Changes

=====Svetlana Chervonnaya=====

=====Svetlana Chervonnaya=====

The second is called “[http://documentstalk.com/ Documents Talk: A Non-Definitive History].” Funding for this project was provided ("[http://www.washingtondecoded.com/site/2009/06/in-denial-round-11.html perhaps entirely]") "[http://www.documentstalk.com/wp/ by The Nation Institute].” The site was started in 2009 by Svetlana Chervonnaya, a former "propagandist for the Soviet Union"<ref>G. Edward White, "[http://www.greenbag.org/v13n1/v13n1_white.pdf Alexander Vassiliev & Alger Hiss, Part II]," ''The Green Bag'', Vol. 13, No. 1 (Autumn 2009) p. 99 (PDF p. 15)</ref> (who calls herself a “[http://www.documentstalk.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/cv_chervonnaya_s.pdf Freelance historian]”) operating on a “[http://www.documentstalk.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/cv_chervonnaya_s.pdf Research grant from The Nation Institute]” since 2005.

The second is called “[http://documentstalk.com/ Documents Talk: A Non-Definitive History].” Funding for this project was provided ("[http://www.washingtondecoded.com/site/2009/06/in-denial-round-11.html perhaps entirely]") "[http://www.documentstalk.com/wp/ by The Nation Institute].” The site was started in 2009 by Svetlana Chervonnaya, operating on a “[http://www.documentstalk.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/cv_chervonnaya_s.pdf Research grant from The Nation Institute]” since 2005.

Chervonnaya is best known<ref>Chervonnaya also collaborated with David Lowenthal (brother of the late John Lowenthal, Alger [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol48no4/alger_hiss.html Hiss's lawyer]), on an [http://hnn.us/articles/11581.html online post] seeking to discredit the [[Gorsky memo]].</ref> as coauthor with Kai Bird (a [http://www.thenation.com/authors/kai-bird contributing editor] at ''The Nation'') of “[http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-mystery-of-ales-2/ The Mystery of ‘Ales’],” in which the authors argue that "Ales" was not Hiss, but his colleague Wilder Foote&mdash;despite the fact that, as Eduard Mark shows,<ref>Eduard Mark, “[http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface~content=a714040012~fulltext=713240930 Who was ‘Venona’s’ ‘Ales’? Cryptanalysis and the Hiss Case],” ''Intelligence and National Security'', 18 [Autumn 2003], pp. 54–55, 57–88, 62, 64</ref> Foote spent the 1930s toiling in obscurity as a [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page63.html newspaper editor in rural Vermont], when "Ales" was [http://hnn.us/articles/37456.html working with Harold Glasser] in Whittaker [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol51no4/pdf-files/Ehrman_Alger_Hiss_Again-Web%20(U).pdf Chambers' GRU group] in Washington. Their argument assumes an [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page63.html all-knowing efficiency] on the part of Gorsky, which, as Mark proved, he did [http://jeffersonflanders.wordpress.com/2009/06/13/the-vassiliev-notebooks-american-elites-and-cold-war-espionage/ not have]. Craig calls Mark's critique "convincing," adding "I personally find Mark’s overarching conclusion [that “Alger Hiss was an agent of the GRU in the 1930s”] [http://www.h-net.org/~diplo/roundtables/PDF/Roundtable-X-24.pdf convincing]." Moreover, Bird and Chervonnaya's article was based on a flawed and incomplete text of [[Anatoly Gorsky]]’s 5 March 1945 cable, even though the complete, accurate text was [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page70.html made available to them].  In an attempt to clear Hiss, Bird and Chervonnaya accused Foote on the flimsiest of pretexts&mdash;precisely, commented Slate.com, "what they [http://www.slate.com/id/2170415/pagenum/all/ believe McCarthyites did to Hiss]." Haynes and Klehr concur:

Chervonnaya is a former "propagandist for the Soviet Union," according to G. Edward White. <ref>G. Edward White, "[http://www.greenbag.org/v13n1/v13n1_white.pdf Alexander Vassiliev & Alger Hiss, Part II]," ''The Green Bag'', Vol. 13, No. 1 (Autumn 2009) p. 99 (PDF p. 15)</ref> Eduard Mark agrees that Chervonnaya was "one of the USSR's more prolific propagandists in the twilight years of the USSR."<ref>[http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/jcws.2009.11.3.26?journalCode=jcws In Re Alger Hiss: A Final Verdict from the Archives of the KGB] [[Journal of Cold War Studies]] 11.3 (Summer 2009): 26-67</ref>. John Earl Haynes concurs, identifying Chervonnaya as a "Moscow historian/propagandist."<ref>[http://hnn.us/comments/135793.html Narcissistic Histrionics] comment on [[History News Network]] July 29, 2009</ref>

 

Chervonnaya (who calls herself a “[http://www.documentstalk.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/cv_chervonnaya_s.pdf Freelance historian]”) is best known<ref>Chervonnaya also collaborated with David Lowenthal (brother of the late John Lowenthal, Alger [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol48no4/alger_hiss.html Hiss's lawyer]), on an [http://hnn.us/articles/11581.html online post] seeking to discredit the [[Gorsky memo]].</ref> as coauthor with Kai Bird (a [http://www.thenation.com/authors/kai-bird contributing editor] at ''The Nation'') of “[http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-mystery-of-ales-2/ The Mystery of ‘Ales’],” in which the authors argue that "Ales" was not Hiss, but his colleague Wilder Foote&mdash;despite the fact that, as Eduard Mark shows,<ref>Eduard Mark, “[http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface~content=a714040012~fulltext=713240930 Who was ‘Venona’s’ ‘Ales’? Cryptanalysis and the Hiss Case],” ''Intelligence and National Security'', 18 [Autumn 2003], pp. 54–55, 57–88, 62, 64</ref> Foote spent the 1930s toiling in obscurity as a [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page63.html newspaper editor in rural Vermont], when "Ales" was [http://hnn.us/articles/37456.html working with Harold Glasser] in Whittaker [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol51no4/pdf-files/Ehrman_Alger_Hiss_Again-Web%20(U).pdf Chambers' GRU group] in Washington. Their argument assumes an [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page63.html all-knowing efficiency] on the part of Gorsky, which, as Mark proved, he did [http://jeffersonflanders.wordpress.com/2009/06/13/the-vassiliev-notebooks-american-elites-and-cold-war-espionage/ not have]. Craig calls Mark's critique "convincing," adding "I personally find Mark’s overarching conclusion [that “Alger Hiss was an agent of the GRU in the 1930s”] [http://www.h-net.org/~diplo/roundtables/PDF/Roundtable-X-24.pdf convincing]." Moreover, Bird and Chervonnaya's article was based on a flawed and incomplete text of [[Anatoly Gorsky]]’s 5 March 1945 cable, even though the complete, accurate text was [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page70.html made available to them].  In an attempt to clear Hiss, Bird and Chervonnaya accused Foote on the flimsiest of pretexts&mdash;precisely, commented Slate.com, "what they [http://www.slate.com/id/2170415/pagenum/all/ believe McCarthyites did to Hiss]." Haynes and Klehr concur:

{{cquote|Once upon a time, it was called McCarthyism to charge people with being Communists or spies on the basis of slim or no evidence, shaky logic, or the word of one or two informers of dubious reliability. No longer. Bird and Chervonnaya established new standards of proof, in which the absence of evidence is as good as proof. Absolving Alger Hiss of being ALES is apparently that important, even if it means recklessly slandering a long-deceased, distinguished public servant.<ref>4-16-07

{{cquote|Once upon a time, it was called McCarthyism to charge people with being Communists or spies on the basis of slim or no evidence, shaky logic, or the word of one or two informers of dubious reliability. No longer. Bird and Chervonnaya established new standards of proof, in which the absence of evidence is as good as proof. Absolving Alger Hiss of being ALES is apparently that important, even if it means recklessly slandering a long-deceased, distinguished public servant.<ref>4-16-07

John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, "[http://hnn.us/articles/37456.html Hiss Was Guilty]," History News Network (George Mason University), April 16, 2007</ref>}}

John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, "[http://hnn.us/articles/37456.html Hiss Was Guilty]," History News Network (George Mason University), April 16, 2007</ref>}}