DE WAARHEID, THE OFFICIAL CPN PAPER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R002300350009-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 18, 1998
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: February 7, 1949
• Content Type: REPORT

25X1A2
CLASSIFICATION
IB
S
VkWXROL - tT.S. Q 1!JA;A L0 t + A
Sanitized - Appr6k*' of f tCCK4W'P82-004& B00
INFORMA .PORT CD NO.
COUNTRY The Netherlands
SUBJECT De :7aarheid, The Of
CPr1 Paper
PLACE 25X1A6a
ACQUIRED
DATE OF IN
25X1X6
SUPPLEMENT TO
1. Originally published clandestinely under the German occupation, De aiaarheid (The
Truth) now represents the CPN's most powerful propaganda medium forInif~ n d g
the Dutch masses. Imi..ed9ately following liberation, De Waarheid became the mouth-
piece of the "Association of tho Friends of De waarheid", t e CPN nucleus during
the'period iay - October 1945, before the CPN was forrally re-established. After
the latter date, De Waarhhaidd became the recognized CPN organ for the country and
under the Party's dire t control, with the editorial staff considered an executive
arm of the Central Committee.
2. To force Do 1Jaarheid's editorial policy into strict conformity with Comcuniet
principles, the Editor-in--Chief, A. J. Koejemans, was replaced by Siegfried Baruch
in 1947 and the latter, shortly thereafter, by Paul do Groot, Secretary General
of the CPI1, who occupied this post until the Conninist reverses in the July 1948
elections. I)e Groot was then removed ostensibly to devote his full tine to the
affairs of the Central ConL.ittee of the Party. A. D. Schoonenberg succeeded hill
and remains to date the Editor-in-Chief;,
3. De Watrheid is published by the Benepak Foundation, established in 1933 to encourage
the Dutch working-class press by subsidies and by eratui.tous advice and support
to those daily, weekly and monthly papers and periodicals considered deserving
by the directors. The Foundation obtains funds from voluntary donations, legacies,
gifts and so forth. Currently its directors are: Paul de Groot, Secretary
General of the CPN; Fetrua Clorkx, a member of the CPN'a Finance Cazlttee once
dismissed for embezzlement of funds of the pre-war CPN paper, De-Tribune; Jacob
C. L.isdom, a member of the CPN's Central and Executive Coni.ittees; r ea
Wagenaar, a member of the CPN'. Executive Committee; J-ioob Brandenburg, an active
CPN member; and Johannes F. Reuter, an important member of the CPN'a Government
Personnel Department in Amsterdam. The Foundation is financially responsible
for De Waarheid, not the CPN2 and is the owner of the Felix Leritis Building in
4.
journalistic talent are considered largely responsible for a rapid decline in
Amsterdam., De iJaarheid's new headquarters.
The imx edi.ate post-liberation circulation of De Waarheid reached the astonishing
total of 400,000 copies daily which 'teas far in excess of anticipated distribution
and contributed to administrative difficulties later responsible for financial
losses and the nee: for drastic reorganization. Poor management and second-rate
LASSIFICATION_AWOMW
STATE # NAW
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES 2
NO. OF ENCLS.
cusTEO BElOW)
Archivist of the ra in
U it
Director of Ce t
letter of 7u
CONE!
ocument is hereby regraded to
t In
'
Next ~fea20t g
--c:
d once with the
1973 from the
ce to the
Class.
Release : CIA-R6092 -W O'O
unt N
- JA (` AIR FBI
 Sanitized - A
RDP82-00457R002300350009-3
25X1 A2
srT/CONTR0I t rX LFFICZAL 5 OM g
CENTRAL INTk .LIGENCE AG MY
circulation which set in not long after the paper's initial success. By January
1947, copies distributed daily had dropped to 193,000, or less than half the
original circulation, while by October of 1948 this figure had fallen to 139,000.
Concurrently, the management reduced daily publication from 22 editions printed
in 23 various cities, towns or districts to 7 editions, the contents of which wire
practically identical except for a small amount of local news,
5. The possible political consequences of these ievelopmenta alarmed the CPN Central
Ce aittee and spurred it into adopting a campaign of mass meetings and other
propaganda activities designed to reawaken public interest in Waarheid and
thereby to reverse the declining trend in circulation. Such ef1'orts~with
little success, hocrever, as circulation continued to drop and the financial
position of the paper deteriorated seriously, reflecting operating losses and
expenses incurred in an ambitious expansion program.
6. An a result of these factors, the Central Comr,.ittee launched appeals for sub-
scription to three debenture loans. The first for fl. 500,000 in 1947 was over-
subscribed by fl. 51,725 by some 9,000 people; the second for the same amount
netted only fl. 400,000 provided by 30,000 subscribers in 1948; while the third
for fl, 300,000,floated late in 1948, had netted fl. 150,000 by November. The
CPN now plans to persuade subscribers to cancel their Wei ds on the paper to assure
its existence., as its sponsors fear it will ssnon be unable to meet its financial
obligations, In the raeantirae, the management's intention to set up Do Waarheid's
own rotary press, purchased in Nagland for 36,000, have been held up l.ti won
over a property adjoining Ds Waarheid's new premises in the Felix Lieritis Building,
Until this problem is settled, the paper is being printed on-the presses of the
A1eeween Randelsbiad.
7. A subsidiary facility provided the CPN by Do S'Waarheic is the paper's radio contact
with ss in Lioscovr through a "hellschreiber" which affords Loscovr a direct and
uninterrupted con: unicationss link over which flow political and other data of
interest to the paper and CPN. As might be expected, th?. Tass representative
for the Netherlands, George Afrin, is closely in touch with 7te staff of De
vIaarheid,!while the latter likewise maintains contact with the Indonesian
Center in Prague.
S RET/CONTIAW. 0Fr ICIALS ONLY
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP82-00457R002300350G09-3