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| July 19, 2012 | Yugoslav dictator Tito `may have poisoned Stalin` | |
London:A Slovenian historian has suggested that Joseph Stalin was poisoned rather than suffering a fatal stroke, pointing the finger of suspicion directly at his arch enemy Josip Broz
Tito. When Josef Stalin died on March 5 in 1953, a letter was found in his
office that had been written by Tito. The two leaders were bitter enemies, after
Tito had used World War II as an opportunity to spark a revolution and lead Yugoslavia to
independence from Soviet influence. A combination of pride, fear and jealousy had spurred
Stalin to attempt to have Tito killed - and no less than 22 assassination attempts had been
made in the years after the war. “Stop sending people to kill me. We’ve already captured five
of them, one of them with a bomb and another with a rifle... If you don’t stop sending killers,
I’ll send one to Moscow, and I
won’t have to send a second,” the Daily Mail quoted Tito’s letter as reading.
In his book Tito In Tovarisi, historian Joze Pirjavec puts forward mainly circumstantial
evidence to support his poisoning theory. Crucially, however, he has used former
Yugoslav archives that have been overlooked by many historians. He suggests that
Tito knew Stalin would not stop until an assassination attempt was eventually
successful. In something that sounds too far-fetched even for a James Bond novel,
one of the attempts against Tito involved a jewellery box that would emit a toxic
nerve gas when opened. Pirjavec suggests that Tito’s letter was not an idle threat
but a statement of fact - one which he carried through. Ironically enough, Stalin’s
death - either by natural causes or at the hands of a Tito assassin - was largely
his own doing. He ruled with such ruthlessness - executing anyone who stood in
his way or defied his orders - that even his own security team was effectively
paralysed with fear. On the day he suffered the stroke that would eventually kill
him, he had given strict instructions that he was not to be disturbed. People
who saw him on the day of his stroke, including his successor Nikita Khrushchev,
said that he was showing no signs of ill-health. After a meeting that lasted until
4 am, Stalin went to bed and sent his guards off duty. They were under strict orders
not to disturb him until they were called for. But, as the sun set that day, there
had been no word from the Russian leader. According to reports, a light came on
in Stalin’s room at 6.30 pm but there was still no word from the boss, and they
were too frightened to break his orders. Eventually, at 10 pm, the guards decided
that they had to enter the room. They found Stalin lying on the floor, unable
to move or speak. His watch had broken and stopped at 6.30 pm, suggesting a fall.
For some reason, the guards did not immediately contact medical help. They first
called the minister of state security, and then the secret police. They may have
been following protocol but Pirjavec agrees with other historians who claim the
delay was intentional - using the time to cover up or remove evidence. When medical
help finally did arrive, the leader was paralysed and vomiting blood. He survived
in agony for several days, ultimately choking to death in his bed on the night
of March 5. The official cause of death was ruled as a cerebral hemorrhage most
probably brought about by a stroke. Despite the fact that Stalin had suffered
minor strokes before, Pirjavec claims the then 74-year-old had been poisoned with
potassium cyanide. Pirjevec makes the point that Stalin referred to Tito’s threatening
letter within hours of the stroke.
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