke at the memorial service. After the memorial service, Stalin's body was moved to the mausoleum and buried with Lenin. Until 1961, by decision of the XXII Congress of the CPSU, Stalin's body was removed and buried on Red Square.
Stalin's coffin.