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Q: Complete (English) text of "We Will Bury You" speech by Khrushchev? ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   5 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Complete (English) text of "We Will Bury You" speech by Khrushchev?
Category: Relationships and Society > Politics
Asked by: grandrascal-ga
List Price: $5.00
Posted: 21 Sep 2003 00:29 PDT
Expires: 21 Oct 2003 00:29 PDT
Question ID: 258741
Is there any place online (e.g., a URL?) where I can find the complete
text (in English translation, of course!) to Nikita S. Khrushchev's
United Nations "We will bury you" speech of October 12, 1960? Many
thanks...
Answer  
Subject: Re: Complete (English) text of "We Will Bury You" speech by Khrushchev?
Answered By: juggler-ga on 21 Sep 2003 01:36 PDT
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Hello.

The "we will bury you" line wasn't from a 1960 U.N. speech.  It was
from a remark that Khrushchev made in Moscow in November 1956.

'November 1956
During a diplomatic reception... Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev told
Western diplomats:
"About the capitalist states, it doesn't depend on you whether we
(Soviet Union) exist. If you don't like us, don't accept our
invitations, and don't invite us to come to see you. Whether you like
it our not, history is on our side. We will bury you."'
source: U.S. Department of Energy Timeline
http://www.dpi.anl.gov/dpi2/timelines/1950s.htm#October 1956

Additional sources:
'Nikita Khrushchev told Western diplomats in November 1956, "History
is on our side. We will bury you."'
source: Foreign Affairs, 1990
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19900901faessay6035/flora-lewis/bringing-in-the-east.html

"He said "we will bury you" at a reception for Wladyslaw Gomulka at
the Polish embassy in Moscow on November 18, 1956"
source: Nevadalabor.com 
http://www.nevadalabor.com/barbwire/barb97/barb3-30-97.html
 
---------------

Khrushchev's speech to the U.N. General Assembly actually took place
on September 23, 1960.

The complete text (in English) is available online:

Nikita Krushchev:
Address to the UN General Assembly, Sept. 23 1960, hosted by
Fordham.edu:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1960khrushchev-un1.html
Also available at:
Cartage.org.lib
http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/GeogHist/histories/histdocts/Biblio20/A20/Krushchev/1960khrushchev-un1.html
Also available at:
Temple.edu
http://isc.temple.edu/hist249/course/Documents/nikita_krushchev.htm

---------------

Khrushchev did not make a formal speech to the U.N. on October 12,
1960.  Rather, responding to a speech delivered by a delegate from the
Philippines,  Khrushchev took off his shoe off and reportedly banged
it.

sources:

"On Oct. 12, 1960, there it was on the front page of all the
newspapers in the United States...
The head of the Philippine delegation to the United Nations, Lorenzo
Sumulong, was surprised at the Soviet Union's concerns over Western
imperialism, since the Soviets had swallowed the whole of Eastern
Europe. Khrushchev's reply was angry. He called Sumulong "a jerk, a
stooge and a lackey of imperialism," put his shoe on the desk and
banged it."
source: The Moscow Times, Wednesday, September 13, 2000
"Remembering Grandpa" By Nina Khrushcheva 
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2000/09/13/040-print.html

"In one famous incident at a United Nations conference in 1960,
Lorenzo Sumulong, the Filipino delegate, asked Khrushchev how he could
protest Western capitalist imperialism while the Soviet Union was at
the same time rapidly assimilating Eastern Europe. Khrushchev became
enraged and informed Sumulong that he was, "a jerk, a stooge and a
lackey of imperialism," then removed one of his shoes and banged it on
the table several times for emphasis."
source: wikipedia.org
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev

-----------

search strategy:
Khrushchev, "we will bury you", speech
Khrushchev, "we will bury you", november 1956
Khrushchev, 1960, speech
Khrushchev, 1960, shoe, Sumulong

I hope this helps.
grandrascal-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars and gave an additional tip of: $2.00
> The "we will bury you" line wasn't from a 1960 U.N. speech.
 > It was from a remark that Khrushchev made in Moscow in
 > November 1956.

Apologies for that misunderstanding! (But then, that's why I needed
YOU -- my own efforts yielded me only confusion.) Still wish I could
find the WHOLE speech, but this is well-researched. Thank you!   :)

Comments  
Subject: Re: Complete (English) text of "We Will Bury You" speech by Khrushchev?
From: trueparent-ga on 21 Sep 2003 13:20 PDT
 
It looks to me, like some "American revisionism" has significantly
altered the translation of what Khrushchev said.  The way I heard it,
he said that the USA will fall from within, because of immorality and
other internal strife, and then, the USSR would bury (the already dead
and defeated) USA.  This meaning seems to be omitted and/or fluffed
over, in the translation of Khrushchev's statement that "history is on
our side".  This "revision" of what Khrushchev said, obviously makes
Khrushchev sound dangerous and arrogant, when, from his viewpoint, he
was simply stating what he felt would be the normal progression of
events, without any aggression assumed or necessary by the USSR.

The same sort of "revision" seems to have taken place, concerning the
Cuban Missile Crisis.  It was made to appear that the USA had bravely
faced down and defeated the Russians, when in fact, the USA simply
agreed to remove every single USA ICBM from Turkey.  This fact made
that facedown a huge success for Russia, making one wonder if that was
the only reason they ever placed their ICBMs in Cuba to begin with,
knowing exactly what they wanted, from the get-go.
Subject: Re: Complete (English) text of "We Will Bury You" speech by Khrushchev?
From: grandrascal-ga on 21 Sep 2003 14:34 PDT
 
"trueparent-ga" commented on 21-Sep-2003:
 > ...It looks to me, like some "American revisionism" has
 > significantly altered the translation of what Khrushchev
 > said...

Forgive me if I begin with a very old (and long!) cold-war joke; the
relevance will become evident later.

The Soviets had announced that they would experiment with
Capitalist-style innovations, and had invited journalists to be
present. A group of journalists, and their translator, accordingly
went on a tour of a Soviet factory. It was explained to them that the
factory managers now owned the factory but were expected to stay
within stated production goals.

"What happens if they fail to meet those goals?", on journalist asked.
The translator presented this question to their guide, and then
returned the guide's answer: "He says, 'They would be shot.'"

The journalists were very troubled by this... and so was the
translator!

Much later, at the hotel room, as the journalists were preparing to
depart back to the United States, their translator came racing down to
the lobby bellowing at the very top of his lungs:

"Stop! Stop! I have made a terrible mistake! I have been checking my
dictionaries -- I did not mean to say that the foremen would be shot!
I meant to say that they would be FIRED!"

(You may laugh now.)   :)

The point is, I do not believe their is any "revisionism" going on
here. I am told that Russian is very similar to English in many ways,
sharing similar syntax and even similar idioms. One such overlap seems
to have occured here.

According to what I have read, the Russian idiom, "I will bury you",
means something on the order of, "When you are dead and ready to be
buried in your grave, I will be there to do the burying."
Unfortunately, "trueparent-ga" has very conveniently overlooked, is
that a similar idiom ("I will bury you") also exists in English: but
here it is a much more hostile expression, with a much more literal
meaning -- something like, "I will completely bury you in earth, I
will overcome you utterly."

In summary and in short, I see NO evidence of deliberate revisionism
-- just an ordinary linguistic misunderstanding, as can easily happen
whenever a "live", or "on-the-spot" translation takes place.

---End---
Subject: Re: Complete (English) text of "We Will Bury You" speech by Khrushchev?
From: juggler-ga on 21 Sep 2003 14:38 PDT
 
grandrascal:
Thank you for the tip.
-juggler
Subject: Re: Complete (English) text of "We Will Bury You" speech by Khrushchev?
From: grandrascal-ga on 21 Sep 2003 22:52 PDT
 
> grandrascal:
 > Thank you for the tip. 
 > -juggler

Yer Welkum.     :)

---End---
Subject: Re: Complete (English) text of "We Will Bury You" speech by Khrushchev?
From: trueparent-ga on 12 Oct 2003 09:33 PDT
 
Wow! Your knowledge of these idioms is impressive, grandrascal-ga, and
I stand corrected, but not incorrect.  Are you claiming, that there is
not, and never was even one person in the media, who understands these
idioms as well as you do, grandrascal-ga?  Admittedly, initial
translations are always subject to a lot of possible mistakes, but
those with the "transcripts" have the opportunity to clear these
mistakes up.  The fact that no one ever did so, proves to me, at
least, that intentional "revisionism"/"disinformation" was involved
here, as it was in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Still, you have given me a deep and enjoyable education, in the unique
nature of this particular case of translation, and I would like to
return the favor.  Perhaps there really never WAS anyone with your
deep understanding of these idioms.  But I do doubt it.  Our
"government", (i.e. the CIA, et al), has long hidden so much truth
from the American people, as per:
<http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/ST/STpreface97.html>

and the complete works of Fletcher Prouty, available at:
<http://www.prouty.org>

Of course, we created the "monster" called the CIA, because we had to,
to fight the very real and ungodly monster of communism.  However,
many corrupt CIA individuals, drunk on power, subverted the original
purpose of the CIA, et al, abusing the power that the CIA needed, to
effectively fight communism.  This included a whole lot of
"disinformation", and "revisionism".  Such corruption caused the
Vietnam War, as Prouty reveals in all its ugly, deadly reality.  Now,
using "Terrorism" as its justification for power, the American
government is once again gearing up to destroy the "American Dream". 
If something really new does not happen, such as the Second Advent of
Christ, (found at:
<familyfed.org>
there is no way out of this predicament, for the American people.
Love To All,
trueparent-GA

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