Pospelov Commission
포스펠로프 위원회
A closed party commission established on December 31, 1955 by the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, chaired by Pyotr Pospelov, to investigate the causes and scale of the mass repressions of the late 1930s. Joined by Aristov, Shvernik, and Komarov, the commission drew on KGB and procuracy archives and submitted a report to the Presidium on February 9, 1956, documenting that over 1.5 million people were arrested and 680,000 executed in 1937–1938 alone. The report became the factual foundation for Khrushchev's secret speech, "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences," delivered at the 20th Party Congress on February 25, and provided the starting point for de-Stalinization and mass rehabilitation during the Thaw.
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Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) Commission composition, mandate, and report date; basis for the Secret Speech.
- Wikipedia (RU) Russian Wikipedia: commission formation (31 Dec 1955), membership, report to Presidium (9 Feb 1956), contents and statistics (1.5M+ arrested, 680K executed in 1937–38, 98 of 139 CC members shot).
- istmat.org Full text of the Pospelov Commission report to the CPSU Presidium, 9 February 1956 (AP RF. F. 3. Op. 24. D. 489. L. 23–91), sourced from Реабилитация: как это было. Документы Президиума ЦК КПСС и другие материалы. Том 1. Стр. 317-348.