The Urgent Whisper: Broadcasting with "Barbara" ©

 Greenwood Project

 

UMPIRE as a Special Procedures Group (SPG) project was CIA's first psychological warfare project that provided for the production and dissemination of covert propaganda against the Soviet Union and East European countries behind the Iron Curtain using radio broadcasts and printed material. The project designation was later changed on 1 December 1948 to EDUCATOR and then to QKDEMON. The Special Procedures Group became the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) in August 1948, which then took over the SPG projects, including UMPIRE. The Greenwood Project was a sub-project of UMPIRE

The first OPC radio broadcasting site was at Lampertheim, Germany – located midway between Heidelberg and Darmstadt. Elements of the U.S. Army Security Agency (ASA) constructed the site under the cover of a "Communications Ionosphere Research Unit." The military unit cover designation was: "7989 Special Technical Unit, Weinheim Sub-post, Heidelberg, Germany."   

By November 1948, construction at the transmitting site in Lampertheim was completed on two-class "E" rhombic transmitting antennas bearing 70 and 112 degrees. "The antennas were complete with transmission lines and dissipation lines. Also completed was the erection of masts for class "E" rhombic transmitting antennas bearing 130 degrees and two folded dipoles bearing 70 and 120 degrees. No additional work was done to these antennas due to lack of material for the rhombic and lack of frequency information for folded di-poles."  

The offices for the broadcasting site headquarters were set up at No. 4 Bobostrasse, Weinheim, by converting the living space into offices. A file room included three-combination, cabinet-type safes for classified documents. The Quartermaster, Heidelberg Military Post, provided the office furniture, including desks, chairs, tables, etc.  

ASA built and then loaned to OPC 15 radio towers, 63 and 90 feet tall, to the project. They were loaned to OPC with the understanding that they would be returned to ASA or replaced when new ones from the U.S. arrived. Reportedly, "Tower directional pattern permits broadcasting to all major satellite areas." Electricity was provided by a 50 KW generator and two transformers connected to a 20,000-voltage line 4 kilometers away.  6

By December 1948, the main building of the transmitting site consisted of:

 

·      transmitting studio. which took up one entire end of the building

·      sleeping rooms 12 sq. m., 

·      one large shower room, 

·      dining room and 

·      kitchen

 

The blueprints of the main building were entitled "Lampertheim Project. Five guards were protecting the installation, including the buildings, towers, and antennas.  Project UMPIRE was discontinued on 1 December 1948 and succeeded by projects EDICT and EDUCATOR."  

On 20 December 1948, OPC Washington sent a message to OPC Karlsruhe: "Recommend return to towers to ASA as soon as possible with thanks and appropriate explanation. Retain other Greenwood property for future use."   

On 23 February 1949, OPC Karlsruhe advised Policy Coordination that Lt. Colonel Walker, ASA, said, "He was willing to forget whole dismantling project if we agree to replace masts and wire borrowed from his unit as soon as placatable." 9. On 14 March 1949, OPC headquarters informed Karlsruhe OPC and Heidelberg OPC branches: "Unless dismantling not already underway, leave entire installation in place. We will supply ASA with replacements for all equipment. If dismantling in progress, use your best judgment as to whether it can be halted diplomatically." Dismantling did not begin. 

The Karlsruhe OPC office sent a message on 17 March 1949 to OPC headquarters: "Lt. Colonel Walker agreeable to allow site to remain intact as his outfit was not looking forward to dismantling. Would appreciate some indication of shipping date of replacement as he is planning new construction for coming summer and replacement items scheduled for this new site." On 31 March 1949, Karlsruhe OPC sent this message to Washington: "Wire borrowed from ASA did not comprise complete rhombic antenna kits. ASA willing to accept three antenna kits minus transmission line, dissipation line, and pole line kits and consider the matter closed. No other items required."  

In an internal memorandum to ADPC Frank Wisner dated 4 February 1949, an OPC officer wrote about the negative developments of the project:

 

The ill-coordinated and frequently ill-advised series of moves resulted in the premature establishment of OPC's activities in Germany and a consequent series of operational misfires.

 

It is true that the unfortunate series of circumstances surrounding the Greenwood Project caused a certain amount of hard feeling in the theater, but this was primarily at the level of the functional commands which did a lot of work on this project without being fog, aware of the reasons for having started it in the first place or for later abandoning it. Inasmuch as General Walsh supported the concept of the old UMPIRE operation and was, to a large extent, for the rush orders, which went out for Greenwood.  

 

U.S. Air Force General Robert LeGrow Walsh was director of intelligence of the European Command, Office of Military Government at Berlin, Germany. 

 

Mobile Transmitting Equipment

 

On 9 June 1949, OPC headquarters sent a message to Heidelberg OPC on the subject of Mobile radio operation -- EDUCATOR Project, which was an answer to a message from Heidelberg OPC, 29 April 1949 (copy not available): 

 

1.     The essential reason for the delay in answering your dispatch of 29 April enclosing the plan for mobile radio operation is due to the fact that we have given a considerable amount of study and discussion to the proposal. It is a well-thought-out paper. 

2.     There are a number of considerations that enter the picture and a number of questions we should like to put to you with reference to it, but we think this is not the time for it since the entire policy of black radio is still under review here. We know that the technique is being used by the opposition forces, but the advisability of our engaging in the work is still faced with some doubt.

3.     The plea, which you propose, will be brought out again for consideration when a determination of policy is made here. In the meantime, thanks for submitting it. You will be advised at once when policy is laid down. 

 

A 29 December 1949 CIA memorandum makes mention of mobile broadcasting equipment in storage:

 

1.     The Chief of Communications has requested that he be advised as to the foreseeable requirements, which would necessitate the use of the mobile broadcasting equipment procured and built under the Project UMPIRE, 

2.     The equipment has been on a 10-day call since it was built, and the maintenance under such condition is such that two men are required hall time, and considerable warehouse spew/ is allocated for it. 

3.     The cost of maintenance and the use of the space is justified if there will be an urgent need for the equipment at some future time, but (redacted) informs me that UMPIRE is dead, and if the equipment is needed by him in the future, it will be known at least one month in advance. 

4.     Therefore, if there is no immediate existing need for the equipment, it is suggested that the Chief of Communications be notified and be allowed to have the equipment mothballed and stored for future use.  

 

The mobile broadcasting equipment, referred to in this exchange, probably was the mobile unit "Barbara" used to broadcast Radio Free Europe's first program on 4 July 1950 to Czechoslovakia. "Barbara" was not one vehicle but a set of seven vehicles: studio van, the transmitter van, generators, a fuel supply truck, jeep and trailer, camping and housekeeping equipment, and a flatbed truck for the antenna towers. 

Beginning 4 July 1950, the first programs to Czechoslovakia only consisted of music and spot announcements advising the listener that complete programming of news and commentary would start on 14 July 1950.  On that date, "Barbara" also sent its first broadcast to Romania. In August 1950, shortwave broadcasts began to Hungary, Poland, and Bulgaria. It is doubtful that anyone heard the first programs due to the relatively low power of the mobile transmitter. Thus the idea was borne for a powerful medium-wave transmitter south of Munich for Czechoslovakia, a new transmitting site at Bibis, Germany, and a vast transmitting site in Gloria, Portugal, outside Lisbon. 

Time magazine reported on 17 July 1950, under the rubric "Urgent Whisper": 

 

This week Czech and Rumanian radio listeners could hear music, plays, and satires forbidden by their Communist masters—as well as the voices of men long exiled. These forbidden broadcasts came from a Radio Free Europe transmitter deep in Western Germany. 

 

RFE's lone 71⁄2-kilowatt transmitter is only a whisper compared to the worldwide-station network of Voice of America. But RFE, a branch of the National Committee for a Free Europe founded last year by a group of private U.S. citizens, expects to make up in pungency for its lack of volume. Explains Banker Frank Altschul, chairman of RFE: "Unhampered by diplomatic restrictions, we can slant our programs in a more definitely anti-Soviet way than the Voice." 

 

Welcomed by the State Department as a freewheeling, free-speaking ally in the propaganda war, RFE plans to boost its power with five transmitters now on order. It intends, eventually, to speak strongly to every Communist satellite from the Baltic to the Black Sea. 

 

The New York Times reported, "New'  Voice' Talks to Europe Like Member of the Family." Some grass-root newspapers in the United States printed this editorial about Radio Free Europe, and it's secret-location transmitter: 

 

Many wise statesmen have been appealing insistently to the free world to exert greater effort to the grimy "struggle for men's mind." They have pounded repeatedly on the idea that it isn't enough to combat Russian Communism with economic and military measures: that freedom must be shown to be a great cause, is really a way of life eminently superior to the slavery imposed by Moscow. 

 

The first Imaginative stride in this direction has now been taken. From a secret radio transmitter in Europe, a new series of programs is being beamed to the countries behind the Iron Curtain. [...] Radio Free Europe, as the new transmitter is called, is the product of the National Committee for Free Europe, which was organized about a year ago by outstanding American citizens. 

 

We must make plain to decent people everywhere that the language of Communism is the language of falsehood, that Russia's words can never be believed because words to the Soviet Union are simply weapons in the psychological theater of war.

 

Initially, the first Radio Free Europe broadcasts were prepared in RFE's New York studios and air transported to Germany, but this was time-consuming. Soon, the entire broadcast operation would be moved to Munich, Germany. The administrative and editorial offices were located at Sieberstrasse 4, in Munich, where there were two studios, two newsrooms, a tape library, a recorded music library, a control room installed in the kitchen, offices for the staff, and the workers found space in the passageways of the building. 

On Labor Day, 4 September 1950, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, then President of Columbia University, passionately called for an American Crusade for Freedom in a nation-wide radio broadcast from Denver, Colorado, covered by the four major radio networks (ABC, CBS, NBS, and Mutual): 

 

I speak tonight [...] about the Crusade for Freedom. This Crusade is a campaign sponsored by private American citizens to fight the big lie with the big truth. It is a program that has been hailed by President Truman and others as an essential step in getting the case for freedom heard by the world's multitudes. [...] We need powerful radio stations abroad, operated without government restrictions, to tell in vivid and convincing form about the decency and essential fairness of democracy. These stations must tell of our aspirations for peace, our hatred of war, our support of the United Nations, and our constant readiness to cooperate with all who have these same desires. [...] One such private station, Radio Free Europe, is now in operation in Western Germany. It daily brings a message of hope and encouragement to a small part of the masses of Europe.   

 

Jonas Kukauskas-Kukis aka “Jack“ – Lithuanian Cold War Hero or Villain?

Jonas Kukauskas-Kukis aka “Jack“ – Lithuanian Cold War Hero or  Villain? 

 

In February 1938 Kukauskas at that time a student in Vilnius, then under Polish suzerainty, attempted to cross the Polish border into Lithuania to deliver information to the Lithuanian Intelligence Service. He was apprehended by the Polish counter-intelligence, interrogated, and brought to trial. He was released because his act was determined to have been that of an irresponsible boy, rather than sponsored by an intelligence service.

 

In 1944 he crossed Poland and arrived in Berlin. He later studied and the university in Frankfurt. In October 1946, he was recruited by the Operations Chief of Vlik for a mission organized by French intelligence. At Pfullingen, Germany, he was trained in communications until May 1947. 

In May 1948,  he was taken to Paris where he was given intelligence training, including jump techniques by the French. There had, been no contact with French representatives except their instructors, administrative matters being handled by Dr. Backis, the Lithuanian representative in Paris. In April 1950 when the French dispatch failed to materialize, Kukauskas was dismissed by the French case officer and were escorted by a French representative to Strasbourg. He was met by a representative of VLIK who sent him on to Munich. Jonas Kukauskas-Kukis' "Jack", was recruited by OSO sometime in Spring 1950.

 

Kukauskas was recruited by OSO sometime in Spring 1950. 

 

He was dispatched on 18-19 April 1951 into Kaunas area of Lithuania with Butenas for the purpose of

 

a. Establishment of contact with the underground resistance forces in Lithuania.

b. Reorganization of the underground resistance forces along more effective lines.

c. Establishment of reliable w/t and s/w communication between Lithuania and the American Zone of Germany.

d. Procurement of positive and operational intelligence.

 

Kukauskas was in the forest bunker with Butenas on May 21, 1951, and surrendered to the Lithuanian security forces. He then agreed to cooperate with them in a radio game with CIA. Kukuskas continued to send messages as part of the “radio game” that had been initiated in 1949 (Volna—Wave) and 1950 (Lyes – Forest).  Reportedly his KGB operational pseudonym was “Balandis.”

Kukauskas made contact with resistance leader Luksa (and CIA agent) and got him to agree to a meeting in Pabartupis village forest near Kaunas. The meeting never took place as Luksa was killed or committed suicide during an ambush by Lithuanian security forces. 

 

Jack sent his first message on 15 June 1951 and continued sending sporadically until 29 November 1951. He reported again for the first time since his silence in April 1952 with the excuse that his silence was due to a faulty generator. The last message received from jack to date as on 27 December 1952. One CIA report stated, " It is not definitely established that Jack is under control but his long silence during the winter and the content of his messages seem to indicate that control is likely." 

 

CIA reviewed the failed Lithuanian operations and stopped them in 1952, when it was estimated that only 700 partisans wee in Lithuania. In 1956, Adolfas Ramanauskas (Vanagas), the last partisan leader, was arrested and hanged in Kaunas. 

 

Julijonas Būtėnas: A Lithuanian Cold War Martyr ©

 

On April 18-19, 1951, for the second infiltration, the CIA doubleton team of Julijonas Būtėnas  (“Steve”) and Jonas Kukauskas-Kukis (“Jack”) were dropped into the Kaunas area Lithuania. Their mission was, 

• Establishment of contact with the underground resistance forces in Lithuania.


• Reorganization of the underground resistance forces along more effective lines.


• Establishment of reliable wireless transmission and secret writing communication between Lithuania and. the American Zone of Germany.


• Procurement of positive and operational intelligence. 

Būtėnas was the “jumpmaster” for the parachuting of the first three agents in October 1950 He had been a journalist in Lithuania. After WWII, he was in a displaced persons camp in Würzburg, Germany, home of VLIK. He became the head of the VLIK information office and also taught English to Lithuanian refugees.

Būtėnas was recruited for intelligence work in September 1949 through officials of VLIK. He had been living in an IRO camp in Pfullingen, Germany. He was originally recruited to act as a translator and agent instructor. From 1949, Būtėnas lived in a safehouse in Munich with Luksa.  Later, from about May 1950, he lived with all the agents who were being trained for CIA dispatches, including Jonas Kakauskas-Kukis. It was not until 28 August 1950 that he was assigned to a team for dispatch

After they landed in Lithuania, Būtėnas separated from Kukauskas-Kukis and contacted the underground headquarters in the Tauras Region. As the story goes, Būtėnas and Petras Jurkšaitis (Beržas),  the commander of the underground unit were killed in a farm house in the village of Altoniskiai, by Lithuanian security forces on or about May 21, 1951. The farmer was supposedly drunk and gossiped with his neighbors, one of whom informed the security forces. 

Another version of his death is that he bit into the cyanide pill and killed himself.  However, in April 1956, the Lithuanian language newspaper "Teviskes Ziburiai" (The Lights of Homeland) published in Toronto, Canada, reported that Butenas was alive and in a forced labor camp after being caught by security forces, put on trial, and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. 

In any event, he was buried in an unmarked grave. There is a memorial cross with a parachute in Kazlų Rūda, Lithuania. On May 19, 1999, Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus posthumously awarded Būtėnas the Order of the Vytis Cross, 3rd degree.