How the leaders of the socialist countries and prominent party officials rested, were treated and passed away in the USSR

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The cooperation of the Soviet Union with friendly powers was not limited to the political, economic and cultural spheres. The USSR government closely monitored the health of the leaders of the socialist countries and leaders of the communist parties, invited them to rest and treatment. However, the results of fraternal medical care were not always positive, which often caused rumors about the hand of the Soviet special services.

As the General Secretary of the BKP Georgy Dimitrov was treated in the sanatorium "Barvikha" for diabetes, but he never returned to Bulgaria alive

In March 1949, the Bulgarian press spread alarming news throughout the country: in connection with the deteriorating health, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Comrade Georgy Dimitrov, received a vacation and went to the USSR for treatment. The Soviet leadership placed Dimitrov in the Barvikha sanatorium near Moscow, equipped to the highest level of Kremlin medical institutions. Unfortunately, neither highly professional staff, nor the latest treatment methods, nor the healing air of the coniferous forest could resist the progressive cirrhosis of the liver, complicated by diabetes. Already in July, the Central Committee of the CPSU announced the death of Georgy Dimitrov, an outstanding figure in the international communist movement.

The body of the Bulgarian leader was embalmed. The most titled Soviet specialist in this field, Boris Zbarsky, supervised the process. Despite the objective necessity of this operation (a special train with the remains of Georgy Dimitrov had to pass a significant territory of the Soviet Union and all of Romania, making stops on the way for mourning rallies), rumors began to spread that embalming was used to hide traces of poison. Later, in the nineties of the last century, a version appeared that employees of the mausoleum group found an increased content of mercury in Dimitrov's hair samples. However, there was no official confirmation of this.

How Polish President Boleslav Bierut died of a heart attack in Moscow

The circumstances of the death of the President of the People's Republic of Poland, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party, are often called mysterious. Boleslav Bierut, who obediently implemented Soviet policy in Poland and had a semi-official nickname "Polish Stalin", also met his death in the capital of the USSR. In February 1956, he was a guest of the XX Congress of the CPSU, known for condemning the personality cult of Stalin. The famous report of Nikita Khrushchev, "On the personality cult and its consequences," heard at a closed session of the congress, was a real blow to the ardent Stalinist. Bierut felt sick right in the conference room. This gave rise to the assumption that, after listening to Khrushchev's speech, the Polish leader experienced a nervous shock. Soviet doctors provided first aid to the victim and insisted on hospitalization. Despite the efforts of the doctors, Boleslav Bierut died on March 12. The official report indicated that death was due to myocardial infarction.

However, in Poland, a version spread that the death of the leader of the PUWP was the result of the unacceptable mistakes of the Khrushchev Aesculapians. They also talked about the fact that it was intentional poisoning, since the rather tough policy of Birut was significantly at odds with Khrushchev's course of a "thaw". It was also suggested that a devoted supporter of Stalin, after debunking his idol, committed suicide. However, a few years ago, in an interview with Polish radio, Bierut's son denied all these versions and said that he was inclined to believe that his father's heart problem was complicated by kidney malaise, the severity of which Moscow doctors underestimated.

What did the leaders of the USSR dislike in Palmiro Togliatti's "Memorandum", and how the fate of the secretary of the Italian Communist Party in the Soviet Crimea developed

The purpose of the visit of the General Secretary of the Italian Communist Party to Moscow in August 1964 was a meeting with the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Palmiro Togliatti, formally invited to rest and treatment, was actually going to discuss with the head of the CPSU a number of ideological issues regarding international and inter-party relations. However, by this time Nikita Sergeevich timed a trip around the country. Togliatti promised to meet with Khrushchev in Crimea.

In Yalta, in anticipation of the upcoming conversation, Palmiro Togliatti prepared his "Memorandum", which would later be called the political testament of the leader of the Italian Communist Party. The key points of this document were discussions about a possible split in the world communist movement caused by the conflict between the CPSU and the Chinese Communist Party; about changes in relations between the USSR and the countries of the socialist camp; the necessity and possibility of peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems; about an inconsistent, half-hearted exposure of Stalin's personality cult. Naturally, such postulates did not delight the Soviet leadership, and the meeting between Togliatti and Khrushchev was constantly postponed. To distract the guest, he was offered a tour of the Crimean sights, including a visit to the Artek pioneer camp. It was there that, on a hot August day, 71-year-old Palmiro Togliatti suffered a stroke from which he never recovered.

How many secretaries general died on the territory of the USSR

Over the three decades since 1949, about a dozen prominent foreign figures - presidents, prime ministers, leaders of communist parties - have ended their earthly existence in the Soviet Union. Among them is Maurice Torez. In the early 1950s, the health of the General Secretary of the French Communist Party was shaken, and he often came to the USSR for treatment. In July 1964, having resigned as General Secretary, Torez once again turned to Soviet doctors for help. But he did not have time to get it - he died on board the ship "Lithuania" on the way to Yalta.

January 1966 was fatal for Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. Then, a conference initiated by the government of the USSR was held in Tashkent, at which it was possible to do the almost impossible - to reconcile India and Pakistan, which had been in conflict for a long time. On the occasion of the signing of the truce, a banquet was held, immediately after which Shastri died.

Agostinho Neto, the President and head of the Labor Party of Angola, has departed far from his homeland, having arrived in the Union for an oncological operation. The treatment did not give the expected results, they did not have time to send the patient home. In September 1979, in Moscow, comrade Netu died at the age of 56.

Today it is very interesting to know what gifts the Soviet secretaries general gave to their friends. Needless to say - Soviet leaders knew how to surprise.