Did Paul Raigorodsky know E Howard Hunt?

Mr. Raigorodsky.
He was what we call--there was an organization in Europe called SRE, Special Representatives to Europe. There was an Ambassador Draper at the head of it, and Ambassador Anderson is a Deputy, and in 1952 Ambassador Anderson asked me to come to Europe and help them with production, so I went to Europe to improve the production of tanks, planes, ammunition, et cetera for all the NATO countries. I was Deputy Director of Production. Now, I think I was getting along all right and again I got sick in my neck this time, so they flew--me they flew me to Johns Hopkins and found out that I had bad neck. By the way, I'm not supposed to have this, but here
is my card.

Q: Where were you?
A: I was press aid to Averell Haririman in Paris.
Q: What was Harriman's job with the Marshall Plan?
A: He was the European Director of it.

No. My views were just the reverse. I was not at all in sympathy with this idea. You know, I ran the Marshall Plan in Paris. I and a small staff had control of the operations in Europe.

In 1948, an independent agency called The Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) was formed by the Federal government to oversee the Marshall Plan's economic and technical aid. In order to win support, the ECA formed an information program aimed at all segments of society in participating countries. In 1951, the ECA was absorbed by The Muual Security Agency (MSA), but the information program continued to function as before. The original ECA included provision for the creation for an office of the United States Special Representative in Europe (SRE), holding the rank of Ambassador and responsible to the president. Thus representing the USG, the SRE served as the senior American representative in Europe for the North Atlantic Treaty and the ECA. The SRE's Division of Information (SREDI) was responsible for carrying out all information programs to garner widespread support for USG aid, particularly in regard to the Marshall Plan. The Special Media Staff dealt with publishers and representatives of European magazines, radio, and motion pictures in order to encourage favorable treatment of ECA and MSA activities, as well as developing plans for special informational projects such as fair exhibits, pamphlets, and posters, as well as preparing these special materials. The News and Writing Staff collected current news material pertaining to American aid activities and distributed them to appropriate American officials, prepared press releases and arranged press conferences, as well as preparing special reports as required by legislation. The Labor Information Staff prepared and distributed to labor unions in ECA countries information about American aid programs, established contact with leaders of non-communist unions as a means of increasing support for American aid programs, and reported to ECA and MSA missions on labor meetings throughout Europe. By early 1949, American planners spoke openly of a direct relationship between the success of the Marshall Plan and European labor's support for it, and the role of the labor advisors took on added significance. The Labor Information Division (SRELID) had its own organizational structure, with a Director, an Economic Advisor, and a Planning and Policy Section, and became the principle American organization dealing with European labor and Marshall Plan issues. SRELID representatives in country missions contacted labor leaders of the country to which they were assigned and channeled information concerning the Marshall Plan to them. In 1953, the USG created the United States Information Agency, and it assumed the cultural role and information duties of other agencies, including the MSA.

The League for Industrial Democracy (LID) was founded in 1905 by Jack London, Upton Sinclair and other socialists for the purpose of "educating Americans about the need to extend democracy to every aspect of our society."(1,2) Originally called the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, the LID educated college students about the labor movement, socialism, and industrial democracy.(2) In 1921, the group shifted to its current name and opened its memberships to society-at-large. In 1922 Norman Thomas, the many-times presidential candidate from the Socialist Party, joined Harry Laidler as co-executive director of the LID.(2) In its early years the LID addressed serious societal problems such as child labor, poverty, inadequate housing, the working conditions in factories, and the growth of monopolies. It became the home for those leftwing intellectuals known as the "Muckrakers."(2) During the depression of the 1930s, the LID initiated radio broadcasts and conferences to discuss the programs of the New Deal. At that time the LID numbered among its members such influential intellectuals and labor leaders as Roger Baldwin, John Dewey, David Dubinsky, Sidney Hillman, Reinhold Neibuhr, and Walter Reuther.(2) In the 1950s and 1960s, it was an active supporter of the civil rights movement.(2)

Throughout its history the LID has called itself a proponent of the labor movement, seeing it as a progressive force that is misunderstood by students and intellectuals. Its stated goal is to break down these perceived barriers by conducting "education for increasing democracy in our economic, political, and cultural life."(3) LID's literature portrays the organization as a progressive, socialist labor group. However, in recent history LID shifted from its progressive roots. In the 1950s the LID's pro-labor activities took on a different slant when the group became involved with the CIA in efforts to combat communism.(9) Today the organization is dominated by anticommunists.(10) It focuses its energies on "democracy building" programs in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Central America, and gives little energy to its domestic program. Its board is composed mainly of neoconservatives associated with the Social Democrats, USA and the international divisions of the AFL-CIO. The latter, the Free Trade Union Institute (FUTI) and its subsidiaries, the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD), the African American Labor Center and the Asian American
Free Labor Institute, receive the vast majority of their funding from the U.S. government and are considered by many to be quasi-governmental organizations that carry out U.S. foreign policy.(10)
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Activities: In the 1950s, a rabidly anticommunist era in the United States, the LID's Student League for Industrial Democracy (SLID) was an associate member of the CIA-financed International Union of Socialist Youth. SLID received funds to maintain its international contacts from the Foundation for Youth and Student Affairs, a major
CIA conduit for funds.(9)