On the Internet and printed literature, one can often find a quote in which Stalin seems to anticipate a negative attitude towards himself in the future. We checked whether the Soviet leader pronounced it.

Dictum Decorating One of the walls in the State House-Museum of I.V. Stalin in his hometown of Gori. In the fall of 2016 in Surgut for several weeks Strived The monument to Stalin, under which the aforementioned quote with minor changes was knocked out on a gold plate. The phrase was also mentioned Novosibirsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party, state historical magazine "Homeland", magazine of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia "At a military post", portal "Stalin.rf", journalist Anatoly Wasserman And a fighter of MMA Alexander Shlemenko.

The first thing that is striking relative to the specified quote is (in different versions) is practically absent in the printed sources of the Soviet era, but in abundance Appears In the books of the 90s. For example, in the novel by Alexander Trapeznikov "Testament of the Red Monarch" (1997), where it is mentioned in the draft of the mythical testament of the leader. One of the earliest references also refers to fiction - in 1989, American journalist Vladimir Solovyov wrote a novel "Operation" Mausoleum "In which it is said: "A few months before his death, he said to one of the guards:" When I die, they will apply a lot of garbage to my grave, but the time will be sophisticated. "

However, you can meet the phrase not only in fiction. In 2004, for the first time in full, memoirs of Marshal Alexander Golovanov were published "Far bomber"In which he shares some memories of the leaders of the peoples. They have a slightly different phrase: “I know that when I am not there, not one batch of dirt will be poured on my head. But I am sure that the wind of history will dispel all this, ”Stalin says personally to the author on December 5 or 6, 1943. At the same time, judging by treatment Golovanov to the first persons of the state shortly before his death in 1975, after the publication of individual chapters of the book in the journal October in 1969-1972, problems arose and the book slowed down.

In 1991, the book of Felix Chuev was published "One hundred and forty conversations with Molotov"according to which ex-nark was either in 1971, or in 1976 he informed him in his personal conversation: “Stalin himself, I remember, said during the war:“ I know that after my death a bunch of garbage will be applied to my grave. But the wind of history will ruthlessly dispel it! ”

It would seem that the evidence of two venerable figures of the Soviet era should be enough to recognize the phrase genuine. However, there are several but.

1. In documents related directly to Stalin (personal archive, letters, records of speeches), there is no such quote.
2. Both books were published after the death of Golovanov and Molotov, that is, neither the other figure was able to respond to the above quotes. There are no Golovanov’s memoirs in a distorted early version of the memoirs of Golovanov.
3. How claims In his memoirs, Felix Chuev, he himself took an active part in the preparation of Golovanov’s memoirs: “He edited the manuscript, extracted the necessary materials.” Back in Soviet times, memories were collected in a separate book, but it was first published in an abridged form only in 1997.

Note that Felix Chuev is not only the author of memoirs about Molotov, but also the poet-Stalinist, who attacked a hand to the spread of a number of myths about the leader. In particular, in another chapter "One hundred and forty conversations" Molotov gives Churchill’s quote in the House of Commons from the British Encyclopedia: “Stalin ... accepted Russia with Sokhoy and left it with atomic weapons” - while the British Prime Minister I have never said that. Chuev was also noted in the spread of information about Fake order for the deportation of Ukrainians. Therefore, it is impossible to seriously believe in these two sources - they come from the same person who could well try to exalt his idol.

However, there is a third source. IN 18th volume The collected works of Stalin, published in 2006, was his conversation with Alexandra Kollontai, held in November 1939. It is given from the words of the party leader and contains the following quote from the leader: “Many of the affairs of our party and people will be perverted and braided primarily abroad, and in our country too. Zionism, eager for world domination, will brutally take revenge on us for our successes and achievements. He is still considering Russia as a barbaric country, as a raw material appendage. And my name will also be slandered, slandered. A lot of atrocities will be attributed to me. ”

This quote is quite similar in structure to us, but there are also several problems here.

1. Alexandra Kollontai, who devoted many years to diplomatic work abroad, really in November 1939 for two days she came to Moscow and even tried to meet with the leader. But could not, about which he writes in direct text in his memories ("Stalin never saw"). Moreover, this meeting is not recorded in any document, including A permanent list of techniques in Stalin.
2. In the collected works of I.V. Stalin is given link Kollontai memories printed in the magazine Dialog in 1998. This magazine has earned unkind glory with its publications - in particular, fake open letter Marshal Chuikova writer Solzhenitsyn.
3. Tom 14–18 Collected Works of Stalin can be called apocryphic-they came out after the collapse of the USSR at the initiative of the professor-Stalinist Richard Kosolapov and were remembered by many invented factswithout verification of the 90s extracted from the literature. In particular, we are already Turned To the quote “There is no man - there is no problem”, invented by the writer Rybakov, but in the collected works of the supposedly real dialogue.

Thus, today there is not a single serious source of the Soviet era in which Stalin’s phrase about the wind of history would be given. The mention of a similar phrase in the artistic novel of 1989 published abroad may indicate its walking at the level of a joke, with differences in important details (1943 or 1953, a guard or Golovanov). At the same time, Felix Chuev, who was directly related to the publication of both of its versions, could play a decisive role in the spread of variations of the phrase.