From the S&S archives: New uprising in East forecast by newsman

FRANKFURT, Sept. 23 — The West's "moral dilemma" is how to formulate a plan to be put into effect when the "next June 17 riots" take place, Edward R. Murrow said here last night.

The noted Columbia Broadcasting System news analyst indicated he felt the "leaderless" June 17 flareup will "explode again" — this time with leadership.

"It is urgent for the U.S. to decide how it will react to the next explosion," Murrow said during a short stopover at Rhine-Main Airport prior to enplaning for New York.

"It is little short of criminal for us to encourage these people to fight for their freedom and then fail to aid them in the clutch," he added;

Murrow, with a staff of CBS personnel, has just completed a news documentary film on Berlin which shortly will be shown in the U.S.

"It's high time we faced up to the situation which may present itself soon," Murrow said. "That will come when the Prague radio or some other radio behind the Iron Curtain announces in effect: 'We are in revolt — what are you going to do to help us?'"

Murrow said he felt the U,S. is committed to a policy of exploiting "weak spots" in the East, and that the West now should formulate a policy of how to react when, and if, the situation conies about.

During his 30-minute stop at Rhine-Main before boarding a Pan American World Airways plane for New York, Murrow said it had been 30 months since he was in Berlin.

Two things struck him forcibly during his short stay in the former German capital, he said — the "silence" in East Berlin and the fact the police there "traveled in pairs."

"Both add up to a sullen, explosive quality that one senses immediately," he added.

Accompanying Murrow were William Downs and Edmund Scott, correspondents; Leo Rossi and Charles Mack, cameramen, and Robert Huttenlock and Andrew Willonen, sound engineers.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The "June 17 riots" Murrow discussed in this interview were anti-communist demonstrations in 1953 that started in East Berlin and spread to the rest of East Germany before being suppressed by the Soviets. It was the first large-scale uprising in the Eastern Bloc. Over 100 people were reportedly killed in the riots, which were sparked by increased production quotas.)