Cold Open

It’s 11:32 AM on October 30th, 1961, 30,000 feet above Novaya Zemlya, a Soviet archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.

Major Andrei Durnovtsev steers his Tu-95 bomber, carrying a weapon of extraordinary capability. Too large for the plane's bomb bay, an enormous thermonuclear device is slung underneath the plane, and when denoted, promises to be a display of unparalleled destructive force.

With a steady hand, major Durnovtsev pulls a lever, dropping the world’s most powerful nuclear weapon. The bomb falls away from the plane then a parachute opens to slow its descent. A timer is set to detonate the bomb at an altitude of 13,000 feet. And if the Soviet scientists' calculations are correct, this will be the strongest explosion ever witnessed.

Inside the aircraft, Major Durnovtsev grips the control column and pulls darkened goggles over his eyes. He does not have long to get his bomber out of the blast zone.

A few minutes later, his co-pilot checks his watch and signals that the moment is almost upon them. Despite all their precautions, Durnovtsev knows from his superiors that there's only a fifty percent chance his plane will survive the blast.

He grips the controls tighter, hoping that this dangerous coin flip goes his way. Suddenly, a bright flash lights up the sky.

Moments later, the plane is struck by an enormous shockwave. Major Durnovtsev holds the controls as tight as he can, but he can’t do anything to stop the aircraft from dropping into a steep dive. He pulls back hard, but the bomber’s nose is forced down by the blast.

After a moment of panic, Major Durnovtsev regains control of the aircraft. He checks the altimeter as the plane levels out, and stares in disbelief at the dial. His bomber just dropped 1,000 feet in a matter of seconds. Major Durnovtsev cautiously removes his goggles and glances out of the cockpit window. At the rear of the aircraft, a bright orange ball fills the sky.

The detonation of Tsar Bomba, as the weapon will come to be known, marks a propaganda victory for the Soviet Union in the Cold War. The USSR now has a weapon that’s 1,500 times more powerful than the combined effect of the American atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This nuclear test will be heralded as a complete success by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in his nation’s media — allowing it to serve another purpose.

The press around succesful detonation of Tsar Bomba will bury news that Khrushchev wants to keep out of the public arena. Because on the same day as the explosion, the Communist Party authorities will pass an order to remove the body of Joseph Stalin from his place of honor in Lenin’s Mausoleum, a move that concludes the infamous Soviet leader’s remarkable fall from grace on October 30th, 1961.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is October 30th, 1961: Joseph Stalin’s Reburial.

Act One

It’s the morning of March 9th, 1953 in Moscow, eight years before the detonation of Tsar Bomba.

53-year-old Nikita Khrushchev walks slowly through a bitterly cold Red Square behind a horse-drawn carriage. Onboard is a coffin wrapped in a bright red cloth. A clear plastic dome above the head of the coffin allows intrigued onlookers to peer in and see the body inside: the embalmed corpse of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

Four days ago, Stalin died after suffering a stroke. The Soviet Union fell into mourning for the man who’d led the country for more than thirty years. But the USSR is locked in a Cold War with United States. And despite the grief, the nation needs steady leadership to ensure that the US does not take advantage of Stalin’s death and reduce Communist spheres of influence in Europe and Asia. To ensure stability, Khrushchev was among ten experienced men named to the Presidium—the Soviet Union’s most powerful executive body. And today, Khrushchev is here in that official capacity to play his part in Stalin’s state funeral.

When the funeral cortege completes its procession through Red Square, the coffin containing Stalin’s embalmed body is carried into Lenin’s Mausoleum. Since 1924, the body of Vladimir Lenin—Russian’s first communist leader—has been on public display. Now, Stalin will lay alongside him.

Khrushchev is escorted to a balcony where a microphone awaits. Despite the freezing air that stings his chest, Khrushchev delivers a somber speech that sums up the mood of the nation. But he also offers a note of optimism, suggesting that Soviet citizens should rally together and continue to pursue the communist ideals that Comrade Stalin dedicated his life to.

Khrushchev leaves the balcony satisfied that his speech at such a high-profile event has increased his standing in the country. He hopes to position himself as Stalin’s successor. But Khrushchev is not the only man with ambitions. Stalin's death created a power vacuum, and several prominent Communist Party members are now fighting for supremacy.

After Khrushchev steps away from the microphones, his place is taken by two of his biggest rivals for power: Stalin’s deputy, Georgy Malenkov, and Stalin’s right-hand man, Lavrentiy Beria.

The most powerful of the men standing between Khrushchev and control of the USSR is Beria — the feared chief of the secret police. But Beria’s ruthlessness means that few other senior Communists trust him. So, Khrushchev takes advantage of their suspicions. He whispers to other members of the Presidium that Beria is planning a coup, and if he succeeds, Beria will show no mercy to senior members of the Communist Party.

So three months after Stalin’s funeral, confident he has the backing of his peers in the Presidium, Khrushchev makes his move. He calls a meeting of the Presidium at short notice and launches into a withering criticism of Beria, saying he has betrayed both Stalin and the Communist Party. Khrushchev accuses Beria of being a British spy and a traitor to the USSR. Beria tries to laugh off the obviously invented allegations, but his smile fades when he realizes the other members of the Presidium are on Khrushchev’s side. Beria is arrested, convicted in a secret trial, and executed.

With the elimination of Beria, the struggle for control of the USSR is now between two men. As First Secretary of the Presidium, Khrushchev is the leader of the Communist Party. But  Georgy Malenkov is the Premier of the Soviet Union—the head of government—and wields substantial influence. 

To overcome Malenkov, Khrushchev uses his influence in the Communist Party to have friendly faces appointed to key committees. Eighteen months after the arrest of Beria, Khrushchev’s allies in the Communist Party’s Central Committee move against Malenkov. They criticize his record in government and accuse him of corruption. The following month, Khrushchev’s supporters in the legislature demote Malenkov from his position as Premier and replace him with a pro-Khrushchev candidate. Malenkov remains in the Presidium, but his power is a shadow of what it once was.

The downfall of his two biggest rivals leaves Khrushchev as the undisputed leader of the USSR. But Khrushchev is not finished yet. In a ploy to consolidate his position, he will move against one more Soviet leader—the man who once wielded more power than anyone else in the USSR: Joseph Stalin.

Act Two 

It’s just after midnight on February 25th, 1956 in the Great Hall of the Kremlin in Moscow, one year after Georgy Malenkov was removed as Soviet Premier.

The speaker calls the 20th Congress of the Communist Party to order and invites Nikita Khrushchev to the rostrum. Delegates whisper in the hall as Khrushchev approaches the lectern, a sheaf of papers in his hand.

Khrushchev isn’t surprised there’s tension in the air. The Congress came to an end a few hours ago with no real decisions made beyond routine matters. But a few moments ago, officials working under Khrushchev’s orders told Communist Party members to return to the Great Hall for a special session. Khrushchev notes with satisfaction that the seats reserved for journalists are empty. He wants his inflammatory words to come to be kept behind closed doors until he can judge the Party’s reaction.

When the audience settles, Khrushchev begins reading his speech—and it shocks the delegates into silence. For the next four hours, Khrushchev launches a vehement attack on the record and legacy of Joseph Stalin—the leader of the USSR who died three years ago. Khrushchev criticizes Stalin for moving away from the fundamental principles of Marxism and Leninism. He goes public with some of the worst excesses of Stalin’s violent repression of opposition.

And though for decades, the Soviet people have been told to treat Stalin like the beloved father of the nation, now, Khrushchev is dismantling the late leader’s reputation. The delegates in the Great Hall are stunned. Tears fall down their cheeks. Several delegates are carried out, having fainted. But nobody raises any objections to Khrushchev’s radical rewriting of accepted Soviet history, and Khrushchev is satisfied that he hasn’t gone so far that the people will turn against him.

Khrushchev’s speech marks the beginning of a period known as De-Stalinization. Over the next few days, Khrushchev address is distributed across the country, where it’s read at local Communist Party meetings. Many Soviets follow Khrushchev’s lead and find faults in Stalin—an act that, just a few years ago, would have led to their arrest. Stalin’s policies are soon openly criticized in textbooks and history books. Statues of him are removed. Political prisoners who were jailed for opposing Stalin are freed. But Khrushchev cannot completely eliminate Stalin’s influence on the USSR as long as his embalmed body is still revered by Soviets in Lenin’s Mausoleum—and Khrushchev feels he cannot move Stalin’s corpse from its place of honor without giving the USA an easy propaganda victory.

Five years later, Khrushchev’s more liberal leadership seems to be paying off. The Soviet Union leads the Space Race after sending the first satellite, animal, and man into orbit. Khrushchev is personally popular, although Cold War tensions with the United States remain high after an American spy plane is shot down over the USSR. But Khrushchev hopes that the US will back down when they see how advanced Soviet weaponry has become.

Soviet scientists have developed a thermonuclear bomb two times more power than the largest American weapon. Khrushchev knows that a successful test detonation of the so-called Tsar Bomba will dominate the news, both in the USSR and around the world—and he hopes to take advantage of the headlines. As well as proving Soviet superiority in the arms race, Khrushchev thinks the test will provide the perfect opportunity to conclude his De-Stalinization program. When the world’s attention is fixated on Tsar Bomba, Khrushchev will remove Stalin’s body from Lenin’s Mausoleum.

So on October 30th, 1961, 80-year-old Dora Lazurkina rises unsteadily to her feet to address the delegates of the 22nd Party Congress. Khrushchev has specifically chosen Dora to interrupt proceedings because she’s universally respected in the Party, one of the few revolutionaries still alive who fought alongside Vladimir Lenin in the 1917 Revolution.

Dora clears her throat and announces that yesterday, Lenin paid her a visit in a dream. Whispers ripple around the hall as delegates question what they just heard. But Dora goes on declaring that Lenin stood before her and complained that he’s uncomfortable being laid to rest next to Stalin, who brought so much trouble to the Party.

As Dora sits down, uproar breaks out. Before Stalin’s few remaining acolytes can respond, Khrushchev’s allies force a vote to remove Stalin from Lenin’s Mausoleum. After the Party officially approves this final denunciation of Stalin, Khrushchev will push for the measure to be carried out as soon as possible. He will ensure that any opportunities for the USSR’s enemies to capitalize on Stalin’s reburial will be lost amid the international furor that will accompany the detonation of Tsar Bomba. 

Act Three

It's the early hours of October 31st, 1961 in Moscow’s Red Square, one day after the Communist Party Congress voted to remove Joseph Stalin’s body from Lenin’s Mausoleum.

A young Soviet soldier stands to attention as the late dictator’s body is carefully lowered into a simple wooden coffin. Stalin’s medals and decorations have been taken off his uniform. Even the gold buttons have been removed from his jacket. And then the mausoleum echoes with the sound of hammers as a soldier nails the coffin shut. 

Then the young Soviet soldier helps carry Stalin out, into the darkness of the Red Square. The pallbearers are directed by flashlight to a hole that’s been dug near the Kremlin wall. Stalin’s next resting place is here, alongside other leaders of the Russian Revolution. But unlike those revolutionary heroes, who were buried amid pomp and ceremony, there are few people that witness Stalin’s nighttime reburial.

The following morning, Stalin’s fresh grave is sectioned off from the rest of the Red Square with fences and cardboard. Eventually, it will be covered by a simple concrete slab. The mausoleum reopens to the public, and its first visitors are shocked to find that only Vladimir Lenin resides inside.

The reburial of Stalin will mark the conclusion of Nikita Khrushchev’s De-Stalinization—a policy that not only sparked a period of liberalization in the USSR, but also aided Khrushchev’s ascent to power. But the culmination of De-Stalinization will also coincide with Khrushchev’s downfall. Within a year of Stalin’s reburial, Khrushchev himself will fall victim to plotting within the Communist Party, and he will be ousted in a coup. When Khrushchev dies in 1977, he will be buried in a Moscow cemetery, denied the honor of burial in the Red Square alongside other leaders, including Stalin—the man whose embalmed corpse was reburied there following Khrushchev’s orders on October 30th, 1961.

Outro

Next on History Daily. October 31st, 1837. While being forcibly removed from their homeland, hundreds of Creek Indians die in a steamboat collision on the Mississippi River.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammed Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mischa Stanton.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.