Unintended Consequences: RIAS and the Cold War
by Prof. Howard S. Pactor, University of Florida, Gainesville

In the winter of 1945–46, the once-great city of Berlin was beginning its long climb from the ruin of war. Under terms of the Yalta Agreement, Germany had been divided among the three victorious Allies with an area assigned to the French taken from the American Zone of Occupation in western Germany. Similarly, Berlin was divided into four sectors for each of the occupying powers. With the general suspicion and mistrust among the occupiers, some semblance of normal life resumed in Berlin.

Radio in Berlin

Among the assets of the Third Reich seized by the Red Army was Radio Berlin with its studios in the British sector and its powerful transmitter at Tegel in the French sector. The Soviet forces quickly put the radio back into service, even using former Nazi staff members, to present the Soviet message to the people of Berlin and in its Zone of Occupation. Its broadcasts were as effusive in praise of its efforts to reconstruct its occupation zone and equally as mendacious in its reports of problems in the reconstruction in the western zone. Because there were no other radio facilities in Berlin, the Western Allies hoped to secure time — an hour a day for each Western power — on Radio Berlin for broadcasting to residents of their zones. Following protracted negotiations, it became apparent that the Soviets would not grant the Allies any access to Radio Berlin; as a result, the United States decided to create a broadcast facility of it its own. In his 1961 doctoral dissertation, Donald R. Browne suggests that “it is interesting to speculate on the supposition that, for the Russian intransigence in the early days of the occupation of Berlin, there would never have been a RIAS.

In creating its own broadcast presence in Berlin, the American Military Government set on course a radio operation that would do much more than intended-simply announcing information from the military authorities to the German residents of Berlin. The unintended consequences were that the radio station would become a leading source of culture, education, political enlightenment for those in West Berlin and a political instrument in dealing with the Communists-both Soviet and German-in the what was to become the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Finally giving up in its attempt to obtain time on Radio Berlin, the American Military Government resorted to a method of broadcasting familiar to the German public — Drahtfunk — or wired radio, which had been used by the Nazi regime. On November 21, 1945, the Americans ordered the re-opening the system and hiring the necessary personnel to operate the station. The system was first known as DIAS-Drahtfunk In the American Sector — and utilized the telephone system, or that portion of it in the American Sector that still worked, for its wire. It began operation on February 7, 1946, at five o’clock in the evening; following the announcement of the service, the first program to be heard was American jazz. The staff consisted of four Americans as supervisors and about 80 Germans as the operational staff.

The facilities were in the telephone exchange building in the American Sector, but the Military Government gave the station little help in the way of equipment. The lack of attention by the military government may have been something of a blessing as it allowed the staff to solve problems and gain experience in making do with little direct supervision or support; it also allowed the broadcasts to be made in German. This creativity would be useful in developing ways of providing information for residents of East Berlin and the GDR.

While DIAS was a start, it was not what was needed. The system had too many technical problems, including too few civilian telephones, which provided access to the signal, and poor signal quality. A major problem was in the telephone cables, which had been contaminated by water seepage resulting from the heavy Allied bombing of Berlin. Over the next few months the DIAS staff improved its signal and increased its hours of programming. Still, it was not enough; broadcast radio, not wired radio, was the answer. By the fall of 1946, after slightly more than five months of wired service, the technical staff at DIAS had located and acquired a low-power radio transmitter and on September 5, 1946, began broadcasting even though the 800-watt transmitter could not provide coverage of all of Berlin. DIAS, soon to be called RIAS-Rundfunk [Radio] In the American Sector-signed on the air with the usual announcement of intent at three o’clock in the afternoon; its first musical selections were Melodien von Jerome Kern. One can only speculate on the irony of the choice of music — songs by a Jewish-American composer being performed in Hitler’s capital.

Unintended Consequences: Music

Because American military regulation forbade the employment of former Nazis who worked for Goebbel’s Radio Berlin, the RIAS staff was less skilled in preparing and broadcasting radio programs. Still, the station developed an ambitious program for growth and service. In keeping with the German love of music, RIAS created a number of music groups; just two days after it began broadcasting, the RIAS Symphony Orchestra gave its first concert. Once again, Germans could hear the music of Jewish composers — Mendelssohn, Offenbach and Mahler — who had been banned during the Nazi years. Over the years, RIAS created choral groups, chamber ensembles, a youth orchestra, and dance bands. The music groups issued an impressive number of recordings that are still sought by collectors. The RIAS dance bands were among the most popular musical groups in Western Europe in the 1950s and ’60s. Among the popular music performers on RIAS broadcasts who were familiar to Americans were Marlene Dietrich, Werner Müller, Horst Jankowski and Catharina Valente. The creation of these music groups, along with RIAS-sponsored public concerts, provided a much-needed lift in the morale of Berliners who were soon to be an isolated by the Soviet-imposed Berlin Blockade.

RIAS’ musical programming provided employment for a large number of musicians who might otherwise have lingered without work or turned to the Soviet-backed East Germans who were spending money to preserve the German cultural heritage. Perhaps a more important unintended consequence of the late-night musical offerings of RIAS resulted from playing American jazz and rock ’n’ roll-two forms of music noted for their freedom. The appeal of these kinds of music to young Germans in the GDR kept alive a notion of free expression and was a welcome alternative to the controlled offerings of stations in the East. Although RIAS received thousands of letters per month, no attempt was made to sample listeners’ preferences until 1951. In July of that year, the Office of the U.S. High Commissioner undertook a survey of listeners.

This was difficult to implement, since the people conducting the survey had to interview their ’subjects’ when the latter crossed into West Germany or West Berlin on business... The subjects were not refugees — they were returning to their homes-and, therefore, many of them were reluctant to be interviewed. Out of the approximately five hundred who were interviewed, these findings were noted: 81 per cent of the sample listened, mainly to RIAS, and 68 per cent of the sample named RIAS ’best-liked’ station, chiefly because of its truthfulness... Most interesting programs on RIAS were news, 42 per cent; ... ; music, 22 per cent... RIAS was named by 83 per cent as the station most often listened to for news.

Still, it was dangerous for East Germans to listen to RIAS. In September of 1950, a resident of Dresden was sentenced to 18 months in jail for writing to RIAS, even though the GDR constitution permitted such activity. Although people and businesses throughout the east had been warned, a radio dealer in the state of Saxony was found guilty of tuning to RIAS; his excuse, people wanted to hear good music.

Unintended Consequences: Education

Like most of the infrastructure in Berlin following the war, the public schools were a shambles. Although radio broadcasts for schools were virtually unknown in Germany, RIAS began Schulfunk- broadcasts for schools-soon after the operation switched from wired to broadcast service. With the poor state of transportation in the rural areas around Berlin, particularly in the winter months, Schulfunk broadcasts became an important adjunct to the school system. In addition to the school broadcasts, RIAS devised a program to help teach children, and adults who might listen, how democracy worked. The station, in cooperation with the Berlin school system, created Schulfunkparlament, a parliament for students much like student government in American schools. Each school elected two students to attend monthly sessions of the parliament, which were broadcasts live over the station. Officials of the Berlin city government attended the meetings and were sometimes put on the spot by the children’s questions. By 1951, more than 135 schools were using the Schulfunk broadcasts to supplement education for about 400,000 students, although it took some time for German teachers to adapt to the new teaching tool.

The school broadcasts helped the badly damaged school system cope with teaching students under the primitive conditions of post-war Berlin when school buildings and the transportation system were in ruins. The broadcasts also helped train teachers in new methods of teaching; the programs presented alternatives to the traditional rote memorization and strict discipline of traditional German education. The children’s parliament provided instruction in the process of democratic government for youngsters who would become the voters and defenders of the ’Outpost of Democracy’ that Berlin was to become as the decades of the Cold War ran their course. The spill over of these programs, like much of the RIAS programming, added its bit to help residents of the eastern zone to cope with the conditions developing there.

As Communist political influence gained ground in the Humboldt University in the Soviet Sector, students began demanding the establishment of a university free of Communist ideology. In February 1948, RIAS began broadcasting Hochschulfunk (University of the Air) and in its first broadcast took a stand against political influence in the university. The broadcast also discussed the founding of a free university in West Berlin. These discussions were instrumental in the founding the Free University of Berlin, which gained an international reputation during the Cold War — not always a positive reputation as during the student protests of the 1970s.

Unintended Consequences: News and Politics

Of all the activities RIAS was involved in during its 46 years of service, reporting news and political affairs in both West Berlin and the GDR constitute the station’s most widely known activity. And the reputation was well deserved. The approach of municipal elections in October 1946, it was assumed there would be one city government for Berlin. The newly re-invented RIAS was quickly involved in a get-out-the-vote campaign. The station was in the thick of things as it opened its microphones to the political parties contesting the election. Soviet-controlled Radio Berlin, on the other hand, allowed only candidates of the SED, and after some negotiations, candidates of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) on its air. Following the election, RIAS covered the vote counting at the Berlin City Hall and provided complete and impartial reports of the returns. This was the first step in establishing RIAS’ reputation for impartial reporting. In September of 1948, Communist thugs invaded Berlin City hall during a session of the all-Berlin City Council and brought an end to the government. Berliners got a first hand glimpse of Communist methods as a young RIAS reporter, Jürgen Graf, presented a running description of the melee until his microphone was disconnected and he was beaten.

From the beginning, the purpose of RIAS was to inform residents of Berlin; the importance of the spill over, however, was of great benefit to the American Military Government as it countered Radio Berlin propaganda. Of even more importance to German staff of RIAS is that it could reach, influence and help Germans living in the East. Following a meeting with East German youths visiting West Berlin, the U.S. State Department reported that” [T]he one major topic was RIAS itself. Over and over again, one heard how much hope the people of the zone place in RIAS, their only reliable connection with the outside world."

To meet these needs, RIAS instituted a number of programs in 1949 that were of importance to residents in the East. These included “Die Insulaner” ("The Islanders” ), a program of satire which remained popular for years; “The Sandman with his Political Tidbit for the Eastern Zone” lampooned political figures in the East, and, in May of 1949, Sendung fur Mittelduetschland (Broadcast for Central Germnay). This program was designed to let East German residents know about events in other regions of the GDR, which would not be reported in the heavily controlled press in the East. In the following year this program was being broadcast three times a day. The title was later changed to Aus der Zone fur die Zone (From the Zone to the Zone) and was a staple of the RIAS schedule for years. This program regularly identified residents of East Germany who reported to East German Security Police [the Stasi] on the activities of their neighbors. Collier’s reported that, “some 300 people from the zone made their way into Berlin and to the RIAS studios, to protest the use of their names on the programs, insisting they weren’t spies... Investigation showed that of these 300, only 50 had been mentioned on the air."

The RIAS broadcasts, throughout its 46 years, were an irritant for the East German leaders. The GDR chairman, Wilhelm Pieck, once railed that “RIAS is nothing more than poison! Time and time again, it undermines our efforts to direct the thinking of the people into correct political lines. It makes us look ridiculous!” The vilification of RIAS was on-going and East German/Soviet jamming of the RIAS signal was intense. By the end of 1953, the East Germans were operating at least four or five jamming operations to prevent RIAS’ signal from reaching its intended audience.

Perhaps the most important single event in RIAS’ history, with the world looking on, occurred when workers in East Berlin struck. Early in 1953 the RIAS called for voluntary increase in work norms for all East German workers; RIAS, during this period, provided considerable programming in its broadcast series, “Workday in the Zone” and “Berlin Speaks to the Zone,” about the effects of the decision to increase. In June the East German government ordered a ten-percent increase in the already-impossible work norms in the construction projects along Stalinallee, the showcase apartment blocks being built in the eastern sector. The increase in work norms came on top of salary cuts and other speed-ups resulting in severe decreases in purchasing power of the East German mark.

During the evening of June 15, 1953, RIAS reported that three isolated demonstrations against the increase had occurred; no other news agencies carried the story. Workers had had enough and marched on SED (Communist) Party headquarters with a petition demanding revocation of the latest increase of work norms. The party leadership refused the petition. With the work stoppage and march on the 16th, RIAS began carrying reports of the events at 4:30 that afternoon; a visit by a workers delegation to RIAS was reported by the station on its 6:30 p.m. broadcast and at 7:30 the RIAS broadcast the workers’ demands. These included free, secret elections, lowering the cost of living and the abolition of norms. Acceptance of the demands was not conditional; if the demands were not met by the morning of the 17th, the workers would strike, which they did. More workers in the eastern sector joined in the protest and the SED leaders first used the state security agency to quell the protests. When this failed, the Red Army was called in and the demonstrations became far more violent with shootings, injuries and deaths. Although RIAS was playing a role in a dangerous situation, the station did not involve itself in directing the strike. Basically, it provided a running report of the events and a forum for the workers to air their demands-something they could not do in the controlled media of the Soviet zone.

In effect, RIAS’ broadcasts of the riots served as something of a command post. It passed along information about the locations of the protesters in Berlin, explaining problems and demands, reporting the results of negotiation and, through its information sources in the GDR, acted as a catalyst for protests in other East German cities. Support for the workers’ demands and protests were recorded in more than 270 cities and towns in the East Zone. RIAS avoided direct involvement in the riots, but it was perilously close to involvement. “Without RIAS, the zone would not have learned about the strike [in Berlin] for days, and the national insurrection might never have taken place."

Although RIAS was perhaps more deeply involved in the events of June 17th than many observers would have liked, the events in the East did involve, and even threaten the safety and well-being of fellow Germans, the emotional connections were far too great for the station to ignore. In the long term, the broadcasts of the events in June, and the programming both before and after the event, firmly established RIAS in the hearts of Berliners and those who lived in the GDR. Listeners in the East knew there was a free source of news and information, no matter how dangerous it might be to listen to the broadcasts.

Still, the events of June 1953, and the much more violent Hungarian Revolution in 1956, revealed to residents of the eastern Soviet satellite states that the West would not intervene militarily in their internal affairs. This attitude was made even more apparent with the Berlin Crisis of 1961, which resulted in the infamous Berlin Wall, the symbol of political repression for nearly three decades.

Surveys taken during the GDR times supported the notion that the East-West division of German was a permanent condition. By 1968, only 13 per cent of West Germans thought the two Germanys would ever be reunited; by 1987, just two years before the end of the GDR, only three per cent of those polled thought reunification would occur within the foreseeable future. Chancellor Willi Brandt’s policy of Ostpolitik in 1969–70, the West’s policy of détente with the Soviet Union and, perhaps, the weariness resulting from so many years of Cold War, may have led many — Germans, West Europeans and Americans - to adopt an attitude of cooperation with the GDR because the balance of power seemed to be making the East-West split a permanent feature of the world’s political landscape.

Unintended Consequences: Two Ends

Following the Four Powers Agreement of 1972, the confrontational flash point that was Berlin receded. The two halves of the great city went their separate ways in a ’business as usual’ manner. Jürgen Graf, editor-in-chief of RIAS, news noted THE big confrontation was kind of over. For a journalist who was so much involved from 1945 to 1963 after the Kennedy visit, it was in a way boring. It was routine. The questions now debated were of the type whether women over 65 can cross now or in two years.

In some ways RIAS’ glory days were over, but, still, the information, news and music continued to have their effect on the minds of those who were behind the Wall. RIAS was, perhaps, a minor player as the Soviet Union under Gorbachev loosened its grip on its satellites. During the summer of 1989, residents of the GDR abandoned homes and jobs to escape through Czechoslovakia and Austria to the West. By November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down; the East German government lingered, but its days were numbered, and it, too, ended, disappearing into history. With the end of the GDR, RIAS, too, disappeared from the air. It was officially dissolved on May 19, 1992, the announcement buried on page 13 of the New York Times. The facilities of RIAS continue in operation; radio is now DeutschlandRadio and the RIAS television operation is now part of Deutsche Welle.

Now known as the RIAS BERLIN KOMMISSION, RIAS lives on in the same building in Berlin from which it broadcast for more than forty years. Its contemporary mission is to conduct exchange programs for American and German broadcast journalists, support production of radio and television programs on topics of interest to German and American audiences and to award prizes for radio and television programs and news pieces about German-American topics.