The death of Stalin in 1953 and the growing awareness of Nikita Khrushchev's "secret" speech, delivered early in 1956, marked a slow easing of the political paranoia at the heart of the East German political establishment. The party exhonerated Beling in July 1956 which involved setting aside the party punishments imposed in August 1950. This fell some way short of a full formal rehablitation, but subsequent developments in his career followed by the awarding of certain state honours confirmed at least that Walter Beling was no longer regarded, within the party, as beyond the political pale. It was still July 1956 when he accepted a posting to the Foreign Ministry as head of the main "Europe" department. He then served, between 1959 and 1965, as East Germany's permanent representative to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. The job was based in Geneva: in a country where foreign travel was a rare privilege rather than a right, the posting to Switzerland indicates that any involvement with Noel Field was long forgiven or forgotten by the East German party leadership.