Daily Routines under Constant Surveillance. West German Foreign Correspondents in Moscow in the 1950s and 60s

Abstract

The essay focuses on West German foreign-correspondents in the USSR in the post-Stalin era of the 1950s and early 1960s and their efforts to create a normal perspective on the antagonist within the Cold War. Not only the obtaining of information but also the journalists' private life was influenced by the constant control and surveillance of Soviet authorities and the special living conditions in Moscow. The correspondents assessed and managed these measures in different ways due to their differing biographical backgrounds and professional experience. In fact, these measures gave the journalists a view of the authorities impact on Soviet society, in Moscow and the rural areas as well.

Keywords

• Cold War
• Media History
• Germany
• Russia-USSR
• 1950-1960