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''Feindsender'' ('''Enemy radio station) was a term used in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
to describe
radio stations Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...
broadcast by enemies of the
German Reich German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...
before and during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, such as the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
or the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. It also referred to radio stations in Germany which broadcast anti-Nazi material. The term has not been in general use since the downfall of the Third Reich.


Background

As early as 1929, Soviet
Radio Moscow Radio Moscow ( rus, Pадио Москва, r=Radio Moskva), also known as Radio Moscow World Service, was the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics until 1993. It was reorganized with a new name ...
broadcast German-language radio programs, mainly to support the agitation by the Communist Party of Germany against the
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
government. After the Nazi '' Machtergreifung'' in 1933, anyone caught by the
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
listening to Radio Moscow could be sent to a
concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
. The Nazis attempted to
jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and ente ...
the broadcasts, this however also affected their own ''
Deutschlandsender Deutschlandsender (, ''Radio Germany''), abbreviated DLS or DS, was one of the longest-established radio broadcasting stations in Germany. The name was used between 1926 and 1993 to denote a number of powerful stations designed to achieve all-Ger ...
'' transmissions. In 1936 the
Reich Ministry of Justice ''Reich'' (; ) is a German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word " realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emperor") and ' (l ...
decreed that anyone listening to Radio Moscow could be prosecuted for treason. Secret Gestapo reports attested to the popularity of German-language programs aired by foreign radio stations. Various new laws and prohibitions were put in place following the start of the second world war. One of the new law, introduced on 1 September 1939 (the first day of the German
Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
), was the "extraordinary radio-measures act" (german: Verordnung über außerordentliche Rundfunkmaßnahmen). The law prohibited deliberate listening to any foreign radio station under threat of prison. Likewise all non-governmental radio transmissions were banned and the two-way radios used by German
amateur radio operator An amateur radio operator is someone who uses equipment at an amateur radio station to engage in two-way personal communications with other amateur operators on radio frequencies assigned to the amateur radio service. Amateur radio operators ...
s were seized by the ''Reichspost''.


Persecution

The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
came to be regarded as the main ''Feindsender'', and listening to the German-language
longwave In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the e ...
program from
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
was punishable with imprisonment. Broadcasts like
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
's '' Listen, Germany!'' were still widely heard. Radio Moscow,
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
,
Vatican Radio Vatican Radio ( it, Radio Vaticana; la, Statio Radiophonica Vaticana) is the official broadcasting service of Vatican City. Established in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, today its programs are offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave, ...
and the Swiss
Beromünster Beromünster is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. On 1 January 2004 the former municipality of Schwarzenbach merged into the municipality of Beromünster.Black propaganda Black propaganda is a form of propaganda intended to create the impression that it was created by those it is supposed to discredit. Black propaganda contrasts with gray propaganda, which does not identify its source, as well as white propagan ...
broadcasters disguised as German armed forces stations like British Soldatensender Calais or Gustav Siegfried Eins and German
pirate radio Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially ...
stations were also popular. German citizens ('' Reichsbürger'') denounced for violating the prohibition could expect to get off with warning for a first offence, or an arrest for a repeat offence, if they were listening to something relatively innocuous like comedy or
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
. However, spreading information considered demoralising was punished with incarceration or even with the death penalty. Death sentences were seldom based solely on radio listening but — in the cases of
Helmuth Hübener Helmuth Günther Guddat Hübener (8 January 1925 – 27 October 1942) was a German youth who was executed at age 17 by beheading for his opposition to the Nazi regime. He was the youngest person of the German resistance to Nazism to be sent ...
and Walter Klingenbeck — rested on convictions for
high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
or ''
Wehrkraftzersetzung ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' or ''Zersetzung der Wehrkraft'' (German for "undermining defence force") was a sedition offence in German military law during the Nazi Germany era from 1938 to 1945. ''Wehrkraftzersetzung'' was enacted in 1938 by decre ...
''. Estimates vary of how many listeners the ''Feindsender'' had. According to ''
Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...
'' reports, a large-scale campaign in 1941, charging Nazi ''
Blockleiter ''Blockleiter'' (Block Warden), where ''block'' refers to city block, was from 1933 the title of a lower Nazi Party political rank responsible for the political supervision of a neighborhood. Referred to in common parlance as ''Blockwart'', t ...
'' to visit the households in their area and attach warning paper tags to receiving sets, met widespread discontent. The author of Berlin Embassy, a bilingual American who traveled widely in Germany in 1939-40, estimated that 60 percent of Germans secretly listened to foreign broadcasts at low volume. Listening to foreign radio stations has been dubbed "the little man's resistance" because, together with being friendly to forced laborers (also a crime, and punished even more harshly), and taking detours to avoid passing a Nazi memorial where one would be forced to salute (the Viscardi Way or "Shirkers' Way" in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
) it was very common and, later, could allow individuals to claim they had never really been a Nazi.{{Citation needed, date=November 2011


The term ''Feindsender'' in popular culture

* The Electro-Pop-band '' Welle: Erdball'' wrote a song called ''Feindsender'' 64.3.


External links


Gray and Black Radio Propaganda against Nazi Germany
Extensively illustrated paper describing the Allied effort in World War II to undermine Germany through unidentified or misidentified radio broadcasts. Nazi terminology Radio during World War II