German freedom broadcaster 29.8

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Deutscher Freiheitsender 29.8 was a radio station that broadcasted from January 19, 1937 to March 28, 1939 from Madrid , Spain, and addressed the population of the German Empire in German . The name 29.8 results from the shortwave frequency of 29.8 meters (10067 kHz).

founding

Two German anti-fascists , the former communist member of the state parliament Franz Dahlem and the journalist Gerhart Eisler , received permission from the information minister of the Popular Front government, Jesus Hernandez , to set up a radio station for anti-fascist broadcasts to Germany in early 1937 during the Spanish civil war . The "Deutsche Freiheitsender 29.8" was able to start work on January 19, 1937 with the words: "This is the transmitter of the German Freedom Party!"

Target of the sender

"Caution! Attention! The German freedom broadcaster 29.8 speaks here. Despite GeStaPo! If you cannot hear us one evening, for understandable reasons, look for us the next evening! We keep coming back! "

The German freedom broadcaster 29.8 reported via a station near Madrid between January 1937 and March 1939. Initially, the freedom broadcaster 29.8 established itself as the voice of the KPD , which was banned in the German Reich, and later it made itself available to the Parisian “Popular Front Committee”, also known as the “ Lutetia Circle ”. This opening on all political sides made it possible for many famous German and foreign personalities to have their say on the station. B. Bertolt Brecht , Willi Bredel , Albert Einstein , Lion Feuchtwanger , Ernest Hemingway , the " mad reporter " Egon Erwin Kisch , Heinrich Mann and Thomas Mann , Erich Weinert and many more

The German freedom broadcaster 29.8 saw its task as enlightening the German population about the true nature of fascism. So he made known to the Germans that the " Legion Condor " was deployed in Spain (on April 26, 1937 the Legion Condor bombed Guernica ) and warned urgently of the dangers of an approaching war in Europe. In line with the intentions of the Paris Popular Front Committee, the station advocated a Popular Front government in Germany.

Again and again, resistance was called over the wave 29.8 meters. Precise instructions on how to resist the Hitler dictatorship and on acts of sabotage were given.

Whisper propaganda

As one of the first anti-fascist broadcasters, 29.8 gained a relatively high level of awareness among German workers. His reports were passed on as "whisper propaganda". The Gestapo immediately started looking for the transmitter. The fascist police authorities suspected the transmitter in different places, sometimes in southern Germany or in the Saar area. They searched houses, trucks and ships on the Rhine.

Reception with shortwave receiver

The German information reported on 12 October 1937 since the spring there were for shortwave receiver "in the German cities a striking desire to buy" to hear "especially the German Freedom Station on wave 29.8". Devices with “special protection against short-wave interference” were preferred.

End of information

With the defeat of the Spanish republican government - Madrid fell on March 28, 1939 - the German freedom broadcaster 29.8 had to stop its broadcasts. The radio workers only had a short time to escape. They were among the last to leave the city and Spain.

After the end of the freedom channel 29.8, another channel with the same name briefly reported on the same wave, which was operated from France by Werner Thormann and probably also Willi Münzenberg . It did not reach the popularity of the original station.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ German information no. 250, p. 2