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HISTORY/Modern/20th Century

COLD WAR BROADCASTING Impact on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe A Collection of Studies and Documents Edited by A. Ross Johnson and R. Eugene Parta Foreword by Timothy Garton Ash Cold War Broadcasting C o l d Wa r B roa d c a s t i n g Impact on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe A Collection of Studies and Documents Edited by A. Ross Johnson and R. Eugene Parta Foreword by Timothy Garton Ash Central European University Press Budapest–New York ©2010 by A. Ross Johnson and R. Eugene Parta Published in 2010 by Central European U niversity Press An imprint of the Central European University Share Company Nбdor utca 11, H-1051 Budapest, Hungary Tel: +36-1-327-3138 or 327-3000 Fax: +36-1-327-3183 E-mail: ceupress@ceu.hu Website: www.ceupress.com 400 West 59th Street, New York NY 10019, USA Tel: +1-212-547-6932 Fax: +1-646-557-2416 E-mail: mgreenwald@sorosny.org All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the permission of the Publisher. ISBN 978-963-9776-80-7 Library of C ongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cold war broadcasting : impact on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe : a collection of studies and documents / edited by A. Ross Johnson and R. Eugene Parta. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-9639776807 (hardbound) 1. Radio Free Europe—History.  2. Radio Liberty—History.  3. Broadcasting—Soviet Union—History.  4. Broadcasting—Europe, Eastern—History. I. Johnson, A. Ross. II. Parta, R. Eugene, 1940- III. Title. HE8697.45.E852C65 2010 384.540947’09045--dc22 2010011584 Printed in Hungary by Akadйmiai Nyomda, Martonvбsбr Table of Contents Preface by the editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Foreword by T imothy Garton A sh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Introduction by A. Ross J ohnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix PART 1: GOALS OF THE BROADCASTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 1: RFE’s Early Years: Evolution of Broadcast Policy and Evidence of Broadcast Impact Paul B. Henze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 2: Goals 1 3 of Radio Liberty Gene Sosin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Chapter 3: The Voice of America: A Brief Cold War History Alan L. H eil J r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 PART 2: JAMMING AND AUDIENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Chapter 4: Cold War Radio Jamming G eorge W. W oodard. . . . . . Appendix A: Types of Jamming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix B: An Example of a Shortwave Broadcasting Station During the Cold War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 64 65 Chapter 5: The Audience to Western Broadcasts to the USSR During the Cold War: An External Perspective R. Eugene Parta . . 67 Chapter 6: The Foreign Radio Audience in the USSR During the Cold War: An Internal Perspective Elena I. Bashkirova. . . . . . 103 Chapter 7: The Audience to Western Broadcasts to Poland During the Cold War Lechosław Gawlikowski (with Y vette Neisser M oreno) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Appendix C: Weekly Listening Rates for Major Western Broadcasters to Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and the USSR During the Cold War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 v Part 3: IMPACT OF WESTERN BROADCASTS IN EASTERN EUROPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Chapter 8: Radio Free Europe in the Eyes of the Polish Communist Elite J ane L eftwich C urry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Chapter 9: Polish Regime Countermeasures against Radio Free Europe Paweł Machcewicz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Chapter 10: Radio Free Europe’s Impact in Romania During the Cold War N estor Ratesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Chapter 11: Ceauşescu’s War against Our Ears Germina Nagat . . 229 Chapter 12: Just Noise? Impact of Radio Free Europe in Hungary Istvбn Rйv. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Chapter 13: Bulgarian Regime Countermeasures against Radio Free Europe J ordan Baev. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Part 4: IMPACT OF WESTERN BROADCASTS IN THE USSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Chapter 14: Soviet Reactions to Foreign Broadcasting in the 1950s Vladimir T olz (with Julie C orwin ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Chapter 15: Foreign Media, the Soviet Western Frontier, and the Hungarian and Czechoslovak Crises Amir W einer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Chapter 16: Water Shaping the Rock: Cold War Broadcasting Impact in Latvia Peter Zvagulis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 Part 5: CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 Chapter 17: Cold War International Broadcasting and the Road to Democracy A. Ross J ohnson and R. Eugene Parta . . . . . . . . . . 345 Part 6: DOCUMENTS FROM EAST EUROPEAN AND SOVIET ARCHIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 I. Regime Perceptions of Western Broadcasters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 Bulgaria 1 1:  977. Interior Ministry Analysis of Foreign Propaganda against Bulgaria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 2:1986. Interior Ministry Report on the Staff of the Bulgarian Service of RFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 3:1989. Bulgarian Politburo Discussion on RFE Monitoring Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364 vi German Democratic Republic 1 4:  970. Stasi Report on West German Government’s Attitude to RFE and RL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 Hungary 1 5:  973. Report to Politburo and Politburo Resolution on Fight against “Imperialist Propaganda” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368 6:1978. Hungarian Central Committee Discusses Implementation of 1973 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 Romania 1 7:  964. Securitate Reports on RFE’s Encouragement of Romanian Independence from USSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391 Poland 1 8:  966. Letter from Army Main Political Administration to Interior Minister on “Hostile” Radio Propaganda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:1967. Foreign Intelligence Report on RFE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:1976. Analysis of Western Radio “Propaganda” Directed at Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:1976. Analysis of Western Radio Coverage of KOR (Committee for the Defense of the Workers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:  983. Polish Intelligence Alleges RFE Links to CIA . . . . . . . . . . 1 13:1988. Information Bulletin for Party Leadership on Western Views of Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . USSR 1 14:  953. TASS to CPSU on “anti-Soviet Propaganda” of VOA on Death of Lev Mekhlis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15:1953. TASS on Radio Liberation Broadcast to USSR Military in Germany during June 1953 East German Revolt . . . . . . . . . . . 16:1953. Transcript of VOA Broadcast Citing Radio Liberation Appeal to Soviet Military in Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17:1966. Gosteleradio Review of Tactics of Foreign Radio Propaganda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:1967. Memo to Central Committee on Propaganda Conducted by Foreign Radio Stations in Russian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19:1968. Memo to Central Committee on Western Radio Propaganda against the USSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20:1968. KGB Report to Central Committee on RL Policy Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394 396 398 402 405 407 409 411 413 415 425 431 433 II. Regime Countermeasures against Western Broadcasters . . . . . . 439 Soviet Bloc 1 21:  976. Bloc Intelligence Organs Take Joint Countermeasures against RFE and RL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441 vii 22:1976. Bulgarian Interior Ministry Account of Meeting in Prague . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23:1978. Bulgarian Gen. Stoyanov Meets KGB Gen. Bobkov to Discuss RFE and RL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24:1979. Bulgarian and Czech Interior Ministries Plan to Cooperate against Foreign Propaganda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25:1980. Statements by KGB Chairman and Polish and Czech Interior Ministers during Bloc Meeting on Western Radio . . . . . . 26:1981. Minutes of Meeting between Czechoslovak and Hungarian Interior Ministry Officials on the Carlos Terrorist Group and RFE Bomb Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27:1985. Bulgarian Interior Minister Visits Moscow to Coordinate Activities against Foreign Propaganda Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . 447 450 453 456 462 467 Bulgaria 1 28:  977. Bulgaria Gets Help from KGB to Fight “Ideological Subversion” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469 29:1979. Bulgarian Cooperation with KGB against “Subversive Centers” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472 30:1979. Interior Ministry Note on Actions against Western Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474 Czechoslovakia 1 31:  956. Politburo Resolution on Plan to Counter “Reactionary” Exiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476 32:1975. Interior Ministry Note on Actions of Agent Minařik against RFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480 33:1969. Report to CPSU Central Committee on Visit of Czech Delegation to Discuss Countering Enemy Propaganda in Czechoslovakia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483 Hungary 1 34:  963. 35:1963. Report to Politburo on Jamming of Western Radio . . . . . . . 487 Minutes of Politburo Meeting on Jamming of Western Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494 Poland 1 36:  953. 37:1953. Polish Proposal for Bloc-wide Coordination of Jamming . Interior Ministry Report on Intercepted Letters Sent to RFE Cover Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38:1972. Gierek Calls for Offensive Action against “Centers of Subversion” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39:1983. RFE Linked to CIA at Trial in Absentia of Zdzisław Najder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40:1983. Military Court Passes Death Sentence on Zdzisław Najder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii 501 504 506 509 511 41:1984. Central Committee Analysis of Western Propaganda and Recommended Countermeasures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513 42:1985. Interior Ministry Report on Information Leaked to RFE on Catholic Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518 USSR 1 43:  951. Report on Western Broadcasts to Poland and Council of Ministers Decree on Jamming the Broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44:1957. Letter to Khrushchev from Radio Moscow German- Language Service Urging Creation of Warsaw Pact Radio Station Analogous to RFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45:1958. Report to Central Committee about Press Conference on “Subversive Activities” of Western Radios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46:1959. KGB Report on Uneven Quality of Jamming of Western Broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47:1960. Central Committee Analysis of Western Radio Propaganda, Decree to Combat it, and Implementation Responses from Latvia, Estonia and Uzbekistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48:1963. Minutes of Presidium Meeting on Restricting Soviet Shortwave Receivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49:1965. Memo to CC CPSU from Turkmen CC on Extending Turkmen Foreign Broadcasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50:  971. Report by KGB Chairman Andropov on RFE and RL. . . . 1 51:1986. Memo to Central Committee from Politburo Members Ligachev and Chebrikov on Jamming of Western Radio Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520 528 531 533 537 552 555 557 560 Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569 ix Preface Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were, along with other Western broadcasters, effective instruments of Western policy during the Cold War. Previous studies have examined the history and organization of RFE/RL and its place in American national security strategy. Major pub- lications include Sig Mickelson, America’s Other Voice: The Story of Ra- dio Free Europe & Radio Liberty (Praeger, 1983), James Critchlow, Ra- dio Hole-in-the-Head/Radio Liberty (American University Press, 1995), Michael Nelson, War of the Black Heavens: The Battles of Western Broadcasting in the Cold War (Syracuse University Press, 1997), Gene Sosin, Sparks of Liberty: An Insider’s Memoir of Radio Liberty (Penn- sylvania State University Press, 1999), Arch Puddington, Broadcasting Freedom: The Cold War Triumph of Radio Free Europe and Radio Lib- erty (University of Kentucky Press, 2000), and Alan Heil, The Voice of America: A History (Columbia University Press, 2003). What has been lacking until now are studies of the impact of Western Cold War broadcasting, on both societies and Communist regimes, that draw on archival material from the other side of the former Iron Curtain. This book examines the role of Western broadcasting to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe during the Cold War, with a focus on Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. It includes chapters by radio veterans and by scholars who have conducted research on the subject in once-secret Soviet bloc archives and in Western records. It also contains a selection of translated documents from formerly secret Soviet and East European archives, most of them published here for the first time. Much of the material in this volume was originally presented at a conference, “Cold War Broadcasting Impact,” held at the Hoover In- stitution at Stanford University in October 2004. That conference was co-sponsored by the Hoover Institution and the Cold War International xi