XGRS

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XGRS was a Shanghai radio station that broadcast on shortwave and longwave, owned by the German government in Japanese-occupied China during World War II. It began as a German-language station for Germans in China and, from 1940, aired a multilingual schedule in English, German, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, and Hindi. The station operated from the Kaiser Wilhelm School.

Erwin Wickert, the German consulate’s radio attaché, effectively ran XGRS. On-air personalities included Peter Waldbauer, an English-speaking Austrian who hosted A Briton’s Point of View and pretended to be British to present an anti-Allied perspective. Other staff included Americans Robert Fockler and Herbert May, and Australian John Holland, who was later imprisoned for his work with XGRS and as a Japanese broadcaster.

A typical prime-time lineup featured news, commentary, light music, and cultural programs in multiple languages, with international news from Trans-Ocean News Service.

After Germany surrendered on May 25, 1945, XGRS was seized by Japan and used under the call letters XGOO. Following Japan’s surrender, control passed to China and the station became XORA. Shanghai also had American and British counterparts such as XMHA, XMHC, and XCDN/XGDN, along with other foreign stations like XIRS, FFZ, XRVN, XQHA, and XOJB. By 1941, Shanghai boasted about 40 radio stations.