On the night of February 28 1953, Stalin suffered a severe stroke. He was not discovered until 24 hours later and it took him two and a half more days to die. Svetlana was brought in to witness his end. “The death agony was terrible. He literally choked to death as we watched. At what seemed like the very last moment he suddenly opened his eyes and cast a glance over everyone in the room. It was a terrible glance, insane or perhaps angry and full of fear of death. Then he suddenly lifted his left hand. The gesture was incomprehensible and full of menace. The next moment, after a final effort, the spirit wrenched itself free of the flesh.” Later there were suggestions that he might have been poisoned; Svetlana’s name was among many possible suspects.