Sofia Conference and Exhibition on Radio Free Europe

There was a conference in Sofia, Bulgaria on Friday, 11 November 2011, as part of the celebration of Radio Free Europe's first Bulgarian language news program broadcast from Munich, which took place on 17 October 1951. Some ex-RFE Bulgarian Service staffers gave short presentations about their experiences at RFE.

Additionally, an exhibition "The Ether War" opened the same day at the Museum of the Ministry of Interior and contains a wealth of information and photographs and documents not only of the Bulgarian Service of Radio Free Europe but also showing some of the other services affected by the "Ether War." Included also were photos and information about the Free Europe Press balloon/leaflet programs, espionage cases and propaganda attacks affecting RFE, and the bomb attack in February 1981. The exhibition runs to the end of the year.

Personalities and details of the Crusade for Freedom in the USA in the 1950s also were prominently displayed:

Gilda Koeves (Karoly) was one of the first employees of the Bulgarian Service news section in Munich in 1951. Gilda later was popular not only in Bulgaria for her music and cultural programs, but also in other countries behind the Iron Curtain, where RFE could be heard. For RFE, she interviewed Elvis, Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Ray Charles, among other music legends. At left, she is seen in the 1970s interviewing famed singer Tom Jones, who coincidentally gave a concert for the first in time in Bulgaria on 18 November 2011 in Sofia.  

Below is a quick look into the exhibition area.

The conference and exhibition were organized by Bulgaria’s State Archive Agency, the Secret Files Commission, the Ministry of Interior Affairs, Sofia University, the Cold War Research Group Bulgaria, and the National Polytechnic Museum.