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In 1938, [[Whittaker Chambers]] confessed to Levine that he had been a courier for the [[Communist]] underground. As the joint [[Nazi]]-[[Soviet]] invasion of [[Poland]]<ref>William Fortescue, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=zNtJcb0mtkoC The Third Republic in France, 1870-1940: Conflicts and Continuities]'' (Oxford: Routledge, 2000) ISBN 0415169445, p. 231; William L. Shirer: ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=sY8svb-MNUwC The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany]'' (Simon and Schuster, 1990) ISBN 0671728687, pp. 626-632</ref> was gearing up, Levine sought to get Chambers an appointment with [[President]] [[Franklin Roosevelt|Roosevelt]], but was diverted by the [[White House]] to Assistant [[Secretary of State]] for Administration (in charge of security) Adolf Berle.<ref>[[#refHK06|Haynes, Klehr 2006]]: 105</ref> On September 2, 1939, Chambers told Berle of an [[#refBerle|underground apparatus]] of the [[Communist Party]] for employees of the [[Federal government]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] Its organizer, said Chambers, was [[Harold Ware]], its treasurer [[Henry Collins]]; among its members he identified [[Lee Pressman]], [[Nathan Witt]], and the brothers [[#refTime2.13.50|Alger and Donald Hiss]].

In 1938, [[Whittaker Chambers]] confessed to Levine that he had been a courier for the [[Communist]] underground. As the joint [[Nazi]]-[[Soviet]] invasion of [[Poland]]<ref>William Fortescue, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=zNtJcb0mtkoC The Third Republic in France, 1870-1940: Conflicts and Continuities]'' (Oxford: Routledge, 2000) ISBN 0415169445, p. 231; William L. Shirer: ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=sY8svb-MNUwC The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany]'' (Simon and Schuster, 1990) ISBN 0671728687, pp. 626-632</ref> was gearing up, Levine sought to get Chambers an appointment with [[President]] [[Franklin Roosevelt|Roosevelt]], but was diverted by the [[White House]] to Assistant [[Secretary of State]] for Administration (in charge of security) Adolf Berle.<ref>[[#refHK06|Haynes, Klehr 2006]]: 105</ref> On September 2, 1939, Chambers told Berle of an [[#refBerle|underground apparatus]] of the [[Communist Party]] for employees of the [[Federal government]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] Its organizer, said Chambers, was [[Harold Ware]], its treasurer [[Henry Collins]]; among its members he identified [[Lee Pressman]], [[Nathan Witt]], and the brothers [[#refTime2.13.50|Alger and Donald Hiss]].

[[Image:Brest-litowsk.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Joint victory parade of Nazi and Soviet armies, Brest-Litovsk, Poland, September 22, 1939. ''Courtesy Pauli Kruhse (Finland)'']]While [[Whittaker Chambers|Chambers]] talked, Berle took notes. Under the heading “[[#refBerle|Underground Espionage Agent]],” he listed several names, including “Alger Hiss,” with the notation, “Ass’t. to Sayre—CP—1937,” and “Member of the Underground Com.—Active.” In Berle's diary, the first entry after his meeting with Levine and Chambers reads:

[[Image:Brest-litowsk.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Joint victory parade of Nazi and Soviet armies, Brest-Litovsk, Poland, September 22, 1939. ''Courtesy Pauli Kruhse (Finland)'']]While [[Whittaker Chambers|Chambers]] talked, Berle took notes. Under the heading “Underground Espionage Agent,” he listed several names, including “Alger Hiss,” with the notation, “Ass’t. to Sayre—CP—1937,” and “Member of the Underground Com.—Active.”<ref><ref>''United States v Alger Hiss'', Vol. VI (Sayre, Penn.: Murrelle Printing Co., 1950), attached to p. 3325; reproduced in Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate, ''Interlocking subversion in Government Departments'', Part 6 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1953), pp. 329-330. Cf. [[#refBerle|Berle memo]]</ref> In Berle's diary, the entry for September 4, 1939 reads:

{{cquote|Saturday night ... Isaac Don Levine ... brought a Mr. X around to my house ... Through a long evening, I slowly manipulated Mr. X to a point where he had told some of the ramifications hereabout; and it becomes necessary to take a few simple measures. I expect more of this kind of thing, later. A good deal of the [[Russian]] [[espionage]] was carried on by [[Jews]]; we know now that they are exchanging information with [[Berlin]]; and the [[Jewish]] units are furious to find out they are, in substance, working for the [[Gestapo]]...<ref>[[#refLevine73|Levine 1973]]: 55-58)</ref>}}

{{cquote|Isaac Don Levine in his contact with the Krivitzky [sic] matter had opened up another idea of the [[Russian]] [[espionage]]. He brought a Mr. X around to my house on Saturday evening.... Through a long evening, I slowly manipulated Mr. X to a point where he had told some of the ramifications hereabout; and it becomes necessary to take a few simple measures. I expect more of this kind of thing, later. A good deal of the Russian espionage was carried on by [[Jews]]; we know now that they are exchanging information with [[Berlin]]; and the [[Jewish]] units are furious to find out they are, in substance, working for the [[Gestapo]].<ref>Cf. [[#refLevine73|Levine 1973]]: 55-58)</ref>}}

Before the month was out, the [[Nazi]] and [[Soviet]] armies staged a [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/winter99-00/art6.html joint victory parade] through the streets of occupied Brest-Litovsk, [[Poland]].<ref>Olaf Groehler, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/isbn/3928787012 Selbstmorderische Allianz: Deutsch-russische Militarbeziehungen, 1920-1941]'' (Berlin: Vision Verlag 1993), pp. 21-22, 123-124; [[#refNekrich97|Nekrich 1997]]: 131</ref>   

Before the month was out, the [[Nazi]] and [[Soviet]] armies staged a [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/winter99-00/art6.html joint victory parade] through the streets of occupied Brest-Litovsk, [[Poland]].<ref>Olaf Groehler, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/isbn/3928787012 Selbstmorderische Allianz: Deutsch-russische Militarbeziehungen, 1920-1941]'' (Berlin: Vision Verlag 1993), pp. 21-22, 123-124; [[#refNekrich97|Nekrich 1997]]: 131</ref>   

After Berle relayed Chambers' revelations to [[President]] [[Franklin Roosevelt|Roosevelt]], Levine asked Berle how FDR responded. In his 1973 memoir, Levine wrote, “To the best of my recollection, the President dismissed the matter rather brusquely with an [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/expletive expletive] remark on this order: ‘Oh, forget it, Adolf.’”<ref>[[#refLevine73|Levine 1973]]: 197-198</ref>

In 1952, Berle wrote, “I have vague recollections of having mentioned the matter to [[FDR|the President]] when shortly thereafter we were working on the [http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fara/links/indx-act.html Foreign Agents Registration Act] [FARA], which was the real, tangible outcome of this....”<ref>[[#refBerle52|Berle 1952]]: 598</ref> (Berle's “vague recollections” of this matter were in fact mistaken; FARA was actually [http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fara/ enacted in 1938]&mdash;the year ''before'' he met with Chambers.) In his 1973 memoir, Levine wrote that he later asked Berle how FDR responded: “To the best of my recollection, the President dismissed the matter rather brusquely with an [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/expletive expletive] remark on this order: ‘Oh, forget it, Adolf.’”<ref>[[#refLevine73|Levine 1973]]: 197-198</ref>

In 1940, after Levine informed Bullitt of what [[Whittaker Chambers|Chambers]] had told him about Hiss, Bullitt relayed to Hornbeck what Daladier had told him the year before. Bullitt advised [http://www.salon.com/people/feature/1999/06/07/longworth/print.html Alice Roosevelt Longworth] and de Toledano that he also took this information [[#refToledano01|directly to FDR]]. Levine also told [http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/laborhall/dd.htm David Dubinsky], president of the [http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/ilgwu.htm International Ladies Garment Workers Union] about [[Whittaker Chambers|Chambers]]' revelations. Dubinsky, wrote Levine, "took up the Chambers matter with the [[Franklin Roosevelt|President]] at the first opportunity and was brushed off with an amiable slap on the back." Levine wrote that he also told fellow journalist [http://www.radiohof.org/news/walterwinchell.html Walter Winchell] of "a ring of six [[Soviet]] agents operating within the [[State Department]] alone. In his broadcast of December 12, Winchell announced that he had carried my information to President Roosevelt. Still there was no action."<ref>[[#refLevine73|Levine 1973]]: 197-199</ref> Winchell's posthumously published memoir confirms Levine's story.<ref>[[#refWeinstein78|Weinstein 1978]]: 331</ref>

In 1940, after Levine informed Bullitt of what [[Whittaker Chambers|Chambers]] had told him about Hiss, Bullitt relayed to Hornbeck what Daladier had told him the year before. Bullitt advised [http://www.salon.com/people/feature/1999/06/07/longworth/print.html Alice Roosevelt Longworth] and de Toledano that he also took this information [[#refToledano01|directly to FDR]]. Levine also told [http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/laborhall/dd.htm David Dubinsky], president of the [http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/ilgwu.htm International Ladies Garment Workers Union] about [[Whittaker Chambers|Chambers]]' revelations. Dubinsky, wrote Levine, "took up the Chambers matter with the [[Franklin Roosevelt|President]] at the first opportunity and was brushed off with an amiable slap on the back." Levine wrote that he also told fellow journalist [http://www.radiohof.org/news/walterwinchell.html Walter Winchell] of "a ring of six [[Soviet]] agents operating within the [[State Department]] alone. In his broadcast of December 12, Winchell announced that he had carried my information to President Roosevelt. Still there was no action."<ref>[[#refLevine73|Levine 1973]]: 197-199</ref> Winchell's posthumously published memoir confirms Levine's story.<ref>[[#refWeinstein78|Weinstein 1978]]: 331</ref>