Melvin Jonah Lasky (15 January 1920 – 19 May 2004) was an American journalist, intellectual, and member of the
anti-Communist left. He founded the German journal ''
Der Monat
Der or DER may refer to:
Places
* Darkənd, Azerbaijan
* Dearborn (Amtrak station) (station code), in Michigan, US
* Der (Sumer), an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq
* d'Entrecasteaux Ridge, an oceanic ridge in the south-west Pacific Ocean ...
'' in 1948 and, from 1958 to 1991, edited ''
Encounter'', one of many journals revealed to have been secretly funded by the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
through the
Congress for Cultural Freedom
The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist cultural organization founded on 26 June 1950 in West Berlin. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency w ...
(CCF).
From 1950 to 1963, the CIA covertly supported the CCF and a number of its publications, including ''Encounter''. While Lasky admitted he knew of the CIA's role as a funding source before it was made public in 1966, allegations that he was a CIA agent have not been substantiated by evidence. In 1947, Lasky wrote an influential document that made the case for a cultural Cold War intended to win over European intellectuals.
Early life and World War II
Lasky was born in
The Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
of
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family and schooled at
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...
,
where he wrote for the student newspaper, ''
The Campus.'' He continued his education at
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
and
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
.
He briefly considered himself a
Trotskyist
Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...
but at 22 moved away from communism entirely because of disgust with
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
.
He began working for the ''New Leader'' in New York and was editor from 1942 to 1943.
Lasky wrote an editorial during this time criticizing the Allies for failing to address
The Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
directly in their World War II efforts.
He was the older brother of
Floria Lasky, an influential entertainment lawyer, and
Joyce Lasky Reed, the President and founder of the
Fabergé Arts Foundation and former Director of European Affairs at the
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare ...
.
He served in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
as a combat historian for the
7th Army. Lasky remained in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
after the war, making his home in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, where he worked for American military governor
Lucius D. Clay. During this time, Lasky was an outspoken critic of the United States' earlier reluctance to intervene to stop the genocide of European Jews.
Germany and ''Der Monat''
After Lasky left the Army, he became a German correspondent for the ''New Leader'' and for the ''
Partisan Review
''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a left-wing small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affi ...
''. In 1947, Lasky sent a message to General
Lucius D. Clay which became known as "The Melvin Lasky Proposal". In this document, Lasky argued for a more aggressive campaign of cultural and psychological operations to combat the Soviet Union in the
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
.
It reads:
The time-honored U.S. formula of 'shed light and the people will find their own way' exaggerated the possibilities in Germany (and in Europe) for an easy conversion . . . It would be foolish to expect to wean a primitive savage away from his conviction in mysterious jungle-herbs simply by the dissemination of modern scientific and medical information . . . We have not succeeded in combatting the variety of factors—political, psychological, cultural—which work against U.S. foreign policy, and in particular against the success of the Marshall Plan in Europe.
Soon after, Lasky received
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...
funding to create the German-language journal ''Der Monat'' ("The Month"), airlifted into Berlin during the 1948 Soviet
blockade
A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force.
A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...
. Its purpose was to support U.S. foreign policy and win over German intellectuals views that were socially progressive but anti-communist. ''Der Monat'' continued as a prominent highbrow Germanophone journal, incorporating essays and articles from many Western European and North America intellectuals as well as dissidents from the Eastern Bloc. Contributors included
Theodor Adorno
Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor.
List of people with the given name Theodor
* Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher
* Theodor Aman, Romanian painter
* Theodor Blue ...
,
Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theory, political theorists of the twentieth century.
Her work ...
,
Franz Borkenau
Franz Borkenau (December 15, 1900 – May 22, 1957) was an Austrian writer. Borkenau was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of a civil servant. As a university student in Leipzig, his main interests were Marxism and psychoanalysis. Borkenau is kn ...
,
Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
,
Arthur Koestler
Arthur Koestler (, ; ; ; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest, and was educated in Austria, apart from his early school years. In 1931, Koestler j ...
,
Raymond Aron
Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; ; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century.
Aron is best known for his ...
,
Ignazio Silone
Secondino Tranquilli (1 May 1900 – 22 August 1978), best known by the pseudonym Ignazio Silone (, ), was an Italian politician, novelist, essayist, playwright, and short-story writer, world-famous during World War II for his powerful anti-fasci ...
,
Heinrich Böll
Heinrich Theodor Böll (; ; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll received the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972).
Bio ...
,
Hans Sahl
Hans Sahl (born Hans Salomon, 20 May 1902 in Dresden – 27 April 1993 in Tübingen) was a poet, critic, and novelist who began during the Weimar Republic. He came from an affluent Jewish background, but like many such German Jews he fled Germany ...
,
Max Frisch
Max Rudolf Frisch (; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity (social science), identity, individuality, Moral responsibility, responsibility, morality, and political commi ...
,
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...
,
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; June 10, 1915April 5, 2005) was a Canadian-American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only write ...
,
Milovan Djilas
Milovan Djilas (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Милован Ђилас, Milovan Đilas, ; 12 June 1911 – 20 April 1995) was a Yugoslav communist politician, theorist and author. He was a key figure in the Partisan movement during World War II, as well ...
,
Richard Löwenthal
Richard Löwenthal (April 15, 1908 – August 9, 1991) was a German journalist and professor who wrote mostly on the problems of democracy, communism, and world politics.
Life
Löwenthal was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Ernst and Anna L ...
,
Peter de Mendelssohn,
Hilde Spiel
Hilde Spiel (19 October 1911 – 30 November 1990) (pseudonyms: Grace Hanshaw and Jean Lenoir) was an Austrian writer and journalist who received numerous awards and honours.
Biography Youth in Vienna
Hilde Spiel was born in Vienna in October 19 ...
, and
Hermann Kesten
Hermann Kesten (28 January 1900 – 3 May 1996) was a German novelist and dramatist. He was one of the principal literary figures of the New Objectivity movement in 1920s Germany.
The literary prize Hermann Kesten Medal has been given in his ho ...
. The journal also received funding from the
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...
and the CIA. According to CIA official
Ray S. Cline the journal "would not have been able to survive financially without CIA funds".
Lasky helped to found the
Congress for Cultural Freedom
The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist cultural organization founded on 26 June 1950 in West Berlin. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency w ...
(CCF) at a 1950 conference he organized in
West Berlin
West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...
.
Frank Wisner
Frank Gardiner Wisner (June 23, 1909 – October 29, 1965) was one of the founding officers of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and played a major role in CIA operations throughout the 1950s.
Wisner began his intelligence career in the Of ...
, of the CIA's
Office of Policy Coordination
The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was the covert operation wing of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Created as a department of the CIA in 1948, it actually operated independently until October 1950. OPC existed until 1 A ...
, criticized Lasky for making American sponsorship of the conference too obvious. Although temporarily expelled from the CCF by Wisner, Lasky was included again in 1953 as a member of the "Tri-Magazine Editorial Committee", which established policies and topics for ''Der Monat'', ''Preuves'', and ''Encounter''. As part of this committee, Lasky argued that these magazines must express some dissent against the American government or risk being exposed as propaganda. Furthermore, Lasky contributed to sustaining West Berlin's role as a symbol of transatlantic solidarity.
''Der Monat'' was sold to ''
Die Zeit
(, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles.
History
The first edition of was ...
'' and temporarily ceased publication in 1971. From 1978 until 1987, ''Der Monat'' (now titled ''Der Monat (Neue Folge)'' or simply ''Der Monat (N. F.)'') re-surfaced as a ''Die Zeit'' quarterly without Lasky's involvement as editor-in-chief, but Lasky remained publisher along with his German wife Helga Hegewisch, while the journal's new editor-in-chief was
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...
politician and later German Minister of Culture
Michael Naumann
Michael Naumann (born 8 December 1941) is a German politician, publisher and journalist. He was the German culture minister, secretary of culture from 1998 until 2001. He is married to Marie Warburg, daughter of Eric Warburg and granddaughter o ...
. A new economy and marketing publication called ''Der Monat'' appearing in Germany since 1997 has nothing to do with the former journal's socio-political concept and design.
''Encounter''
In the English-speaking world, Lasky was best known for his role as Editor-in-Chief of ''
Encounter''. He succeeded
Irving Kristol
Irving William Kristol (; January 22, 1920 – September 18, 2009) was an American journalist and writer. As a founder, editor, and contributor to various magazines, he played an influential role in the intellectual and political culture of the la ...
, the original editor and founder, in 1958 and helped turn the young magazine into one of the most highly regarded periodicals in Europe. Lasky steered ''Encounter'' to represent the point of view of the anti-Communist, anti-Totalitarian Left, and reportedly favored the journal's political side over its more purely cultural endeavors. He remained at ''Encounter'' until the magazine folded in 1991.
Both ''Encounter'' and ''Der Monat'' had long received funding from the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
-sponsored
Congress for Cultural Freedom
The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist cultural organization founded on 26 June 1950 in West Berlin. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency w ...
(CCF). Lasky denied knowledge of CIA funding in a 1966 letter (written jointly with
Irving Kristol
Irving William Kristol (; January 22, 1920 – September 18, 2009) was an American journalist and writer. As a founder, editor, and contributor to various magazines, he played an influential role in the intellectual and political culture of the la ...
and
Stephen Spender
Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry ...
) to ''The New York Times''. However, Lasky confessed privately to
Frank Kermode
Sir John Frank Kermode, FBA (29 November 1919 – 17 August 2010) was a British literary critic best known for his 1967 work '' The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction'' and for his extensive book-reviewing and editing.
He wa ...
(recruited as editor in 1965) that he had known about CIA funding for some years. In 1967, ''
Ramparts'' and other publications revealed the CIA's relationship to the CCF and its publications, embarrassing many who were involved.
Other activities and private life

Lasky was the author of many books including ''Utopia and Revolution'', ''Voices in the Revolution'', ''On the Barricades and Off'', and ''The Language of Journalism''. He was married twice, to Brigitte Lasky (''née'' Newiger) with whom he had two children, Vivienne Lasky and Oliver Lasky, and to German novelist Helga Hegewisch.
Lasky died in May 2004 of a heart ailment. A portion of Lasky's unpublished memoirs appears in ''
News from the Republic of Letters
''News from the Republic of Letters'' is the third magazine collaboration between Saul Bellow and Keith Botsford, following ''Noble Savage'' and ''ANON''. The journal, originally based in Boston and later operated from the editor's home in Cost ...
'', as well as in ''The Berlin Journal'', Spring, 2007.
Lasky Center for Transatlantic Studies
In October 2010, the
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
opened the Lasky Center for Transatlantic Studies, a research center associated with the university's American Studies department. The Lasky Center is home to Lasky's personal library and papers. Its director is
Christof Mauch
Christof Mauch (born 9 February 1960 in Sindelfingen, Germany) is a German historian, presently director of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society in Munich, Germany, and since 2007 professor of American Cultural History and Transatl ...
.
Published works
*1962. ‘Africa for beginners, a traveller’s notebook’ library of Congress 62-15206
*1988. ''The Use and Abuse of Sovietology''
Transaction Publishers
*1988. ''On the Barricades, and Off''
*2000. ''The Language of Journalism: Newspaper Culture''
*2004. ''Utopia and Revolution: On the Origins of a Metaphor''
*2005. ''European Notebooks: New Societies and Old Politics, 1954-1985''
*2006. ''Voices in a Revolution: The Collapse of East German Communism''
*2007. ''Media Warfare: The Americanization of Language''
*2014. ''Profanity, Obscenity and the Media, Volume Two''
See also
*
''Der Monat'' (German Wikipedia)
* ''
Encounter'' (magazine)
*
Congress for Cultural Freedom
The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist cultural organization founded on 26 June 1950 in West Berlin. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency w ...
Bibliography
*
Saunders, Francis Stonor, ''
Who Paid the Piper? CIA and the Cultural Cold War'', 1999, Granta, (USA: ''The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters'', 2000, The New Press, ).
*
Andreas Daum
Andreas W. Daum is a German-American historian who specializes in modern German and transatlantic history, as well as the history of knowledge and global exploration.
Daum received his Ph.D. summa cum laude in 1995 from the Ludwig Maximilian Unive ...
, ''Kennedy in Berlin''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008, .
External links
''Melvin J. Lasky, 84; Outspoken Anti-Communist'' Washington Post, May 27, 2004
Reason Online, June 2, 2004
''Letters They Wouldn't Publish'' The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, January 23, 2006
''A Brief Encounter: Melvin Lasky is a legend. Better yet, he dislikes Maureen Dowd.'' Wall Street Journal, April 6, 2001
''Republic of Letters''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lasky, Melvin J.
1920 births
2004 deaths
Writers from New York (state)
Jewish American journalists
American male journalists
20th-century American journalists
City College of New York alumni
University of Michigan alumni
Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin
American anti-communist propagandists
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews
United States Army personnel of World War II
American expatriates in Germany
American magazine founders
American Zionists
Jewish anti-communists