Exiled Airwaves: The Greek Communist Radio Station Voice of Truth Based in Bucharest Addressing the Gastarbeiter in West Germany, 1960–1968

By studying more local, small-scale radio stations with transnational reach, such as “Voice of Truth,” media history scholarship can better understand the complexity of media landscapes during the Cold War. The production team of the exiled Greek communist radio station based in Bucharest worked to reconcile grand Marxist theories and ideological frameworks with the daily experiences of their target audience, namely Greek labour migrants in West Germany. Seeking to be at the avant-garde of informed resistance, the producers opened as many channels as possible to receive and transmit information, often in remarkable ways given their limited resources. By closely monitoring sociopolitical affairs, triangulating information, and reinforcing transnational ties, the exiled communist radio station proved to be more multivocal and less sclerotic than we might imagine.