Seventy-two years ago today, on April 4, 1953 (February 21, 1953 in the lunar calendar), the Soviet Union released 15 doctors who had seen Stalin. It is rare for Soviet leaders to admit to having made a mistake on April 4, 1953. But today they do admit to having made a mistake. Observers of the Soviet problem wonder if the release of these 15 doctors, the vast majority of whom were Jews, was a sign of the end of the Stalinist era. The doctors were arrested before Stalin's death. They were accused of plotting against Stalin. Pravda, in an extraordinary report, admitted that the men had been beaten to death. Under Stalin's regime, the Soviet Union executed Jews for Zionist or Centurist tendencies.