Changes

The title transfer bore a signature Hiss acknowledged to be his own, notarized by Hiss' State Department colleague W. Marvin Smith. After testifying in 1948 that he had notarized Hiss' signature on the transfer, Smith would plunge to his death down a five-story Justice Department stairwell to the marble floor below; there would be no witnesses<ref>"U.S. Lawyer Who Figured In Hiss Case Killed in Fall," ''The Washington Post,'' October 21, 1948, p. 1</ref>

The title transfer bore a signature Hiss acknowledged to be his own, notarized by Hiss' State Department colleague W. Marvin Smith. After testifying in 1948 that he had notarized Hiss' signature on the transfer, Smith would plunge to his death down a five-story Justice Department stairwell to the marble floor below; there would be no witnesses<ref>"U.S. Lawyer Who Figured In Hiss Case Killed in Fall," ''The Washington Post,'' October 21, 1948, p. 1</ref>

Just before Christmas 1936, Colonel [[Boris Bykov]], head of [[GRU|Soviet military intelligence]] in the U.S., gave Chambers money to buy four Bokhara rugs for Hiss, [[Harry Dexter White]], [[George Silverman]], and [[Julian Wadleigh]], according to Chambers. Hiss would later claim that Hiss had given him his rug in 1935 in partial payment for rent, but Marxist<ref>Alan Wallach, "Marxist Art Historian: Meyer Schapiro, 1904-1996," ''Against the Current'' 62 (May-June 1996), p. 52</ref> Columbia University art historian [[Meyer Schapiro]], who confirmed that he arranged the purchase, produced the canceled check dated December 23, 1936, and the Massachusetts Importing Company of Manhattan, which confirmed selling him the rugs, produced the Bill of Sale. White's widow and Silverman confirmed that they had received their rugs sometime between late 1936 and the fall of 1938. Wadleigh, who confessed to having been a member of Chambers' apparatus and delivering documents to him,<ref>William R. Conklin, "[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00611FE345F177B93CBA91789D95F4D8485F9 Aided Red Spy Ring, Wadleigh Admits; Tells Hiss Jury He Channeled Up to 500 U. S. Documents to Soviet in 1936-37]," ''The New York Times'', December 9, 1949, p. 16</ref> confirmed that he had received his rug for New Year's 1937<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Early Cold War Spies: The Espionage Trials that Shaped American Politics'' (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2006) ISBN 0521857384), p. 117-118</ref> and conceded that he understood the rug to be a gift from the Soviets.<ref>Jacob Cohen, "[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n1_v45/ai_13366253 Innocent after all? The Kremlin files and the guilt or innocence of convicted spy Alger Hiss]," ''National Review'', January 18, 1993</ref>

Just before Christmas 1936, Colonel [[Boris Bykov]], head of [[GRU|Soviet military intelligence]] in the U.S., gave Chambers money to buy four Bokhara rugs for Hiss, [[Harry Dexter White]], [[George Silverman]], and [[Julian Wadleigh]], according to Chambers. Hiss would later claim that Chambers had given him his rug in 1935 in partial payment for rent, but Marxist<ref>Alan Wallach, "Marxist Art Historian: Meyer Schapiro, 1904-1996," ''Against the Current'' 62 (May-June 1996), p. 52</ref> Columbia University art historian [[Meyer Schapiro]], who confirmed that he arranged the purchase, produced the canceled check dated December 23, 1936, and the Massachusetts Importing Company of Manhattan, which confirmed selling him the rugs, produced the Bill of Sale. White's widow and Silverman confirmed that they had received their rugs sometime between late 1936 and the fall of 1938. Wadleigh, who confessed to having been a member of Chambers' apparatus and delivering documents to him,<ref>William R. Conklin, "[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00611FE345F177B93CBA91789D95F4D8485F9 Aided Red Spy Ring, Wadleigh Admits; Tells Hiss Jury He Channeled Up to 500 U. S. Documents to Soviet in 1936-37]," ''The New York Times'', December 9, 1949, p. 16</ref> confirmed that he had received his rug for New Year's 1937<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Early Cold War Spies: The Espionage Trials that Shaped American Politics'' (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2006) ISBN 0521857384), p. 117-118</ref> and conceded that he understood the rug to be a gift from the Soviets.<ref>Jacob Cohen, "[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n1_v45/ai_13366253 Innocent after all? The Kremlin files and the guilt or innocence of convicted spy Alger Hiss]," ''National Review'', January 18, 1993</ref>

By 1937, the peak of Stalin's [[Great Purge|Great Terror]]<ref>Robert Conquest,''The Great Terror: A Reassessment'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), ISBN 0195071328</ref> (whose victims would number over ten million),<ref>Norman Davis, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEFD6123FF930A25756C0A966958260 Now It Can Be Told, Even in Russia]," ''The New York Times'',  May 13, 1990</ref> Hiss was delivering packets of documents to [[Whittaker Chambers]] at intervals of a week or ten days, according to [[Oleg Gordievsky]], the [[KGB]] London station chief who defected in 1985.<ref>Peter B. Niblo, ''Influence: The Soviet Task Leading to Pearl Harbor, the Iron Curtain, and the Cold War'' (Oakland, OR: Elderberry Press, 2002) ISBN 1930859147, p. 65</ref>

By 1937, the peak of Stalin's [[Great Purge|Great Terror]]<ref>Robert Conquest,''The Great Terror: A Reassessment'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), ISBN 0195071328</ref> (whose victims would number over ten million),<ref>Norman Davis, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEFD6123FF930A25756C0A966958260 Now It Can Be Told, Even in Russia]," ''The New York Times'',  May 13, 1990</ref> Hiss was delivering packets of documents to [[Whittaker Chambers]] at intervals of a week or ten days, according to [[Oleg Gordievsky]], the [[KGB]] London station chief who defected in 1985.<ref>Peter B. Niblo, ''Influence: The Soviet Task Leading to Pearl Harbor, the Iron Curtain, and the Cold War'' (Oakland, OR: Elderberry Press, 2002) ISBN 1930859147, p. 65</ref>