ИСКРЫ СВОБОДЫ. Записки ветерана радио

<p>Dzhin Sosin (1924-2015) - odin iz sozdateleĭ i rukovoditeleĭ Radio Osvobozhdenie (Svoboda) - rabotal v Nʹi͡u-Ĭorke i Mi͡unkhene, vozglavli͡ai͡a Programmnyĭ otdel, organizoval mezhdunarodnye konferent͡sii i vystuplenii͡a v pechati v zashchitu stant͡sii, priglashal k radiomikrofonu zapadnykh dei͡ateleĭ kulʹtury i politikov, navodi͡a mosty mezhdu Amerikoĭ i Rossieĭ. Ego memuary - rasskaz o kholodnoĭ voĭne s chelovecheskim lit͡som. </p> <p><span>…Politicheskie anekdoty izvestny v Rossii s t͡sarskikh vremen. Samoe strogoe nakazanie za nikh bylo pri sovetskoĭ vlasti, osobenno pri Staline. Rasskazchika mogli prigovoritʹ k 25 godam lagereĭ, a inogda i k smerti. Polnye edkoĭ ironii, anekdoty vysmeivali pustye obeshchanii͡a i lozungi sovetskoĭ propagandy. My chasto nachini͡ali nashi programmy ostrymi shipami, nat͡selennymi v partii͡u, KGB, nizkoe kachestvo povsednevnoĭ zhizni i prochie storony deĭstvitelʹnosti. Obʺedini͡ai͡a sebi͡a so slushateli͡ami v vysmeivanii nenavistnoĭ sistemy, Radio Svoboda</span><em><span> </span></em><span>pomogalo svoemu obrazu surrogatnogo radio.</span></p> <p><span>…</span><em><span>Magnitizdat</span></em><em><span> </span></em><span>- zapisi nepriznannykh ofit͡sialʹnoĭ propagandoĭ materialov, osobenno zapreshchennykh pesen - zanimal bolʹshoe mesto v ėnergichnoĭ kulʹture "andergraunda", prot͡svetavsheĭ v brezhnevskui͡u poru. S nachala semidesi͡atykh godov Radio Svoboda</span><em><span> </span></em><span>nachalo sobiratʹ kollekt͡sii͡u plenok, privozimykh na Zapad ėmigrantami, i peredavatʹ ikh obratno sovetskim slushateli͡am. Tri "barda" byli samymi populi͡arnymi v to vremi͡a: Bulat Okudzhava, Aleksandr Galich i Vladimir Vysot͡skiĭ. Byli izvestny takzhe imena I͡Ulii͡a Kima (polurusskogo, polukoreĭt͡sa), Mikhaila Nozhkina, Novelly Matveevoĭ, Mikhaila Ancharova, I͡Urii͡a Vizbora, Anatolii͡a Ivanova i Evgenii͡a Kli͡achkina.</span></p> <p><span>…"Nebesnye" glushilki rabotali po print͡sipu radioperedatchikov, posylai͡a signaly vnutri Sovetskogo Soi͡uza kak raz v te raĭony, na kotorye byli napravleny nashi volny. No blagodari͡a tomu, chto vysota ionosfery nad Zapadnoĭ i Vostochnoĭ Evropoĭ v techenie sutok meni͡aetsi͡a, signaly sovetskikh peredatchikov inogda rastvori͡alisʹ v prostranstve, i togda radio mozhno bylo slushatʹ bez pomekh. Mestnye glushilki v bolʹshikh gorodakh byli, konechno, namnogo silʹnee opisannykh. No priem mozhno bylo znachitelʹno uluchshitʹ, uvelichiv moshchnostʹ signala.<span> </span>Sovetskie grazhdane pribegali k raznym khitrosti͡am: nekotorye nastraivalisʹ na kraĭ chastotnoĭ polosy, drugie pokupali zagranichnye priemniki ili ėksportnye modeli, u kotorykh diapazon chastot byl shire, chem u otechestvennykh. Umelʹt͡sy - "radiodoktora" - ukhitri͡alisʹ prisposobitʹ dli͡a slushanii͡a zarubezhnykh radiostant͡siĭ dazhe sovetskie priemniki. Za gorodom prinimatʹ signal bylo legche. Vladelʹt͡sy mashin vyezzhali podalʹshe ot t͡sentra, a te, u kogo byla dacha, dazhe zapisyvali peredachi na magnitofon.</span></p> <p><em>Pereveli s angliĭskogo: Olʹga Polenova i Ivan Tolstoĭ. Pod obshcheĭ redakt͡sieĭ Ivana Tolstogo</em></p>

Gene Sosin (1924-2015), one of the founders and leaders of Radio Liberation (Svoboda), worked in New York and Munich, heading the Program Department, organized international conferences and press appearances in defense of the station, invited Western cultural figures and politicians to the radio microphone, building bridges between America and Russia. His memoirs are a story about the Cold War with a human face. 

...Political jokes have been known in Russia since tsarist times. The most severe punishment for them was under Soviet rule, especially under Stalin. The narrator could be sentenced to 25 years in camps, and sometimes to death. Full of biting irony, the jokes ridiculed the empty promises and slogans of Soviet propaganda. We often filled our programs with sharp spikes aimed at the party, the KGB, the low quality of daily life, and other aspects of reality. By joining itself with its listeners in ridiculing the hated system, Radio Liberty helped its image as a surrogate radio station.

...Magnitizdat – recordings of materials unrecognized by official propaganda, especially banned songs – occupied a large place in the vibrant underground culture that flourished during the Brezhnev era. Since the early seventies, Radio Liberty began collecting tapes brought to the West by emigrants and transmitting them back to Soviet listeners. Three "bards" were the most popular at that time: Bulat Okudzhava, Alexander Galich and Vladimir Vysotsky. The names of Yulia Kim (half-Russian, half-Korean), Mikhail Nozhkin, Novella Matveeva, Mikhail Ancharov, Yuri Vizbor, Anatoly Ivanov and Evgeny Klyachkin were also known.

... The "heavenly" jammers worked on the principle of radio transmitters, sending signals inside the Soviet Union to precisely those areas where our waves were directed. But due to the fact that the height of the ionosphere over Western and Eastern Europe varies during the day, the signals of the Soviet transmitters sometimes disappeared into space, and then the radio could be listened to without interference. The local jammers in big cities were, of course, much stronger than those described. But reception could be significantly improved by increasing the signal strength.  Soviet citizens resorted to various tricks: some tuned to the edge of the frequency band, others bought foreign receivers or export models that had a wider frequency range than the domestic ones. The craftsmen, the "radio doctors," managed to adapt even Soviet receivers to listen to foreign radio stations. It was easier to receive the signal outside the city. Car owners drove away from the center, and those who had a summer cottage even recorded broadcasts on tape.

Translated from English by Olga Polenova and Ivan Tolstoy. Under the general editorship of Ivan Tolstoy