Khrushchev, accepting his dismissal from power, offers no resistance. In a telephone call to a friend and colleague that same evening, he says: “Could we have even dreamed of telling Stalin that his policies were the wrong ones, and suggesting that he retire? Not even a speck of damp would have remained in that person’s place. Now everything has changed. The fear and terror are gone, and we can speak as equals. This is my contribution.”
