The Soviet Reaction to JFK’s Murder

[Lori Spencer]

Ran across this excellent piece published today by an anonymous blogger who goes by the pseudonym “Marina Oswald.” An excerpt: 

“Some of the earliest reports from Moscow stressed the fierce struggles Kennedy faced from staunch right-wingers within the U.S. government in the wake of this “terrorist act”, noting “Kennedy’s steps in the direction of clearing the international situation met with sharp opposition from the American madmen.”¹⁵

Yakov Victorov, foreign observer for Pravda, issued a strong defense of President Kennedy’s international record, and drew parallels to President Franklin Roosevelt when it came to his cooperation with the Soviets, calling the wartime leader “one of the great men to occupy the White House,” but intoning that the men who followed Roosevelt strayed from his path. While noting that Kennedy’s record was inconsistent, he was ultimately a rational thinker when it came to the matter of war and peace. Victorov went further, stating “Both Roosevelt and Kennedy shared an understanding of the new factors in the history of mankind” and predicted that future historians would “undoubtedly trace the line from Franklin Roosevelt to John Kennedy.”

Victorov went deeper, cutting to the heart of the matter with the simple question: “Who profited from the assassination of Kennedy?” Speaking of wild men and the champions of the cold war, Victorov stated that the dark forces behind the murder felt there was no other way to crush Kennedy’s progress towards international relaxation but through bloodshed. Ending on a note of optimism, Victorov hoped that while the reactionaries were mobilizing to cover up the terroristic act, “we are certain justice will triumph and the assassins will be found.”¹⁶

But the most clear-eyed analysis from Soviet media came with regard to the political ideology behind the violent change in American government, drawing direct parallels to the Third Reich. Two days after the shots rang out, Moscow television commenter Valentin Zorin observed that a large organization had carried out the monstrous act, and that fascists are trying to “revive the ghost” of the Reichstag fire. Like the Nazis did, this commentator pointed out that American fascists were blaming communists for the murder of President Kennedy, which is absurd, since “no one but the enemies of peace and an easing of international tension” would profit from his violent end.”

FULL ARTICLE: The Ultra-Reactionaries: Global Analysis of the Dallas Coup