On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences

As a secret speech presentations are called to be addressed by political power holders, particularly in dictatorships, to a select group of individuals of important personalities, specifically at opinion, but are not intended for a wider public. Secret speeches are characteristic of regimes with limited press freedom and often deal with issues of outstanding political and strategic importance.

In most cases, it is ultimately the publication of the speech text.

Known Secret speeches

• Adolf Hitler's secret speech of 10 November 1938, chief editors of the German domestic press in which he opposed the after the Munich Agreement of September 1938 also in Germany come to light general desire for peace, proclaimed their own peace rhetoric as merely tactical and the path of violence as inevitable.

• Heinrich Himmler's Posen speeches on 4 and 6 October 1943, the extermination of the Jews; the senior circle of listeners was explicitly asked to secrecy.

• Nikita Khrushchev's secret speech at the Twentieth. Congress of the CPSU on 25 February 1956 in which he addressed crimes of Stalinism and de-Stalinization forced open.