POWs and purge victims: Attitudes towards party rehabilitation, 1956-57

In the wake of Stalin's death in 1953 and Khrushchev's Secret Speech three years later, many Soviet citizens hoped that past injustices would now be put right. For some, this meant the right to rejoin the Communist Party. This article explores how former party members - including many returning from the camps - sought rehabilitation in the years 1956 to 1957. Focusing in particular on the party organization in Vladimir province, the article examines the differing ways POWs and purge victims were treated, and asks how far the decisions made by the party elite in this oblast' reflected central policy or local concerns.