Sumadinac
May 24th, 2004, 12:42 AM
from Our German Policy: Propaganda and Culture by Albert Norman, Vantage Press, New York, 1951)
Short-range policies on reorientation to be applied in the United States areas of occupation were formulated by the Information Control Division at Headquarters United States Forces European Theater, located in Bad Homburg, and after the early spring of 1946 at the office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.), in Berlin, to which the Control Division was transferred. These policies were based on broad political directives from the Office of War Information, whose main function consisted of formulating educational and cultural programs designed to develop an understanding of the war policies and aims of the United States, to be carried out through the use of press, radio, motion pictures, and other facilities. The new federal agency also served as an agency of contact for the radio broadcasting and motion picture industries and for novelists and playwrights.
Since the mass media of cultural dissemination in Germany were controlled in order to further military and political objectives, as formulated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the American Military Governor, a working agreement was entered into by Elmer Davis, Director of the Office of War Information [Davis is mentioned by Senator Joseph McCarthy as a man of blatant pro-Communist leanings, and many of those who had worked for Davis became subjects of McCarthy's investigations. In other words, the OWI was full of Communists.], and Brig. Gen. Robert A. McClure, Chief of the Information Control Division, designed to prevent conflicting points of view and to establish a smooth-working relationship on practical issues bound to arise in the making of policy and its application.
The execution of policy was divided into three phases. The first phase called for the total prohibition of German public education and cultural media; the second, for the employment of official (“overt,” as it was then called) American educational services and the simultaneous searching out of anti-Nazi Germans who could be trusted to re-establish indigenous media under Military Government supervision; and the third phase, for the gradual transition to complete control of the cultural media by the Germans themselves [Read carefully to understand what this really means, and note that the preceding stage was one of "overt" U.S. control, implying that this stage would be covert], under the supervision of the Military Government authorities on the highest level only.
In the first phase, following closely upon the heels of the victorious armies, Military Government law provided the authority for the outlawing of the Nazi propaganda organization. The laws prohibited any German, of any political shading whatsoever, from publishing papers, books and periodicals, radio broadcasting, the showing of motion pictures, the giving of theatrical and operatic performances, and the conducting of concerts; they also empowered the occupation forces to remove from their positions all persons who had fashioned National Socialist ideology. To fill the void created by the outlawry of the highly centralized Nazi propaganda machine and by the destruction of physical plant facilities as a result of the fighting, the two most important public education media—newspapers and radio—were, therefore, operated by the United States Army itself. A number of German newspapers were published by the Army and distributed through military channels. Radio stations that had been quickly restored began to operate inside Germany as stations of Military Government. What was said in press and radio, then, was the responsibility solely of the army of occupation. German technical personnel was, however, employed to the fullest possible extent, while preparations were in progress for the establishment of new, democratic cultural services, controlled by Germans who had been approved by Military Government, but who were closely supervised and watched. Press, publications, and film, theater, and music officers searched for politically reliable and professionally qualified men. Suitable individuals were issued Military Government licenses to publish newspapers, books, and magazines; to direct and stage theatrical performances, and to organize symphonic concerts. Owners of bookshops and distributors of newspapers and periodicals were allowed to engage in business as soon as they were found to be politically unobjectionable and had registered their business with Military Government of their area. At the same time, German editors, whose political backgrounds had been thoroughly investigated and who proved acceptable, were added to the staffs of the radio stations operated by Military Government.
Military Government proceeded slowly in licensing Germans to assume important positions in the field of the mass media because of the necessity of finding men who were completely reliable and who were suited to play a positive part in the democratic reorientation of Germany. Political qualifications demanded of the Germans were more rigorous than in some other fields of public life, and investigations were exhaustive. Positive anti-nazis were sought, rather than mere non-Nazis, to operate the public education media. Germans chosen for policy, editorial, and certain executive positions had not only to be technically qualified but had to have harbored democratic ideals, which were defined as the belief in freedom of speech, religion, and thought; faith in the dignity of the individual and against the pre-eminence of the state; and a conviction that crimes against civilized standards of morals and humanity are as intolerable when committed in the name of the state as when committed by a private citizen. Leading newspaper and magazine publishers, editors, radio men, and theatrical producers were usually chosen, therefore, from among the ranks of those who had resisted National-Socialism to the point where they were imprisoned or at least had become known in their communities as opponents of the Nazi regime.
Short-range policies on reorientation to be applied in the United States areas of occupation were formulated by the Information Control Division at Headquarters United States Forces European Theater, located in Bad Homburg, and after the early spring of 1946 at the office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.), in Berlin, to which the Control Division was transferred. These policies were based on broad political directives from the Office of War Information, whose main function consisted of formulating educational and cultural programs designed to develop an understanding of the war policies and aims of the United States, to be carried out through the use of press, radio, motion pictures, and other facilities. The new federal agency also served as an agency of contact for the radio broadcasting and motion picture industries and for novelists and playwrights.
Since the mass media of cultural dissemination in Germany were controlled in order to further military and political objectives, as formulated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the American Military Governor, a working agreement was entered into by Elmer Davis, Director of the Office of War Information [Davis is mentioned by Senator Joseph McCarthy as a man of blatant pro-Communist leanings, and many of those who had worked for Davis became subjects of McCarthy's investigations. In other words, the OWI was full of Communists.], and Brig. Gen. Robert A. McClure, Chief of the Information Control Division, designed to prevent conflicting points of view and to establish a smooth-working relationship on practical issues bound to arise in the making of policy and its application.
The execution of policy was divided into three phases. The first phase called for the total prohibition of German public education and cultural media; the second, for the employment of official (“overt,” as it was then called) American educational services and the simultaneous searching out of anti-Nazi Germans who could be trusted to re-establish indigenous media under Military Government supervision; and the third phase, for the gradual transition to complete control of the cultural media by the Germans themselves [Read carefully to understand what this really means, and note that the preceding stage was one of "overt" U.S. control, implying that this stage would be covert], under the supervision of the Military Government authorities on the highest level only.
In the first phase, following closely upon the heels of the victorious armies, Military Government law provided the authority for the outlawing of the Nazi propaganda organization. The laws prohibited any German, of any political shading whatsoever, from publishing papers, books and periodicals, radio broadcasting, the showing of motion pictures, the giving of theatrical and operatic performances, and the conducting of concerts; they also empowered the occupation forces to remove from their positions all persons who had fashioned National Socialist ideology. To fill the void created by the outlawry of the highly centralized Nazi propaganda machine and by the destruction of physical plant facilities as a result of the fighting, the two most important public education media—newspapers and radio—were, therefore, operated by the United States Army itself. A number of German newspapers were published by the Army and distributed through military channels. Radio stations that had been quickly restored began to operate inside Germany as stations of Military Government. What was said in press and radio, then, was the responsibility solely of the army of occupation. German technical personnel was, however, employed to the fullest possible extent, while preparations were in progress for the establishment of new, democratic cultural services, controlled by Germans who had been approved by Military Government, but who were closely supervised and watched. Press, publications, and film, theater, and music officers searched for politically reliable and professionally qualified men. Suitable individuals were issued Military Government licenses to publish newspapers, books, and magazines; to direct and stage theatrical performances, and to organize symphonic concerts. Owners of bookshops and distributors of newspapers and periodicals were allowed to engage in business as soon as they were found to be politically unobjectionable and had registered their business with Military Government of their area. At the same time, German editors, whose political backgrounds had been thoroughly investigated and who proved acceptable, were added to the staffs of the radio stations operated by Military Government.
Military Government proceeded slowly in licensing Germans to assume important positions in the field of the mass media because of the necessity of finding men who were completely reliable and who were suited to play a positive part in the democratic reorientation of Germany. Political qualifications demanded of the Germans were more rigorous than in some other fields of public life, and investigations were exhaustive. Positive anti-nazis were sought, rather than mere non-Nazis, to operate the public education media. Germans chosen for policy, editorial, and certain executive positions had not only to be technically qualified but had to have harbored democratic ideals, which were defined as the belief in freedom of speech, religion, and thought; faith in the dignity of the individual and against the pre-eminence of the state; and a conviction that crimes against civilized standards of morals and humanity are as intolerable when committed in the name of the state as when committed by a private citizen. Leading newspaper and magazine publishers, editors, radio men, and theatrical producers were usually chosen, therefore, from among the ranks of those who had resisted National-Socialism to the point where they were imprisoned or at least had become known in their communities as opponents of the Nazi regime.