On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences ('The Secret Speech')
Delivered to a closed session of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on February 25, 1956, Khrushchev sharply denounced Joseph Stalin's brutal purges, mass repressions, and authoritarian cult.
Full Transcript
Comrades! In the report of the Central Committee of the Party to the 20th Congress, quite a lot has been said about the harmfulness of the cult of the individual. After Stalin’s death, the Central Committee began to implement a policy of explaining concisely that it is impermissible to elevate one person, to transform him into a superman possessing supernatural characteristics akin to those of a god.
Stalin originated the concept ‘enemy of the people.’ This term automatically rendered unnecessary the proof of the ideological errors of a man or men engaged in a controversy. It made possible the use of the most cruel repressions, violating all norms of revolutionary legality, against anyone who in any way disagreed with Stalin.
We must condemn and eradicate the cult of the individual as alien to Marxism-Leninism. We must restore fully the Leninist principles of Soviet socialist democracy and collective leadership, ensuring that no single individual can ever again place himself above the Party and the people.
Defining Key Excerpts
"Stalin acted not through persuasion, explanation, and patient work with people, but by imposing his concepts and demanding absolute submission to his opinion."
"We must abolish the cult of the individual decisively, once and for all, and draw the proper conclusions both for ideological and practical work."
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