THE SOCIETY FOR GERMAN-SOVIET FRIENDSHIP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R008800410001-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 29, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 5, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT NO.
C.LASSIFICALION conFIDEINIAL/0014TROL - U. S. OFFICIAM
INFO MATION REPORT CD NO.
Germany (Russian Zone)
The Society far Germanp.Soviet
Friendship
DATE DISTR,
NO. OF PAGES
OF ENCLS,
ED BELOW
PPLEMENT TO
5 October 1951
The Society for Creme-a-Soviet Friendship (Gesellschaft fuer Deutsch-
Seerjetische Freundschaft) was established on 30 June 1947, at which time
it was called the Society for the Stuai of the Culture of the U.S.S.R.
(Gesellschaft earn Studium der U.S.S.R.). Its initial membership numbered
2,000 and consisted of intellectuals? pedagogues, university pro-
p) fessors? political functionariespand representatives of numerous non-
A) Communist institutions, both political and cultural, as well as of the cavern-
merit and the economy. Its purpose being the spreading of pro-Soviet propaganda
C 3 and the expansion of Soviet influence, the Society featured film shows, theater
performance; and theater visits i lectures, ?debateavand? also to some extent,
exhibits, usually in close cooperation with the political and cultural officers
of the Soviet occupation power. The latter maintained e2ficial and social
contact with the Society which, in a number of cases, was openly publicized
ana. the Soviet occupation authorities also occasionally furnished food, alco-
holic beverages0ond tobacco for parties given by the rJociety.
In i9!3, theRussionerecenstructed a building at the Kastanienuaeldchen near
Unter den Linden -uith a theater adjoinieg,which ? was called the House of Soviet
Culture (Hans dor Soujetkultur) and was opened to German visitors. At that
time, the activity of the Society vino expanded . An extensive program
of entertainment and performances was initiated?while at the same time the occu-
pation authority ostensibly curtailed its own participation. Accordingly, the
membership rose to approximately 20,000 in the spring of 1948 and, one year
later,was approximately 70,000. Thus, the Society was rapidly becoming a true
mass organization capable of spreading effective propaganda for the U.S.S.R.
? praising it as the seat of world socialism and the champion of all pro,roecive
? forces throughout the =rid.
3. The corpe of functionaries required Lor this type of organization originated in
the Society and was developed along with other bodies of functionaries in the
various political, economicpand administrative institutions making up the ma-
chinery of the Soviet Zone state. It was hoped that through close relations
among these functionaries, a complete ideological control of the state and all
organizations engaged in shaping public life could be achieved, thus establish-
? ing the concept of friendship with the Soviet Union on a firm basis. The
international situation, however, and the differences between the Soviet union
,and the daetern Allies which led to the formation of two German Governments
? adversely affected the attainment of this goal. It appeared that, in the SED
as well as in other organizations in the Soviet Zone of Germany t which advocated
Socialisme
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there were many Aao believed that propaonda urring friendship
and cooperation with the U.b.3.Ro w,uld make it more dif-icolt to
persuade the lerman people to accept the 77arxist copecially
in view of the experiences which many ,;crmans suffered at the hands
of the lioviet invaders in 1945. Therefore, it bocane necessary to give
the concept of friendship with the U.o.S.%. a strong impetus, whiel was
to be accomplished through the zooloty.
4. In the spring of 1950, the membership of the Society approximated 1,000,000.
At that time, it was definitely clear that, as a political party and the
only responsible bearer of political power, the MD was Pnablo to obtain
sufficient popular backing to convert the 3oviet ',ore Geran 4]emocratic
Republic into a satellite of the U..S.::417.0 a moult it amoorod to be
appropriate to tranewm the L;ED from a party of the loassou InO/0 a party
conoisting primarily of a hard core of functionaries similor to the ,-,;omlou-
nist Party of the (3ols1ievist) and to concentrate upon ioiac:lin,,;
the masses through the lational Front and its branches, the 2;ationo1
Front ?.;ommittee and t.e National Council, particularly with rooard 'co poli-
tical and propaganda matters relating to all of Germany. Growing political
? importance was also attributed to the Moscow-controlled oorld Penco :boomont
with its German Peace uommitteo (Doutsches Friedonskommitoe) in
? The Society for Soviet-erlan Friendship was closely connected with both
or3anizations, stressing in the Peace Committee the conoeption of friend-
ship with all peoples, particularly with the ;3.6.S.R. as the strongest
power for peace, and in the national Front, placing emphasis upon por-
traying the UorA052,0 us the friend of tiermany and the champion of her
? national independence. The Society thus developed from a mass organisation
into a political front organisation, establishing the ideological lino for
? all political forces, organizations and movements; It now com:xises more
than two and one half million members about 10 percent of when live in
?':lostern Germany,
5. The developmental stages of the ociety described above aro illustrated
more clearly by the structural changes reflected in a breakdown of the
membership figures into the various social o?woses. in 1940, more than
46 percent of the ilombers were white collar workers and 21 percent wesc
intellectuals, univorsityfand high school students, At the sa..:0 time,
workers nadc up loss than 12 percent and agricultural workers less than
? one percent. ? A year lator, when the membership had risen to about
? 704000, which represented about three and one half times its previous
number, the percentage of the workers had almost doublod? having risen to
? more than 20 ,Ercent while the percentage of the other groups had scarcely
changed(sio). In 1950, when the memberohip approximate?, a million, the worxers
? represented the largest single group, making up more than 37 percent compared
.11th 34 percent for the white collar workerolwhilo the percentage of the
Intellectuals and students had fallen to 11 porcentond the percentage of
the farmers and agricultural workers remained insignificant,
60? The changes in the charavter and mission of the Society also affected the
? activities of the lcior-leuel units. ohilo social work first rooted with
loosely organized circles and student groups, it later shifted to rosi-
dontial groups sandnow, in a large measure, it lies with the enterprise
? groups in which the services of more than 60 percent of the mombero are
being enlisted for social work. These enterprise group activities are
characterized at present by Gorman-Soviet exchanges of experiences olio-3r
? the "Learn-from-the-Soviet-Union Program" which I to reorganize rdtank:o-
mont and labor in accordance with the ooviet pattern and is executed in
cooperation with tho FMB, the ideological preparation and penetration of
the enterprises boing accomplished by the Society and. the organizational
planninL?, by the FOU.
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? :.111?;* hie2:loste-leve3:'or.oanizat1onal -bod37: of- the ,-ocioty ia the Oon?ieeel
Cone:litter; -,e.e.teh controls the Land Committees in Land ancienburo?
Thurincia, J.axony, 6axony-linhalti :!io.cOsionbur: and '.lreater e:erlin. The
.Land..Corxeittees in the .Leender control the Kreis Goeseittees. The la'ais.?
CoMeeittees do not nocessaril,r -coincide in their ?jurisdiction the
administrative' divie ion of the Se. They - eeslude - the loca1 ne:onc s
.with their subunits, the -residential. or local L;roups? and the enterprise'
rekips, 'the latter leeinie, coeeosed of neethers Iliortztar;-in onterpriE7:os 6
80 The -iody .which decides the 1-:issions and objectives of the .oroanization
is the ?-Cencress which, accordiet to the statutes, is required to core- ?
vont: at leas every two oreare,or?itcnever .73.3 reC1110F3tiod by .the
?of the Land Oornittees which arc -represented in the onjrestl by &do-
Gates. In addition to the normal reoponsibilitios such as the renderinc
of a statement of accounts and 'a cash report, the corr;rescl elects the
? president, the vice 1r esident, the members of the Central Committee (not
less than 75) and adopts a procram of activities. The
. -president represents the ';.ociety in all natters ircludinG those per-
tainin3 to law and Jurisdiction and convenes the Conoress when so
directed by the 'Central Comittee, .The presOtt president is Friedrich -
? Ebert, Oberbuerermeister of He succeeded Professor hersen.
?:Kuczynski" chief of the Deutsches airtschaftsiestitet (lorman onoaic
Institute). ;bort was elected no by .the Con7rees ':elt.rather by the. -
Central .Comaittee .at a sesSioe in the L7.erlin rIoese of ;ovi.et Culture on
29 June 1950,, aftei. Kuczynskishis predecessor?had declared his rosizna-
tion at the sane 'session and suacested that :bert he a:To-lilted his suc-
cessor. Innediately upon asereeinz the dutios of his office, ..!,:bort
announced -the roeicAation of liens .11ark who. had boon socrotaxy genera].)
with the secretaryneral, :?:bert has a. firei zraop upon he
?cretee and the Central Cormittec? which enjoys very little opportunity for
froedote. of e:epression .in a truly deeeeoratic way..
9. The individual- actually o?riLralljnL-7, the tiocioty theis seere tary-- general o
This ? office is _hold_ at present by Gottfried ruen r ark.ssuccesobri,
';-tho provioesly served an 21nister of Culture of hand eoclelenburs. then
he and T,:.bert appeared on the scene, the oxes;anization received a pro-
nounced at.re,ssivs impulee. Their appointment indicated a revolution
-within the Society and ? coincided approxietately with the ptuo;e o; in sone
cases, even local prosecution of a number of intellectuals elle had been
? proMinent in the field of oolitics .and ciii tune. Prominent among, the
latter was Lex i!;nde? editor-in-chief of the 3.:riedensposts the 'weekly naca.-
ziene of the :.eerman.7-ocrieti. aociety, who was broue;ht to trial. ? :he secre-
? taryoneral is assisted by a secretariat which:, .like hte, is e?...ected
by. and -free- the Central Committee efeer which the president preeides.
10. PollOwino; is a list of the members of the Central ;'.;ornraittec who, together
with- .the president- and viceepresident?- were elected or- eonfirmee
? office unanfiraouS13r at the Third ;','ono..,ress in January 1951:?
..Presidents Friedrich 7'lhert, .0berbuerereleis;',C1" of. r:aet 1.3erlin
..-"ice-President's writer
? 'fice-Preeidents ir cinhold Lobedanz, president of the Chamber
of the Laender
?Aco-ierosident: hrich irth, lathe operator
Central -;ot.e.eittees
rrr'! a
-r
illiPetorKonzok state noel-etre:7
?Anita Deubel? woman worker
? Johannes Diecleeann, president of the People's Chanber
Kaete Dodenhoeff, laborer
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Friedrich Fr.fhlcr ierthor of the marina fire bri2ado
Professor Joinrich l';hmsen, artist
Friedrich Tilrhardt, white collar employee
Ernst Zrler, student
Hermann Freorey? farmer
Karl Fritzsche, locksmith
Willi Freyhoff? laborer and'"Hero of Labor"
Se/ma Gabelin, secretary of Land raxony
Lina lebhardt? housewife
Lucie aeoseko, rurcl housewife
Gerald Goottina? CLU socrotary general
Norbert Greiff, director of tho steel ndll in 2randcnburc
Gottfriad LITucilbor,;, soovotary-cenoral
Liesboth Gruotzmacher? apprentice
Professor norms= Haack, cartocrapher
? Fritz Hamacher, deputy seerdar7-aneral
hater Nankes VdgB functionarT
Marie-Luise Nenning, secretary. of Land %ocklenburg
Fritz Noilmann? secretary of Land Thurincia
? Adolf Nennecks, anisterialrat
Stefan jermlin, writer
Rudolf Norrnstadts editor.-in-chiof oV !Teuos Deutecil and
Kurt "aldeshettis a;'?rioulfraral worker
Xurt no!-,ois519 lnliotor
lorbort Ln.nnitzsohx soordLr?/
Dr* FaknA aaonmslp otkirdntc?rial crplo:co
Fridolin larohl.9 cocroLory
Heinrich Ifol vhito collar oployeo
Rudolf arohner, 11,,WJ 1nctt,3nary
Liosa Klatt?
JoaohiT :&cnrad, lat:orev
&argon Kaczynsklo economist
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"feinE Kurth, chief of the Jarivization Department (1-3f4
Otto Laubor, laborer and 'Moro of Labor!'
? Laubisch, mechanic apprentice
Prttz Ledero laborer
Fritz Leisnero manager
Arno von Leneki, 1:;JP1) committee uember
"olfzang Lindstaodt, labcrcr
Robert .:aam., resettled farmor
(dtto :eier, President of the Diet of Drandenburg
Ella 'anierl =TM aricultural :lorkor
.;alter ioobius tinker
:lat7aroto? ..-ueller, tractor driver
Rosemarie ::ueller? teacher
Vinaenz udller, NDPD secretary
,alter Piduch? mechanical engineer
Heinrich Rau, Linister of Planning
Hans Reichelt? Organiration Department
Hans Rodenberg? film director
?Sopp Roomisch? youth cecrotar:
va Rom
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student
Johann f;chrooder?laoror
Gabriele Sachs?, laborer
Heinrich. Schwarze, country pastor
josof:.Steffon,- agricultural -laborer
Professor Dr. Tohannesbtroux,-presiecnt of the Academy of Soincos
Czeslaus Scymczak, resettled farmer
Herbert Taeschnor, LDP secrotary.general
Heinz Thielemann, laborer
;,t11.1y Tietz? white collar employee
Heinrich Tie tze, farmOr and bur3onas ter
E'L.%dent
Alfred Tottaaitz, foreman
Helmut Thi:;er, cnetmaker
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, Paul Vereer, Member of the 3"1) Central Committee secretariat
Theodor Valenziecke lockcmith
Paul eandel, :Tinicter for Public Zducation
Paul ,;engele? Land secretary in Bast oriin
,Elaus eAllerdinc, chief of the '3n1iehtenment and Propaeanda Impart:lent
Franz eenzele editor-in-ehief
Jutta eines, seamstrese
Georg ,;ealleast, trustee
eJoachim 7.4.e)1ter, manager of the eouse of Soviet Culture
Gorda erindtueller? heesewife
nax ZiMmermann, resettled farfter
40hannes Donath, director of the rMan aank of Issue ieutedee Nuteteenei
G.14. Pushkinil- Soviet ambassador to East Germany
:Cuseve (fnu) .VOKG aeent.
? 11. In keeping with the desienation, "Society for the etidy of the Culture
of the ;:;oviet Union", nest of tee names apeearine on the Central kali:Ace
? level when the Society was oo named were those of prominent peroons from
? the fields of science, arts, literetureend puT2ie life. The nue 'or of
persone in this cateeory was etill coeparetively Three ae the II
U0?' 're in the sumeer of 114.9, the eociety was reeraeized. Uoverer, a
oomparatively small number of the previous members . was reelected at the
III Coneress, even though that asseebly departed freet the estalitiohed
rules to elect 05 members rather than 75 to the Central Committee, Aeeee
those not reelected, for =attic, were Professor van Deeck, Gerhard leislere
Bernhard Hellermann, the noted writer, Stefan HeynannLand others. the
Jentral Gommitteo wao reoreanined in accordance with the require-eents of a
mass organization, and with to particular conoideration for the qualifi-
cation of the individual mombers. The wor7e of the Comaittee consioto
largely of the execution of the workine proeram adopted by the ;;on roes as
well as in the contrel of all activities of the oreanization during the
period nhen the Congress ?is in recess. ;loeever, most of these duties are
performed by special functionariee of the Society and by the Srl) rather than
?by the Committee members. Nearly alldeeinioneare ride by the secretariat
uhich is a truly operational bode retying directives ans' propaganda and
political instructions to the ? Land Committee and exercivine a rieid coetrol
over its subordinate aeencies. A printing office and several publfehing
houses are available.
12. The Land Gommitteesare oreenized in accordance with a pattern similar to
that of the Central Committee. Their executive or-in is the Conference
of the Land Deleeates. They exorcise the same functions and employ the
same methods as the Liongrees, neecutine in their area the miecions
assigned to them by the Contrel Committee throeeh the secretary-eoneral.
Corearatively Speckine? they plae7Nech eore active end responsible role
than the members of the eentral ecerai'ritee? The ,e too, ':ave Land enere-
otaff of Xulltime adviooro am" con 1ro1z an oueervieco ne execution eV
his aen instruction ac well ao tt.e ef the Central .:om-e.ttee in the
lower units.
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Ito has under his cee .and Kreisinstrucbore (Eeeirhinstruotors in !:net
merlin) who rork in the Kreis branchee of the Society. The ris
? jommitteee in turn elect a secretariat , lein the .:reisinetructer
? usually serving a reinecretary. Ho is not eubordinato to the
Kreis Committee and thee is in a position to carvy oat the inetrections
of the Landsecretarerand influence Lilo Kreis JetImibtee as au the
met basic units. 2ne Kreis Committee as eell as the secretariat are
presided over by the first chairman. :he instructor livee Guidance nnd
advice in the draftinc of the pro4ram of activities which is prepared
for all basic units. Accordin;ly, the only renponoi-oility left to the
local* residental,end enterprise groups with respect to the pro:2ran is
the fixing of dates and such minor modifications of the directive* as
? local conditions, circumstances of ages trades and requiremente of the
enterprises deiland.
13. Under the Kreisvorstand is the local croup (Ortsgrup2e) which aleo has
its own committee consist ire;* of functionaries in chare,c of resicentia1.
and enterprise croups and responsible for collection of dues. These
basic units are required to report on social work participated in and
action taken on directions from higher headquarters. Their reports are
? consolidated into a monthly report by the Kris instructor. This monthly
? report is of considerable importance in guiding hieher echelons in
planning and decisionssinasmuch as it contains detailed informetion con?
oernine the political and propacanda activity and dovolepoent of the basLc
units and provide an effective chock on all oreanizational mLaters.
14.? The functionaries constantly eencentrate on developine a .1,.cater Ce7,ree of
clase consioueness amow; all members, on promoting their pro?Soviet atti?
tude rule their alliance to the Soviet political line and uillingness to
? fight for the socialist ideal() of the Soviet Union. 'ehe work in the enter?
? prise croups is intended to foTt:or an exeiange of Soviet?German experiences
thereby transplanting Soviet methods of managements, pin arid economy
? into the Soviet on of Germaw. It igfilmozt univwsally reeonizod that
the final goal is the sovietization of Germany. A hard core of capable
? functionaries and a disciplined execution of carefully planned activities
in which all members down to the basic units participate isiequired for the
achievement of this coal.
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