The Cold War Broadcast That Gave East German Dissidents A Voice
When Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev called for glasnost and perestroika (openness and restructuring) in the communist world in the 1980s, East German leaders resisted. But grass-roots opposition groups in East Germany saw an opening.
There was a forum for critical, public debate in the Protestant church, which had a degree of independence from the officially atheist East German state.
Dissident voices also spread via samizdat – the process of making copies of censored or subversive written material however possible, often by hand.
But the activists were searching for a way to amplify their voice, and radio proved to be the answer.
Launching a pirate radio show in East Berlin was too dangerous. But left-wing West Berliners were in position to make it happen.
In the former East Germany, which was officially known as the German Democratic Republic, or the GDR, the dissidents made cassette-taped messages and managed to smuggle them across the border to West Berlin. There, a makeshift studio that included East German exiles as well as West Germans, broadcast the radio reports back to the east.
The monthly show, known as Radio Glasnost, was broadcast on the alternative West Berlin station Radio 100.
One of the show's founders and editors was Roland Jahn, then a political exile from the east. Today he is Germany's federal commissioner of the archives of the Stasi, the East German secret police.
"It was exactly what I'd always hoped for. We gave the GDR opposition a voice and let it ring out over East Berlin," Jahn remembers.
Roland Jahn was the founder and former editor of Radio Glasnost. Now he is Germany's commissioner for the archive of East Germany's Stasi secret police.
Jahn was essential to the entire operation. He provided the contacts needed to smuggle blank cassette tapes to the east and then broadcast material when it came to the west.
Punctuated by punk music, the show informed the GDR's burgeoning resistance movement about upcoming demonstrations and meetings. It aired dispatches about the reality of life under Stasi surveillance and covered issues distorted or ignored by the state media in the east and neglected or misunderstood by the mainstream media in the west.
Like the samizdat newsletters, the radio equivalent was imperfect and its reporters were amateurs. But crucially, it was uncensored, hence the show's jingle: "Out of control."
"Some of what we aired was pretty shoddy at times, often unfit for consumption for the average radio listener," Jahn recalls.
No matter how poor the quality, the show's editors in West Berlin never attempted to improve upon or edit the reports they received. They did not want to be seen as another censor or as condescending Western do-gooders.
Jahn says they had to work hard to gain the confidence of the East Berliners.
This map by East Germany's Stasi secret police illustrates their jamming campaign against the dissident radio show, Radio Glasnost.
"The dissidents in the East had to trust us," he says. "But we had to trust them too. We weren't in a position to fact check whether an arrest at this or that demonstration had really taken place."
Not surprisingly, the Stasi were some of the show's most dedicated listeners, but their activities were not limited to monitoring.
At this time, Gorbachev ceased jamming Voice of America and the BBC in the Soviet Union, yet the East German authorities launched their first jamming campaign in a decade.
But the measure backfired. Radio Glasnost simply repeated the blocked shows, thanking the Stasi for the free promotion.
As the Stasi began to lose its grip on East German society, it gave up jamming the show. Radio Glasnost served as a vital communication channel for the resistance movement for over two years until it was no longer needed. The final show was broadcast just three weeks after the Berlin Wall fell on Nov. 9, 1989.
"I still get emotional now when I think about that last show," Jahn says. "How we all came together for the first time in our studio and celebrated the fall of the wall and the peaceful revolution."
Even today, Jahn — still a broadcast journalist at heart — believes the power of radio should not to be underestimated: "By November 1989, Radio Glasnost had done its job."
"It had contributed to the fall of the wall," he says.
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Transcript
LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:
In divided Berlin of the late 1980s, radio enthusiasts on both sides of the Wall worked together to give a voice to the growing resistance movement in East Germany.
Esme Nicholson spoke to the founder of the small alternative radio show who today believes those enthusiasts helped bring down the Berlin Wall.
ESME NICHOLSON, BYLINE: In the final years of the German Democratic Republic, a growing number of East Germans stopped singing from the official hymn sheet and courageously spoke out against the system. Discontent was rife. The economy was in palpable decline, industry was producing more pollution than usable goods and restrictions on travel remained firmly in place. While East Germany’s leaders resisted Mikhail Gorbachev’s call for glasnost and perestroika, grassroots church groups aspired to it.
More and more dissident voices spread the word about reform, but paper and printing materials were in short supply. They needed radio to amplify that cause.
Starting an independent radio station in East Berlin was impossible so instead, raging critics smuggled their messages on cassette tapes across the border to a makeshift studio on the other side of the Wall. Broadcast on a small anti-establishment radio station, the monthly show was called Radio Glasnost.
(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO GLASNOST)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Speaking German).
NICHOLSON: One of its founders and editors was Roland Jahn, then a political exile from the East and today Germany's Federal Commissioner of the Stasi file archives.
ROLAND JAHN: (Through translator) It was exactly what I'd always hoped for. We gave the GDR opposition of voice and let it ring out over East Berlin.
NICHOLSON: Jahn was essential to the entire operation. He provided the contacts needed to smuggle empty tapes East and the broadcast material back West. Punctuated by punk music, the show informed the GDR's growing underground opposition about upcoming demonstrations and meetings. It shared dispatches about the reality of life under East Germany's secret police, or Stasi and covered issues distorted or ignored by the state media in the East. Like the samizdat leaflets and newsletters, the radio equivalent was imperfect and its reporters amateurs, but, crucially, it was uncensored hence the shows jingle, "Out Of Control."
JAHN: (Through translator) Some of what we aired was pretty shoddy at times, often bordering on being unfit for consumption for the average radio listener.
NICHOLSON: No matter how poor the quality, the show's editors in West Berlin never attempted to improve upon or edit the reports they received. They did not want to be seen as another censor, let alone as condescending Western do-gooders.
JAHN: (Through translator) The dissidents in the East had to trust us but we had to trust them, too. We weren't in a position to fact check whether an arrest at this or that demonstration had really taken place.
NICHOLSON: Unsurprisingly, the Stasi were some of the show's most dedicated listeners but their activities were not limited to monitoring. At the same time Gorbachev ceased jamming Voice of America in the Soviet Union, the East German authorities launched their first jamming campaign in a decade, but their anti-Glasnost measure backfired. Radio Glasnost simply repeated the blocked shows, thanking the Stasi for the free promotion. As the Stasi began to lose its grip on East German society, they gave up jamming the show. Radio Glasnost served as a vital communication channel for the resistance movement for over two years, until it was no longer needed. The final show went out just three weeks after the fall of the Wall.
JAHN: (Through translator) I still get emotional now when I think about that last show and how we all came together for the first time in our studio and celebrated the fall of the Wall and the peaceful revolution.
NICHOLSON: Radio Glasnost was the Twitter revolution of its time. Even today, Jahn, still a broadcast journalist at heart, believes the power of radio should not be underestimated.
JAHN: (Through translator). By November 1989, Radio Glasnost had done its job. It had contributed to the fall of the Wall.
NICHOLSON: For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Berlin. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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