Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin
On 5 March 1953, at 21:50 EET, Joseph Stalin, the second leader of the Soviet Union, died at the Kuntsevo Dacha aged 74 after suffering a stroke. After four days of national mourning, Stalin was given a state funeral and then buried in Lenin's Mausoleum on 9 March. Nikita Khrushchev, Georgy Malenkov, Vyacheslav Molotov and Lavrentiy Beria were in charge of organizing the funeral.
Yakov Dzhugashvili
Until recently, it was not clear when and how Dzhugashvili died. According to the official German account, he died by running into an electric fence in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he was being held. Some have contended that Dzhugashvili committed suicide at the camp, while others have suggested that he was murdered.
Currently, declassified files show that Dzhugashvili was shot by a guard for refusing to obey orders. While Dzhugashvili was walking around the camp he was ordered back to the barracks under the threat of being shot. Dzhugashvili refused and shouted, "Shoot!" The guard shot him in the head. Stalin saw this as a more honourable death, and his attitude towards his son softened slightly.