The Fall of Stalin: A Plot, a Stroke, and a Mysterious Death

In every home within communist Russia, the Great Soviet Encyclopedia was a must-have. What loyal Russian citizen wouldn't want to receive all the reliable and accurate information straight from loving Mother Russia?

Anyone who still has the chance to browse through this encyclopedia will find an extensive entry known as "Bering." It deals with the Bering Strait, located in the northern sea between Canada and Alaska. Twenty pages filled with descriptions, research, stories, and discussions on "Bering." Why are the Russians so fascinated by this subject? You won't believe it.

On January 13, 1953, the Soviet Union announced the exposure of a horrific conspiracy against the People's Leader, Stalin. Nine doctors plotted to kill him. The chief accused was Dr. Miron Vovsi, Stalin's personal physician, a Jew, of course, along with other well-known Jewish doctors in Russia. They were accused of plotting with the Jewish organization "Joint" to poison Stalin and other high-ranking figures in communist Russia.

This occurred just a year after the "Prague Trials," where Jews were accused of espionage and conspiracy, among other baseless charges, resulting in convictions and sentences – some to death and others to long imprisonments in Siberia. Stalin was becoming increasingly paranoid. He eliminated many of his aides and party officials and now decided to launch a show trial against a group of Jewish doctors. The doctors had already "confessed" to the crime and even described how they had managed to poison the Culture Commissar, Andrei Zhdanov. Jewish intellectuals "signed" a public letter in Pravda condemning the nefarious activities of the doctors, who schemed to harm the People's Leader and his celestial bodies...

During the following month, February 1953, the entire world was in an uproar. Israel's Prime Minister issued strong condemnations, but he lacked the real power against mighty Russia, and the Russians, for their part, prepared for the show trial.

On February 28, 1953, Stalin met with top party officials: NKVD head (later changing to the KGB) Lavrentiy Beria, party secretary Nikita Khrushchev, and Foreign Minister Molotov. They celebrated, enjoyed, and drank heavily. At the end of the event, Stalin retired to his room, instructing his guards not to disturb him. Morning came, and Stalin did not leave his room, but violating his order would mean immediate death. Nobody dared disturb him. By 11:00 PM, Stalin still hadn't emerged from his room. On March 1, the guards realized something was wrong but did not want to "disturb" him. Not until March 2 did Beria and a group of doctors check on Stalin, concluding he was hovering between life and death due to a stroke. Beria commanded that no treatment be given to Stalin, as he aspired to take his place. When Stalin opened his eyes, Beria kissed his hand and tried to converse with him, hoping to be named his successor. When his eyes closed again, Beria cursed fluently in Russian...

It was the eve of Purim. Stalin died, and for the Jews, there was light, joy, gladness, and honor. The doctors were released after it was revealed that their confessions were extracted through torture, and there was no evidence against them.

Some say that the head of the KGB, Beria himself, poisoned Stalin on that drunken evening before his collapse. Stalin's body was autopsied, but the results disappeared. In any case, Beria hurried to declare the Jewish doctors innocent and took further actions to win the favor of the masses. Yet fortune turned against him. Khrushchev, leading the "party members," falsely accused him, and he was tried in a Russian court and sentenced to death, which was carried out immediately, alongside several friends and associates.

When Beria died, the KGB faced a significant problem: every self-respecting Russian home had an encyclopedia with a detailed entry of dozens of pages on most of Beria's deeds for Mother Russia. How could it be that he was executed as a traitor?

The Russians thought it over and found a solution: Experts were recruited to expand the previous encyclopedia entry, "Bering," and a special squad of secret police went from house to house across Russia, tearing out the pages glorifying Beria and pasting in pages detailing the Bering Strait...