The Greek Program of DW turns sixty this year. As his website states “our constant pursuit throughout these decades remains the reliable information of the Greek public, a different look at international developments”.
To most Greeks “of a certain age” the program had become well-known and its reputation strengthened by her years dictatorship in Greece (1967-1974) when it was among the few stations that, by broadcasting news and comments in Greek, informed Greeks everywhere about the political situation and the movements against the junta.
It was of course transmitted from the short, among many parasites added by the regime.
The antenna often had to be turned several times in different directions “to catch” as best as possible and be able to hear.
The story began in mid-April 1964, when the German wave broadcast the first Greek broadcast in short form as part of the expansion of its programs in foreign languages. During the dictatorship (1967-1974) the show gained a huge audience that gathered every night at the short band because of its consistent anti-dictatorship character. Within a regime of censorship, he turned into a voice of freedom, writing a positive chapter in the post-war Greek-German relations.
It was an important source of information for the Greeks on domestic and foreign policy issues, as well as a platform for the opponents of the Junta of the Colonels, since there was strict censorship in Greece, for seven years (1967-1974).
The current director of the Greek editorial office Spyros of Moscow remembers: “We were looking in the short band to locate Deutsche Welle and what a celebration when we got it! Because Deutsche Welle had those commanding voices, different from those that dominated the public sphere in Greece at the time. It was something wonderful. The shorts no longer exist, of course, but the conscious imprint remains to this day…”
Naturally, the show was made “Red flag” for the junta of colonels, who were even considering establishing their own radio network abroad. Of course, the undertaking would be costly. Thus, a …economic solution was preferred: The junta organs tried to destroy the Greek editorial staff of Deutsche Welle as “unreliable” and “anti-hellenic”. After all, it is a constant tactic of totalitarian regimes to identify with the country and, consequently, to consider that any criticism of the rulers constitutes an attack against the country itself.
The current role of Deutsche Welle
“We have a complementary role, in a way”says the director of the Greek editorial office Spyros Moskovou. “We present to a Greek audience a central European perspective of things. When you are a member of the EU and belong to the South, it is not bad to get in touch with the political decisions, but also the political culture of the North. It is an explanatory and complementary role. It is also a small mosaic in the distant dream of creating a European public opinion in the end, where the Greek will know how the German thinks – but also vice versa”.
Read also: German wave
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