Changes

Hiss took a pay cut<ref>[[#refSpies09|Haynes, Klehr, Vassiliev 2009]]: 5</ref> to transfer into the [[State Department]] in September 1936, the same month a [[GRU]] agent designated by the code name "Jurist" began working there.<ref>[[#refSpies09|Haynes, Klehr, Vassiliev 2009]]: 12</ref> Hiss was now special assistant to Assistant [[Secretary of State]] for Trade Agreements Francis B. Sayre, [http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org/timeline/ImageDisplay.asp?ID=37 son-in-law] of [[Woodrow Wilson]]. Two years later, Alger's younger [[brother]] [[Donald Hiss|Donald]], who had followed him to [[Johns Hopkins University|Johns Hopkins]], [[Harvard Law School|Harvard Law]], and a clerkship for [[Oliver Wendell Holmes|Justice Holmes]], would join him at State, rising to the position of [http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/20/obituaries/donald-hiss-82-ex-us-official-and-lawyer-in-washington-firm.html assistant to future Secretary of State] [[Dean Acheson]].

Hiss took a pay cut<ref>[[#refSpies09|Haynes, Klehr, Vassiliev 2009]]: 5</ref> to transfer into the [[State Department]] in September 1936, the same month a [[GRU]] agent designated by the code name "Jurist" began working there.<ref>[[#refSpies09|Haynes, Klehr, Vassiliev 2009]]: 12</ref> Hiss was now special assistant to Assistant [[Secretary of State]] for Trade Agreements Francis B. Sayre, [http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org/timeline/ImageDisplay.asp?ID=37 son-in-law] of [[Woodrow Wilson]]. Two years later, Alger's younger [[brother]] [[Donald Hiss|Donald]], who had followed him to [[Johns Hopkins University|Johns Hopkins]], [[Harvard Law School|Harvard Law]], and a clerkship for [[Oliver Wendell Holmes|Justice Holmes]], would join him at State, rising to the position of [http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/20/obituaries/donald-hiss-82-ex-us-official-and-lawyer-in-washington-firm.html assistant to future Secretary of State] [[Dean Acheson]].

In a [[#refHK07|cable]] of the era found in the [[NKVD]] archives by Vassiliev, NKVD illegal [[Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov]] reports to [[Moscow]] that [[J. Peters]] (code-[http://hnn.us/articles/11581.html named] [[#refBLH05|"Storm"]])<ref>[[#refVasBlack|Vassiliev Black Notebook]]: Orig. 39; Trans. 77 (cf. [[#refBLH05|Bachman, Leich, Haynes 2005]]; [[#refLowCher|Lowenthal, Chervonnaya 2005]]); [[#refRomerstein01|Romerstein, Breindel 2001]]: 163; [[#refBC07|Bird, Chervonnaya 2007]]</ref> told him that "Hiss [Akhmerov used his real name] used to be a member of ''bratskiy'' organization (the [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page66.html CPUSA underground]) who had been implanted into 'Surrogate' (cover name for the [[State Department]])<ref>[[#refHaunted|Weinstein, Vassiliev  1999]]: 5</ref> and sent to the Neighbors [the [[GRU]]]<ref>[[#refVStory|Benson/NSA]]: 29 (PDF 31)</ref>...."<ref>[[#refHK03|Haynes, Klehr 2003]]: 150; [[#refWhite04|White 2004]]: 230</ref>

In a [[#refHK07|cable]] of the era found in the [[NKVD]] archives by Vassiliev, NKVD illegal [[Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov]] reports to [[Moscow]] that [[J. Peters]] (code-[http://hnn.us/articles/11581.html named] [[#refBLH05|"Storm"]])<ref>[[#refVasBlack|Vassiliev Black Notebook]]: Orig. 39; Trans. 77 (cf. [[#refBLH05|Bachman, Leich, Haynes 2005]]; [[#refLowCher|Lowenthal, Chervonnaya 2005]]); [[#refRomerstein01|Romerstein, Breindel 2001]]: 163; [[#refBC07|Bird, Chervonnaya 2007]]</ref> told him that "Hiss [Akhmerov used his real name] used to be a member of ''bratskiy'' organization (the [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page66.html CPUSA underground]) who had been implanted into 'Surrogate' (cover name for the [[State Department]])<ref>[[#refHaunted|Weinstein, Vassiliev  1999]]: 5</ref> and sent to the Neighbors [the [[GRU]]]<ref>[[#refVStory|Benson 2001]]: 29 (PDF 31)</ref>...."<ref>[[#refHK03|Haynes, Klehr 2003]]: 150; [[#refWhite04|White 2004]]: 230</ref>

The year before, at the funeral of Marshal [http://www.poland.gov.pl/Jozef,Pilsudski,(1867-1935),1972.html Józef Piłsudski] in [[Warsaw]], [[U.S.]] [[Ambassador]] to [[Moscow]] [http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2003_01-03/sempa_bullitt/sempa_bullitt.html William C. Bullitt] had given confidential assurance to the [[Polish]] [[government]] that the [[United States]] would stand by [[Poland]] in the event of a [[Nazi]] invasion. But after Bullitt reported back to [[Washington]] that he had done so, someone at the [[State Department]] passed this information to the [[Kremlin]], which in turn transmitted it to [[German]] intelligence (with which [[Soviet intelligence]] had maintained liaison since the time of [[Lenin]]).<ref>See, for example: Michael Pearson, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=7rkeAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 The Sealed Train: Lenin's Eight Month Journey from Exile to Power]'' (New York: Putnam, 1975) ISBN 0399112626, particularly the German documents in the Afterward. Cf. [[#refNekrich97|Nekrich 1997]]: eg., 2, 69; [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/intdip/formulti/rapallo_001.htm German-Russian Agreement] (Treaty of Rapallo), April 16, 1922; [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/intdip/formulti/rapallo_002.htm Supplementary Agreement], November 5, 1922; Hans W. Gatzke, "[http://www.jstor.org/pss/1848881 Russo-German Military Collaboration during the Weimar Republic]," ''The American Historical Review'', Vol. 63, No. 3 (April 1958), pp. 565-597; Ernst Fraenkel, "[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5280948 German-Russian Relations Since 1918: From Brest-Litovsk to Moscow]," ''The Review of Politics'', Vol. 2, No. 1 (1940), pp. 34-62. N.B. the coming to power of the Nazis did nothing to interrupt this liaison: "The documents of the German Foreign Ministry, captured by the Allies at the end of World War II and published in London during the 1950's, show that secret negotiations between Stalin's agents and the Hitler Government began as early as 1933." Aleksandr Nekrich and Mikhail Heller, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=G-poAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Utopia in Power: The History of the Soviet Union from 1917 to the Present]'' (Summit Books, 1986) ISBN 0671462423, p. 310. Nazi-Soviet relations became even closer [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/nazsov.asp in 1939-1941]. The Soviets were still negotiating with the Nazis [[#refBlack06|as late as the Teheran conference]] in December 1943. Robert C. Grogin, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qBBcqDludakC Natural Enemies: the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War, 1917-1991]'' (Lexington Books, 2001) ISBN 0739101609, p. 38</ref> Nazi [[propaganda]] minister [[Joseph Goebbels]] exploited this information to portray the United States as a warmonger. According to de Toledano, the State Department source who passed this information to the [[Soviets]] [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 was Alger Hiss].

The year before, at the funeral of Marshal [http://www.poland.gov.pl/Jozef,Pilsudski,(1867-1935),1972.html Józef Piłsudski] in [[Warsaw]], [[U.S.]] [[Ambassador]] to [[Moscow]] [http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2003_01-03/sempa_bullitt/sempa_bullitt.html William C. Bullitt] had given confidential assurance to the [[Polish]] [[government]] that the [[United States]] would stand by [[Poland]] in the event of a [[Nazi]] invasion. But after Bullitt reported back to [[Washington]] that he had done so, someone at the [[State Department]] passed this information to the [[Kremlin]], which in turn transmitted it to [[German]] intelligence (with which [[Soviet intelligence]] had maintained liaison since the time of [[Lenin]]).<ref>See, for example: Michael Pearson, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=7rkeAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 The Sealed Train: Lenin's Eight Month Journey from Exile to Power]'' (New York: Putnam, 1975) ISBN 0399112626, particularly the German documents in the Afterward. Cf. [[#refNekrich97|Nekrich 1997]]: eg., 2, 69; [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/intdip/formulti/rapallo_001.htm German-Russian Agreement] (Treaty of Rapallo), April 16, 1922; [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/intdip/formulti/rapallo_002.htm Supplementary Agreement], November 5, 1922; Hans W. Gatzke, "[http://www.jstor.org/pss/1848881 Russo-German Military Collaboration during the Weimar Republic]," ''The American Historical Review'', Vol. 63, No. 3 (April 1958), pp. 565-597; Ernst Fraenkel, "[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5280948 German-Russian Relations Since 1918: From Brest-Litovsk to Moscow]," ''The Review of Politics'', Vol. 2, No. 1 (1940), pp. 34-62. N.B. the coming to power of the Nazis did nothing to interrupt this liaison: "The documents of the German Foreign Ministry, captured by the Allies at the end of World War II and published in London during the 1950's, show that secret negotiations between Stalin's agents and the Hitler Government began as early as 1933." Aleksandr Nekrich and Mikhail Heller, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=G-poAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1 Utopia in Power: The History of the Soviet Union from 1917 to the Present]'' (Summit Books, 1986) ISBN 0671462423, p. 310. Nazi-Soviet relations became even closer [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/nazsov.asp in 1939-1941]. The Soviets were still negotiating with the Nazis [[#refBlack06|as late as the Teheran conference]] in December 1943. Robert C. Grogin, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qBBcqDludakC Natural Enemies: the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War, 1917-1991]'' (Lexington Books, 2001) ISBN 0739101609, p. 38</ref> Nazi [[propaganda]] minister [[Joseph Goebbels]] exploited this information to portray the United States as a warmonger. According to de Toledano, the State Department source who passed this information to the [[Soviets]] [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 was Alger Hiss].

[[Image:FBI-Hiss-chart.jpg|thumb|300 px|Confidential FBI chart documenting the dissemination to the White House, State Department and Attorney General of dozens of secret memos and reports on Alger Hiss in 1942-47. ''Image source: J. Edgar Hoover Official & Confidential File #34, [http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/foiaindex.htm FOIA Reading Room], Federal Bureau of Investigation'']]As mandated by the [[Hatch Act]], this [[HUAC]] finding triggered an [[FBI]] background investigation of Hiss,<ref>[[#refHUAC48|HUAC 1948]]: 971 (PDF 481)</ref> in the course of which one of Hiss's former colleagues at the AAA told investigators that Hiss and his circle were [[fellow traveller|fellow travelers]], if not [[Communist]]s.<ref>FBI memorandum: Ladd to Hoover, January 28, 1949, p. 2 (FBI file: Hiss-Chambers, Vol. 44)</ref> Hiss denied everything, although he said he thought his wife might have been a member of the [http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss134_main.html League of Women Shoppers], a [[Popular Front]] group<ref>Michael Denning, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=QY8pUkLRM1YC The Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century]'' (New York: Verso, 1998) ISBN 1859841708, p. 410</ref> identified by the committee in 1939 as a [[Communist front]].<ref>Meg Jacobs, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=M9kcixM1P6wC Pocketbook Politics: Economic Citizenship in Twentieth-century America]'' (Princeton University Press, 2005) ISBN 0691086648, p. 171</ref> In 1942, the Bureau sent a report of this investigation to the [[Secretary of State]],<ref>FBI memorandum: Ladd to Hoover, January 28, 1949, p. 2 (FBI file: Hiss-Chambers, Vol. 44)</ref> the first of what would become a veritable avalanche of FBI memos and reports on Hiss disseminated to the [[State Department]], Attorney General and [[White House]] over the ensuing five years.<ref> As the [[SISS|Jenner subcommittee]] would conclude in 1953: "There is ample evidence that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies learned the underlying fact of the Communist conspiracy, and time and again performed their duty and notified the proper administrative agencies of this information." ([[#refSISS53|SISS 1953]]: 1110 [PDF 50])</ref>

[[Image:FBI-Hiss-chart.jpg|thumb|300 px|Confidential FBI chart documenting the dissemination to the White House, State Department and Attorney General of dozens of secret memos and reports on Alger Hiss in 1942-47. ''Image source: J. Edgar Hoover Official & Confidential File #34, [http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/foiaindex.htm FOIA Reading Room], Federal Bureau of Investigation'']]As mandated by the [[Hatch Act]], this [[HUAC]] finding triggered an [[FBI]] background investigation of Hiss,<ref>[[#refHUAC48|HUAC 1948]]: 971 (PDF 481)</ref> in the course of which one of Hiss's former colleagues at the AAA told investigators that Hiss and his circle were [[fellow traveller|fellow travelers]], if not [[Communist]]s.<ref>FBI memorandum: Ladd to Hoover, January 28, 1949, p. 2 (FBI file: Hiss-Chambers, Vol. 44)</ref> Hiss denied everything, although he said he thought his wife might have been a member of the [http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss134_main.html League of Women Shoppers], a [[Popular Front]] group<ref>Michael Denning, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=QY8pUkLRM1YC The Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century]'' (New York: Verso, 1998) ISBN 1859841708, p. 410</ref> identified by the committee in 1939 as a [[Communist front]].<ref>Meg Jacobs, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=M9kcixM1P6wC Pocketbook Politics: Economic Citizenship in Twentieth-century America]'' (Princeton University Press, 2005) ISBN 0691086648, p. 171</ref> In 1942, the Bureau sent a report of this investigation to the [[Secretary of State]],<ref>FBI memorandum: Ladd to Hoover, January 28, 1949, p. 2 (FBI file: Hiss-Chambers, Vol. 44)</ref> the first of what would become a veritable avalanche of FBI memos and reports on Hiss disseminated to the [[State Department]], Attorney General and [[White House]] over the ensuing five years.<ref> As the [[SISS|Jenner subcommittee]] would conclude in 1953: "There is ample evidence that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies learned the underlying fact of the Communist conspiracy, and time and again performed their duty and notified the proper administrative agencies of this information." ([[#refSISS53|SISS 1953]]: 1110 [PDF 50])</ref>

After ex-[[OGPU]] agent<ref>J.N. Kobjakov, “Bumazhnaja fabrika,”  ''Ocherki istorii rossiiskoi vneshnei razvedki'', tom 3, 1933-1941 gody (Moskva: Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija, 2003), ss. 191-199 (J.N. Kobyakov, “The Paper Mill,” ''Essays on the History of Russian Foreign Intelligence'', vol. 3, 1933-1941 [Moscow: International Relations, 2003], pp. 191-199). Cf. [[#refKobyakov04|Kobyakov 2004]]</ref> Ludwig Lore identified [[Whittaker Chambers|Chambers]] to the [[FBI]] as a former [[USSR|Soviet]] agent,<ref>Edith Tiger, ed., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=NKrwQAAACAAJ In Re Alger Hiss Volume II]'' (New York: Hill and Wang, 1980), pp. 208-209; [[#refSpies09|Haynes, Klehr, Vassiliev 2009]]: 156-158</ref> the [[FBI|Bureau]] interviewed Chambers [[#refChronology|for the first time]] in 1942.<ref>[[#refWeinstein78|Weinstein 1978]]: 340</ref> Chambers repeated his identification of Hiss, among others, as a [[Communist]]. In 1943, the FBI obtained the notes Berle had taken during his meeting four years earlier with Chambers and Levine.<ref>FBI Memorandum: Conroy to Hoover, March 28, 1946, FBI file: [http://education-research.org/CSR/Holdings/Silvermaster/Silvermaster.htm Silvermaster], [http://www.education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster031.pdf Vol. 31], [http://www.education-research.org/PDFs/splitfiles/splitprocessed/Silvermaster031_Folder/Silvermaster031_page50.pdf p. 50]. Cf [[#refHK99|Haynes, Klehr 1999]]: 92</ref> That year, an encrypted cable (decrypted in the [[Venona project]] and released in 1995) from the controller of military intelligence for the [[NKVD]] (code-named "Moliere"),<ref>[[#refVStory|Benson/NSA]]: 43 (PDF 45)</ref> who was under cover as [[Soviet]] Vice Consul in [[New York]] "Pavel B. Mikhailov,"<ref>[[#refWhite04|White 2004]]: 224</ref> to [[NKVD]] chief of foreign intelligence Lt. Gen. [[Pavel Fitin]] ([http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/venona/1944/9feb_atomic_energy.pdf code-named "Viktor"]) in Moscow,<ref>[[#refRafalko2-4|Rafalko, Vol. 2, Ch. 4]]: 221 (PDF 6)</ref> identifying the real names and code names of several agents in the [[U.S.]], said the [[GRU]] (code-named "Neighbors")<ref>[[#refVStory|Benson/NSA]]: 29 (PDF p. 31)</ref> reported someone "from the [[State Department]] [http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/venona/1943/28sep_gru_sources.pdf by the name of Hiss]."

After ex-[[OGPU]] agent<ref>J.N. Kobjakov, “Bumazhnaja fabrika,”  ''Ocherki istorii rossiiskoi vneshnei razvedki'', tom 3, 1933-1941 gody (Moskva: Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija, 2003), ss. 191-199 (J.N. Kobyakov, “The Paper Mill,” ''Essays on the History of Russian Foreign Intelligence'', vol. 3, 1933-1941 [Moscow: International Relations, 2003], pp. 191-199). Cf. [[#refKobyakov04|Kobyakov 2004]]</ref> Ludwig Lore identified [[Whittaker Chambers|Chambers]] to the [[FBI]] as a former [[USSR|Soviet]] agent,<ref>Edith Tiger, ed., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=NKrwQAAACAAJ In Re Alger Hiss Volume II]'' (New York: Hill and Wang, 1980), pp. 208-209; [[#refSpies09|Haynes, Klehr, Vassiliev 2009]]: 156-158</ref> the [[FBI|Bureau]] interviewed Chambers [[#refChronology|for the first time]] in 1942.<ref>[[#refWeinstein78|Weinstein 1978]]: 340</ref> Chambers repeated his identification of Hiss, among others, as a [[Communist]]. In 1943, the FBI obtained the notes Berle had taken during his meeting four years earlier with Chambers and Levine.<ref>FBI Memorandum: Conroy to Hoover, March 28, 1946, FBI file: [http://education-research.org/CSR/Holdings/Silvermaster/Silvermaster.htm Silvermaster], [http://www.education-research.org/PDFs/Silvermaster031.pdf Vol. 31], [http://www.education-research.org/PDFs/splitfiles/splitprocessed/Silvermaster031_Folder/Silvermaster031_page50.pdf p. 50]. Cf [[#refHK99|Haynes, Klehr 1999]]: 92</ref> That year, an encrypted cable (decrypted in the [[Venona project]] and released in 1995) from the controller of military intelligence for the [[NKVD]] (code-named "Moliere"),<ref>[[#refVStory|Benson 2001]]: 43 (PDF 45)</ref> who was under cover as [[Soviet]] Vice Consul in [[New York]] "Pavel B. Mikhailov,"<ref>[[#refWhite04|White 2004]]: 224</ref> to [[NKVD]] chief of foreign intelligence Lt. Gen. [[Pavel Fitin]] ([http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/venona/1944/9feb_atomic_energy.pdf code-named "Viktor"]) in Moscow,<ref>[[#refRafalko2-4|Rafalko, Vol. 2, Ch. 4]]: 221 (PDF 6)</ref> identifying the real names and code names of several agents in the [[U.S.]], said the [[GRU]] (code-named "Neighbors")<ref>[[#refVStory|Benson 2001]]: 29 (PDF p. 31)</ref> reported someone "from the [[State Department]] [http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/venona/1943/28sep_gru_sources.pdf by the name of Hiss]."

===Lend-Lease===

===Lend-Lease===

[[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>[[#refHaunted|Weinstein, Vassiliev  1999]]: 269</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>[[#refHaunted|Weinstein, Vassiliev  1999]]: 269</ref>}}

This memo apparently refers to [[Venona project|Venona]] [[#refVenona1822|decrypt 1822]], dated March 30, 1945, in which "Vadim" ([[Anatoly Gorsky]], chief of Soviet intelligence in the U.S.)<ref>[[#refSword|Andrew, Mitrokin 2000]]: 90</ref> reports,<ref>The translation used here is that of [[#refSchindler05|John R. Schindler]]. Cf. Eric

This memo apparently refers to [[Venona project|Venona]] [[#refVenona1822|decrypt 1822]], dated March 30, 1945, in which "Vadim" ([[Anatoly Gorsky]], chief of Soviet intelligence in the U.S.)<ref>[[#refSword|Andrew, Mitrokin 2000]]: 90</ref> reports,<ref>The translation used here is that of [[#refSchindler05|John R. Schindler]]. Cf. Eric

Breindel, "Goodies from the Venona files: Hiss’ Guilt," ''The New Republic'', April 15, 1996, reprinted in [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-1996-04-18/pdf/CREC-1996-04-18-pt1-PgH3640.pdf ''The Congressional Record'' Vol. 142, No. 50] (April 18, 1996), pp. H03644-H03645 (PDF pp. 5-6)</ref> following up on a conversation with "Ales," that "Ales has been continuously working with 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> since 1935"; that for "a few years now he has been the director of a small group of probationers [agents]<ref>[[#refVStory|Benson/NSA]]: 17, 29 (PDF 19, 31)</ref> of the neighbors for the most part drawn from his relatives";<ref>[[#refBenson95|Benson 1995]]</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:

Breindel, "Goodies from the Venona files: Hiss’ Guilt," ''The New Republic'', April 15, 1996, reprinted in [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-1996-04-18/pdf/CREC-1996-04-18-pt1-PgH3640.pdf ''The Congressional Record'' Vol. 142, No. 50] (April 18, 1996), pp. H03644-H03645 (PDF pp. 5-6)</ref> following up on a conversation with "Ales," that "Ales has been continuously working with 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> since 1935"; that for "a few years now he has been the director of a small group of probationers [agents]<ref>[[#refVStory|Benson 2001]]: 17, 29 (PDF 19, 31)</ref> of the neighbors for the most part drawn from his relatives";<ref>[[#refBenson95|Benson 1995]]</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://www.education-research.org/PDFs/VENONA.pdf FBI file: Venona]), p. 8 (PDF p. 11); [[#refRomerstein01|Romerstein, Breindel 2001]]: 137</ref>}}

{{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://www.education-research.org/PDFs/VENONA.pdf FBI file: Venona]), p. 8 (PDF p. 11); [[#refRomerstein01|Romerstein, Breindel 2001]]: 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>[[#refMoyComA|Moynihan Commission Appendix A]]: A-34 (PDF 36). After it had been classified for half a century, the late [[Senator]] [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] ([[Democratic Party|D.]]-[[New York|N.Y.]]) “asked that [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/directors-and-deputy-directors-of-central-intelligence/deutch.html Deutch] discuss with the [[NSA]] what the status of [[Venona project|Venona]] was and whether its secrecy might no longer be necessary… [O]n July 11, 1995… the heads of the [[CIA]], [[FBI]], and NSA, along with Senator Moynihan, jointly announced that Venona was being opened…” ([[#refHK99|Haynes, Klehr 1999]]: 5-6) In his book ''Secrecy'', Moynihan, a [http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/23/weekinreview/the-rehabilitation-of-morning-in-america.html liberal Democrat], concluded "Hiss was indeed a [[USSR|Soviet]] agent and appears to have been regarded by [[Moscow]] as its most important. Parts of the [[United States government|American government]] had [[conclusion|conclusive]] [[evidence]] of his guilt, but they never told." ([[#refMoynihan98|Moynihan 1998]]: 146)</ref> Analysts at the NSA have also gone on record that [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venona/dece_hiss.html Ales could only have been Alger Hiss]. The late U.S. Air Force historian Eduard Mark called the FBI and NSA's conclusions "eminently reasonable," writing that the evidence showed that "ALES was ''very probably'' Hiss."<ref>[[#refMark03|Mark 2003]]: 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, agrees, calling this identification "[[#refSchindler05|exceptionally solid]]" and the evidence "compelling." [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no4/article09.html John Ehrman] of the [[CIA]]'s Directorate of Intelligence concurs, "it is clear that [[#refEhrmanSI51.4|Hiss alone remains the best candidate to be ALES]]." Christopher Andrew, writing with [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/world/europe/23poison.html ex-KGB agent] Vasili Mitrokhin, says the identification of "Ales" as Hiss is "beyond reasonable doubt."<ref>[[#refSword|Andrew, Mitrokin 2000]]: 599</ref> The codename Ales, concludes Mark Kramer, [http://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/research_portal/hpcws.html director of the Project for Cold War Studies] at [[Harvard University]], "seems to fit [http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/37819.html only Hiss]."

In its unanimous final report in 1997, the bipartisan [[Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy]] agreed regarding Ales, "This could only be Alger Hiss."<ref>[[#refMoyComA|Moynihan Commission Appendix A]]: A-34 (PDF 36). After it had been classified for half a century, the late [[Senator]] [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] ([[Democratic Party|D.]]-[[New York|N.Y.]]) “asked that [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/directors-and-deputy-directors-of-central-intelligence/deutch.html Deutch] discuss with the [[NSA]] what the status of [[Venona project|Venona]] was and whether its secrecy might no longer be necessary… [O]n July 11, 1995… the heads of the [[CIA]], [[FBI]], and NSA, along with Senator Moynihan, jointly announced that Venona was being opened…” ([[#refHK99|Haynes, Klehr 1999]]: 5-6) In his book ''Secrecy'', Moynihan, a [http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/23/weekinreview/the-rehabilitation-of-morning-in-america.html liberal Democrat], concluded "Hiss was indeed a [[USSR|Soviet]] agent and appears to have been regarded by [[Moscow]] as its most important. Parts of the [[United States government|American government]] had [[conclusion|conclusive]] [[evidence]] of his guilt, but they never told." ([[#refMoynihan98|Moynihan 1998]]: 146)</ref> Analysts at the NSA have also gone on record that [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venona/dece_hiss.html Ales could only have been Alger Hiss]. The late U.S. Air Force historian Eduard Mark called the FBI and NSA's conclusions "eminently reasonable," writing that the evidence showed that "ALES was ''very probably'' Hiss."<ref>[[#refMark03|Mark 2003]]: 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, agrees, calling this identification "[[#refSchindler05|exceptionally solid]]" and the evidence "compelling." [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no4/article09.html John Ehrman] of the [[CIA]]'s Directorate of Intelligence concurs, "it is clear that [[#refEhrmanSI51.4|Hiss alone remains the best candidate to be ALES]]." Christopher Andrew, writing with [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/world/europe/23poison.html ex-KGB agent] Vasili Mitrokhin, says the identification of "Ales" as Hiss is "beyond reasonable doubt."<ref>[[#refSword|Andrew, Mitrokin 2000]]: 599</ref> The codename Ales, concludes Mark Kramer, [http://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/research_portal/hpcws.html director of the Project for Cold War Studies] at [[Harvard University]], "seems to fit [http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/37819.html only Hiss]."

On March 19, [[William J. Donovan|"Wild Bill" Donovan]], director of the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (precursor of the [[CIA]]), offered Stettinius the services of [[OSS]] foreign experts to prepare research studies "on all personnel concerned" in the conference. Hiss "strongly opposed" this proposal, and "vigorously endorsed" the view that OSS "doing espionage work" at the conference would "seriously embarrass us." As a result, "American intelligence work at the conference was sharply limited."<ref>[[#refStettinius75|Stettinius 1975]]: 303</ref>

On March 19, [[William J. Donovan|"Wild Bill" Donovan]], director of the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (precursor of the [[CIA]]), offered Stettinius the services of [[OSS]] foreign experts to prepare research studies "on all personnel concerned" in the conference. Hiss "strongly opposed" this proposal, and "vigorously endorsed" the view that OSS "doing espionage work" at the conference would "seriously embarrass us." As a result, "American intelligence work at the conference was sharply limited."<ref>[[#refStettinius75|Stettinius 1975]]: 303</ref>

Meanwhile, "Vadim" ([[Anatoly Gorsky]],<ref>[[#refSword|Andrew, Mitrokin 2000]]: 90</ref> then chief of Soviet intelligence in the U.S.) wanted to meet with "Ales" at the conference, according to [[#refFoote|a cable]] Vassiliev discovered in the Soviet archives. His notes indicate that "Ales" had worked with "Ruble" ([[#refBLH05|Harold Glasser]]) as a member of a group run by "Karl" (Whittaker Chambers).<ref>[[#refVasBlack|Vassiliev Black Notebook]]: Orig. 39; Trans. 77; cf. [[#refBLH05|Bachman, Leich, Haynes 2005]]; [[#refLowCher|Lowenthal, Chervonnaya 2005]]</ref> The cable adds that "'Ruble' gives 'Ales' an exceptionally good political reference as a member of the [[Communist Party|Comparty]].... completely aware that he is Communist in an illegal position, with all the ensuing consequences," and recommends (according to the notes) that he be approached at the UN conference by "Sergei" (NKVD agent [[Vladimir Pravdin]],<ref>[[#refVStory|Benson/NSA]]: 31 (PDF 34)</ref> then under cover as New York bureau chief of the Soviet news agency TASS)<ref>[[#refSword|Andrew, Mitrokin 2000]]: 124; "Pravdin" was actually [[#refKlehr04|Rolland Abbiat, murderer of Ignace Reiss]].</ref> or Gorsky, "alluding either to the password, or to '[[Harold Glasser|Ruble]]', or simply to [[#refHK07|'Ales's' progressive attitudes]]."

Meanwhile, "Vadim" ([[Anatoly Gorsky]],<ref>[[#refSword|Andrew, Mitrokin 2000]]: 90</ref> then chief of Soviet intelligence in the U.S.) wanted to meet with "Ales" at the conference, according to [[#refFoote|a cable]] Vassiliev discovered in the Soviet archives. His notes indicate that "Ales" had worked with "Ruble" ([[#refBLH05|Harold Glasser]]) as a member of a group run by "Karl" (Whittaker Chambers).<ref>[[#refVasBlack|Vassiliev Black Notebook]]: Orig. 39; Trans. 77; cf. [[#refBLH05|Bachman, Leich, Haynes 2005]]; [[#refLowCher|Lowenthal, Chervonnaya 2005]]</ref> The cable adds that "'Ruble' gives 'Ales' an exceptionally good political reference as a member of the [[Communist Party|Comparty]].... completely aware that he is Communist in an illegal position, with all the ensuing consequences," and recommends (according to the notes) that he be approached at the UN conference by "Sergei" (NKVD agent [[Vladimir Pravdin]],<ref>[[#refVStory|Benson 2001]]: 31 (PDF 34)</ref> then under cover as New York bureau chief of the Soviet news agency TASS)<ref>[[#refSword|Andrew, Mitrokin 2000]]: 124; "Pravdin" was actually [[#refKlehr04|Rolland Abbiat, murderer of Ignace Reiss]].</ref> or Gorsky, "alluding either to the password, or to '[[Harold Glasser|Ruble]]', or simply to [[#refHK07|'Ales's' progressive attitudes]]."

[[Image:Hisscharter.jpg|thumb|300 px|left|Hiss arrives in Washington from San Francisco with UN Charter in fireproof [http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,852292,00.html safe with parachute]. ''Image courtesy United States Air Force'']]In April 1945, at the UN conference, [[Harold Glasser|Glasser]] slipped [[Anatoly Gorsky|Gorsky]] a warning that the FBI had notified Stettinius that Bureau surveillance had followed a bundle of State Department documents from Washington to New York, where they were photographed, then returned within 24 hours to Washington. Only three people had access to these documents, one of whom was "Ales." Stettinius told "Ales": "I hope it is not you."<ref>[[#refHaunted|Weinstein, Vassiliev  1999]]: 267-268. The [[Communist Party]]'s ardor for the UN was evident that month, when the Party's [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/157923/Eugene-Dennis general secretary] wrote in an [http://politicalaffairs.net/a-new-era-begins/ official organ] of the [[CPUSA]]: "Great popular support and enthusiasm for the United Nations policies should be built up, well organized and fully articulate. But it is necessary to do more than that. The opposition must be rendered so impotent that it will be unable to gather any significant support in the Senate against the United Nations Charter and the treaties which will follow." Eugene Dennis, "Yalta and America's National Unity," [http://books.google.com/books?id=T8kcAAAAIAAJ ''Political Affairs'', Vol. 24] (April 1945), p. 300</ref>

[[Image:Hisscharter.jpg|thumb|300 px|left|Hiss arrives in Washington from San Francisco with UN Charter in fireproof [http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,852292,00.html safe with parachute]. ''Image courtesy United States Air Force'']]In April 1945, at the UN conference, [[Harold Glasser|Glasser]] slipped [[Anatoly Gorsky|Gorsky]] a warning that the FBI had notified Stettinius that Bureau surveillance had followed a bundle of State Department documents from Washington to New York, where they were photographed, then returned within 24 hours to Washington. Only three people had access to these documents, one of whom was "Ales." Stettinius told "Ales": "I hope it is not you."<ref>[[#refHaunted|Weinstein, Vassiliev  1999]]: 267-268. The [[Communist Party]]'s ardor for the UN was evident that month, when the Party's [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/157923/Eugene-Dennis general secretary] wrote in an [http://politicalaffairs.net/a-new-era-begins/ official organ] of the [[CPUSA]]: "Great popular support and enthusiasm for the United Nations policies should be built up, well organized and fully articulate. But it is necessary to do more than that. The opposition must be rendered so impotent that it will be unable to gather any significant support in the Senate against the United Nations Charter and the treaties which will follow." Eugene Dennis, "Yalta and America's National Unity," [http://books.google.com/books?id=T8kcAAAAIAAJ ''Political Affairs'', Vol. 24] (April 1945), p. 300</ref>