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| | ===Yalta=== | | ===Yalta=== |
| − | On February 4, 1945,<ref>[http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/coldwar/index.php?action=chrono Ideological Foundations of the Cold War], Harry S. Truman Library, National Archives and Records Administration</ref> Hiss accompanied [[FDR]] to his meeting with [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] and [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]] at [[Yalta conference|Yalta]], in [[Soviet]] [[Crimea]], as aide to Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr.,<ref>John Ehrman, "[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol48no4/alger_hiss.html Alger Hiss’s Looking-Glass Wars: Intelligence in Recent Public Literature]," ''Studies in Intelligence'', Volume 48, Number 4</ref> over whom (according to J. Anthony Panuch, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Administration)<ref>[http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/panuchja.htm J. Anthony Panuch Papers] (Biographical Note), Harry S. Truman Library & Museum</ref> Hiss exercised "Svengali-like influence."<ref>Panuch to Russell, March 7, 1946, Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-Third Congress, First Session, June 25, 1953 [http://ia311318.us.archive.org/0/items/interlockingsubv13unit/interlockingsubv13unit_bw.pdf Interlocking Subversion in Government Departments, Part 13] (Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1953), p. 853. (Cf. Louis Francis Budenz, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=IkqboMAiCkkC The Techniques of Communism]'' (New York: Ayer Publishing, 1977) ISBN 0405099428, p. 287) Dean Acheson subsequently forced Panuch, not Hiss, out of the State Department. (Subcommittee on Internal Security, Committee on the Judiciary, U. S. Senate [http://ia360635.us.archive.org/3/items/interlockingsubv1953unit/interlockingsubv1953unit_bw.pdf Interlocking Subversion in Government Departments] [Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1953], pp. 9-10)</ref> Stettinius gave Hiss remarkable control over [[FDR]]'s access to information, directing that "all memoranda for the President on topics to be discussed at the Meeting of the Big Three should be in the hands of Mr. Alger Hiss not later than Monday, January 15."<ref>Rothwell to Rockefeller, January 10, 1945, United States Department of State, ''[http://images.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/EFacs/1945/reference/frus.frus1945.i0010.pdf Foreign relations of the United States. Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945]'' (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1945), p. [http://images.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/EFacs/1945/XL/0124.gif 42]. Cf. p. [http://images.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/EFacs/1945/XL/0527.gif 441] (PDF p. 445), University of Wisconsin Digital Collections</ref> | + | On [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/coldwar/index.php?action=chrono February 4, 1945], Hiss accompanied [[FDR]] to his meeting with [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] and [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]] at [[Yalta conference|Yalta]], in [[Soviet]] [[Crimea]], as [[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol48no4/alger_hiss.html aide to Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr.], over whom (according to [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/panuchja.htm J. Anthony Panuch], Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Administration) Hiss exercised "Svengali-like influence."<ref>Panuch to Russell, March 7, 1946, Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-Third Congress, First Session, June 25, 1953 [http://ia311318.us.archive.org/0/items/interlockingsubv13unit/interlockingsubv13unit_bw.pdf Interlocking Subversion in Government Departments, Part 13] (Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1953), p. 853. (Cf. Louis Francis Budenz, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=IkqboMAiCkkC The Techniques of Communism]'' (New York: Ayer Publishing, 1977) ISBN 0405099428, p. 287) Dean Acheson subsequently forced Panuch, not Hiss, out of the State Department. (Subcommittee on Internal Security, Committee on the Judiciary, U. S. Senate [http://ia360635.us.archive.org/3/items/interlockingsubv1953unit/interlockingsubv1953unit_bw.pdf Interlocking Subversion in Government Departments] [Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1953], pp. 9-10)</ref> Stettinius gave Hiss remarkable control over [[FDR]]'s access to information, directing that "all memoranda for the President on topics to be discussed at the Meeting of the Big Three should be [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/FRUS/FRUS-idx?type=goto&id=FRUS.FRUS1945&page=42&isize=XL in the hands of Mr. Alger Hiss] not later than Monday, January 15."<ref>Rothwell to Rockefeller, January 10, 1945, United States Department of State, ''[Foreign relations of the United States. Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945]'' (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1945)/ [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/FRUS/FRUS-idx?type=goto&id=FRUS.FRUS1945&page=441&isize=XL p. 441] (University of Wisconsin Digital Collections)</ref> |
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| − | That month, Hiss requested top-secret files from the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (precursor of the CIA) on British, Soviet, French and Chinese internal security policies, as well as Far East policy,<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, pp. 361-362</ref> according to a State Department internal security probe of Hiss ordered by Secretary of State James F. Byrnes,<ref>Ron Capshaw, "[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=E9146EC9-A031-4F77-9691-F4C7F1ACA9F4 Alger Hiss: The Left's Religious Icon]," FrontPageMagazine.com, May 4, 2007</ref> and made public in 1993;<ref>Sam Tanenhaus, "New Reasons to Doubt Hiss," ''Wall Street Journal'', November 18, 1993</ref> FBI surveillance at this time found that Hiss also developed "a keen interest in atomic energy," and other matters relating to military intelligence,<ref>Sam Tanenhaus, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=WNp4AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Whittaker Chambers: A Biography]'' (New York: Random House, 1997) ISBN 0375751459, pp. 519; John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=M8p00bTFvRkC Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America]'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN 0300077718, p. 172; Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'', New York: Random House, (ed. 1997), pp. 321-322.</ref>—all of which was well outside the purview of his office.<ref>John Earl Haynes, "[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page63.html Ales: Hiss, Foote, Stettinius?]" johnearlhaynes.org, June 7, 2007; Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 363</ref> Loy Henderson, director of the State Department Office of Near East Affairs (NEA), quietly ordered members of NEA to keep confidential materials and information from Hiss.<ref>H. W. Brands, ''Inside the Cold War: Loy Henderson and the Rise of the American Empire, 1918-1961'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991) ISBN 0-19-506707-X, pp. 297-298</ref> | + | That month, Hiss requested top-secret files from the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (precursor of the CIA) on British, Soviet, French and Chinese internal security policies, as well as Far East policy,<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, pp. 361-362</ref> according to a State Department [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=E9146EC9-A031-4F77-9691-F4C7F1ACA9F4 internal security probe] of Hiss ordered by Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, and made public in 1993;<ref>Sam Tanenhaus, "New Reasons to Doubt Hiss," ''Wall Street Journal'', November 18, 1993</ref> FBI surveillance at this time found that Hiss also developed "a keen interest in atomic energy," and other matters relating to military intelligence,<ref>Sam Tanenhaus, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=WNp4AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Whittaker Chambers: A Biography]'' (New York: Random House, 1997) ISBN 0375751459, pp. 519; John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=M8p00bTFvRkC Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America]'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN 0300077718, p. 172; Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'', New York: Random House, (ed. 1997), pp. 321-322.</ref>—all of which was [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page63.html well outside] the purview of his office.<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 363</ref> Loy Henderson, director of the State Department Office of Near East Affairs (NEA), quietly ordered members of NEA to keep confidential materials and information from Hiss.<ref>H. W. Brands, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=L6V4AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Inside the Cold War: Loy Henderson and the Rise of the American Empire, 1918-1961]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991) ISBN 0-19-506707-X, pp. 297-298</ref> |
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| − | According to Sudoplatov, "One of the officials [at Yalta] we had established confidential relations with was Alger Hiss," who was "highly sympathetic to the interests of the Soviet Union."<ref>Anatoli Sudoplatov, Pavel Sudoplatov, Leona P. Schecter and Jerrold L. Schecter, ''Special Tasks'' (New York: Back Bay Books, 1995) ISBN 0316821152, p. 227</ref> According to confidential [[GRU]] sources, during the conference, Hiss gave daily briefings to Stalin's military adviser, General Mikhail Abramovich Milshtein (deputy director of the GRU), revealing not only the American negotiating strategy but insights into the attitudes of the American negotiators.<ref>Jerrold and Leona Schecter, ''Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History''(Washington: Potomac Books Inc., 2002) ISBN 1574883275, p. 130</ref> Sudoplatov added: | + | According to Sudoplatov, "One of the officials [at Yalta] we had established confidential relations with was Alger Hiss," who was "highly sympathetic to the interests of the Soviet Union."<ref>Anatoli Sudoplatov, Pavel Sudoplatov, Leona P. Schecter and Jerrold L. Schecter, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=lt8FHQAACAAJ Special Tasks: The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness, a Soviet Spymaster]'' (New York: Back Bay Books, 1995) ISBN 0316821152, p. 227</ref> According to confidential [[GRU]] sources, during the conference, Hiss gave daily briefings to Stalin's military adviser, General Mikhail Abramovich Milshtein (deputy director of the GRU), revealing not only the American negotiating strategy but insights into the attitudes of the American negotiators.<ref>Jerrold and Leona Schecter, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=M2pbieYYHrYC Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History]''(Washington: Potomac Books Inc., 2002) ISBN 1574883275, p. 130</ref> Sudoplatov added: |
| − | {{cquote|In conversation, Hiss disclosed to Oumansky,<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,851866,00.html Ambassador Extraordinary]," ''Time'', November 22, 1943</ref> and then Litvinov,<ref>Hugh D. Phillips, ''Between the revolution and the West: a political biography of Maxim M. Litvinov'' (New York: Westview Press, 1992) ISBN 0813310385</ref> official U.S. attitudes and plans; he was also very close to our sources who were cooperating with Soviet intelligence and to our active intelligence operators in the United States. Within this framework of exchange of confidential information were references to Hiss as the source who told us the Americans were prepared to make a deal in Europe.<ref>Anatoli Sudoplatov, Pavel Sudoplatov, Leona P. Schecter and Jerrold L. Schecter, ''Special Tasks'' (New York: Back Bay Books, 1995) ISBN 0316821152, p. 227</ref>}} | + | {{cquote|In conversation, Hiss disclosed to [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,851866,00.html Oumansky], and then Litvinov,<ref>Hugh D. Phillips, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qjWPAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Between the revolution and the West: a political biography of Maxim M. Litvinov]'' (New York: Westview Press, 1992) ISBN 0813310385</ref> official U.S. attitudes and plans; he was also very close to our sources who were cooperating with Soviet intelligence and to our active intelligence operators in the United States. Within this framework of exchange of confidential information were references to Hiss as the source who told us the Americans were prepared to make a deal in Europe.<ref>Anatoli Sudoplatov, Pavel Sudoplatov, Leona P. Schecter and Jerrold L. Schecter, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=lt8FHQAACAAJ Special Tasks: The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness, a Soviet Spymaster]'' (New York: Back Bay Books, 1995) ISBN 0316821152, p. 227</ref>}} |
| − | When Roosevelt asked the Secretary of State "to get a lawyer to consult with him over the wording of the Polish boundary statement," wrote Stettinius, "I called Alger Hiss."<ref>Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=IjhQ_gsiCzwC Roosevelt and the Russians]'' (Whitefish, Mont.: Kettinger Publishing, 2005) ISBN 1419103105, p. 270</ref> The U.S. ended up ceding eastern Poland to the Soviet Union,<ref>Gregor Dallas, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=LXdVF6LmTa8C 1945: The War That Never Ended]'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005) ISBN 0300109806, p. 557</ref> essentially ratifying the deal Stalin had made with Hitler in the "secret protocols" of the [[Nazi-Soviet pact]].<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/behindcloseddoors/pdfs/NonAggressionPact.pdf Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact with Secret Protocols, August 23, 1939], World War II Behind Closed Doors: Stalin, the Nazis and the West (PBS)</ref> U.S. Ambassador to Poland Arthur Bliss Lane resigned in protest, writing, "As I glanced over the document, I could not believe my eyes: To me, almost every line spoke of a surrender to Stalin."<ref>Arthur Bliss Lane, ''I Saw Poland Betrayed: An American Ambassador Reports to the American People'' (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1948) ASIN B000NWTIF8, p. 56</ref> | + | When Roosevelt asked the Secretary of State "to get a lawyer to consult with him over the wording of the Polish boundary statement," wrote Stettinius, "I called Alger Hiss."<ref>Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=IjhQ_gsiCzwC Roosevelt and the Russians]'' (Whitefish, Mont.: Kettinger Publishing, 2005) ISBN 1419103105, p. 270</ref> The U.S. ended up ceding eastern Poland to the Soviet Union,<ref>Gregor Dallas, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=LXdVF6LmTa8C 1945: The War That Never Ended]'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005) ISBN 0300109806, p. 557</ref> essentially ratifying the deal Stalin had made with Hitler in the "[http://www.pbs.org/behindcloseddoors/pdfs/NonAggressionPact.pdf secret protocols]" of the [[Nazi-Soviet pact]]. U.S. Ambassador to Poland Arthur Bliss Lane resigned in protest, writing, "As I glanced over the document, I could not believe my eyes: To me, almost every line spoke of a surrender to Stalin."<ref>Arthur Bliss Lane, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=SzQrAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 I Saw Poland Betrayed: An American Ambassador Reports to the American People]'' (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1948) ASIN B000NWTIF8, p. 56</ref> |
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| − | A secret<ref>"[T]he oral agreement was that the Russians would bring their two delegations to San Francisco, propose their admission, and we would agree. But it would not be announced in advance." [http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unationsday/docs/hiss13february11october90.pdf Interview of Alger Hiss], Yale Oral History Project, February 13 and October 11, 1990, pp. 18-19 (PDF pp. 19-20)</ref> agreement also gave the Soviet Union three votes in the UN to one for the U.S., and forced "repatriation" of refugees for [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/lubini.htm slave labor]<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/cab_195_3_transcript.pdf War Cabinet Minutes], June 11, 1945 (National Archives, United Kingdom), p. 182</ref> or death in the [[Soviet]] [[Gulag]].<ref>Nikolai Tolstoy, ''The Secret Betrayal'' (New York: Scribner, 1978) ISBN 0684156350; Julius Epstein, ''Operation Keelhaul: The Story of Forced Repatriation from 1944 to the Present'' (Old Greenwich, Conn.: Devin-Adair Co., 1973) ISBN 978-0815964070</ref> In addition, Roosevelt made a secret agreement with Stalin (Churchill was not informed), giving the Soviets Japanese territory, as well as economic rights in Manchuria.<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/behindcloseddoors/in-depth/the-conferences.html#Argonaut2 Yalta (codename Argonaut, phase 2 Magneto)], World War II Behind Closed Doors: Stalin, the Nazis and the West (PBS)</ref> The complete text of all the agreements was not disclosed until 1947.<ref>"[http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Yalta_Conference.aspx Yalta Conference]," ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', Sixth Edition, 2008</ref> Asked if he had "drafted or participated in the drafting" of parts of the Yalta agreement, Hiss would testify, "I think it is accurate and not an immodest statement to say that I did to some extent, yes."<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-5testimony.html Testimony of Alger Hiss before the House Committee on Un-American Activities], August 5, 1948</ref> | + | A [http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unationsday/docs/hiss13february11october90.pdf secret agreement] also gave the Soviet Union three votes in the UN to one for the U.S., and forced "repatriation" of refugees for [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/lubini.htm slave] [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/cab_195_3_transcript.pdf labor] or death in the [[Soviet]] [[Gulag]].<ref>Nikolai Tolstoy, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=u-dvAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 The Secret Betrayal]'' (New York: Scribner, 1978) ISBN 0684156350; Julius Epstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=_3kNAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1 Operation Keelhaul: The Story of Forced Repatriation from 1944 to the Present]'' (Old Greenwich, Conn.: Devin-Adair Co., 1973) ISBN 978-0815964070</ref> In addition, Roosevelt made a secret agreement with Stalin (Churchill was [http://www.pbs.org/behindcloseddoors/in-depth/the-conferences.html#Argonaut2 not informed]), giving the Soviets Japanese territory, as well as economic rights in Manchuria. The complete text of all the agreements was [http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Yalta_Conference.aspx not disclosed] until 1947. Asked if he had "drafted or participated in the drafting" of parts of the Yalta agreement, Hiss would testify, "I think it is accurate and not an immodest statement to say that [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-5testimony.html I did to some extent, yes]." |
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| − | The conference ended February 11; the next day, [[Franklin Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] was dead.<ref>[http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/coldwar/index.php?action=chrono Ideological Foundations of the Cold War], Harry S. Truman Library, National Archives and Records Administration</ref> Hiss went on to [[Moscow]],<ref>John Ehrman, "[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 The Mystery of 'ALES': Once Again, the Alger Hiss Case]," ''Studies in Intelligence'', Vol. 51, no. 4 (2007), p. ; John F. Fox, Jr., "[http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/history/foxpaper.htm In the Enemy’s House: Venona and the Maturation of American Counterintelligence]," 2005 Symposium on Cryptologic History, October 27, 2005; Eduard Mark, "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> where he was reportedly decorated with the Order of the Red Star<ref>John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr and Alexander Vassiliev, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qCAVQ_cdomcC Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America]'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009) ISBN 0300123906, p. 278; Robert L. Beisner, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=D9Zb_feBUdkC Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War]''' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) ISBN 0195045785, p. 282; G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 226; Jerrold and Leona Schecter, ''Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History''(Washington: Potomac Books Inc., 2002) ISBN 1574883275, p. 131</ref> and honored by Foreign Minister [[Vyacheslav Molotov|V.M. Molotov]].<ref>Ralph De Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_47_17/ai_80900413/ Hiss defenders covering for the `old man'],” ''Insight on the News'', December 17, 2001</ref> Five members of a [[GRU|Soviet military intelligence]] apparatus in Washington (one of whom had been a [[GRU]] source in the 1930s, and had access to high-level intelligence about U.S. foreign policy) received Soviet decorations in February 1945, according to a 2006 report in a Russian military journal.<ref>Vladimir Lota, “Moris Makes Contact,” ''Krasnaya Zvezda'' (''Red Star''), May 5, 2006, cited in John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, “[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page70.html 'Ales' is Still Hiss: The Wilder Foote Red Herring],” 2007 Symposium on Cryptologic History, The Center for Cryptologic History, October 19, 2007</ref> On April 25, 1945, [[Pavel Fitin]], head of [[NKVD]] foreign intelligence, reported to NKVD Chief Vsevolod Merkulov<ref>"[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,858400-1,00.html Policeman on Trial]," ''Time'', December 28, 1953</ref> that [[Harold Glasser]], a Soviet agent in the [[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury]] code-named "Ruble,"<ref>KGB file 43072, vol. 1: "Ruble"—Harold Glasser (Alexander Vassiliev, [http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/White_Notebook_No.3_Translated.pdf White Notebook #3], p. 36 [PDF p. 44]), Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars</ref> learned of this award from his friend, "Ales," a GRU agent: | + | The conference ended February 11; the next day, [[Franklin Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/coldwar/index.php?action=chrono was dead]. Hiss [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 went on] [http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/history/foxpaper.htm to Moscow],<ref>Eduard Mark, "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> where he was reportedly decorated with the Order of the Red Star<ref>John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr and Alexander Vassiliev, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qCAVQ_cdomcC Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America]'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009) ISBN 0300123906, p. 278; Robert L. Beisner, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=D9Zb_feBUdkC Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War]''' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) ISBN 0195045785, p. 282; G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 226; Jerrold and Leona Schecter, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=M2pbieYYHrYC Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History]''(Washington: Potomac Books Inc., 2002) ISBN 1574883275, p. 131</ref> and [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_47_17/ai_80900413/ honored by] Foreign Minister [[Vyacheslav Molotov|V.M. Molotov]]. Five members of a [[GRU|Soviet military intelligence]] apparatus in Washington (one of whom had been a [[GRU]] source in the 1930s, and had access to high-level intelligence about U.S. foreign policy) received Soviet decorations in February 1945, according to a [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page70.html 2006 report] in the Russian military journal ''Krasnaya Zvezda'' (''Red Star''). |
| − | [[Image:Hissetal.jpg|thumb|300 px|Vishinskii (2nd from left), Molotov (5th from left), Stettinius (7th from left), Alger Hiss (right), ca. January 1945. ''Image courtesy Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, National Archives and Records Administration'']]{{cquote|According to data from [[Anatoly Gorsky|Vadim]] the group of agents of the [[GRU|"military" neighbors]] whose part [[Harold Glasser|Ruble]] was earlier, recently was decorated with orders of the USSR. Ruble learned about this fact from his friend Ales, who is the head of the mentioned group.<ref>Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America—the Stalin Era'', (New York: Random House, 1999), ISBN 0375755365, pp. 268-269; G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 226</ref>}}
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| − | This memo apparently refers to [[Venona project|Venona]] decrypt 1822, dated March 30, 1945, in which "Vadim" ([[Anatoly Gorsky]], chief of Soviet intelligence in the U.S.)<ref>Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, ''The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB'' (New York: Basic Books, 2000), ISBN 046500312, p. 90</ref> reports,<ref>The translation used here is that of [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page61.html John R. Schindler]. Cf. Eric
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| − | Breindel, "Goodies from the Venona files: Hiss’ Guilt," ''The New Republic'', April 15, 1996, reprinted in ''The Congressional Record'' Vol. 142, No. 50 (Thursday, April 18, 1996), pp. [http://bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/record/1996/1996_H03644.pdf H03644]-[http://bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/record/1996/1996_H03645.pdf H03645]</ref> following up on a conversation with "Ales," that "Ales has been continuously working with the [[GRU|neighbors]] since 1935"; that for "a few years now he has been the director of a small group of probationers [agents]<ref>Robert L. Benson, [http://www.nsa.gov/about/_files/cryptologic_heritage/publications/coldwar/venona_story.pdf The Venona Story] (Ft. George G. Meade. MD: National Security Agency Center for Cryptologic History), p. 17, 29 (PDF pp. 19, 31)</ref> of the neighbors [GRU],<ref>John Earl Haynes, [http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=H-Diplo&month=0501&week=a&msg=obaTGXSrsBmHu2ps7TI6fA&user=&pw= KGB sources and the Hiss/'Ales' dispute], H-Diplo Discussion Logs, Humanities and Social Sciences Net Online (Michigan State University), January 5, 2005</ref> for the most part drawn from his relatives"; that they were "working on obtaining only military information," since [[GRU|Soviet military intelligence]] "allegedly are not very interested" in "materials about the Bank [United States Department of State]";<ref>"A Word About the Covernames," [http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps33230/www.nsa.gov/docs/venona/monographs/monograph-1.html Introductory History of VENONA and Guide to the Translations] (National Security Agency)</ref> that recently, "Ales and his whole group were awarded Soviet medals"; and that after "the Yalta conference, back in Moscow, one very high-ranking Soviet worker allegedly had contact with Ales (Ales implied that it was Comrade [[Andrey Vyshinsky|Vyshinskii]]) and at the request of the [[GRU|military neighbors]] he conveyed to him their thanks, etc."<ref>[http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/venona/1945/30mar_kgb_interviews_gru_agent.pdf Venona 1822 Washington to Moscow 30 March 1945]</ref> Regarding "Ales," one FBI memo reports:
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| − | {{cquote|It would appear likely that this individual is Alger Hiss in view of the fact that he was in the State Department and the information from Chambers indicated that his wife, Priscilla, was active in Soviet espionage and he also had a brother, Donald, in the State Department. It also is to be noted that Hiss did attend the Yalta conference as a special adviser to President Roosevelt, and he would, of course, have conferred with high officials of other nations attending the conference.<ref>FBI memo: Belmont to Ladd, May 15, 1950 ([http://education-research.org/PDFs/VENONA.pdf FBI file: Venona]), p. 8 (PDF p. 11); Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, ''The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors'' (Washington: Regnery Publishing, 2001) ISBN 0895262258, p. 137</ref>}}
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| − | In its unanimous final report in 1997, the bipartisan [[Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy]] agreed regarding Ales, "This could only be Alger Hiss."<ref>[http://www.gpo.gov/congress/commissions/secrecy/pdf/12hist1.pdf Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy] (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1997), Appendix A, p. A-34 (PDF p. 36)</ref> Analysts at the National Security Agency have also gone on record that Ales could only have been Alger Hiss.<ref>"[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venona/dece_hiss.html Secrets, Lies and Atomic Spies]," ''Nova'' (PBS), February 5, 2002</ref> U.S. Air Force historian Eduard Mark calls the FBI and NSA's conclusions "eminently reasonable," agreeing that the evidence showed that "ALES was ''very probably'' Hiss."<ref>Eduard Mark, "Who was 'Venona's' 'Ales'? Cryptanalysis and the Hiss Case," ''Intelligence and National Security'' 18 (Autumn 2003), pp. 54–55, 57–88, 62, 64 (italics in original).</ref> John R. Schindler, professor of strategy at the Naval War College and himself a former NSA analyst, concurs, calling this identification "exceptionally solid" and the evidence "compelling."<ref>John R. Schindler, "[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page61.html Hiss in VENONA: The Continuing Controversy]," Center for Cryptologic History Symposium, 27 October 2005</ref> John Ehrman of the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence<ref>John Ehrman, "[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v46i4a08p.htm Intelligence in Recent Public Literature: The Brother]"</ref> concludes, "it is clear that Hiss alone remains the best candidate to be ALES."<ref>John Ehrman, [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 'The Mystery of ALES': Once Again, the Alger Hiss Case]," ''Studies in Intelligence'' Vol. 51, No. 4 (December 2007), PDF p. 9</ref>
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| − | [[Image:Hiss2.jpg|thumb|left|300 px|The name "Alger Hiss" in English, from Vassiliev's notes on Perlo's March 15, 1945 list to Moscow Center. ''Image courtesy Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars'']]On March 15, [[Victor Perlo]] (code-named "Raid")<ref>John Earl Haynes, "[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page59.html Russian Archival Identification of Real Names Behind Cover Names in VENONA]," Cryptology and the Cold War: | + | On April 25, 1945, [[Pavel Fitin]], head of [[NKVD]] foreign intelligence, reported to NKVD Chief [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,858400-1,00.html Vsevolod Merkulov] that [[Harold Glasser]], a Soviet agent in the [[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury]] code-named "Ruble,"<ref>KGB file 43072, vol. 1: "Ruble"—Harold Glasser (Alexander Vassiliev, [http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/White_Notebook_No.3_Translated.pdf White Notebook #3], p. 36 [PDF p. 44]), Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars</ref> learned of this award from his friend, "Ales," a GRU agent: |
| − | Center for Cryptologic History Symposium, October 27, 2005</ref> gave Moscow (in English) a list of people not in his Perlo Group whom he knew worked with [[Soviet]] intelligence. Included on that list was the name "Alger Hiss."<ref>John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr, and Alexander Vassiliev, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qCAVQ_cdomcC Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America]'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009) ISBN 0300123906, p. 14. Cf. Vassiliev's White Notebook No. 3 ([http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/White_Notebook_No.3_Original.pdf original], p. 40; [http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/White_Notebook_No.3_Transcribed.pdf transcribed], p.78; [http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/White_Notebook_No.3_Translated.pdf translated], p. 78), Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars</ref> Five days later, [[State Department]] security officer Raymond Murphy interviewed Chambers. Murphy's notes record that Chambers reiterated his identification of Hiss as a member of the Communist Party underground apparatus, but added that he was also the leader of a cell and not merely a Communist but, said Chambers, an espionage agent who disclosed "much confidential material," as well as an agent of influence who sought to shape U.S. policy "in keeping with the desires of the Communist Party."<ref>[http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/break45.html Memorandum of Conversation], Tuesday, March 20, 1945, Westminster, Md.</ref>
| + | [[Image:Hissetal.jpg|thumb|300 px|Vishinskii (2nd from left), Molotov (5th from left), Stettinius (7th from left), Alger Hiss (right), ca. January 1945. ''Image courtesy Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, National Archives and Records Administration'']]{{cquote|According to data from [[Anatoly Gorsky|Vadim]] the group of agents of the [[GRU|"military" neighbors]] whose part [[Harold Glasser|Ruble]] was earlier, recently was decorated with orders of the USSR. Ruble learned about this fact from his friend Ales, who is the head of the mentioned group.<ref>Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=jbMBAAAACAAJ The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America—the Stalin Era]'', (New York: Random House, 1999), ISBN 0375755365, pp. 268-269; G. Edward White, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=FvR4HBTiYzAC Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy]'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 226</ref>}} |
| | + | This memo apparently refers to [[Venona project|Venona]] [http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/venona/1945/30mar_kgb_interviews_gru_agent.pdf decrypt 1822], dated March 30, 1945, in which "Vadim" ([[Anatoly Gorsky]], chief of Soviet intelligence in the U.S.)<ref>Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=9TWUAQ7Xof8C The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB]'' (New York: Basic Books, 2000), ISBN 046500312, p. 90</ref> reports,<ref>The translation used here is that of [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page61.html John R. Schindler]. Cf. Eric |
| | + | Breindel, "Goodies from the Venona files: Hiss’ Guilt," ''The New Republic'', April 15, 1996, reprinted in ''The Congressional Record'' Vol. 142, No. 50 (Thursday, April 18, 1996), pp. [http://bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/record/1996/1996_H03644.pdf H03644]-[http://bulk.resource.org/gpo.gov/record/1996/1996_H03645.pdf H03645]</ref> following up on a conversation with "Ales," that "Ales has been continuously working with the [[GRU|neighbors]] since 1935"; that for "a few years now he has been the director of a small group of probationers [agents]<ref>Robert L. Benson, [http://www.nsa.gov/about/_files/cryptologic_heritage/publications/coldwar/venona_story.pdf The Venona Story] (Ft. George G. Meade. MD: National Security Agency Center for Cryptologic History), p. 17, 29 (PDF pp. 19, 31)</ref> of the neighbors [GRU],<ref>John Earl Haynes, [http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=H-Diplo&month=0501&week=a&msg=obaTGXSrsBmHu2ps7TI6fA&user=&pw= KGB sources and the Hiss/'Ales' dispute], H-Diplo Discussion Logs, Humanities and Social Sciences Net Online (Michigan State University), January 5, 2005</ref> for the most part drawn from his relatives"; that they were "working on obtaining only military information," since [[GRU|Soviet military intelligence]] "allegedly are not very interested" in "materials about the Bank [United States Department of State]";<ref>"A Word About the Covernames," [http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps33230/www.nsa.gov/docs/venona/monographs/monograph-1.html Introductory History of VENONA and Guide to the Translations] (National Security Agency)</ref> that recently, "Ales and his whole group were awarded Soviet medals"; and that after "the Yalta conference, back in Moscow, one very high-ranking Soviet worker allegedly had contact with Ales (Ales implied that it was Comrade [[Andrey Vyshinsky|Vyshinskii]]) and at the request of the [[GRU|military neighbors]] he conveyed to him their thanks, etc." Regarding "Ales," one FBI memo reports: |
| | + | {{cquote|It would appear likely that this individual is Alger Hiss in view of the fact that he was in the State Department and the information from Chambers indicated that his wife, Priscilla, was active in Soviet espionage and he also had a brother, Donald, in the State Department. It also is to be noted that Hiss did attend the Yalta conference as a special adviser to President Roosevelt, and he would, of course, have conferred with high officials of other nations attending the conference.<ref>FBI memo: Belmont to Ladd, May 15, 1950 ([http://education-research.org/PDFs/VENONA.pdf FBI file: Venona]), p. 8 (PDF p. 11); Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=mVpWH51F7toC The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors]'' (Washington: Regnery Publishing, 2001) ISBN 0895262258, p. 137</ref>}} |
| | + | In its unanimous final report in 1997, the bipartisan [[Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy]] agreed regarding Ales, "This could only be Alger Hiss."<ref>[http://www.gpo.gov/congress/commissions/secrecy/pdf/12hist1.pdf Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy] (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1997), Appendix A, p. A-34 (PDF p. 36)</ref> Analysts at the National Security Agency have also gone on record that [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venona/dece_hiss.html Ales could only have been Alger Hiss]. U.S. Air Force historian Eduard Mark calls the FBI and NSA's conclusions "eminently reasonable," agreeing that the evidence showed that "ALES was ''very probably'' Hiss."<ref>Eduard Mark, "Who was 'Venona's' 'Ales'? Cryptanalysis and the Hiss Case," ''Intelligence and National Security'' 18 (Autumn 2003), pp. 54–55, 57–88, 62, 64 (italics in original).</ref> John R. Schindler, professor of strategy at the Naval War College and himself a former NSA analyst, concurs, calling this identification "[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page61.html exceptionally solid]" and the evidence "compelling." [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v46i4a08p.htm John Ehrman] of the [[CIA]]'s Directorate of Intelligence concludes, "it is clear that [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 Hiss alone remains the best candidate to be ALES]." |
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| − | On March 24, FBI agent E.A. Tamm, assistant to FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]], alerted Robert Lynch, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State, to Chambers' allegations that Hiss had been a member of the underground organization of the [[Communist Party]], and to Hiss' links to [[Nathan Witt]] and [[Lee Pressman]]. After interviewing Hiss the next day,<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 359</ref> FBI official D.M. Ladd furnished Frederick B. Lyon, Chief of the Division of Foreign Activity Correlation of the Department of State, a summary memorandum outlining this information.<ref>FBI memorandum: Ladd to Hoover, January 28, 1949 (FBI file: Hiss Chambers, Vol. 44)</ref> On March 26, State Department security officer Robert Bannerman sent Donald Russell, Assistant Secretary of State for Administration, a comprehensive secret report on Chambers' allegations regarding Hiss, recommending "that immediate action be taken to terminate Mr. Hiss's services with the Department."<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 364</ref> | + | [[Image:Hiss2.jpg|thumb|left|300 px|The name "Alger Hiss" in English, from Vassiliev's notes on Perlo's March 15, 1945 list to Moscow Center. ''Image courtesy Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars'']]On March 15, [[Victor Perlo]] ([http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page59.html code-named "Raid"]) gave Moscow (in English) a list of people not in his Perlo Group whom he knew worked with [[Soviet]] intelligence. Included on that list was the name "Alger Hiss."<ref>John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr, and Alexander Vassiliev, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qCAVQ_cdomcC Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America]'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009) ISBN 0300123906, p. 14. Cf. Vassiliev's White Notebook No. 3 ([http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/White_Notebook_No.3_Original.pdf original], p. 40; [http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/White_Notebook_No.3_Transcribed.pdf transcribed], p.78; [http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/docs/White_Notebook_No.3_Translated.pdf translated], p. 78), Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars</ref> Five days later, [[State Department]] security officer Raymond Murphy interviewed Chambers. Murphy's notes record that Chambers reiterated his identification of Hiss as a member of the Communist Party underground apparatus, but added that he was also the leader of a cell and not merely a Communist but, said Chambers, an [[espionage]] agent who "[http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/break45.html disclosed much confidential matter]," as well as an agent of influence who sought to shape U.S. policy "in keeping with the desires of the Communist Party." |
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| | + | On March 24, [[FBI]] agent E.A. Tamm, assistant to FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]], alerted Robert Lynch, Special Assistant to the [[Secretary of State]], to [[Whittaker Chambers|Chambers]]' allegations that Hiss had been a member of the underground organization of the [[Communist Party]], and to Hiss' links to [[Nathan Witt]] and [[Lee Pressman]]. After interviewing Hiss the next day,<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 359</ref> FBI official D.M. Ladd furnished Frederick B. Lyon, Chief of the Division of Foreign Activity Correlation of the [[State Department|Department of State]], a summary memorandum outlining this information.<ref>FBI memorandum: Ladd to Hoover, January 28, 1949 (FBI file: Hiss Chambers, Vol. 44)</ref> On March 26, State Department security officer Robert Bannerman sent Donald Russell, Assistant Secretary of State for Administration, a comprehensive secret report on Chambers' allegations regarding Hiss, recommending "that immediate action be taken to terminate Mr. Hiss's services with the Department."<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkeRKZOX2n4C&pgis=1 Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case]'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 364</ref> |
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| | ===United Nations=== | | ===United Nations=== |