Shortly after midnight on 25 February 1956, Nikita Khrushchev was yielded the floor at a closed session of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and he had a few things he wanted to get off his chest. For the next four hours, Khrushchev described and denounced the harsh repressions andContinueContinue reading “Soviet Georgians React to Secret Speech Denouncement of Stalin’s Cult of Personality, 1956”
Tag Archives: Stalin
English Spy Cairncross Hands Soviets British MP Reaction to Japanese-Soviet Neutrality Pact
The following is a translation of a declassified Top Secret cipher telegram (dated 21 April 1941) from Soviet resident VADIM [Anatoly Gorsky] in London, using information from Soviet-operated British spy “List” (John Cairncross) about the signing of the neutrality pact between Japan and the USSR. Cairncross had intercepted a telegram from British MP Stafford CrippsContinueContinue reading “English Spy Cairncross Hands Soviets British MP Reaction to Japanese-Soviet Neutrality Pact”
Prelude to Pearl Harbor: March 1941 – Attacks on UK, US Will Hinge on Japan-USSR Neutrality Pact
The following translation from our “Prelude to Pearl Harbor” series is from a Top Secret letter consolidating information from a series of Tokyo cipher telegrams on how potential actions against England and the USA would depend on a non-aggression pact between Japan and the USSR. The letter, sent from an unnamed Soviet agent in Tokyo,ContinueContinue reading “Prelude to Pearl Harbor: March 1941 – Attacks on UK, US Will Hinge on Japan-USSR Neutrality Pact”
Prelude to Pearl Harbor: Russian Spy Uncovers Japanese Plans to Seize Hawaii as Early as February 1941
The following is a translation of a 14 February 1941 Top Secret intelligence report from People’s Commissar of State Security [NKGB] Merkulov to Stalin, Molotov, and Beria. TOP SECRET 14 February 1941 I am forwarding to you an intelligence message received by the NKGB from Tokyo. Cipher Telegram No. 980/15 dated 12 FebruaryContinueContinue reading “Prelude to Pearl Harbor: Russian Spy Uncovers Japanese Plans to Seize Hawaii as Early as February 1941”
Russia’s Nuclear Industry Celebrates its 80th Anniversary with Publication of Top Secret Implementation Decree
Today (20 August 2025) marks the 80th anniversary of the official establishment of the Russian (then Soviet) nuclear industry. The event was marked by an open letter to the world, signed by Rosatom’s General Director Aleksey Likhachev, the Chairman of RPRAEP [the Russian Professional Union of Atomic Energy and Industry Workers] Vladimir Kuznetsov, and theContinueContinue reading “Russia’s Nuclear Industry Celebrates its 80th Anniversary with Publication of Top Secret Implementation Decree”
1943 Report to Moscow on the Frank Questions Being Asked of the Liberators
Throughout 1943, as the German Army stalled and took on massive losses in Soviet territory, Red Army troops were able to eventually push them back and, in the wake of the battles, were rightly embraced as liberators of the inhabitants of those territories the Nazis had been occupying. Soldiers and citizens alike, unsurprisingly, had manyContinueContinue reading “1943 Report to Moscow on the Frank Questions Being Asked of the Liberators”
Stalin’s Eldest Son: Captured, Interrogated, Killed
Yakov Dzhugashvili, the oldest child of Josef Stalin, could never be said to have enjoyed an easy life. After his mother died when he was less than one year old, his father dumped him off to be reared by her family while he went off to be Stalin, doing Stalinesque things as only he couldContinueContinue reading “Stalin’s Eldest Son: Captured, Interrogated, Killed”
On This Date: 1942 Report from Zhukov on Early Days of Rzhev Offensive Operation
The summer 1942 Battle of Rzhev was one of a number of fierce and bloody battles that began the previous January, and would not let up until the following March. There is still heated debate regarding the entire campaign’s toll to the Red Army and the Wehrmacht – many suggest the numbers of Red ArmyContinueContinue reading “On This Date: 1942 Report from Zhukov on Early Days of Rzhev Offensive Operation”
On This Date: 1944 Report from Beria on Security Operations to Destroy Armed Ukrainian Partisan Formations
Special Folder Top Secret Copy No. 1 5 August 1944 According to the NKVD-NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR, recently, in connection with the advance of the Red Army units to the West and the departure of individual units of the NKVD troops stationed in the areas of the Rivne region, the OUN (Organization ofContinueContinue reading “On This Date: 1944 Report from Beria on Security Operations to Destroy Armed Ukrainian Partisan Formations”
Korean War, 1951: The North is Hesitant to Continue, but Stalin Finds the Conflict Too Useful to Allow it to End
Translating History continues its look at the early days of the Korean War with a new translation of a declassified Top Secret document from 1951, Document 5 in our series. Stalin’s position, as well as that of his entourage, regarding the Korean issue in the winter of 1951 is revealed by secret instructions from theContinueContinue reading “Korean War, 1951: The North is Hesitant to Continue, but Stalin Finds the Conflict Too Useful to Allow it to End”
Translating History 