RFE/RL’s Polish Broadcast Archives Now Available To Stream
All the preserved RFE Polish Service broadcasts are now available for on-demand streaming at a new Polish Radio website, ‘Radios of Freedom.’
WARSAW, POLAND — All the preserved RFE Polish Service broadcasts are now available for on-demand streaming at a new Polish Radio website, ‘Radios of Freedom.’
These broadcasts are a unique part of Polish history. They demonstrate how Poles abroad – in partnership with Americans – helped preserve the spirit of Polish independence and freedom during the Cold War.
‘Radios of Freedom’ was launched at a recent conference in Warsaw. The event was organized by Andrzej Mietkowski, former head of the RFE/RL Warsaw bureau, and featured a number of former international broadcasters as well as members of the Polish government.
Through these stations, America did not seek to impose freedom but empower people to find their own.
Daniel Fried, formerly the American Ambassador in Warsaw, told the gathering by video recording: “My government established these stations – it was one of America’s better ideas. But Americans did not generate their content; Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Estonians, and others from then-captive nations generated it. Through these stations, America did not seek to impose freedom but empower people to find their own.”
Former RFE/RL Polish Service Director Zdzislaw Najder echoed this perspective in an English-language interview for Polish Radio’s external service.“[RFE] did not shape attitudes; it made people more aware of what their real attitudes are. It informed them about neighbors. Sometimes it was difficult to communicate with people in the next town, because of censorship, because of police [surveillance]. The radio could gather this information and transmit it.”