THE NEW ROLE OF THE GERMAN SOVIET FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A008600750003-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 2, 2008
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: December 20, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2008/06/02 : CIA-RDP80-0081 OA008600750003-5
Oar?RA&UMN REIOR1 MFOORMA100 1 REpOV
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This material contains information affecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title 25X1
18, U.S.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law. L
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COUNTRY East Germany
DATE OF INFO.
PLACE ACQUIRED
DATE ACQUIRED
The New Role of the German-
Soviet Friendship Society
REPORT
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
20 December 1955
S.
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
This is UNEVALUATED Information
SOURCE EVALUATIONS ARE DEFINITIVE. APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
1. The latest structural alterations in the GDSF are due to reduction
in the responsibilities of the Society as decided upon by the SED Central
Committee in March 1955. This SED Central Committee decn..sion has only
recently been made known to the Society. After the last GDSF Congress,
the program of the GDSF was to spread its influence in all spheres of
activity by propagating the experiences of.the Soviet Union. Now the
GDSF's one and only task is to "propagate concrete things from the
Soviet Union", above all to describe the land and'its people. This
decision means that the Society's strongly political character has been
taken from it and it has been giver the role ofa mere cultural
organization. Its work now ccrosists of "cultural enlightenment."
2. Several conferences in the GDSF.Central Secretariat were necessary
before the correct division of duties could be established and even now
there is considerable confusion in the Central Secretariat itself as to
what the objects of the Society are. Klaus Willerding, member of the
Secretariat responsible for Agitation, declared at a meeting of the GDSF
Central Committee on 15 July 1955 that the suggestion for this change
in the activities of the Society came from the Soviets. Soviet comrades
were of the opinion that generally speaking, political life in the DDR
was "over organized" and as a result, a dangerous lassitude had made
itself apparent, particularly amongst the functionaries of all. organizations.
They maintained that drastic reduction in the number of tasks of the
organizations would mean that more would be achieved.
3. It is clear that this proposal really did come from the Soviets because the
expression "cultural enlightenment" has brought about great confusion
in all organizations. While culture is normally taken to embrace literature,
music, painting, etc., in the Soviet Union "culture" includes everything
"which contributes to a raising of the standard of living" e.g. it also
embraces new methods of work.
4. 4.t present the GDSF is concentrating increasingly on the spreading
of scientific knowledge which is itself being expanded and promoted in
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the DDR. The Society is now taking over practically exclusively the
whole system of scientific lecturing in the DDR.
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Approved For Release 2008/06/02 : CIA-RDP80-0081 OA008600750003-5