of the republic such as Gori, Kutaisi, Rustavi, Sukhumi, and Batumi. By 6 March the demonstrations in Tbilisi had become more organized and more numerous. That day a closed letter of the CPSU Central Committee, "On the Cult of Personality", a summary of the speech that the General Secretary read on the final day of the Party Congress held last February, was read loud at a special session attended by the Georgian ministers and the local media. News about the surprise session of the Georgian SSR's Ministers Council quickly spread throughout Tbilisi and the situation escalated. Early on 7 March the students of Tbilisi State University went out onto the streets instead of attending classes, where they were joined by students from other institutes and schoolchildren. The demonstrators went down the main Tbilisi thoroughfare, Rustaveli Avenue, to Lenin Square, stopping at the House of Government and then at the City Hall, chanting the slogan "Long Live Great Stalin! Long Live the Party of Lenin and Stalin! Long Live Soviet Georgia!", accompanied by the cacophony of car sirens and horns. Having overcome the police resistance, the protesters gathered anew at the Stalin monument. Protesters worked out their demands to authorities: an official holiday day on 18 December (Stalin's birthday), publishing of articles devoted to Stalin's life in all local newspapers, showing of films The Fall of Berlin and The Unforgettable Year 1919 by Mikheil Chiaureli (both films were typical cinematic pieces of Stalin's cult of personality) in cinemas and invitation of the Chinese marshal Zhu De, who was at that time visiting Georgia, to the meeting. By the end of day, the number of demonstrators reached 70,000. The central Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs initially underestimated the scale of the protests, and the information based on the minister Janjghava reached the Central Committee later on 8 March. By that time, the city had become paralyzed. The meetings were simultaneously held in several places, especially in Lenin Square and at the wreath-covered Stalin monument. The central streets were full of the demonstrators who loudly denounced Khrushchev, demanded that Stalin be rehabilitated and that his anniversary be allowed, and specifically asked Vyacheslav Molotov to defend Stalin's name. Barricades were raised, buses and cars overturned. The crowd directed traffic and in several cases even stopped it. Several clashes broke out with the drivers who resisted and with the police. When several activists were arrested,