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Chambers' version was corroborated by [[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,<ref>John Russell, "[http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/04/us/meyer-schapiro-91-is-dead-his-work-wove-art-and-life.html Meyer Schapiro, 91, Is Dead; His Work Wove Art and Life]," ''The New York Times'', March 4, 1996</ref> who confirmed that he arranged the purchase (and produced the canceled check dated December 23, 1936); by the [[Massachusetts]] Importing Company of [[Manhattan]], which confirmed selling him the rugs (and produced the [[Bill of Sale]]); by White's widow and Silverman (who confirmed that they had received their rugs sometime between late 1936 and the fall of 1938); and by 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 Day|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, pp. 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>

Chambers' version was corroborated by [[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,<ref>John Russell, "[http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/04/us/meyer-schapiro-91-is-dead-his-work-wove-art-and-life.html Meyer Schapiro, 91, Is Dead; His Work Wove Art and Life]," ''The New York Times'', March 4, 1996</ref> who confirmed that he arranged the purchase (and produced the canceled check dated December 23, 1936); by the [[Massachusetts]] Importing Company of [[Manhattan]], which confirmed selling him the rugs (and produced the [[Bill of Sale]]); by White's widow and Silverman (who confirmed that they had received their rugs sometime between late 1936 and the fall of 1938); and by 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 Day|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, pp. 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://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/13/books/now-it-can-be-told-even-in-russia.html?pagewanted=all 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,<ref>"[http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/news/newsarchive2005/gordievsky.html Buckingham Honours Oleg Gordievsky],"  The University of Buckingham: News, February 28, 2005</ref> 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, Ore.: 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://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/13/books/now-it-can-be-told-even-in-russia.html?pagewanted=all 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,<ref>"[http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/news/newsarchive2005/gordievsky.html Buckingham Honours Oleg Gordievsky],"  The University of Buckingham: News, February 28, 2005. In 2008, Godievsky would become partially [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7333382.stm paralyzed], as a result, he told Scotland Yard, of what he suspected was an assassination attempt.</ref> the highest-ranking<ref>Leanda de Lisle, "[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4126872,00.html Pinkos and Patriots]," ''The Guardian'', January 30, 2001</ref> [[KGB]] officer ever to have defected.<ref>Peter B. Niblo, ''Influence: The Soviet Task Leading to Pearl Harbor, the Iron Curtain, and the Cold War'' (Oakland, Ore.: Elderberry Press, 2002) ISBN 1930859147, p. 65</ref>

That year, [[Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov|Akhmerov]] cabled [[Moscow]] that [[Michael Straight]] (code-named "Nigel"), an [[American]] member of the [[NKVD]]'s [[Cambridge Five|Cambridge spy ring]]<ref>Richard Norton-Taylor, "[http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2004/jan/09/guardianobituaries.usa Michael Straight: Cambridge spy whose testimony was crucial in exposing Anthony Blunt]," ''The Guardian'', January 9, 2004</ref> (and future [[FDR]] speech writer<ref>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, pp. 153</ref> and publisher of ''The New Republic''),<ref>Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07EFDB1531F936A35752C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print Michael Straight, Who Wrote of Connection to Spy Ring, Is Dead at 87]," ''The New York Times'', January 5, 2004</ref> then working at the [[State Department]], mentioned Hiss (using his real name) as someone with "[[progressive]]" views "who occupied a responsible position."<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Random House, 1997 ed.), pp. 183-184</ref> Akhmerov worried that Straight "might guess that Hiss [Akhmerov again used Hiss' real name] belongs to our family" or "find out Hiss's nature" as a [[GRU]] agent.<ref>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, pp. 155-156</ref>

That year, [[Iskhak Abdulovich Akhmerov|Akhmerov]] cabled [[Moscow]] that [[Michael Straight]] (code-named "Nigel"), an [[American]] member of the [[NKVD]]'s [[Cambridge Five|Cambridge spy ring]]<ref>Richard Norton-Taylor, "[http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2004/jan/09/guardianobituaries.usa Michael Straight: Cambridge spy whose testimony was crucial in exposing Anthony Blunt]," ''The Guardian'', January 9, 2004</ref> (and future [[FDR]] speech writer<ref>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, pp. 153</ref> and publisher of ''The New Republic''),<ref>Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07EFDB1531F936A35752C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print Michael Straight, Who Wrote of Connection to Spy Ring, Is Dead at 87]," ''The New York Times'', January 5, 2004</ref> then working at the [[State Department]], mentioned Hiss (using his real name) as someone with "[[progressive]]" views "who occupied a responsible position."<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case'' (New York: Random House, 1997 ed.), pp. 183-184</ref> Akhmerov worried that Straight "might guess that Hiss [Akhmerov again used Hiss' real name] belongs to our family" or "find out Hiss's nature" as a [[GRU]] agent.<ref>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, pp. 155-156</ref>