LEFT-WING PUBLISHER'S BOOKS USED AGAINST REDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01350R000200830026-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 20, 2004
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: October 18, 1969
• Content Type: NSPR

THE WASHINGTON POST
Approved For Release 200510?/@t'fDP88-01350R
London Observer
BONN-?Rowohlt, 1WWesi: Ger-
many's bestknown hook pub-
lishing house has been
thrown into turmoil by the
disclosure that its books are
being used by Bonn's Defense
Ministry for psychological
warfare aginst cast Germany.
Some 22 left-wing authors
are threatening to sever their
connections with the firm un-
less they are allowed to partic-
ipate in ltS mnna{?en1ei'.t. Ro-
wohlt has already lost two of
its top excctives.
With the. AYO. Germany's
new radical leftist opposition,
threatening an anti-Rowohlt of-
fensive, the firm was obliged
to withdraw from the current
Frankfurt Book Fair. An APO
spokesman had warned that
the firm's stands would be de-
stroyed.
Ironically, Rowohlt: has been
more prepared than any other
German publisher to serve as
an outlet for revolutionary lit.
er.ature. Mao Tse-tung, Che
Guevara, Daniel Cohn-Bendit
and Rudi Dutselrke have all
appeared under its imprint.
While furthering the cause
of the revolutionary left, Ro-
wohlt, as it has now emerged,
was also engaged in profitable
business with the Defense
Ministry. Two years ago the
Ministry ordered a special
30,000-copy edition of "Into the
Whirlwind," Evgenia Gins-
burg's book about her prison
experiences in Stalinist Rus-
sia.
The Ministry made no secret
about the purpose of this
order. The books were to be
,sent by balloons into East Ger-
many. Rowohlt's owner, Hein-
rich Maria Ledig-Rowohlt, felt;
some initial misgivings, but he
was reassured by his chief as-
sistant, Fritz Raddatz.
Raddatz, who came to Ro-
w ohlt 10 years ago from an
East German publishing
house, has been the chief pro-
moter of its left-wing books.
The. Ministry offer. should be
welcomed, he said; few people
in East Germany were given a
chance to read the Ginsburg
ontrac 't it
Bonn e e se Ministry
3 a'.
Ar ';r of
o us s Ire of
This spring, Rowohlt sup-
plied` the Defense Ministry
with another 20,000 copies of
the book. Then came a. new
order for a book about r_co??
nornic reforms in Czechoslova-
Ida written by an official of
the Dubeek regime.
All would have gone
smoothly if someone in East
Germany had not sent. a copy
of the Ginsburg book to Niko-
laus Neumann, a member of
Rowohlt's literary staff and
well-known left winger. tie
knew nothing of the deal with
the Defense Ministry.
Inside a green plastic cover
he found the Ginsburg text
camouflaged as an ordinary
notebook.' With the novel
came an invitation to East
German readers to write to an
address 'near Bonn. "Use a
false name and disguise your
handwriting," said the note.
Outraged by this discovery,
Neumann protested strongly
to the management. Ledig-
Rowohlt claimed he had not
been fully informed. I-IC
stopped delivery of the Czech-
oslovak book and ordered
that profits from the Ginsburg
deal be transferred to Am-
nesty International, a charita-
ble organization which aids
political prisoners. -
This was not the end of the
.affair. The writer for the
publishing house decided that
the Defense Ministry blunder
justified a request for partici-
pation in the management.
They received no response.
Subsequently, the Ginsburg
story leaked to the press.
At a staff meeting, L.edir;-
Rowohlt made it clear that do-
spite his radical sympathies he
was not prepared to grant the
request. In an angry outburst
he announced that rather ii3:on
book. see Rowohlt transformed into
Ledig-l'towolilt and Raddatz a collective he would prefer to
Sell. O l CotrO l~l~j' i t23
Claim they did not irispeAl~j~p~V@d,F'or e~ease
special edition printed on
Leftist Authors
Ledig-Rowohlt's. threat failed
to impress the rebels. Joined
by Rowohltt's left-wing authors,
they continued to demand a
in the control of the
share
first.
Germany's left-wing intellec-
t:uals are divided over the is-
sues involved. Some argue
that Evgenia Ginsburg's book
cannot be regarded as,'cold
.
war propaganda because she
remained a Communist de-
spite her experiences. They
see nothing objectionable
about her book being made
available to East Germans.
Others protest that such ac-
tions by the Bonn Defense -
Ministry only exacerbate ten-
sions between East and West
Germany. No left-wing' pub-
lishing house, they say, ahoald
lend itself to such coopera-
tion.
The most likely consequence
of this affair is that the de-
wands of the left-wing rebels
will deprive them of a major
publishing , Sou,5e,,willing?Jo
print books with nonconforiri-
ist views . that have limited
commercial appeal.
According to the Hamburg
weekly Die Zeit, :Ledig-Po
wohlt has decided to withdraw
his interest from the firm once
the present crisis has been set-
tied and Rowohlt's future is
.guaranteed. Already the
clashes inside Rowohlt have
led to the departure of two
key . inen-the business roan-'
alter, who was regarded as one
of Germany's 'cop experts in
his field, and Raddatz.
So far, nine authors have
severed their connections with
iiowohit. They accused the
firm of "breach of confidence"
by coo :,eratin g with. the De-
fense Ministry in "subversive
activities" directed against
East Germany.
All were preparing a series
of sexology books. In their
statement they announced
that they would try to realize
their "political-sexological. pro-
gram" elsewhere. .. , a
CIA-RDP88-0135OR000200830026-5
their presses.
 25X1 Approved For Release 2005/08/23 : CIA-RDP88-0135OR000200830026-5
Approved For Release 2005/08/23 : CIA-RDP88-0135OR000200830026-5