On January 25, 1924, Lenin died. A writer recalled that day, noting: "At 4:00 exactly, all radio, all telegraph lines, transmitted one message: 'Stand up, comrades, Illich is being lowered into his grave!'. Everything stopped everywhere in Russia for five minutes. Trains stopped, ships stopped."

But hope did not. In 1924 the poet Maiakovskii wrote these lines of poetry:
'Lenin' and 'Death'
These words are enemies
'Lenin' and 'Life'
are comrades

To Maia