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Unkle Tobias: propaganda for children

After World War II Germany was separated into 4 sectors. These occupation zones were controlled by the Soviet Union, the United States, France, and Great Britain. In 1947 the zones of western countries were merged. Western countries developed the German Economy and created the new currency in their zone. The Soviet Union was worried about this policy, due to the reason, that the combined zone had more power than communists [1]. On August 13, 1961, the government of East Germany built a wall, which divided one side of the city from another. Before the wall was installed, people were able to move around the city without limitations. Berliners could work, study, and spend their free time in any part of the city. After that, civilians were rarely allowed to cross the border [2]. American Military administration decided to establish a radio broadcasting system, but it was challenging since Berlin Radio was controlled by the Soviets [3]. The fact that the communists tried to control the whole city made Americans worry. Stalin was not interested in western values, like democracy and freedom, and the eastern broadcasting system was grounded in Marxist-Leninist ideology [4]. The radio Berliner Rundfunk (Berlin Radio) refused to provide the air time for the American Radio [5]. On February 7, 1946, the radio RIAS (Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor; English: Radio in the American Sector) started broadcasting. The access to the radio was limited since it was disseminated through the telephone line. In September the radio transmitter was installed. The station gained much popularity due to diverse programming [5]. According to the report of the State Department, the RIAS was “primary source of reliable information and contact with the Free World” [4, p. 48]. For the Socialist government, this source of information was difficult to control, because people of the German Democratic Republic owned approximately 3363000 radio sets. The United States was able to broadcast on the whole Eastern zone, due to the unique geographical position and the usage of different frequencies. The station provided accurate news and avoided sensationalism. One of the RIAS goals was to promote democratic institutions, such as free press [4, p. 49]. In addition to news and information programs, RIAS provided a wide range of entertainment for all. From 1947 until 1972 every Saturday morning at 10 am German kids were listening to the RIAS Children Visit Unkle Tobias (Die RIAS Kinder Besuchen Onkel Tobias) radio show. This entertainment program operated as anticommunist propaganda: it promoted democratic values through songs, stories and other fun activities [6, p. 1]. This show did not include any political information itself but was teaching the target audience to western world values, such as independence and critical thinking. These skills must have caused the rejection of Communism [6, p. 1]. Children were the sustainable target audience for the propaganda: they lived in the city, destroyed by the war, many of them lost their relatives, and the communist party treated them not as kids, but as future ‘helpers of the party’ [6, p. 4]. The political propaganda was distributed even through the schools. In contrast, the goal of RIAS was to provide them with a normal childhood, full of games, friends, and fun. The show did not include direct political propaganda. The program was led by Fritz Genschow (1905- 1977), who was a theatre and film actor, film director and film producer [7]. He had experience in the organization of children’s shows. In addition to Fritz 4 kids participated in the program: Liselotte, Monica, Wölfchen and Axel. Sometimes other participants were invited. All children had different recognizable characters and passions. Unkle Tobias always treated them as equal, and never spoke down to them [6, p. 5]. Children sent many letters to the radio station. Unkle Tobias newer answered them himself. RIAS used the letters from kids as feedback, and it helped the station control the content of the program. RIAS had an entire department for this goal, where employes collected the preferences and the criticism from the auditory. Children shared their opinion about the program, explained their problems and concerns and wrote about their achievements and life. The parents were sending letters with their opinion about the program context, questions about the schedule and the words of gratitude or criticism to the creators of the show. When Unkle Tobias read the letters aloud he did not say the names of senders, because they could get troubled by the East German government. [6, p. 8] Unkle Tobias show was not political propaganda itself but taught Eastern German kids the democratic values to force them to reject the communist ones. Rarely the show declared the anti-communist message. For example, they discussed a story of 13-year old Gerlinde S., who wanted to study fashion, but was unable to get into any school, because she was not a member of Free German Youth [6, p. 9]. The show also had a goal to attract children to this radio station, when they become adults and to attract the parents to other RIAS programs. The show was successful. When it changed its programming schedule the RIAS received many letters from listeners, with the questions about the show. Unkle Tobias built a long-lasting relationship with his audience, where the Communist ideology had no place. According to sociologists, RIAS was the most popular source of information about the German Democratic Republic, and the majority of people were listening to this station [4, p. 69]. This radio helped people in the Eastern sector distrust their government [4, p. 73]. The propaganda had a crucial role in the history of the Cold War. As a result of political changes on November 9, 1989 people were allowed to cross the border again [2]. More than two million people visited west berlin during that weekend. Many factors influenced this event including propaganda and this show. The war was over.

Bibliography: [1]	The Cold War Museum, “SEPARATION OF BERLIN.” [Online]. Available: http://www.coldwar.org/articles/40s/separation_of_berlin.asp. [2]	History.com Editors, “Berlin Wall,” History. [Online]. Available: https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall. [3]	RIAS Berlin — History (1). Youtube. [4]	N. J. Schlosser, Cold war on the airwaves : the radio propaganda war against East Germany. University of Illinois Press, 2015. [5]	“Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor,” Wikipedia. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rundfunk_im_amerikanischen_Sektor. [6]	J. L. Clinefelter, “Not Child’s Play, Propaganda: Audience Reception of Rias Berlin’s Uncle Tobias,” Hist. J. Film Radio Telev., vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 322–340, Apr. 2019. [7]	“Fritz Genschow,” Wikipedia. [Online]. Available: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Genschow.