Newsmen's Commission to Investigate the Murder of George Polk.
Biographical notes:
George Polk was a CBS news correspondent covering the Greek civil war who was murdered in Salonika on May 16th, 1948. In the course of his investigations, he had uncovered, and was about to publish, evidence of criminal activity by rightist forces, who had the support of the United States and Great Britain. The Newsmen's Commission to Investigate the Murder of George Polk was founded in 1948 at the initiative of the New York Chapter of the Newspaper Guild. Among its members were George Polk's brother, William Polk, and their cousin, William Price, who then covered the United Nations for the New York Daily News.
Another group, headed by Walter Lippman, composed of the elite of establishment journalists, the Overseas Writers Special Committee to Inquire Into the Murder of George Polk, also investigated the case. In Greece, in April, 1949, several people associated with the Greek Communist Pary were convicted of involvement in the murder of Polk, in a trial and verdict now widely believed to be fraudulent. The two groups of journalists split along Cold War lines. Lippman's group endorsed the verdict, while the Newsmens' Commission questioned it, leading to the dismissal of several of its members from their jobs.
From the description of Records, 1946-1992 (bulk 1946-1950). (New York University). WorldCat record id: 477248102
On May 16, 1948, the body of George Polk, at the time the Middle East correspondent for CBS, was found floating in the harbor of the Northern Greek city of Salonika. He had been shot in the head and his hands and feet were firmly bound. Polk had been in Greece covering the Civil War between the Communist Forces entrenched in the North and led by Markos Vafiades and the Monarchist-Fascist government dominated by the army. Polk had been critical not only of the Greek government but also of the newly released Truman Doctrine which made defeating the Communists in Greece a priority. In an article published in Harper's in December 1947, Polk called the $300 million in aid to Greece "a poor investment." Most importantly, Polk claimed, the money was being terribly misused. Indeed, immediately before his murder, Polk, in an interview with Constantine Tsaldaris, the head of the Royalist Party, threatened to expose Tsaldaris' illegal bank accounts in the United States. Polk's widow, Rea Polk, later claimed: "I am surprised he lived for three days after that interview."
When Polk was murdered he had been traveling north in an attempt to make contact with General Markos. Polk had been last seen on May 9. The Greek government immediately accused the Communists of the murder. Major Nicholas Mouscoundis, the head of the Greek investigation of the murder, announced that he was "1,000%" sure the Communists had killed Polk. In a trial now considered a sham, a Greek Communist Gregorios Stahopoulos and his mother Anna were convicted of complicity.
In response to the murder and the tainted investigation, the Newspaper Guild organized the Newsmen's Commission in 1948. Among its members were William Polk, George Polk's brother, and William Price, Polk's cousin, and the United Nations Correspondent for the Daily News. Among the known journalists who lent their name, time, and support for the Commission were Ernest Hemingway and Homer Bigart.
Another investigative committee led by Walter Lippmann and called the Overseas Writers Special Committee to Inquire Into the Murder of George Polk was also organized. It later endorsed the trial verdict--a verdict questioned by the Commission. As a result, many Commission members, including William Price, were later officially blacklisted.
Sources:
- Chatzeargyres, Kostas. He hyothese Polk: ho rolos ton Xenon Hypersion sten Hellada. Athens: Ekd. Eirene, 1988.
- Keeley, Edmund. The Salonika Bay Murder: Cold War Politics and the Polk Affair. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989.
- Marton, Kati. The Polk Conspiracy: Murder and Cover-Up in the Case of CBS News correspondent George Polk. New York: Farrar Straus, Giroux, 1990.
- Vlanton, Elias. Who Killed George Polk?: The Press Covers Up a Death in the Family. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996.
From the guide to the Newsmen's Commission to Investigate the Murder of George Polk Records, Bulk, 1946-1950, 1946-1992, bulk 1946-1950, (Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive)
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Subjects:
- War correspondents
- War correspondents
- Cold War
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- Communists
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- Foreign correspondents
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- Trials (Murder)
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- Greece |x History |x Civil War, 1944-1949 |x Journalists. (as recorded)
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