Kruschev's "Secret Speech"

[ErikJ]

Last edited Wed Mar 12, 2014, 11:57 PM - Edit history (1)

In doing a bit of research about David Horowitz, whose parents belonged to the American Communist Party, I found out about Kruschev's Secret Speech which is the main reason he became conservative. (edit: he quit Marxism in the 70's-see correction below) The speech was eventually published in the NY TImes in 1956 where Horowitz' parents read it.

"On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences"

was a report by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev made to the Twentieth Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 25 February 1956. Khrushchev's speech was sharply critical of the reign of deceased General Secretary and Premier Joseph Stalin, particularly with respect to the brutal purges of the Soviet military and Communist Party cadres which had particularly marked the last years of the 1930s. Khrushchev charged Stalin with having fostered a leadership personality cult despite ostensibly maintaining support for the ideals of communism.
...............
In April 2007, the British newspaper The Guardian included the speech in their series on "Great Speeches of the 20th Century".[1]

Aftermath[edit]

The speech caused such shock to the audience that, according to some reports, some of those present suffered heart attacks, and others later committed suicide.[12] The ensuing confusion among many Soviet citizens, bred on the panegyrics and permanent praise of the "genius" of Stalin, was especially apparent in the Georgian SSR, Stalin's homeland, where the days of protests and rioting ended with the Soviet army crackdown on March 9, 1956.[13]

Khrushchev's speech was followed by a period of liberalisation known as Khrushchev's Thaw. In 1961 the body of Stalin was removed from public view in Lenin's mausoleum and buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Speech

[Warren Stupidity]

1. "was the main reason he became a conservative" - nah, that's bullshit.

Kruschev's speech was well known, not exactly a secret, and little David was a mere red-diaper toddler at the time. He first rose to fame, ironically as a hard core Stalinist communist, an oddity in the new left at the time, long after Kruschev's speech had been published, long after the horrors of Stalinist Russia had become commonplace knowledge. David was then and remains now a vapid opportunistic piece of shit.

[former9thward]

2. I would like to see a link to where Horowitz made that statement.

He has always said he started to question his beliefs when the Black Panthers murdered Betty Van Patter. Van Patter was an accountant who Horowitz had sent to the Panthers to help them with their finances.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Betty_Van_Patter

[ErikJ]

3. Yes, youre right

I became more interested in the Secret Speech and forgot to read the rest of the Horowitz entry. His parents did quit the Communist Party after the Secret Speech though. Not sure why I jumped to the conclusion I did.

I was talking to a seemingly well-infornmed intelligent Jewish woman named Horowitz originally from NY and asked her if she knew much about him which she didnt so I went to Wikipedia. She just knew of the David Horowitz consumer advocate guy.
He seems to have a problem with pc professors.

[jsr]

4. Direct links to the Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/apr/26/greatspeeches2
Edited text
The cult of the individual

http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/apr/26/greatspeeches1
Full text (5 parts)
The cult of the individual

[Crunchy Frog]

5. Yes, I remember learning all about that

during my own period of intensive study of the history of Russia and the Soviet bloc.

I know absolutely nothing about David Horowitz, or why the speech would turn a leftist into a right wingnut.