RADIO FREE EUROPE (W/ATTACHMENT)

Created: 2/19/1957

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

DATE: 7

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SUBJECT 1 Radio Free Europe

withi1thftt durln* our convocation with Frank Wlanor7 wo disouaaed the

report

Distribution:

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Question J. Is there any evidence that RFB broadaastu directly Inspirsd or provoked tho uprlsins;?

Coaaaenti Mono.

Did RFE raolee roocmaaendationa for ootlon short of armed robolllon which could novo Inoltod tho revolution?

Commenti No. Tho primary rolo of RFE was thatransmitter of rows. Historical precedent waa frequently quoted. Examples Croatctober broadcastsr

"The bottle for freedom la being fought by tho entire people. Ha who opposes this battle opposes the people. Th* police In East Germany and Posnan did not fire on the people. Ho who turns his weapon against the Hungarian people will pay for this."

Or another example:

'Leaders of armed groups and party functionaries, your place la on the aide of the people. Heraitor who rises againat the people in the people's

battle.*

Suoh advloe did not seen to ua to lnolte, It waato continue the battle for freedom. Commentators interpreted the news, but the dtreat reporting of news seemed to us to be straightforward and Impartial.

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ueatlon 2. Did RFE at any time directly or Indlreotlythat military aid from outside would come or might to tho Hungarian patriots?

Comment: It did not. One comment related to this questionuotation onctober,peech by John Foster Dulles which expressed "deep sympathy for the suffering Hungarians" and said that. will take

forceful steps for practical aaaistance. We take this to maan medical, eooncotic, or other similar assistance. Another coasaentovember, reporting Western reaction to th* Soviet attack of Hungary, quoted from an artlole In the London Observer by Its Waahlngton correspondent in part aa follows if the Hungarlana hold out fordays, Intense pressure will be brought to bear on. to offer military asslstanee to Hungary."

Question 3. Didl for paaalv* actlona suchal strike or failure to deliver fan* produote?

Ooaesenti Hero again, RFE baaed Ita broadcasts on th* newa from Hungary, wh*r* tha workera wmrm on strike. Ino both th* workers and th* peasants, there was continuingon tha fact that for non-fighter* th* boat weapon was tho strike, and that poaaanta should provide food and whatever othorthe; could to tho fighters for freedom. An example occurred onotobon

ungarians do not report back to work while th* Soviets aro murdering our brothers. Ordor th* Soviet soldiers baok to their barrack?..

Latoiy, Zoltao KAroly spok* to th* villagers and th* poaaanta. Ho aald, among other things,

ork has stopped In tho village*. The villagers stand solidly behind thef Budapest. The longer vlllagera do not go baok to work the longer the present regime will be

In addition, th*re were appeals to tho poaaanta to give food to th* freedom fighters, to take half their food Into th* oltlee. To the extent that the peaaants were asked to do thla, this would boall for paaslve aotlon on failure to deliver farm producta.

WE did serveoaajunications center for reporting baok to Hungary of broadcasts made by the patriot radios. Did RFE limit ita activities to straight retreadcaats orhere evidence that HPS editorialized and added to tho patriot broadcasts*

Coasaont: Aa far aa w* can tell, RFE did not sdltorlalls* but limitedroadcasts to straight reporting ofhls or that patriot radio aald. It alao rebroad-oaat appeala for medical assistance, and later, messages from Hungarians who had gone abroad, baok to their colleaguea. In the sense that patriot radio broadcasts were rebroadoaatooted basis, we believe there was no editorializing but do believe thereertain amount of editing. For example, only one patriot radio broadoaat critical of RFE was

rebroadoast and answered, where radio Qyftr took oft something Prof. Sandor Varga of Nunloh University saidpeeeh originally broadoaat by RFE.

tlon ffer advice ae to polltioal demanda patriots ahould make?

Comment i We believe our answer to thle question shouldualified affirmative; qualified to the extent that we cannot determine whether suoh demanda originated with the patriots or whether with RFE. In general, advloe waa that ofbeware ofobserven one inatanee Colonel Bell warned the Hungarian soldiers to be careful of trickery in the new order to cease fire, mentioning the case of the Trojan horseesson. Another type of advice waa, for example, on the eetabllshawmt of National Committees, peasant counolla, etc Then there were suggestiona that the AVH be abolished, Treee held, etc At the same time, however, it should be noted that *TSexhorted againat revenge, stating that Hungary has won an honorable, clean battle and that it should not beamiroh thia with outburats of revenge.

Question i In this oonneotion to what extent did RFB intervene In suggesting polltioal Isadora or in attacking Hungarian polltioal Isadora?

Commenti The first part of thia question can beanswered in the negative. The second part la another matter. There were frequent attaoke flrat onthen on Nagy and later on laddr, together with all their colleagues who had been or are communists. The RF2 broadcasters Balals Balog, Oallicua, Janus and other* led the attaek on the polltioal leadera. Colonel Ball on th* military- The RFE reporting on Nagyaae study in itself. Beginning with the announcement onctober that Nagy waa the new Prime Minister of Hungary, RFB criticized Nagy, comparing hint to Oerd. On W* October, for example, aalllous eenments that tha revolution first earned for the restoration of Nagy, who imposed martial law aa hla first act. Later, on the same day, Oallicua delivered an impaaaloned talk on who waa responsible for Soviet troops in Hungary and stated that th* responsibility for thia crime would be determined by the future, onndor Oellert spent 10

minutes In commenting; on the responsibility of Nagy for events. He stated that Nagy oailed in Soviet troops to Hungary and Imposed martial law. "This la probably the greatest exampleraitor in history." Onctobereneral commentary on the history of the paatours, it was said that 0er6 Is primarily responsible for what happened, and will the Nagy government do anything about bringing Oero to Juatioe? Onctober Balaaa Balog still attacked Nagy, who lied, he eald. Colonel Ball,ovember commented on the announcement of the regime that Nagy waa not reaponslble for martial law,hat it waa Oero and Hededus who ordered this. Then, Colonel Bell said, "IT we aooept this, why didn't Nagy release Mlndssenty?' Later tha sameovember, Janus spoke aboutenegades, Oero, Hededus' and Plroa, and stated that according to Nagy, 0er6 wasfor Soviet Intervention. Criticism of Nagy himself seemed to taper off, with comments limited to seleoted members of his raglme unaooeptable to the Hungarian people. Through the 4th of November, Nagy waaewa Item, with reporting of hia activities culminating In hie appeal to the UN and his arrest by the Soviet troops.

tation 6. Did HFE broadoaat full texts of the epeeohes le" by" tfie President, th* Secretary of State and Aatsssador Lodge or were these speeches covered in political commentary with quotes taken out of context?

Comment i In general, quotes from these speeches were used In straight news reporting. There is no evidence of quotes taken out of context for political reporting. OnNovember In the several re broad oasts of UN General Assembly proceedings, thereomplete rebroadoast In English with Hungarian on-the-spot translation of Ambassador Lodge's speech presenting his resolution.

Question 7. In connection with rebroadcasting of patriot radios, is there any evldenee that APE played down the mare flamboyant demands? Tor example, some of the patriot radios called for Cardinal Mlndssenty to beoome Premier of Hungary. Did RFB avoid broadcasting thie? it la reoognlsed that this last point will be very difficult to cover but If there Is evidenoe, it should be reported.

Comment: No. The example given waa not ret roadcast by RFE.

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There were frequent references to Klndezenty, psrtloulsrly with regard to his whereabouts. These comments were made In oonneotlon with the release of the Prelete of Poland and requested the release of Mlndstenty in the same manner. The people want to hear Cardinal Hlndesenty. The peoplepiritualardinal Klndsienty should be released so he could assume the leaderahlp of the Cathollo Churoh In Hungary."

In general, we are agreed that news waa ueually reported In an impartial manner. Very frequently, there were sentences spoken In by unidentified speakers between program item*. We believe, however, that if we put our-aelvea In the position of Hungarian listeners, these sentences could not be considered asthey would Inspire one to aontlnue the battle for freedom, but not to start It.

On oooaslon, some of the speakers, like Colonel Bell, Joseph MOlnar and others, sounded emotional. Two things should be borne In mind, a) Hungarians are basically emotional, and b) thla was an emotional oocaaion. It seems to us that when twelve years of tyranny are opposed with the first possibility of suooess, emotionalism can be understood.

It may seam presuaptious on our part to comment on how soma of these broadcasts may be used. Nevertheless, w* feel It Incumbent on us to warn that aentenoes or phrases could possibly be taken out of these broadcasts to serve to buttress the point that RPBentenced would be out ofommontrlok.

The comments reported reflect our Joint opinion.

Original document.

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