THE AUSTRIAN DELEGATION TO THE WORLD YOUTH FESTIVAL OF BERLIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R008800480014-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 25, 2003
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: October 15, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

Ralqi1AL
INTELLOFAX AtedFVerdgjig6489M 2 2-00457 4
1*M6001
APP INIFAil
ORMATION REP?Frif :ID No. 5,31
4-2
COUNTRY ',.ustria/072/1,10a2-
,..,,
,
B401, The Austrian Delegation to the World
' Youth Fostival of Derlin
AC
CQUIRED
DATE OF
INFO,
25X1
DATE DISTR.15 OCT Si
NO. OF PAGES 3
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
25X1
SUPPLEMENT TO 25X1
RFPORT Wel
This noose:ant CONTAINS iPPoomMOS ssMersolo Me NATIONAL INIPUNSE
.05. TOE Sorrel). friATtitS WITHIN THE NEALIING OP MS ESPIONAGE ACT.50
U.% C. MI AND S2, As ANANDEO. ITV mos/Arnow on Tos TIEVCIATION
or ITS coorsors to ANY NANG451 TO AN Vi2A0THORMED PEWSCNI 10 PHO.
olOORD ST UN, REPSOOSCTION OPTING FOES IS PrIONISITE0.
T! S, IS': UNEVALUATED
25X1
This report is submitted for whatever
value it may have as background information.
Membershin in the Austrian BelegglauLp Berlin
1. Under the leadership of Otto Brichacek and Paul Frischauer, almost 1000 members
of, the Free Austrian Youth (F0eJ) attended theComsunistesponsored World Youth
FeStival held in Berlin in August 1951, The F0eJ delegates were aceompanied
by eleven members of the left?wing Socialist youth grouN Sozialiatisehe Arbeiter-
-
jugend, and a few workers without party affiliation,, Hans Breuni seted as
-executive secretary for the Austrian delegation, which was made U s follavs:W
SS e
-
Sports groups 300 persons ' GroMAI g Styria
e 0.?
200 persons
Cultural groups CO GrakTrom Carinthia 50
-Group from Vienna 00 Groseep'om Tyrol andE
,-Group from Lower Austria 0 Vo;ltlberg _ 17
Group toesSaleburg 15
A '
It was originally planned, that individual F0e.J, groupswould, elect a tOtal-of 2,000
persons to :attend the-Feet 'al. _Although Wism proced4re was used in some cases
most of the delegatesnwef4, mply appointed by FOeS o4icials.-Each FOeJ group
was allotted ?a'prop94ion umber of slots to be filled by Idoelaim membership,
gnd groups attached 4t XPO4 actory cells were allowed additional slots for the election
of non?Party worke'd' Fori.lack of funds, however, not all of, the.allotted places
could be filled, with theAr4esult that almost any FOIEsPem b4r-qvitoitiad sufficient cash
was allowed to join41en0f4gation.
Several weeks before departure from Vienna, each delegate was i syructed to fill
t1.4,-k a series of questionnaires pertaining to his personal and p ' cal background,
ese questionnaires were used by the national directorate (Bund eitung) of ie
in making secarity checks There is no indication that any 1* the delegates
was diequalified for eeOvrity reasons
...)rian`.i. 44a p?.9lairepant\6:
%
4
Food shelter and transeortation were financed by thee,East German"Goernmert
Two weeks before departqe from Vienna, each AuStriAndelegate wailreqUised to
pay 350 schillings to coiler the expenses of the -Preparatory Committee and to pay
for flags, banners and other equipment of the delegation (2) USIA apprentices
elected to attend the Festival and non-F0eJ workers who were invited to travel to
Berlin received the necessary funds from, the Cultural Section (Kulterreferat) of
USIA. FOES members elected to the delegation were given printed collection lists
CLASSIFICATION Se:reelf
ii7F-7E (r7.4?
NAVY
WARN
DiSTRBUts1
ARM-41.Y ,,- ?
AM
FM
isret $ ' T' tai
Approved For Release 2003A:3 ? uipk:SE F?R D
. -RDP82-00457R008800480014-2
ECLASSIFICATIai ACTthir
KT? W6;4
Approved For Release 2003/09/03 : CIA-RDP82-00457R008800480014-2
Document No.
o Elton.g$1
LII
Date:
r??.s t31,
Dy:
Approved For Release 2003/09/03 : CIA-RDP82-00457R008800480014-2
c
? Innr7nr,g
Approved ForJ.
RelteAse 2003/09/03_,;i,c , r
-2-
44. with which to solicit contributions for the trip. Travellers who were not elected
or appointed to the delegation were required to pay their awn way. In addition to
the fee of 350 schillings, each delegate was obliged before boarding the train to
contribute 20 schillings for the victims of the Korean war and 60 schillings to be
exchanged for German marks.
0.ognizationoof the Aostriaqopelstgationo
Two days before departure a meeting was held to introduce delegates to their group
?leaders.(3) Each leader was fully responsible for, and in most cases well acquainted
with, the ten members of? his group. Membors tore warned that they must stay close to
? their group leaders and that ontertainmont would be permitted in blocks of cloven only.
,6. Each delegate held a membership card giving his name, the name of his group leader,
? the number of his group, the number of his train and the address of his billet in
Berlin, Several hours before train time on 3 August, all groups and leaders assembled
in the Burggarten, Vienna II and were checked off, with membership cards, against
? lists held by KPOe officials.(4) No further checks were made before departure.
? Group leaders were instructed to conduct a quiet and orderly march from the Burggarten
to Karlsplatz and on to the Ost Bahnhof where the delegates boarded two special trains
without incident. ,
008800480014-2
Travel and Accommodations
ft. .nrafx.... ..,ama.r.snws essa..*. ,,snic???
? Throughout the trip there was no sign of passport control on the part of Austrian,
Czech or East German authorities The trains stopped only briefly at each border,
and eere evidently cleared for passage by some previous arrangement. Group leaders
had been instructed to discourage conversation with Czechs and the use of cameras in
transit through Czechoslovakia. They were cautioned that anyone detraining in
Czechoslovakia or Germany was liable to arrest by the Czech or East Cermen police.
8, Upon arriving in Berlin, the Austrians were taken by bus to their billets, consisting
of converted public buildings on Prenzlauerberg, Headnuarters for the delegation was
located at Dunkerstraese oit, with other billets on Carmen Silvia Strasse and Kleimstrasse,
Two plain clothes detectives of the East German Police were stationed in each building
used by the Austrian delegation. According to the official explanation, these detec-
? tives were provided to act as guides and answer questions for the Austrian visitors,
' Their sole functionphowever, was to keep a close, watch on the delegates.
9, Five officials of the Free German Youth (FDJ) were attached to each foreign delegation
ireiroushout the Festival, and were responsible for transportation, food supplies,
? cultural activities, sport programs and liaison with the Festival main committee
o? (Zentralrat)J5) Although transportation included bus service to and from the various
? scheduled events, many delegates missed parts of the program because the bus drivers,
who had been brought from Dresden, Leipzig and Magdeburg, were not familiar with East
Berlin. After several days of confusion an FDJ pilot was assigned to each bus, but
in some cases the FDJ personnel were likewise unacquainted with the city,
Aust2oian Par,:ticistra_gon .41 ttleyeetival Program
to The Austrian contribution to the World Youth Festival consisted of an "Austrian national
? program" performed in part by the Zentrale Kulturensemble FOeJ, a mandolin orchestra
from Fohnsdorf? Styria, a folk-dance group from Gruenbach? Lower Austria, and a song
and dance group from the USIA plant of Siemens-Schuckertwerke. ? Group leaders had been
? instructed to enforce, or at least to encourage, full attendance at most of the
? activities on the Festival program, Approximately half of the time was spent in
visiting cultural institutions and sports evente, A small unit from the Austrian
? delegation attended a Youth Union Congress. In general, however, there was very little
? opportunity for contact with other delegations. Western visitors were isolated by
? large contingents of FDJ and non-uniformed East German police, while Soviet and Satellite
groups were carefully guarded in the same way.
Prozmnda_Line at the World. Youth Kestival
ll. The propaganda line taken at the 1;orld Youth Festival of Prague in 1950 was considerably
. altered at the Berlin Festival, where the peace lAseme was expressed approximately as
follows: Peace, but if provocations continue, we shall strike hack, ;.Testern dele-
Aates in Berlin were clearly surprised and displeased to find a major part of the
leo ropaganda effort directed at glorifying the personality of Stalin, rather than
25X1
SE
trgirrrIM
Approved For Release 2003/09/03 : CIA-RDP82-00457R008800480014-2
Approved FOr Rettrp:A0.13ifIR..3RIRE:8/2010457R008800480014-2
-3-
emphasizing the role of Communism in the fight for peace "And, go home06erved
as the chief slogan for all delegations. A secondary theme, particularly popular
with West Germans, was that of the struggle for a united Germany. Some Vest German
and Austrian delegates held the view that a united Germany would automatically in-
clude Austria,
12. The Communists took full advantage of the propaganda opportunities offered by
" United States authorities in barring the passage of British end French youths en
route to Berlin via Western Austria. Special receptions were held to welcome late-
comers who had succeeded in circumventing Allied controls, German newspapers
featured prominent pictures of travellers injured in the blockade. Apparently as a
result of this publicitymany non-Party visitors from Western countries announced
that they would join Communist youth groups to fight for a free Europe.
:Communist Reaction to Counter-Prgotg,:etak
13, Balloons which scattered anti-Communist leaflets over East Berlin inspired Festival
officials to encourage the following slogan:
"Eine, wei drei, vier
Der Ami schickt uric Klopapier"
. The leaflets, however/ wore widely read. Communist officials issued orders against
the arrest of propagandists who had entered from West Berlin to start public dis-
cuesions on political matters. To counteract the activitiee of these persons,
Festivel leaders called for special teams or skilled speakers to join in the dis-
eussions.
Contactdv!ith 4est Bertlin
Festival leaders made no attempt to promote action against the 4esLern Occupation
Fercese, Delegates were forbidden to enter West Berlin and, for the most part,
, conformed to this rule after several incidents in which ?DJ members were injured in
e' encounters with the West German Police. Although those involved in the incidents
were hailed as martyrs/ FDJ members entering western sectors for the first time
were pleasantly surprised at the treatment which they received there0
fAustrianilareesions of the Berlin Festival
. Austrians visiting Berlin found that living conditions in East Germany appeared to
be far worse than those in Austria(6) Austrians were surprised at the FDJ's
adontion of the old Prussian triple "Burma" and at the use of TAshrmacht-type chevrons
es by the East German Police. Apart from some unfavorable reaction to the Stalinist
propaganda/.however, Austrians were well impressed by the management and scope of
the World Youth Festival.
25X1 (1)
25X1
Comment: Source failed to mention Upper Austria or Burgenland in this
breakdown although the delegation included groups from both provinces,
25X1 (2)
Comment: The Preparatory Committee was directed by Karl Reiter in
taus der Jugend, Vienna IV, Prinz Eugenstrasee 12 On or about 6 July
25X1 1951 Reiter, Brichacek and Breunig travelled to Berlin to spend ten days dis-
cussing arrangements for the Austrian delegation,
(3) F I.mment: Although most group leaders were members of the FOeJ
strict headquarters(hzirkuleitungw), the FOeJ experienced some difficulty
25X1 in finding enough delegates who were willing to accept the responsibility of
leadership,
25X1 (4) I 'Comment: These officials appeared to be fullstime employees of the nP0e
Headnaartj;-in Vienna IX/ aasagasse 10.
(5) Comeent: The Zentrairat, which had its headquarters in the Haus dor
25X1 ugend on Itlexanderplatz, consisted of a preparatory committee including
Otto Brichacek and an action committee including Karl Reiter.
the
Comment: A number of skilled workers from/Austrian delegation were
offerec five-year contracts with Eest-German indusLriee, but rejected the
offers because of poor living conditions in East Germany
' (6)
oete,?-------
IiET &fp,,,,.,,,,
Approved For Release 2 3/09/03 : CJA- P82-00457R008800480014-2