Post-war
The leadership of the Communist Party found refuge in Tashkent. From abroad, Zachariadis still enjoyed a mandate by the Soviet Union to act as leader of KKE. However, following the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, Zachariadis fell out of favour with new Soviet leadership, despite his support by the large number of party members.
In May 1956, during the 6th General Assembly of the Central Committee of KKE, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union intervened to expel Zachariadis from the post of General Secretary. In February 1957 Zachariadis was also expelled from KKE, as were a large number of his supporters.
Zachariadis spent the rest of his life in exile in Siberia, initially in Yakutia and later in Surgut. In 1962, desperate from the devastating conditions of his exile, he somehow managed to reach Moscow. There he visited the Hellenic (Greek) Embassy and he asked that he be transported to Greece where he wanted to stand trial for his crimes. Whether or not his request was taken into consideration is not known. Immediately after he exited the Hellenic embassy he was arrested by the Soviets and was taken back to Surgut, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. There, according to KGB claims, he committed suicide, aged 70, in 1973. According to other sources he was executed. As of 2012, the Russian state archive records relating to the circumstances of his death remain secret.
In December 1991, just a few days after the fall of the Soviet Union, Zachariadis' corpse was returned in his homeland, Greece, and he was given a funeral, which gave his supporters the opportunity to honour him.
Read more about this topic: Nikos Zachariadis
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