The book “XX Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union: Stenographic Report” is the official record of the 20th Congress of the CPSU, held from February 14 to 25, 1956. It was published later that year by the State Publishing House of Political Literature in Moscow, just four months after the congress concluded.
The volume contains transcripts of speeches, reports, discussions, and party resolutions on a wide range of topics, including the Sixth Five-Year Plan, international relations, and internal party affairs. Notably, however, Khrushchev’s now-famous “Secret Speech”—which denounced Stalin’s cult of personality—was deliberately omitted from this public record.
Taking place three years after Stalin’s death, the 20th Congress marked a decisive turning point in Soviet history. Under Khrushchev’s leadership as First Secretary, it initiated a period of partial liberalization characterized by the rehabilitation of political prisoners, a reduction in censorship, and modest cultural openness. The exclusion of the Secret Speech from the official publication illustrates the regime’s cautious and controlled approach to de-Stalinization.
The congress also sent political shockwaves beyond the Soviet Union. It directly influenced the Polish October and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and it later contributed to the deterioration of relations between the USSR and China. Although the Chinese Communist Party initially supported the reforms introduced by the 20th Congress, the ideological divergence ultimately led to the Sino-Soviet split in 1960.