Secret Speech denouncing Stalin.- Khrushchev (Nikita Sergeyevich) O Kulcie Jednostki I Jego Nastepstwach, first edition, second issue, title with contemporary ink ownership inscription and tiny hole (not affecting text), original grey printed wrappers, upper wrapper with ink stamp 16799 and ink ownership inscription to head, a few subtle ink marks to imprint, sunned at extremities, Warsaw, March 1956; and a copy of the Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party in Polish, 8vo & 4to (2)

⁂ Rare and important copy of the second issue of Khrushchev's speech, given to a closed session of Party delegates on 25 Februrary 1956, the final day of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party. His speech openly denounced the deceased dictator Joseph Stalin (who died in March 1953). "Khrushchev recalled Lenin's Testament, a long-suppressed document in which Vladimir Lenin had warned that Stalin was likely to abuse his power, and then he cited numerous instances of such excesses" (Encyclopaedia Britannica Online). This Polish translation of the speech was the only version that circulated during the Cold War, the official Russian text being unknown until its publication in 1989. The work appeared in two issues, the second issue with a second part of 'Unpublished material', including Lenin's Testament, his 'On the National Question' and Stalin's notes.