RELATIVE DEARTH OF SOVIET RADIO COMMENT ON RECENTLY INCREASED BERLIN TENSION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03097A000200020036-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 8, 2008
• Sequence Number: 36
• Publication Date: April 12, 1948
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2008/12/08: CIA-RDP78-03097A000200020036-4
EE REVERSE FOR DECLASSIFICATION ACTI0N
Assistant Direotor for Operations 12 April 1948
Aeting Chief, TSIB
Relative Dearth of Soviet Radio Comet
an geasi Alt Inereased Bor' tn"
1. In view of the great ancent of attention given by the American and west
turo can presd, and radios to the recent and current Berlin tension, it should
be noted that, by comparison, the Soviet radio to data has slighte'd the whole
25X1 situation and has yet made little effort either to publicise or to exploit it.
2. To date, the only monitored Soviet radio references to the situation have
~_.., Soviet provincial press (a duplicate of one of these to forth America) , a or"
tran~sstseton (to the Soviet kabessy in Nanking) of a Soviet Information Bureau
review of 'hat Is Happening in Berlin,' and two Soviet home Eorvice broadcasts*
of the latter, a brief report on 6 April tells of the air crash between the Soviet
fighter and the British passenger aircraft, explaining that the latter *cat into
the tails of the Soviet plane.
The second time Service broadcast (7 April), considerably tore significant,
is a newscast devoted entirely to detailed explanation of both the Soviet frontier
control actions themselves and of the ostensible reasons for such actions. The
reasons listed boil dome to twos (1) the utilisation of 'Allied military trains*
for the illegal movement into the Soviet sane of western Germans in search of food
and work, and for the illegal entry of *speau.lstors, bandits, spies, and other
criminal eleaents*} and (2) Angle-American-French removal from the Soviet zone,
in violation of established agree ts, of *considerable muatities of valuable
property.' Because of these *fact*,* says the broadcast, *and in the interests
of the observation of legality and to insure the sa .t of goods on the territory
of the Soviet sane, the Soviet occupation authorities were forced to adapt certain
supplesentary measures' which are listed.
c '?' r?'i C~CCI~Lt~~S~ ~~
I L L E G I B in this particular breadeast, however, Aqw , s Ut tle motional
belligerence, adopting instead a tome of p -r}.lrsrmgso6 Id be
. ri _s-as ?- -....A....r fir.,.
t
Sovie
coo c~r...1_e to the effort to promote intarsona'L$. ~t demands,
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G B
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a
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n
organi 3ation, order, end con ro
goods as well to for the prevention of (run r 1) vhidb `seek to cause a lack of
confidence in the relations among the oo foxy satteee....* And, notint
freight, Moscow professes to be t+~ the Ag+ericmman authorit es
prefer to furnish 0217 00- Pits of t:he- vptC [4oouments theesely s*
and why they *do not want the Soviet patro 0`i !-PI is
nrouh the
of parsons pa.wi. ....g :ven.,with reference to the alleged: Anglo-AmericanFrench removal of *valuable
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L%Uj 2-
property" from the Soviet zone the broedosat is relatively restrained in ton.&
"pos:aibly because of the" doubts (allegedly expressed by the British, A,ericatn,
and French authorities about the continued presence of the authorities in
Berlin), they have,, during the past half year, begun to move from Berlin--by
rail, truck, waterways, and air--commodities, raw materials, and other materials
to the western sons." As to the reaction to the supplementary measures, the
broadcast is completely silent about comment from the western press (in contrast
to Soviet-controlled Gera radios which disparage western 'alaraaimmf and
"sensationalises*), but china that was saw have been expected, the order was
hailed with satisfaction by all those who respect the laws and was received
negatively only by 'those who are violators of law and order.* The broadcast
also attempts to give the impression that following the new Soviet measures
"the movement between the Soviet and western woes continued in perfect order
and without incident."
The Soviet Information Bureauts review, transmitted in Norse an S April
to the Soviet Zaba any in Banking, adopts, a similar dispassionately *reasonable*
tone. intitled, 'What Is Happening in Berlin?' the review anawerss Nothing
particular is happening in Berlin,' It than proceeds to explain the now control
measures in terms of preventing further illegal entry of unwanted persons into
the Soviet suns and "illegal removal of valuables from Berlin.' The western
prose is chided for devoting so such space to the ' events! * in Berlin, whereas
actually they represent only legitimate Soviet measures in *the interests of the
city's three million inhabitants and the population of the entire Soviet son..*
And *what reasonable person can object to these legal measures?* The BBC,
rtIVTIRS, and 'even: the ?OPUGAI1Z' are said to 'have been formed to acknowledge
the legitimacy of the Soviet occupation suthorittesl measures.'
Of the relevant transmitted both to North America
and to the Soviet provincial press (8 April and 7 April, respectively) reports
the *facts* established by the Soviet commission which investigated the causes
of the British-Soviet plan* oollision, with the blares put squarely an the British
plans; it also notes that General Robertson's 'order for escorting British
transport planes with fighters" was rescinded following "the statements of the
Soviet aids,' and report, that a * viet~-British commission began an
investigation.' The other (to North America, 1 April) reports
Soviet-tone press explanations of the Soviet notion in terms of 'measures taken..,
to protect the Berlin eoo noq against plunder.'
It should be noted that the Soviet-controlled German press and radio are
quite vociferous both in their defense of the 'Justified" Soviet measures and in
their disparagement of the 'alarmist' western press reaction. The German
1 opt:lation is said to be taking the whole situation in its stride, and has even
welcomed the *preteotion* offered by the control measures, "All rumor. -:bout
1P Ig IV Y U 10 6,
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disquiet are fundsaental1y wrcng,a stated Colonel Tui,panov, head of the B*A+a
U formation Burma, is an interview with the Leipzig radio's commentator Hans
Ilaassan an 2 April. And wall the attempts of the west rn -lioaeased press to
make a political situation out of the new frontier regulations have remained
unuuecessful.?
3, 'fbatever the motives behind the Soviet frontier control measures, it is
apparent that they Deere at least not designed for isaediate propaganda
exploitation by the Soviet radio, which has rather played down the Berlin
situation in feigned surprise over the greet amount of attention given it by
the asstem press.
Acting Chief, FBIB
bil
0 4dflO. 0?
fl Qais.._ .
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