CIA officials responsible for RFE question the criticism of RFE Polish broadcasts by the Polish Government, the West German Government, and the State Department and conclude that coverage of the December 1970 unrest in Poland was responsible and effective.

In Warsaw Embassy Airgram A-666, US Embassy officers analyze six weeks of RFE Polish broadcasts and conclude that they support US policy objectives by informing Poles about developments in Poland and the world and encouraging evolutionary change.

Frank Wisner, reflecting on the Hungarian Revolution, suggests that Soviet Communism is on the defensive and RFE broadcasts to Poland should discourage violence while supporting Party leader Gomulka’s efforts to gain more autonomy from the Soviet Union. IOD Chief Cord Meyer annotates the memorandum.

Decree ordering the USSR Ministry of Communications to assist with the jamming of Western radio broadcasts in Poland.

The Interior Ministry directive from which this document is excerpted ordered an investigation into how a confidential regime survey of attitudes toward the Catholic Church could have been leaked to RFE. In a follow-up report almost two years later, the Interior Ministry conceded on June 25, 1987 that many people had access to the report and it was impossible to determine who had provided RFE with the material.

This Central Committee Information Department document contains an analysis of “Western propaganda” during martial law. While claiming that Polish society is “stabilizing,” the Department recommends increased research, analysis, and coordinated publications to counter Western ideological “subversion.”

This document is an early reflection of concern with RFE’s impact in Poland. Particular attention is given to the broadcasts of Jószef Światło, the senior Interior Ministry official who defected in December 1953.

This intelligence report indicates detailed knowledge of certain RFE operations, including audience research among Polish travelers in Western Europe, and news gathering by its field bureaus. It is noteworthy that the first name on the distribution list for this report was Party chief Gomułka.