no mention of Leon Trotsky’s life or death, and it did not discuss col-
lectivization. Not all enemies of the people warranted forgiveness.
Khrushchev’s speech was classified top secret but reached the
West through the machinations of the Central Intelligence Agency. It
was broadcast back into the Soviet bloc, and the speech was printed
in several languages. Nevertheless, Soviet citizens were not legally
permitted to read the speech until 1988. Following the speech, the
Central Committee mandated severe punishments for party members
who questioned the role of the party during the purges. According to
a recent account of the immediate post-Stalin period, thousands of
people were arrested for “slandering the Soviet system.”
Khrushchev intended for the speech to destroy Stalin’s reputation,
and to break the authority of those in the party who wished to con-
tinue to use Stalinist methods. Despite his efforts to limit the impact
of the speech, it raised the consciousness of a number of young party
officials such as Mikhail Gorbachev and Aleksandr Yakovlev, who
crafted the glasnostcampaign of the 1980s.SEMENOV, SEMEN MARKOVICH (1911–1986). Semenov was
sent to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1937 af-
ter joining the NKVDto strengthen his cover as well as to learn en-
gineering. He graduated in 1940 and then adopted a new cover in
New York as an engineer assigned to the Amtorg Trading Company.
Semenov was one of the most successful Soviet case officers in col-
lecting scientific and technical intelligence. He is described by his
colleagues and agents as a warm and sympathetic figure, known to
his agents as “Sam.” He ran agents within the American nuclear pro-
gram, codenamed Enormoz, for which he was decorated. After leav-
ing New York, he served in Paris and in Moscow as a lieutenant
colonel. He was fired in 1953 as part of the anti-Semitic purge of the
foreign intelligence directorate. He was rehabilitated in the 1970s.SEMICHASTNIY, VLADIMIR EFIMOVICH (1924–2001). Semi-
chastniy entered the Komsomol (Young Communist League) appara-
tus and then the Communist Party, where he rose quickly as an ally
of Aleksandr Shelepin. He proved his ideological credentials as
chief of the Komsomol by leading a merciless attack on Nobel laure-
ate Boris Pasternak in 1958, accusing Pasternak of writing DoctorSEMICHASTNIY, VLADIMIR EFIMOVICH (1924–2001)• 23306-313 P-Z.qxd 7/27/06 7:57 AM Page 233