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National Committee for a Free Europe (NCFE)

The National Committee for a Free Europe (NCFE) was an American, anti-Communist organization founded in 1949 by the U.S. Department of State and organized by Allen Dulles. Members of the committee included General Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), Adolph A. Berle (1895–1971), Dewitt Clinton Poole Jr. (1885–1952), Charles Douglas (C. D.) Jackson (1902–1964), and Henry Luce (1898–1967). The NCFE was charged with finding suitable employment in Europe for refugee intellectuals from Communist countries in order that, while in exile, they could help prepare for the liberation of their respective countries. To this end, the NCFE was influential in the creation of the Free Europe College (Collège de l’Europe Libre) in Strasbourg, France. The NCFE also sponsored Radio Free Europe and its broadcasts to Iron Curtain countries, and supported the creation of national councils and committees to act as the democratic representatives of Iron Curtain countries in the West. These activities were funded by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Royall Tyler was senior representative in Western Europe of the National Committee for a Free Europe beginning June 1, 1950, until his death in 1953.

Katalin Kádár Lynn, “At War while at Peace: United States Cold War Policy and the National Committee for a Free Europe, Inc.,” in The Inauguration of Organized Political Warfare: Cold War Organizations Sponsored by the National Committee for a Free Europe/Free Europe Committee, ed. Katalin Kádár Lynn (Saint Helena, CA: Helena History Press, 2013), 7–70.