On the 70th death anniversary of Joseph Stalin

By Nikos Mottas.

Seven decades later they tremble at his name. For the bourgeoisie,  capitalists and exploiters, he is the personification of evil. For fascists and neo-Nazis, his image is enough to cause nightmares. Social Democrats, opportunists and other enemies of the working class movement have been trying for many decades to slander him with tones of lies and propaganda.

On March 5, 1953, 70 years ago, Joseph Vissarionovich Dzughasvilli, the man whose leadership influenced the course of the 20th century like very few others, left his last breath at his dacha in Kunchevo. The next day, in a joint statement published in “Pravda”, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the USSR Council of Ministers and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet were announcing the death of Stalin: 

Moscow: Thousands commemorated Joseph Stalin's 70th death anniversary

Defying cold and low temperatures thousands of Muscovites gathered in Red Square on Sunday 5 March in order to commemorate Soviet revolutionary leader Joseph Stalin on the 70th anniversary of his death. 

Waiving soviet flags, holding portraits of Stalin and flowers, people of every age created a long queue in order to pay tribute to the late leader's grave at the Kremlin Necropolis. 

70th anniversary of Stalin's death: The announcement of his death on PRAVDA, 6 March 1953

PRAVDA, 6 March 1953:

"Dear Comrades and Friends: The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the USSR Council of Ministers and the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet announce with profound sorrow to the Party and all working people of the Soviet Union that at 9:50 p.m. 5 March, Iosif Vissarionovich STALIN, Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers and Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, died after a grave illness.

The heart of Lenin’s comrade-in-arms and the inspired continuer of Lenin’s cause, the wise leader and teacher of the Communist Party and the Soviet people, Joseph Vissarionovich STALIN, has stopped beating.