Nikita Khrushchev, one of the most prominent Soviet leaders, was famous for strange phrases and impulsive gestures. However, we will show why the famous story of the drumming boot on the podium with Khrushchev is fiction.
On October 12, 1960, a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly took place. During the speech by the Philippine delegate Lorenzo Sumulonga, Khrushchev began banging his boot on the podium to express his anger at the Filipino. There is even a photograph of Khrushchev with his boot raving like a madman. Looks photoshopped - because it is. What actually happened? Let's figure it out!
Toad of imperialism
Yes, the Secretary General's speech at this event was fiery and angry. In 1960, 17 African colonies declared independence, and this topic was widely discussed at the session. Another hot topic was the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the Soviet invasion.
The atmosphere was agitated. In addition, Romanian Deputy Foreign Minister Eduard Mezinescu behaved in such a way that his microphone had to be turned off, and Assembly President Frederic Boland hit with a hammer so hard that it broke.
Representatives of Western countries accused the USSR and its policy towards Hungary. Then the conversation turned to the African colonies, and Khrushchev made an emotional speech, indignant at the imperialist states - the “ colonialists. ” After Nikita Sergeevich's brisk speech, the head of the Philippine delegation, Lorenzo Sumulong, took the floor and hinted that the USSR is also a colonizing state: “the peoples of Eastern Europe and other countries that were deprived of the free exercise of their civil and political rights and who were absorbed, so to speak, by the Soviet Union."
Lorenzo Sumulong.
Promotional video:
Indignant Khrushchev quickly walked to the podium and pushed Sumulong aside with a gesture of his hand. Then he went up to the microphone and gave his answer, calling Sumulong "a nonentity, a puppet, a lackey" and "a sycophant of American imperialism." - Everything that happened did not go into any gate, but nothing could be done. When finished, Khrushchev returned to his seat.
As Sumulong continued his exposure of the communist regime, the Soviet leader became increasingly enraged, but stubbornly ignored …
Trouble at the UN
So how did this shoe come about? The meeting attendant recalled that someone accidentally stepped on Khrushchev's boot from behind when he was sitting at the beginning of the meeting. The table was cramped and the overweight leader couldn't bend down to put on his boot again, so he just put it on his desk. The same version is supported by the son of Nikita Khrushchev, 25-year-old Sergei, who also attended the meeting.
Actual photo of Nikita Khrushchev and USSR Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko (b.) At the meeting of the UN General Assembly on October 12, 1960.
James Feron, a journalist for The Times who also attended the event, recalled: “I did see Khrushchev not bang his boot,” adding that the Soviet leader “bent down, took off his shoe without laces, waved it threateningly and laid it on the table. but he never knocked with his boot."
John Lohengard, a former photo editor of Life magazine, is confident that Khrushchev did not bang his boot on the table. According to Loegard, Khrushchev bent down, took off the brown moccasin from his right leg and put it on the table.
I would like to end a small disclosure with the words of one of the correspondents of “Life”: “I can assure you that all the cameras in the booth were aimed at Khrushchev, waiting for him to use his boot. He just put it on again and left. None of us missed the photo, which would be a serious professional mistake. This event never happened."