LETTER TO GENERAL SMITH FROM EDWARD F. BARTELT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01676R004000070032-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 16
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 12, 2003
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: October 27, 1952
• Content Type: LETTER

-Ap
October 27, 1952
My dear General Smith:
on November 11, the CRUSADE FOR FREEDOM will open its third annual
drive to get the popular support of the American people in order to help
Truth fight Communism.
I am enclosing for your information a 10-page Fact Sheet which tells
the story of Radio Free Europe; its aims; how it operates; and its effective-
ness. Beginning at-page 6 of this Fact Sheet are set forth the operations
of the CRUSADE FOR FREEDOM against Communism in Asia.
You may recall that the first campaign of the CRUSADE FOR FREEDOM
opened in September, 1950, th General Clay as National Chairman. This
year Henry Ford II heads the Crusade as Chairman; and Charles E. Wilson,
former Director of the office of War Mobilization, is serving as Campaign
Chairman.
In a letter dated October 15, 1952 to Mr. Harold B. Miller, President
-cif the CRUSADE FOR FREEDOM, President Truman said:
'fI understand that on the success of the 1952 Crusade
rests the plans of the Crusade for Freedom to build more
radio stations in Free Europe and Asia. If this can be
done, and I believe that it will be done, the free world
can more effectively get the truth behind the Iron Curtain.
"It is essential that people everywhere know that
we are working for peace, freedom and prosperity for all mankind.''
The goal this year is to enroll 140 million Americans in the fight between
Truth and Communism. At the same time it is hoped to raise $4 million for the
purpose of constructing additional transmitters, by which Radio Free Europe
may increasingly help Truth fight Communism behind the Iron Curtain; to expand
the facilities of Radio Free Asia to carry the battle to China's Red masters
behind the bamboo curtain, and to combat Communit inroads into neighboring
countries in the Far East. If each enrollment should be accompanied by a
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10-cent contribution enough money would be raised to take care of current
needs. Undoubtedly many persons will want to give more, and larger con-
tributions would, of course, be highly acceptable.
The purpose of this letter is to solicit the support of your department
in the 1952 CRUSADE "FOR FREEDOM, both in Washington and in the field. One
of the ways in which your department could contribute to the success of the
1952 CRUSADE would be to arrange for as many group meetings of employees as
possible, particularly among the supervisory staffs who would be in a position
to convey the message to the employees under their respective jurisdiction.
Also, it would be helpful if the CRUSADE FOR FREEDOM might have your endorse-
ment and if the head of each bureau ai office would address an appropriate
letter to all field offices calling attention to the CRUSADE and requesting
their cooperation.
A general meeting has been scheduled for 12 o'clock, Noon, on Thursday,
November 13, in the General. Services Auditorium on F Street, N.':'J.,~etween
18th and 19th Streets. Mr. H. B. Miller, President of the CRUSADE P)R FREEDOM,
is scheduled to address this meeting. I would appreciate it very much if
you would designate someone to represent your department, and if you viould
also make arrangements for at least one person and preferably two, or even
more, to be present at this meeting. It will be a short meeting and should
be concluded not later than 12:145 P.M.
This year the CRUSADE FOR FREFL94 is using an enrollment form called
a "FREEDOAi-!'=RAt ," a specimen of which is enclosed. It is desired to have
as many employees sign this FREEDOM-GRP2:4 as possible.
Very sincerely yours,
National Chairman for Federal Employees
General Walter B. Smith
Director of Central Intelligence
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 DO YOU LISTEN TO RADIO FREE EUROPE? I HOPE YOU DO, FOR I
AM ONE OF MILLIONS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS WHO HAVE VOLUNTARILY
CONTRIBUTED TO BUILD THESE STATIONS, WHICH BRING TRUTH TO YOU
WHO ARE DEPRIVED OF IT.
IN AMERICA MILLIONS REGULARLY PRAY FOR AN UNDERSTANDING
BETWEEN OUR PEOPLES. PLEASE ADD YOUR PRAYERS TO OURS. SURELY
OUR COMMON FAITH IN GOD IS THE PLACE WHERE HOPE FOR FREEDOM BEGINS.
I am a (occupation)
Name
Address
NOTE TO CONTRIBUTOR: Replies to this Freedom-Gram may be received written in a
foreign language. If Wdc't u ele see ~PrQt Qthtem free translations may be
o)''?o`"'~i ~QR$0Bi6c1~6R004000070032-8
obtained by forwarding lhe letters to rusa e o
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 (fEit e of *Afbaxn v ((,e r xdt
October 23, 1952
Honorable Edward F. Bartelt
National Chairman for Federal Employees
Crusade for Freedom, Inc.
Main Treasury Building
15th & Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington 25, D. C.
Dear Mr. Bartelt:
It is my hope that the 1952 Crusade for Freedom,
which you have the honor of serving as National Chairman for
Federal Employees, will be marked with complete success.
In these troubled times there is no more important
cause than the fight against Communism. Truth is the most
devastating weapon against Communism. To broadcast the truth
is the high objective of the distinguished Americans sparking
this noble mission - the mission to destroy the Iron Curtain
that deprives hundreds of millions of enslaved persons from
learning the real facts about this vicious ideology and its
tyrannical leaders. I heartily endorse the effort to enroll
110,000,000 Americans in this vital fight.
To win through peaceful methods of education, Radio
Free Europe and Radio Free Asia greatly need more facilities
to combat the evil forces so that truth will ultimately pre-
vail. The success of the Crusade for Freedom spells peace and
happiness for mankind everywhere.
Sincerely,
Attorney General /
pt7C AF
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$0 H11 t 9
HENRY FORD II
Chairman
This Fall the Crusade for Freedom will open its third annual drive to get popu-
lar support for one of the free world's most successful weapons against Communism. At
stake will be the continued vigorous operation and expansion of Radio Free Europe and
Radio Free Asia, both of them living proof that the average American citizen has a
means of attacking Communism behind the Iron Curtain.
The Crusade for Freedom, headed by Henry Ford II, and with Charles E. Wilson,
former President of General Electric as its campaign chairman, will conduct its drive
for funds from November 11 to December 15. During this time it will present a new
idea in psychological warfare to back up and bolster its primary job, operation of
the two radio voices.
During the period of the campaign millions of Americans who subscribe to the
anti-Communist aims of the Crusade for Freedom will be able to sign their names and
addresses to messages of greeting and encouragement in the language of the satellite
nations of Central Europe and in Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese for Asia. At the
close of the campaign the messages will be sent through the Iron Curtain.
These messages will have a strong psychological effect on those who receive
them, and will prove that American opposition to Communism springs from the grass
roots. Any encouragement we can give these peoples will be of tremendous value.
They have been cut off from contact with the free world for so long that their will
to resist Communism tends to be weakened by the feeling that the free world may be
indifferent to their fate.
However, this use of psychological warefare is meant to supplement and not to
replace continuing radio broadcasts through the Iron Curtain. The main purpose of
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THE STORY OF RADIO FREE EUROPE
When it became apparent after the war that Russia had no interest in building
a peaceful world, the free nations were caught off guard. Our attempts to cooperate
with the Kremlin were interpreted as signs of weakness. While we disbanded our arm-
ed forces, Russia strengthened hers.
We were caught as flat-footed in the field of psychological warefare as in
military preparedness, and Communist propaganda made great headway. The free
world worked hard to make up for lost time, and the Voice of America, BBC, Radio
France, and other democratic radio outlets concentrated on the counterattack against
Kremlin propaganda.'
It was against this background that a group of freedom-minded Americans met,
in 1949, in the belief that the struggle against Communism was everybody's business
and not a government monopoly. Out of that conviction grew an organization known
as the National Committee for a Free Europe. Its program was a practical one: to
pierce the Iron Curtain with the truth, to build for the future by educating young
refugees from the Communist satellite nations, to develop unity and a platform for
the future among exile groups, to gather and distribute information about conditions
in the captive areas, and to create active public support for the fight against
Communism in America.'
From these objectives has grown a program of increasing effectiveness. For
instance, the Committee has helped exile leaders to band together into National
Councils or Committees which work to frame a democratic program looking toward the
day of liberation. The Free University in Exile, on the other hand, provides a way
for young exiles to continue their college training in a democratic atmosphere, to
,prepare them to go back some day and aid in the rebuilding of their homelands.
These and other NCFE activities are providing a well-rounded attack on many facets
of Communism.
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But the most dramatic activity of the Committee, and the one which reaches
directly behind the Curtain, is Radio Free Europe. Because it is privately
operated, this radio voice can swing from the shoulder, doing things which no
government-operated organization could attempt. There is no thought of competing
with the Voice of America and no intent to duplicate its work. With each opera-
ting in its own sphere, the West now has a unified attack on Communism where its
domination is strongest.
1) To make it plain that the basic issue is the struggle between freedom
and tyranny.
2) To fight the lies and distortions of the Reds with the truth. By de-
pending only on provable facts, Radio Free Europe has gained the confidence of
its audience. Moreover, the truth about Communism is far more damning than any
synthetic approach ever could be.
3) To appeal to the hopes and aspirations of the satellite peoples by re-
vealing the fraud and brutality of Communism as compared to the benefits of life
in a democracy.
4) To divide the satellite slaves from their masters. Communism can be
secure only when it has eliminated all opposition. Russia will hesitate to start
any military adventures if it knows that millions of its subjects are looking
forward only to their freedom.
5) To keep alive the spirit of freedom among the captive peoples in readiness
for the day when liberation comes.
6) To let these peoples know that we are deeply concerned about what is hap-
pening to them, and that we desire their liberation and support their wish to set
up free governments of their own choice.
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The target nations for RFE broadcasts are Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Poland, and Romania. In this area the struggle still goes on, at least in
the hearts of the people, between Soviet domination and nationalistic aspirations,
between tyranny and a tradition of freedom. Radio Free Europe reaches minds re-
ceptive to its message.
Radio Free Europe uses the talents of exiles from the six target countries
who speak to their imprisoned countrymen in their own idioms and with the conviction
of men and women who themselves have suffered under Communism. These exiles not
only do the broadcasting but also do all planning, programming, and preparation of
scripts. While Americans are in charge of the entire operation, they act mainly
as advisers and insure that basic policy is being followed.
Programming is effective and flexible, able to respond quickly to any
changing situation on either side of the Iron Curtain. Programs are varied and
all are designed to play a part in the basic plan. Musical programs, for example,
lean heavily to compositions banned by the Communists, especially folk songs and
national music which is a reminder of pre-Soviet days. Special programs on the
anniversary dates of historical events and the birthdays of national heroes also
help to keep alive memories of a happier past. Discussions of current events in
America, such as the national conventions and elections, are interpreted from the
point of view of their meaning to the captive peoples and to the struggle against
Communism. Religious programs sustain the spiritual feelings of an audience which
has been deeply religious and resists the atheistic program of the Kremlin.
News, of course, is paramount because the satellite peoples have no other
way of learning the truth about events in the rest of the world -- or in their own
countries. The weapon of satire is used with good effect. One Czech performer
composes and sings satirical songs about the Communist newscasts which he (and his
audience) hea P RY9daF% eat-%SOMgq/ap,: C 4 R?PAQ'AVgW ruling
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the actions and sacred cows of the dictatorship earned the highest possible praise --
the Communists started broadcasting a pallid imitation.
One of the most dramatic RFE actions is its continuing denunciations of in-
formers and traitors. It identifies such persons by name and locality and unmasks
them as stool pigeons for the secret police, often responsible for the hitherto un-
explained arrest and disappearance of persons in their communities. As a result,
such informers lose all value to their masters and are ostracized by their neighbors.
In a similar way, guards in prisons and slave labor camps with a reputation for
brutality are exposed and as a result often have modified their evil actions.
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RFE
This approach to psychological warfare has had a remarkable record of success.
Obviously, no one takes radio audience surveys behind the Iron Curtain, but there
are other ways of measuring effectiveness.
1) The reactions of the Communists themselves is one of the best indicators;
When they protest one knows that they have been hurt. Less than a month after RFE
opened its first all-Czechoslovak station the Czech government made an official pro-
test to our State Department demanding the closing of the station -- a request which,
of course, was ignored because RFE is privately owned. Red counter-propaganda aimed
at refuting RFE statements is frequent and a sure sign that blood is being drawn.
2) Persons escaping from behind the Iron Curtain are carefully questioned,
and provide much information on the success of the broadcasts.
3) Many letters, all unsigned for obvious reasons, slip through the censor-
ship and reach RFE through the regular mail.
Criticisms are just as valuable as praise because they often point the
directions in which programming can be aimed to keep it dynamic and up-to-date.
4) The Communists have launched vituperative attacks on RFE personnel,
especially the exiles, using all the old cliches such as calling them "tools of
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Wall Street warmongers and imperialists" in order to try to discredit them with
listeners. Once it threatened to execute all Germans working for RFE when western
Germany is "liberated".
5) The Communists have resorted to jamming techniques to stop the programs
from coming through. Although jamming creates a problem, the increasing number of
RFE transmitters makes it impossible to blank out the broadcasts -- especially since
the Red jammers also have to worry about programs from many other free world outlets:
Voice of America, BBC, Radio Vatican, Radio France, and others.
OPERATIONS AGAINST COMMUNISM IN ASIA
Just as the National Committee for a Free Europe with its several operating
arms has been organized to fight Communism behind the Iron Curtain, so is there a
similar organization whose field is Asia. The Committee for Free Asia was formed
in 1951. Although it is patterned generally after the National Committee for a
Free Europe, there are substantial differences because of the more complex pattern
of national viewpoints across the Pacific, and because of the different pattern of
Red aggression in Asia.
For one thing, CFA is not only engaged in fighting Communism where it has
already seized control, but is also waging a preventive battle to keep Kremlin
doctrine from spreading to other Eastern nations. The two organizations are com-
pletely separate: the only link is mutual support by the Crusade for Freedom.
One significant project which can be told was the sending of one-thousand
tons of newsprint to Korea where it was used to produce 4,500,000 elementary school
textbooks to replace those lost during the war.
Another important operation was "Seeds for Democracy" which, in two annual
campaigns brought donations of some one-and-a-half million packets of seeds from
all over the United States. These seeds were sent to the Philippines for distri-
bution to replace seeds which formerly were imported from China. The project,
simple in concpepprtovphas ?heevery pra/nt 5/Ca 'relsul oz~a~ ~P3Ps~b~-~rith the
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means of raising vegetables which are an important part of their balanced diet,
and thereby checkmating one of the appeals of Communism which makes its strongest
propaganda headway among people who are inadequately fed.
Still another project was the translation of the Boy Scout Manual into two
active dialects for use in Ceylon. The new manual makes it possible to bring
Scouting, with its anti-Communist message, into rural areas where Red propaganda
has made its greatest progress. The project has already produced requests for
translations for use in India and Malaya.
Where Communism already exists -- in China -- Radio Free Asia is the para-
mount weapon. Like Radio Free Europe, it is supported by the American people,
through the Crusade for Freedom.
Although younger than RFE, the Asian radio net is growing fast and is
giving a good account of itself. Radio Free Asia, with main offices in San Fran-
cisco, now operates three transmitters -- two in Manilla, one on Guam -- and hopes
to increase the number. Programs are broadcast in three Chinese dialects --
Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hakka -- and in English.
Programs are prepared and broadcast by Chinese. News and commentaries,
along with music now forbidden by the Chinese Reds, make up the bulk of the pro-
gramming. Special programs lean strongly to humor and satire which have a strong
appeal to the Chinese. A program called "Communist Bad Checks", for instance,
satirizes the big gap between Red promises and performance. "Big Mouth and the
Professor" plays up the perfidy of Red leaders and doctrines, and "Answer Man"
gives its listeners the answer to common questions about Communism and democracy.
Reactions to the broadcasts have been good. Not many, for obvious
reasons, have come from behind the Iron Curtain in China, but Chinese in other
Asiatic nations have praised the programs. These Chinese are an important objec-
tive of RFA because Communism is trying to win them over as a bridgehead into other
nations of Asia, and because they have channels of communication with their country-
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men in China.
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THE CRUSADE FOR FREEDOM
When Radio Free Europe went on the air in July of 1950, the group of Ameri-
cans interested in it decided that this fight against Communism was actually a
crusade of the American people, and that they should be allowed to express their
feelings. The Crusade for Freedom was born to serve as a sister organization of
Radio Free Europe and to rally support behind it. Later it also accepted responsi-
bility for supporting Radio Free Asia.
The first Crusade for Freedom Campaign opened in September, 1950, with
General Dwight D. Eisenhower making the kick-off speech. General Lucius D. Clay,
hero of the Berlin blockade, was made National Chairman of the organization.
The first campaign was sparked by the 20-ton Freedom Bell which toured the
nation, while millions of American citizens signed their names to scrolls signify-
ing their opposition to Communism. At the close of the campaign the bell was taken
to Berlin and hung in the city hall in the Western Sector, where it daily rings
out its reminder of freedom.
When the second Crusade campaign got underway last September, it had a year
of successful operation of Radio Free Europe to report. Its appeal was for support
to expand the network still more.
During the two campaigns more than 25-million people signed scrolls indi-
cating their support of the fight against Communism, and they contributed approxi-
mately three-and-a-half million dollars. This money was translated into anti-
Communist action by using it to build new transmitters for Radio Free Europe.
The Crusade for Freedom has also undertaken one important propaganda cam-
paign of its own, its Winds of Freedom operation in which thousands of balloons
carrying messages were loosed in the American Zone of Germany to be carried on the
prevailing westerly winds into Czechoslovakia and Poland.
The first message, a small, single-sheet leaflet, was designed to encourage
the finders apC?v~~~u~3+'e~YA42~re~IAv~814Q 4ft7Q~Q Some
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13,000 balloons, carrying 11-million leaflets were sent into the two countries in
an operation that continued over the first half of September. The balloon launch-
ings were closely coordinated with Radio Free Europe operations; day-long broad-
casts told the captive peoples how to distribute the leaflets to give them the
widest possible circulation. The enslaved people did their part because leaflets
were reported from areas far from the target areas of the balloon flights.
The operation was highly successful. It had a strong effect on the morale
of the people, who were especially elated at the inability of the Communists to
cope with the showers of leaflets. In some areas the people were forbidden even
to touch the sheets, in others they were ordered to help in picking them up.
Communist organizations scurried over the countryside, trying to cope with the
impossible task of seizing millions of leaflets which had fallen on cities, farms
and in woods.
Two weeks later another Winds of Freedom operation was carried out, this
time with a very definite objective. In September one of the most daring escapes
ever made from behind the Iron Curtain occurred when a Czech engineer drove his
passenger train down a spur track and across the border into Free Germany. The
Communist propaganda mills set out to try to counteract the electrifying effect
of the escape on the Czech people by grinding out a fantastic story of a plot by
Czech spies and traitors led by American agents. Radio Free Europe told the story,
but it was so dramatic that it needed to be brought to the attention of those
without radios and those in certain areas where Red jamming might have kept the
RFE story out. So several thousand more balloons with two million leaflets tel-
ling the true story of the escape and bearing pictures taken of the Freedom Train
and some of its happy passengers were launched. The Communists stopped their
propaganda campaign and turned to other measures, such as putting up barricades
on all rail lines crossing the borders.
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This year, 1952, Henry Ford II heads the Crusade as Chairman, and Charles E.
Wilson, formerly President of General Electric and Director of the Office of War
Mobilization will serve as Campaign Chairman.
The goal of the campaign is 94,000,000. In the past only a small part of the
total amount raised has come as large gifts; most of it has come from the dimes
and dollars given by millions of Americans with a deep sense of the dangers of
Communism. The pattern undoubtedly will be the same this year, and it is impor-
tant that tens of millions join the Crusade.
Those who do can sign their names and addresses to messages printed in the
languages of the Iron Curtain countries, which read:
"Do you listen to Radio Free Europe? I hope you do, for
I am one of millions of American citizens who have volun-
tarily contributed to build these stations, which bring
truth to you who are deprived of it.
"In America millions regularly pray for an understanding
between our peoples. Please add your prayers to ours.
Surely our common faith in God is the place where hope
for freedom begins."
Thus, the campaign will not only raise money to fight Communism in Asia
and Europe; but it also will give added hope and encouragement to the captive
peoples who will receive the messages which not only prove that the average
American is fighting Communism but is willing to publish the fact in Stalin's
own territory.
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