Felix Inslerman

Felix August Inslerman was born July 11, 1910 in New York City, and died July 29, 1998 in Saranac Lake, New York. Inslerman was the man who took stolen government documents from Whittaker Chambers to photograph and microfilm for transfer to the Soviet Union in the late 1930's. Inslerman admitted his role in Soviet espionage against America in 1954 and was never prosecuted.

From 1938-1942, Inslerman worked for the Glenn L. Martin company in Baltimore, Maryland.

In 1939, Inslerman received a B.S. from the College for Teachers at Johns Hopkins University.

During World War II, Inslerman worked on the B-26 Marauder project as an engineering draftman.

In 1949, he refused to testify before a federal Grand Jury investigating the Hiss spy plot.

Inslerman worked for several years for General Electric.

In 1954, Inslerman confessed to Senator Joseph McCarthy that he was the same "Felix" who photographed documents for Whittaker Chambers, including the infamous "Pumpkin Papers." Inslerman admitted to photographing documents from Ambassador Joseph Grew, former Ambassador to Japan, and William Charles Bullitt, former envoy to France. Inslerman used a Leica Camera to take the microform pictures at 2113 Callow Ave. in Baltimore.

Inslerman admitted to making photographs for Soviet Intelligence from 1937-1938. He said he started doing so after meeting someone named "Bill" at a radical Estonian workers club in New York City. "Bill" had been the one to coordinate a trip to Moscow for training.

Inslerman said he was trained in Moscow how to photograph documents and receive the international radio code. Inslerman said he knew Whittaker Chambers as "Bob" and another contact, named "Ben" who was not identified. Inslerman said he was also in touch with "Jake" who was based out of New York City.