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Field would defect in 1948 to Communist Czechoslovakia, where he would tell his Czech interrogators that Hiss was a fellow Communist underground agent in the State Department during the mid-thirties, and that Field was defecting to avoid testifying in the Hiss trial, according to records of the Czech secret police (reported in 1990 by Karel Kaplan, former archivist of the Central Committee of the Czech Communist Party).<ref>[Karel Kaplan, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=x3s6sBZw-YkC&pg=PA19&dq=%22noel+field%22&sig=d7XE7yhraGkrz6k4AP0ljIqXEvY#PPA19,M1, Report on the Murder of the General SecretarSecretary]y '' (London: I.B. Taurus & Co. Ltd., 1990), ISBN 1-85043-211-2, pp. 19-25]</ref> Field would end up in Communist Hungary, where in 1954 he would give Hungarian secret police a statement reading in part as follows:

In a 1936 memorandum, found in the [[NKVD]] archives by Weinstein and former [[KGB]] agent [[Alexander Vassiliev]], Massing complains to Moscow about Hiss (using his real name) talking to Field (whom she refers to by his code name "Ernst"): "Alger told him that he was a Communist," complains Massing&mdash;a serious breach of discipline&mdash;and asked Field to use his connections to help Hiss get into the State Department.<ref>G. Edward White, ''Alger Hiss's Looking-glass Wars: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0195182553, p. 228</ref>

The year before, at the funeral of Marshal [[Jozsef Pilsudski]] in [[Warsaw]], U.S. Ambassador to [[Moscow]] [[William C. Bullitt]] had confidentially assured the Polish government that the United States would stand by Poland in the event of a [[Nazi]] invasion. But when he reported back to the State Department that he had done so, someone there 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]]). Nazi propaganda minister [[Joseph Goebbels]] exploited this information to portray the United States as a warmonger. According to reporter Ralph de Toledano, who covered the Hiss trial for ''Newsweek'', the State Department source who passed this information to the [[NKVD]] was Alger Hiss.<ref>Ralph de Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 Ralph de Toledano, “Embarrassment Embarrassment aided and abetted the Top Soviet spy - Alger Hiss],” ''Insight on the News'', January 27, 1997]</ref>

By 1937, Hiss was delivering packets of documents to [[Whittaker Chambers]] at intervals of a week or ten days, according to [[Oleg Gordievsky]], the [[KGB]] London ''rezident'' who defected in 1985.<ref>Peter B. Niblo, " ''Influence: The Soviet Task Leading to Pearl Harbor, the Iron Curtain, and the Cold War'' (Oakland, OR: Elderberry Press, 2002) ISBN 1930859147, p. 65</ref>

In 1938, French Premier [[Edouard Daladier]] informed Bullitt that two brothers named Hiss, both in the U.S. government, were Soviet agents,.<ref>Ralph de Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 Ralph de Toledano, “Embarrassment Embarrassment aided and abetted the Top Soviet spy - Alger Hiss],” ''Insight on the News'', January 27, 1997]</ref> but Bullitt “laughed it off as a tall tale, never having heard their names.”<ref>Ralph De Toledano, “The Last Word,” ''Insight on the News'', December 17, 2001</ref> The same year, [[Whittaker Chambers]] made his final break with the Communists,<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''Witness'' (Regnery Publishing, 1952) ISBN 0-89526-789-6, p. 25</ref> asking his wife's nephew<ref>Allen Weinstein, ''Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), ISBN 0394495462, p. 319</ref> to hide a packet of copies of documents, hand-written memos and microfilm of documents for him.<ref>Whittaker Chambers, ''Witness'' (Regnery Publishing, 1952) ISBN 0-89526-789-6, p. 40-41</ref>

Also in 1942, the Bureau interviewed Chambers for the first time.<ref>Douglas Linder, [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/hisschronology.html The Trials of Alger Hiss: A Chronology], Famous Trials: The Alger Hiss Trials, 1949-50 (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, 2003)</ref> He repeated his identification of Hiss, among others, as a Communist. In 1943, the FBI obtained the notes Berle had taken during his dinner four years earlier with Chambers and Levine.<ref>John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN 0300077718, p. 92</ref> That year, an encrypted cable (decrypted in the Venona project and released in 1995) from Pavel B. Mikhailov (code-named "Mol'er"), who (under cover as Soviet Vice Consul in New York) was controller of military intelligence for the [[NKVD]],<ref>Kai Bird and Svetlana Chervonnaya, "[http://www.theamericanscholar.org/su07/ales-birdlong.html The Mystery of Ales]," ''The American Scholar'', Summer 2007</ref> to [[NKVD]] chief of foreign intelligence [[Pavel Fitin]] (code-named "Victor")<ref>[http://www.nsa.gov/venona/releases/09_Feb_1944_R1_p2.gif Venona 195 New York to Moscow 9th February 1944]</ref> in Moscow, identifying the real names and code names of several agents in the U.S., said the [[GRU]] (code-named "Neighbors") reported someone "from the State Department by the name of Hiss."<ref>[http://www.nsa.gov/venona/releases/28_Sept_1943_R4_m1_p1.gif Venona 1579 New York to Moscow, 28 September 1943]</ref>

After the conference, Hiss went on to Moscow, where he was decorated with the Order of the Red Star<ref>Jerrold and Leona Schecter, ''Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History''(Washington: Potomac Books Inc., 2002) ISBN 1574883275, p. 131</ref> by Foreign Minister V.M. Molotov.<ref>Ralph De Toledano, “The Last Word,” ''Insight on the News'', December 17, 2001</ref> An 25 April 1945 memorandum from [[Pavel Fitin]], head of [[NKVD]] foreign intelligence, to NKVD Chief [[Vsevolod Merkulov]] reads in part: "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>G. Edward White, ''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]] decrypt #1822 dated 30 March 1945 , which reads:<ref>The translation used here is that of [http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page61.html John R. Schindler]</ref> {{cquote|"Addendum to our telegram no. 28 as a result of a conversation of “Pya” with Ales, it turns out:

4. In recent years, Ales has been working with [[Nathan Gregory Silvermaster|Pol]] repeat [[Nathan Gregory Silvermaster|Pol]] who also meets with other members of the group on occasion.

The following month, Hiss was promoted to become Director of the State Department Office of Special Political Affairs. Former KGB officer [[Alexander Vassiliev]]'s notes on a cable of the era, ([[Anatoly Gorsky|Vadim]] to Moscow Center, 5 March 1945) which Vassiliev discovered in the Soviet archives, read in part:{{cquote|He [[Anatoly Gorsky|Gorsky]] wants to be included in the Sov. delegation to the conference in San Francisco. However, he can't leave his post to any of his collaborators. He wants to leave it to "Son" (F.A. Garanin, transferred from Cuba to Washington as an attaché of the Soviet embassy). After the conference, [[Anatoly Gorsky|Vadim ]] wants to come to Moscow to give a personal report.Particular attention – to "Ales." He was at the Yalta Conference, then went to Mexico City and hasn't returned yet. Our only key to him – "[[Harold Glasser|Ruble]]." "Ruble" is going on assignment himself (Italy).... it is difficult to oversee "Ales" through him."We spoke with '[[Harold Glasser|Ruble]]' several times about 'Ales'. As we have written already, 'Ruble' gives 'Ales' an exceptionally good political reference as a member of the [[Communist Party|Comparty]]. 'Ruble' reports that 'Ales' is strong and strong-willed, with a firm and decisive nature, completely aware that he is Communist in an illegal position, with all the ensuing consequences. Unfortunately, it seems that, like all local Communists, he has his own ideas about secrecy. .. As we already reported to you, 'Ales' and 'Ruble' used to work in '[[Whittaker Chambers|Karl]]'s' informational group, which was affiliated with the neighbors. When the connection with 'Karl' was lost, 'Ruble' backed out, while 'Ales' entered into a connection with 'Pol'. He told 'Ruble' about this himself a year and a half ago, when he asked the latter to meet with 'Pol' in order to continue work."

Shortly thereafter, Hiss presided as Secretary General over the [[United Nations Conference on International Organization|United Nations Charter Conference]] in San Francisco. [[Secretary of State]] [[James F. Byrnes]] , who became [[Secretary of State]] during the conference, said that despite his categorical instructions not to recommend any U.S. citizen for posts in the UN secretariat, Hiss recommended several dozen federal employees—members of Communist cells in the government, whose jobs were at risk under a tightened security program.<ref>Ralph de Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 Ralph de Toledano, “Embarrassment Embarrassment aided and abetted the Top Soviet spy - Alger Hiss],” ''Insight on the News'', January 27, 1997]</ref>

Canadian Prime Minister [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]] wrote that acting under-secretary of state for external affairs Robertson told him that Gouzenko’s documents disclosed that “everything was much worse than we would have believed…. Stettinius [had] been surrounded by spies, etc….” <ref>[http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/smileymi/Global%20History%2012/a_short_essay_on_the_cold_war.htm William Lyon Mackenzie King, diary entry for September 7, 1945]. "Mr. Smiley's World of Social Studies and English Page" (Halifax Regional School Board Teacher Webspace)</ref>

On November 27, 1945, the FBI disseminated a secret report to the State Department, the Attorney General, and the Truman White House, reporting Chambers' identification of Hiss as a secret member of the Communist underground apparatus in contact with the Ware group.<ref>FBI Report: Soviet Espionage Activities in the United States Between World War I and World War II, November 27, 1945, p. 13</ref> Three days later, defecting Soviet courier [[Elizabeth Bentley]] advised FBI investigators that [[Victor Perlo]] told her that [[Harold Glasser]] had been taken away from the “Perlo Group” and turned over to a Russian “by some American in some governmental agency in Washington.” She said that [[Charles Kramer]] told her that the person who had done this “was named Hiss and that he was in the U.S. State Department.” She said she later clipped an article from the left-wing New York daily ''PM'' “in which Hiss was mentioned.” She said “It is my present recollection that this newspaper article stated Hiss’ full name was Eugene Hiss and that he was an adviser to Dean Acheson in the State Department.”<ref>[http://ultra-secret.info/PDFs/splitfiles/splitprocessed/Silvermaster006_Folder/Silvermaster006_page106.pdf Silvermaster file, Vol. 6, p. 105 (PDF p. 106)]</ref> FBI investigation quickly closed in on Alger Hiss. <ref>http://ultra-secret.info/PDFs/splitfiles/splitprocessed/Silvermaster082_Folder/Silvermaster082_page119.pdf FBI Report: Underground Soviet Espionage Organization (NKVD) in Agencies of the United States Government, p. 108 (PDF p. 119)</ref>

Bentley's unlikely account was corroborated by an 25 April 1945 memo from [[Pavel Fitin]], head of [[NKVD]] foreign intelligence, to NKVD Chief [[Vsevolod Merkulov]], noting that Glasser had worked for both the [[NKVD]] and [[GRU]]:{{cquote|Our agent RUBLE, drawn to work for the Soviet Union in May 1937, passed initially through the [[GRU|military "neighbors"]] and then through our station [[[NKVD]]] valuable information on political and economic issues.... To our work RUBLE gives much attention and energy and is devoted and disciplined agent.}} Bentley said she later clipped an article from the left-wing New York daily ''PM'' “in which Hiss was mentioned.” She said “It is my present recollection that this newspaper article stated Hiss’ full name was Eugene Hiss and that he was an adviser to Dean Acheson in the State Department.”<ref>[http://ultra-secret.info/PDFs/splitfiles/splitprocessed/Silvermaster006_Folder/Silvermaster006_page106.pdf Silvermaster file, Vol. 6, p. 105 (PDF p. 106)]</ref> FBI investigation quickly closed in on Alger Hiss. <ref>[http://ultra-secret.info/PDFs/splitfiles/splitprocessed/Silvermaster082_Folder/Silvermaster082_page119.pdf FBI Report: Underground Soviet Espionage Organization (NKVD) in Agencies of the United States Government, p. 108 (PDF p. 119)]</ref> In 1946, the FBI again interviewed Hiss. Hiss denied ever being a Communist, and denied knowledge of any of his friends being Communists. He did, however, add that he had heard it said that [[Lee Pressman]] was either a Party member or followed the Party line.<ref>[http://ultra-secret.info/PDFs/splitfiles/splitprocessed/Silvermaster082_Folder/Silvermaster082_page121.pdf FBI Report: Underground Soviet Espionage Organization (NKVD) in Agencies of the United States Government, p. 110 (PDF p. 121)]</ref> That year, British intelligence supplied its order of battle against Soviet-led guerrillas in Greece to the Pentagon. Shortly thereafter, this top-secret information appeared in [[Drew Pearson]]’s column, forcing the British army to withdraw, a move that would have delivered Greece to the [[Kremlin]] had not the U.S. intervened. According to de Toledano, “Deputy Assistant Secretary of State J. Anthony Panuch, in charge of security, tracked down the source of the leak. He discovered that Hiss had asked the Pentagon for this information, though it had nothing to do with his work as director of the Office of Special Political Affairs.”<ref>Ralph de Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 Ralph de Toledano, “Embarrassment Embarrassment aided and abetted the Top Soviet spy - Alger Hiss],” Insight on the News, January 27, 1997]</ref>

That year, after reviewing Hiss’ FBI file, President Truman pronounced Hiss “guilty as hell,” telling White House Special Counsel Samuel Rosenman, “We shouldn't just indict this son of a bitch. We should hang him.” Five minutes later, Truman blustered to a press conference that the Hiss case was just an election-year “red herring.” When Rosenman later asked why he had lied, Truman explained, “You don't understand. The Republicans aren't after Alger Hiss. They're after me. I had to take the political view.”<ref>Ralph de Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 Ralph de Toledano, “Embarrassment Embarrassment aided and abetted the Top Soviet spy - Alger Hiss],” ''Insight on the News'', January 27, 1997]</ref>

{{cquote|From a thoroughly reliable contact [Arnold Beichman, then publicity director for New York's Liberal Party, of which former Assistant Secretary of State Berle was chairman]: According to this informant Berle has said privately that classified material which Hiss was handling was reaching the Russians. It was coded stuff. Berle took the handling out of Hiss' hands and the leaks stopped. <ref>Ralph de Toledano, “[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n3_v13/ai_19048238 Ralph de Toledano, “Embarrassment Embarrassment aided and abetted the Top Soviet spy - Alger Hiss],” ''Insight on the News'', January 27, 1997</ref>}}

Former [[KGB]] officer Alexander Vassiliev’s handwritten notes on a 5 March 1945 cable by [[Anatoly Gorsky]] reveal that Ales had been at Yalta, went briefly to Moscow, then back to the U.S. but then immediately went to Mexico City for an inter-American conference of foreign ministers, known as the Chapultepec Conference (21 February 8 March 1945). Stettinius, Hiss, Mathews, and Foote went to Mexico City.<ref>John Earl Haynes, "[http://www.johnearlhaynes.org/page63.html Ales: Hiss, Foote, Stettinius?]," June 7, 2007]</ref>