1956 is the middle of the Soviet era. Thirty-four years separate it from the creation of the USSR, thirty-four - from its collapse. The history of 1956 itself, even taken out of historical context, is plot-wise complete - it begins with the 20th Congress, ends with the resolution on the fight against the enemy's tail; begins with the liberation of the camps, ends with the appearance of new political prisoners. But, of course, these freezes after the thaw could no longer return the country to the Stalinist regime, and a new warming was inevitable.