The Role of the Worker Correspondent in the International Communist Movement

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-00915R000300240004-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 49
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 8, 1998
• Sequence Number: 4
• Content Type: REPORT

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The Role of the Worker Correspondent in the International
Communist Movement
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Worker Correspondents of'Xhe Communist Party of The Netherlands
Current Emphasis on Development of Worker Correspondents by Communist
Trade Unions
IS, M
CI M.
Introduction: Establishment and Purposes of Worker Correspondent
Systems
Soviet and Comintern Use of Worker Correspondents
An Illustration of Soviet Intelligence Use of the Rabkors (France);
Ren4,.ssance of Humanite Rabkors //
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THE ROLE OF THE WORKER CORRESPONDENT IN THE INTERNATIONAL "V1 _i
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INTRODUCTION: OF WORKER CORRESPONDENT SYSTEMS
Lenin advocated the establishment and use of worker correspondent systems
6
as instruments Bolshevik, newspapers could maintain contact with the
masses and function as a soundin4board for their struggles and aspirations.
Simultaneously, the work of produciig a paper--procuring information for it
in all parts of the country, with mass participation in this effortr-was seen
by Lenin as a means of developing a Party organization;
"But the role of a paper is not confined solely to the spreading
of ideas, to political education and to attracting political
allies. A paper is not merely a collective propagandist and
collective agitator, it is also a collective organilter ... With
the aid of, nd around a paper, there will automatically devel-
op an organisation that will engage, not only in local activities,
but also in regular, general work; it will teach its members
carefully to watch political events, to estimate their importance
and their influence on the various sections of the population, and
to devise suitable methods of influencing these events through the
revolutionary party.111\
1> Pre-Revolutionary Status The worker correspondents, popularly referded-tO
as the '"rah ors'" from the abbreviation of the Russian term, rabochiy korrespondent
(worker correspondent), were,in the pre-revolutionary period in Russia, Party
or non-Party workers who xzztuztsxax?mmmuxtxk submitted to Bolshevik publications
As shown in Lenin's writings,
accounts of their daily struggle for livelihood. It was the Bolshevik plan to
develop as many of these correspondents as possible, and gradually to transform
them into active organizers for their movement. Thus 3they were to function not
only as sources of information on which to base the Party's propaganda and political
policy, but also as essential parts of the core around which would develop a Com-
munist organization.
V. I. Lenin, Selected Works (New York: International: Publishers, Inc.,
1943)s II, 21.
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Prior to the establishment of a Communist regime, the worker correspondents
system has been ostens' an overt development which was part of the Communist
Party's attempt to improve the quality and extent of the newfoverage of its
principal newspapers. In some areas, however, it is known that the system has
functioned as a vehicle or instrument for clandestine operations of the Party
or of a Soviet intelligence service. R In two countries at present procedures
are reported to be in effect whereby the systems be exploited for illegal
work} in both of these instances, workers have been assigned numbers which iqt
they can use as substitutes for their signatures; their reporting must be com-
prehensive and cover facts which may involve investigation. Revelations made by
a defector of the French Communist Party who worked in the rabkor office attached
to Humanite in the late 193 1920'x1 as well as other cases of that period which
have been exposed by French security authorities, very well illustrate that the
ra kor system, as it was operated in France, facilitated Soviet intelligence
operations in that country.
The fact that the worker correspondent systems were xnki initially designed
to extend into the miliary services of the non-Communist nations is shown in an
early Comintern article entitled, "The Forthcoming All Russian Congress of Worker
Correspondents," in which it is stated: "The worker correspondence movement is
as yet in its infancy abroad, and nothing is as yet known about village and
military correspondents."
., Post-Revolutionary Statuses Following the establishment of a Communist ax
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In East Crermany,,the peoplesC correspondents are attached directly toy a Party
organ, each organ having its own network of informants. Two or three editors of
each publication are responsible for the utilization of material submitted by
the peoplels4(*correspondents. Some of the information is directed to the Press
Service which oontains a unit called "Information Controh'which is reportedly
responsible for routing the material to the appropriate Party and Government
organs. Some of it probably o1 interest to the 1.inistry of State Security
and to the Soviet occupation authorities.
Recruitment
The most effective way for the recruitment of peopleesV"correspondents is
the selection made by editorial staffs of the Communist press among MqRlk readers
who have sent in letters to the newspapers. Lectures and discussions organized
,in the factories and in the countryhide also( facilitate recruitment.
3 Qualifications of a Correspondent //
possess
Qualifications which a worker correspondent should/kaxm have been defined
C?wk.~4~sT'
in an "internal publication" of the)Parts,N+A'i has been translated into several
1
languages and MOW is entitled, "Guide for a worker Correspondent" 01.-,i de du
orrpspondant d'entrepriset) . Certain
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its provisions
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1-1 The correspondent must be an honorable person, of irreproachable
reputation, favorably known in his sector. The credit and the
respect from which the newspaper will benefit will depend in large
part on the seazmaxmm genuineness of the information furnished by
the local representative.
The correspondent should not submit information until he has checked
its veracity himself to avoid having the newspaprrlo lose its pre.:t-i_ge.
The best way to check information is to submit it. to workers of the
factory concerned.
G1
. The correspondent must have had thorough political instruction
in order that his information pm rill pertain to the significant
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editorial staff of the newspaper to which he is attached. :,ach month the
work received is examined rAiA@14 od the staff which submits its con&lu.sions
to the Party. Directives are given to the correspondents (luring pr~t,ical work
sessions, and during different conferences according to whether the correspondents
Evorka in a factory or in the country. Often editorial staffs organize train-
is not only to give to the correspondents elementary practice in journalism,
ing schools lasting from a to Ij^days. The aim of these training schools
but especially to give them instruction political points
of view in order that they may fulfill efficiently the mission that expected
z them. In principle, the correspondent is not reimbursed;,he may receive
in c rtain cases a bonus or reimbursementiv his expenses. He must noresell
his articles)or work for several papers at the same time.
fiN
-4- Ozle n'e~ I" )2-,~. W4ta- CWI~
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West Germany,
As previously stated, the peoples; correspondents system organized by
has
the SED/extended into West Germany where many of the correspondents are
connected with the press agency, 00 Allgemeine Deutsche Nachrichtena.gentur,
(ADN) or. with the Berliner Rundfunkt radio station) The chief correspondent
of the ADN in Bonn appeared to be responsible for collating information from
ADN zm misspox people's 0 correspondents in West Germany. The information-he
collected was sent by certain ? trusted couriers and by a variety of clandes-
tine channels into East Germany. Reportedly)Soviet functionaries have attended
meetings which the ADN chief correspondentain Bonn had in the Eat Zone with
a~i5
ADN headquarters functionaries.
The network of peoples'y correspondents of the Berliner Rundfunk in West
Germany on the whole corresponded to the organization of the KPD)with a central
office in Duesseldorf, regional offices (in principle,, one for each "Land") and
with about Volunteer correspondents for each "Lando-6 Information collected
by the latter tj has been transmitted either by regular mail, by telephone,orjin
certain cases, by more secure methods--trusted /ailroad employees or special
couriers. The correspondents have regularly been called to Berlin where they
report in detail about 4p conditions in their localities, perfect their political
'education)and receive directives.
Along with their assignNebr of collecting information) correspondents of
the Berliner Rundfunk reportedly have to recruit listeners for the East German
radio broadcasb$ and to investigate the effect of these on the West German popu-
Much
elation. XwVQo the reporting 1-1 done by the correspondent networks of ADN.
and Berliner Rundfunk is xxwk stated to be used by the SED for its political
action'.`Ehe information is sent to information services of the East German govern-
S he different ministries and particularly to
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?Union. "Les Correspond: 'fap en - emagne,"
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the State Security Service.
Subjects on which correspondents in West Germar y have been requested to
re ort allegedly have included the following topics:
--anything pertaining to the remilitarization of West Germany (is
it directed against the Soviet Union)
-manufacture of war materiel in the factories
--military requisitions, construction of airfields, barracks
-Allied forces, armament, manoeuvres, gasoline and munition depots, etc.
--information a about traffic in West German ports
the Allied forces)
-means of replenishing supplies (presumably by
-.-industrial statistics
-scientific discoveries
--machinery tools
--all information about recruitment for the Foreign Legion.
In addition to these military and economic questions, more specific information
reportedly was requested in 1952 by the chief ADN correspondent in Bonn con cern_
~ing information and intelli ence services of the West German overnment. In
MY V)
1953)the West German Communist Party reportedly showed special interest in the
selection and development of peoplJs correspondents--a group, which it considered
as an "inexhaustible reservoir of writers for its Ares y.
Directives were issued by the Central Committee to the Provincial Federations
to choose correspondents of working class origin and to have them take a "qualifi-
cation course' In July 1953,~the SED was allegedly planning a four months' course
for peoplesa' correspondents. Candidates were chosen at the Federation level of
the KPD/and a preliminary examination cgsdiaatad was given the candidates under
the supervision of delegates of the Education Section of the Central Committee.
40 0 8
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NETHERLANDS (CPN)
At the end of World War II, simultaneously with a series of Party reorganizations,
there was an attempt to "Bolshevize" the CPN organ, De Waa`d, to pattern it
more closely after Pravda so that it would perform the same tasks for CPN which
Pravda carried out for the Bolshevik Party. An important aspect of De Waarheid's
reorganization was the establishment (or reorganization) of a worker correspondent srsw
or'" core"" (from the Dutch arbeiders correspondenten). There is fragment-
ary reporting about a tatak CPN Arcors system which existed prior to 1940.
At any rate, shortly after World War II, all factories muWdd= were provided
with worker correspondents. Toward the end of 1947, there was an important meeting
of some of the Arcors. Several Party editors apparently had immediate super-
vision over the Arcors, but the CPN leadership had ultimate authority over the entire
9ti
"ArcorI apparatus" from top to bottom. One report states that the Arcor# network
is handled by th
e District and Section committees of CPN who appoint the Arcors in
wpm*
the factories.
It is reported that the "Bolshevization" of De Waarheid progressed very slowly
and results from the Arcors were less than expected. Conferences were held through-
out Holland to stimulate interest and activity; many workers in the factories
"thought too little of the scheme to run certain risks." The result was that the
Arcor apparatus functioned only in those places "where paid forces were willing to
work at it."
In late 1949,,interest in the Arcor system again was shown. A conference of
CPN Central Committee members on 23-24 December 1949 took up the problem of De
Waarheid's decreased circulation and its poor financial status. Among other
resolutions made, it was decided that a network of correspondents should be built
up in the factories and in the m towns.
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nduin:- -. "The first corps of worker corres-
pondents" had, according to De Waarheid of 1 December 1949, met at Amsterdam under
Harry Verhey, described as the "spiritual father!' of th cors system. One report
states that the cons are recruit#4 from the readers of De Waarheid anditheir
task is to submit reports on factories, trade unionism1and club life. This report
refers vaguely to "another system of voluntary worker correspondents dating from
1940 which is charged with the same duties." Whether m this means that there
are two separate networks of worker correspondents operated by CPN is not clear,
PN wished to e end the system of report so that it would include
"photographs and special reports to be handed on
Th46 so= report noted that a Ade !cook for worker cnrreMnnndents tmwz bein
g
completed and that ~4rcort' bulletins would be circulated as 414010a means of contact
between the editors and the correspondents of De W-gg rheid. Since the guidebook
for worker correspondents was simultaneously appearing in several countries, it is
obvious that it was the result of a central (?'aa'Q Cominform) directive.
Another report states that the worker correspondents system was again given
much publicity in Hollandin January 1950, at the time De Waarheid was starting its
own rotaty printing press. It bas also been reported that in 1951, 388 c
-
ques from the Arcors were published in different editions of De Waa_ rheid.
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R According to CPN publications) the one essential qualification of a Dutch
worker correspondent is that he must be '"rcomm nist_ninded'~ He is appointed upon
the recommendation of the leaders of the Party district in which he lives. Like
French worker correspondents attached to mite, the 4bWYL Dutch worker corres-
pondent is issued a number by editors of De Waarheid, and he uses this (in place of
a signature) when submitting reports. The latter are allegedly checked by the
district committee" as reporting must follow the general political line of the
district in question. De Waarheid "agents" in various Dutch cities and towns
supervise the worker correspondents. These "agents" are responsible for having
s u'f'Fieis 1"ft
an adequate number of worker correspondents fornews coverage.
In addition to the4Guide for Correspondentsp
444 TWft- there was to be a special
bulletin. for the 4Arcors, the first issue of which pp eared in early 1950.
It was then printed inh2BQ copies and was to appear~,bi-monthly. Personal contact
between editors and the worker correspondents was to be maintained by periodic
regional meetings. Thec eac h worker correspondent was to receive special
attention and commentary.
in early 1950
Additional evidence that CPN was especially concerned/with theireet
ACPX
Politics and Culture contained arl Zrticle pertaining to that subject. A statement
i
"Economic conflicts do not start with the news of a strike, they
always have a history leading up to them.. Of this history, the
editors of De Waarheid should be informed long before the con-
flict breaks out, so that they may support the workers in their
action.....Timely information is also most valuable for the actions
of the EVC and the factory sections in other factories."
The 4rcors, stated Politics and Culture, are the first link in the chain of coordinated
OXON*
action (to be taken by the Party and the trade unions).
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 T Ab M DF 3r R ACI PIION MMAM4 ONDENTS
BY COMMUNIST TRADE UNIONS
Although some of the national Communist Parties have organized or reorganized
networks of correspondents, the greatest current effort toward their development
and use appears k to be exercised by the Communists world trade-union fronts,
(WFTU)
the World Federation of Trade Union, its trade union internationals (TUIIs))and
44e national affiliates.
WFTU Instructions about Formation of Worker Correspondence Nets. One of
the Resolutions of the WFTU Third World Trade Union C no gressober 1953,
reads in part:
ir experiences.
1(Jer~~ ardi