"Mi magyar dolgozók mindig Benne bíztunk"
"We, Hungarian Workers Have Always Trusted in Him."

Two Symbolic Funerals at the time of the Cult of Personality

Summary/Abstract: Joseph­ V.­ Stalin,­ Soviet­ Prime­ Minister­ and­ General­ Secretary­ of­ the­ Central Committee­ of­ the­ Communist­ Party­ of­ the­ Soviet­ Union­ died­ on­ 5­ March­ 1953. Nine­ days­ later­ he­ was­ followed­ by­ Klement­ Gottwald,­ the­ first­ Czechoslovak worker-president,­head­ of­ the Czechoslovak­ Communist­ Party.­ On­ the­ days­ when the­ funerals­ of­ the­ two­ leading­ politicians­ were­ taking­ place,­ symbolic­ funerals were­ held­ on­ the­ command­ of­ the­ Communist­ Party­ in­ the­ municipalities­ of Czechoslovakia­ as­ well.­ This­ study—based­ mainly­ on­ a­ recent­ collection­ carried out­ in­ the­ municipalities­ Dolné­ Saliby,­ Horné­ Saliby­ and­ Rudná,­ and­ on­ the contemporary­ press­ coverage—recalls­ how­ the­ national­ mourning­ manifested itself­ in­ the­ municipalities­ and­ what­ externals­ characterized­ the­ two­ symbolic funerals.­ It­ touches­ upon,­ inter­ alia,­ the­ “spontaneously”­ written­ letters­ published in­ the­ contemporary­ press,­ examines­ the­ memories­ of­ the­ informants­ on­ the contemporary­ events­ and­ shows­ what­ information­ was­ recorded­ in­ the­ chronicles of­ the­ three­ examined­ villages­ on­ those­ days.

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