Polina Zhemchuzhina

We've recently re-watched "The Death of Stalin", which somehow makes a comedy out of, well, the death of Stalin. Truly an absurd idea that somehow works.

What's amazing is that the comedic farce keeps a lot of things factual, such as the rehabilitation of Polina Zhemchuzhina.

Zhemchuzhina, the wife of Stalin's sometime-#2 Vyacheslav Molotov (no, not the inventor of the cocktail, but the reason the cocktail was invented — long story) was born Perl Karpovskaya. (Perl in Yiddish is "pearl" in English, which led to her pseudonym... Zhemchuzhina, "pearl" in Russian.) Polina was a high ranking official in her own right, heading the Soviet cosmetic industry, then its textiles, and even the Ministry of Fisheries. (Deemed suitable for a woman?)

It all went sour in 1948, when she had a long discussion in Yiddish with the Israeli ambassador to the USSR, Golda Meyerson. (You might know her by her other name, Meir.) The two discussed kibutzes, a different kind of socialistic ideal from what the Soviet Union became. Big mistake, Polina. Big mistake.

While it's incredibly likely that Stalin (and his lapdog Beria) would manufacture a reason to take care of Polina (in order to control her husband), this gave them a clear lead-in. She was arrested for "criminal connections with Jewish nationalists".

As depicted in the movie it took, well, the death of Stalin for Polina to be freed. She lived until 1970, remaining... a staunch Stalinist.

That's the cult of personality for you... even if does seem absurd.