Death of Stalin

Edited Speech by Comrade V. M. Molotov.

Dear comrades and friends!

In these days we are all suffering a deep sorrow—the demise of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, the loss of a great leader and at the same time a close and infinitely dear person. We, his old and close friends, and millions and millions of Soviet people, like the working people in all countries the world over, take leave today of Comrade Stalin, whom we have all loved so much and who will live in our hearts forever.

Comrade Stalin called himself a disciple of Lenin, with whom he founded and built our great Communist Party, with whom he guided the revolutionary struggle of the people against Tsarism and capitalism, for the overthrow of the yoke of the landlords and capitalists in our country; with Lenin, he designed and built our Soviet socialist state, with him he laid the foundations of the fraternal collaboration and unification— growing even as we watch it—of great and small peoples. Stalin is the great continuer of the great cause of Lenin.

Under the leadership of the Communist Party, headed by Comrade Stalin, the Soviet people have built socialism in our country and have developed the implementation of the great program for the steady rise of the material welfare and cultural level of the Soviet people: they won a world-historic victory over fascism in the second world war and thereby decisively weakened the forces of the foreign enemies of the U.S.S.R.; they brought the Soviet Union out of a position of international isolation by securing the formation of an invincible camp of peace-loving states with a population of 800,000,000; they opened up to our country bright vistas of the construction of a communist society based on free labor, true equality and fraternity of people.

Comrade Stalin’s whole life was irradiated with the shining light of the great ideas of an inspired people’s fighter for communism—a living and vital example to us.

Stalin came from the people and was always aware of his close ties with the people, the working class and toiling peasantry; he devoted all his mighty powers, his whole great genius to the people. When still a youth, Comrade Stalin realized with his bright intellect and profoundly understood that in our times the people can find their way to a happy life only by way of struggle for communism. This determined the course of his life. Stalin dedicated himself and his whole life, without any reservation, to the struggle for communism, to selfless struggle for the happiness of the working people, for the happiness of the people...

... in directing the entire development the forces of our party and the Soviet state, belongs to Comrade Stalin...

...He armed our party and the whole Soviet people with new and most important discoveries of Marxist-Leninist science, discoveries which for many years have been lighting and will light the way for our advance toward the triumph of communism...

Stalin directly guided the work of creating and organizing the Red Army and its glorious battle deeds at the most decisive fronts during the years of the Civil War. As Supreme Commander in Chief during the years of the great patriotic war (Note: WHAT THE SOVIETS CALLED WORLD WAR II), he led our country to victory over fascism, which fundamentally altered the situation in Europe and in Asia.

...Stalin’s peace-loving foreign policy, is a policy of defense of peace among peoples, an unswerving policy of preserving and strengthening peace, of struggle against the preparation and unleashing of a new war, a policy of international cooperation and of development of trade relations with all countries which also seek the same things themselves This foreign policy corresponds to the vital interests of the Soviet people and at the same time to the interests of all other peace-loving peoples.

Dear comrades, friends! During these difficult days, we all see especially well and constantly feel what a mighty, firm and true support for the Soviet people is our Communist Party, its steel unity, its unbreakable ties with the masses of working people. Our party, following the behests of the great Stalin, gives us a clear direction for further struggle for the great cause of building communism in our country. We must rally still closer, still more firmly, around the Central Committee of our party, around the Soviet government.

The immortal name of Stalin will always live in our hearts, in the hearts of the Soviet people and of all progressive mankind. The fame of his great works for the good and happiness of our people and of the working people of the whole world will staffs of live through the ages!

Long live the great, all-conquering teaching of Marx-Engels-Lenin-Stalin! Long live our mighty socialist motherland, our heroic Soviet People! Long live the great Communist Party of the Soviet Union!