Story Highlights
- historical event:
- After Stalin's death, his body was embalmed and laid next to Lenin's, in the famed Mausoleum on the Red Square in Moscow. However, on this day it was decided that Stalin had betrayed Lenin's ideals, and that his body should be removed from his vicinity.
On this day it was decided that Stalin’s body was to be removed from Lenin’s Mausoleum, where it was interred together with that of the first Soviet leader, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. This decision was part of the destalinization efforts of the new Soviet leadership, i.e. their efforts to remove the negative memory of Stalin’s brutal reign. The new Soviet leader, Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, denounced Stalin and introduced reforms with the goal of somewhat liberalizing his country.
Lenin’s Mausoleum is a famous monument on the Red Square in Moscow. His embalmed body was (and still is) a “pilgrimage” site for many visitors. The Mausoleum was built using several types of stone: marble, porphyry, granite, and labradorite. Lenin’s body was preserved through a special embalming process, which required a considerable effort. An electric pump was allegedly installed inside the dead body, so as to regulate its humidity.
After Stalin’s death, his body was embalmed and laid next to Lenin’s. However, on this day it was decided that Stalin had betrayed Lenin’s ideals, and that his body should be removed from his vicinity.
Stalin’s body was taken out of the Mausoleum under the cover of darkness and buried in a simple grave next to the Kremlin’s walls. It was ordered that the grave be covered by a thick layer of concrete, to make sure that Stalin never comes back.
