Soviet Announces Khrushchev Death in Cool Language (original) (raw)
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Bernard Gwertzman Special to The New York Times
- Sept. 13, 1971
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MOSCOW, Monday, Sept. 13 —Sovite authorities this morn ing broke their silence and an nounced “with sorrow” the death on Saturday of former Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev, who will be buried later today without full state honors.
A brief obituary in Pravda, the Communist party paper, avoided any praise of the man who had dominated Soviet po litical life for 11 years before he was ousted by the current Kremlin leaders seven years ago and was relegated to ob scurity in his own country.
The announcement, made public by Tass, the Soviet press agency, a few hours before Pravda was to be distributed, said:
“The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist party and the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. announce with sor row that on Sept. 11, 1971, after a severe and long illness, the former First Secretary of the Central Committee and chairman of the Council of Ministers, special pensioner Ni sita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, died in his 78th year.”
It was signed by the Central Committee of the party and the Council of Ministers, and not by any of his former Kremlin colleagues, such as Leonid I. Brezhnev, Aleksei N. Kosygin, or Nikolai V. Podgorny, per sonally, as official obituaries usually are listed.
Nor was the time of his fun eral‐or any information about it provided to the Soviet people, as are funerals accorded high leaders who are given full state honors. Mr. Khrushchev will be buried in the Novodevichye Monastery Cemetery in Mos cow; a burial place for many Rusian notables, but a notch below the Kremlin wall where all dther top party leaders have been interred.
No Public Ceremonies
Moreover, reflecting the re usal of the Kremlin leaders to end Mr. Khrushchev's political lisgrace, there will be no pub lic funeral ceremonies. His family has told Western corres pondents that farewell remarks will be made at the Kremlin Hospital in the Kuntsevo sec tion of Moscow, where he died of a heart attack around noon on Saturday.
The Pravda announcement, which will probably be read over the radio this morning, was the first official word to the Soviet people about the death of the colorful Mr. Khrushchev, who achieved significant popularity for his anti‐Stalin campaign and his promises of peace and pros perity, but who was scorned by many in his last years as leader for inefficient economic policies and crude public be havior.
Western newsmen had learned of his death quickly, and foreign radio stations have broadcast the news to the Soviet without let up for the last two days. But this did not push the authorities into mak ing an early announcement.
Wording Was Sensitive
Western diplomats believed that the exact wording of the obituary was such a sensitive task that it probably required Politburo approval. And since, the top leaders were scattered, in different country and city houses over the weekend, it probably took time to get a consensus on how to treat the news.
Although many Russians are known to listen to foreign broadcasts, interviews on the Moscow streets yesterday pro duced virtually no one who knew of Mr. Khrushchev's death. And when informed about it, people from all walks of life and all age groups, seemed to share a mutual in difference.
“He was an old man,” one art student said. “He did some good things. But he made many mistakes.”
“I am not interested in politics. What can I say?” a long haired youth said.
“Some people will say that he was stupid,” a woman ice cream vendor said. “Some will say he was a good man. But he was retired so what does it matter.”
Yesterday was a lazy Indian summer Sunday, one of the last before the wintry winds move into the capital, and thousands of Muscovites were in parks and at their country cottages for a last hit of warmth. One of the favorite places was the Novodevichye Cemetery, where Mr. Khrushchev is scheduled to be buried.
But there, as in other parts of town, no one was talking about Mr. Khrushchev. At the far end of the new section of the cemetery, a young work man was digging a grave next to those of people unknown abroad.
Workman Reacts
He was asked if the grave was for Mr. Khrushchev. He exclaimed: “How should I know. I dig 30 graves a day. No one tells me who they are for.”
In Novodevichye are the graves of such famous Russian writers as Vladimir Mayakov sky, Aleksei Tolstoy, Nikolai Ostrovsky, and of such public figures as the former Foreign Minister, Maxim Litvinov, and the physicist Igor Tamm.
The families of Kremlin leaders are also here—Nadezh da Alliluyeva, wife of Stalin, as is the wife of Premier Kosygin.
But the refusal of authorities to allow Mr. Khrushchev to have a Red Square funeral ceremony with burial in the Kremlin wall breaks with a time‐honored tradition. Just last December, Nikolai M. Shvernik, who was a much less important figure than Mr. Khrushchev, received full hon ors and his ashes were placed in the Kremlin wall. Many mil itary men, some of whose abil ities were questionable, have also been honored in the Krem lin wall.
It is assumed in diplomatic circles here that Mr. Brezhnev, the party General Secretary, who replaced Mr. Khrushchev as the country's top figure, de cided that it would be political ly embarrassing for the Krem lin to honor a man who is now described in Soviet refer ence works as a man given to “hare‐brained schemes,” and who acted in a “subjective” manner, whose plans for re organization of the party were poorly designed, and who failed to consult with the other members of the top leadership.
Ironically, the man whom Mr. Khrushchev sought to dis credit — Stalin — is buried next to the Kremlin wall, and only last year a bust was in stalled in his honor. Stalin died in 1953 while in office, and his death was a time of national grief for the majority of Russians who did not know or refused to believe that he was responsible for the mass arrests and backward state of the Soviet economy.
The Pravda obituary differed from the usual effusive eulo gies that are printed in honor of leading Soviet figures. The reference to “special pensioner” meant that upon his forced re tirement he was awarded a private pension and did not have to receive only the social security benefit awarded on the basis of salary and seniority.
The cool tone of the notice was sure to be interpreted by both party propagandists and by ordinary Russians as a sig nal that even in his death there would be no change in the offi cial evaluation of Mr. Khru shchev, which, since his ouster, has been quite negative.
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