1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. It's another one where 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: I don't know how it got on my list. You've 5 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:20,599 Speaker 1: had a lot of those lately. I know, I don't. 6 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,600 Speaker 1: I guess I'm clearing out what was that? Why did 7 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:26,240 Speaker 1: I get I mean, this is a weird one for 8 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: me because I feel like Algerhiss got talked about in 9 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: my home growing up a lot. Yeah. And I don't 10 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,159 Speaker 1: know if I just had one parent or the other 11 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: who was fascinated by the whole thing, yeah, or if 12 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: it was some sort of like Boogeyman of treason or 13 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: like what it was, uh huh. But then it came 14 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,159 Speaker 1: up recently. Maybe this is how it got on my list, 15 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: because I do remember it came up recently in like 16 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: a social group setting and I made a joke about 17 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: calling someone an alger Hiss and everybody looked at me like, oh, 18 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: Holly's talking about history things again, and I'm like, I mean, 19 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:07,319 Speaker 1: not history history, And I realize people even our age 20 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:13,479 Speaker 1: don't know this story. Well. I had instant name recognition. Yeah, 21 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: and then my mind kind of fished around, going was 22 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: this person though, right, he's one of those people that 23 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: I would be like, we should never do an episode 24 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: on that. Everybody knows that, but clearly they don't, so 25 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:26,680 Speaker 1: now it's on the list. I guess that's probably how 26 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 1: it got on the list. Alter Hiss is a really 27 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: important moment historically. His case, his accusations of spying for 28 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: an enemy of the US while working at very high 29 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: levels of the US government, is one of the things 30 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:44,480 Speaker 1: that people say really catalyze the McCarthy era and the 31 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: really really aggressive seeking and prosecuting of people during that 32 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: Second Red Scare. It's a very fascinating story of someone 33 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: who by all accounts was incredibly high achieving and successful 34 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: and then suddenly being accused of something pretty terrible. And also, 35 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: this is an interesting one because you have the story 36 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: of who he was, the story of this big event 37 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: and how it played out, and then a whole thing 38 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 1: that goes on after the fact as people try to 39 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,079 Speaker 1: untangle the truth, which, by the way, spoiler alert, if 40 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: you want a definitive answer, you're not going to get 41 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: it here, because I don't think we can ever have 42 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: one yeah, about his level of gil. Some people feel 43 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,799 Speaker 1: like there's a definitive answer. I still feel like there's 44 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: enough questions that I don't feel like we could give one. 45 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: But we're talking about Alger Hiss today. Alger Hiss was 46 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: born November eleventh, nineteen oh four, in Baltimore, Maryland, to 47 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: Charles Alger and Mary Lavinia Hugh's Hiss. He had four siblings, 48 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 1: but their family grew rapidly when Alger's uncle died and 49 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: his father, Charles took on the care of his sister 50 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: in law and seven children. Business and financial stress cause 51 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: Charles to fall into a depression, and he died by 52 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,919 Speaker 1: suicide when Alger was still a toddler. The his family 53 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: experienced several other painful losses. When Alger was in his 54 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: early adulthood, he lost a brother to kidney disease and 55 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: a sister to suicide. As for Alger, he was a 56 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: really popular student and academically he was an achiever. He 57 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: attended high school in Baltimore and then received his undergraduate 58 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: degree from JOHNS Hopkins in nineteen twenty six. Following that, 59 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: he enrolled at Harvard Law School, and he graduated from 60 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: that program in nineteen twenty nine, and his was really 61 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: a star law student, and he became a law clerk 62 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: for Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes right after graduation, 63 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: and he worked for him for a year before joining 64 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: a pretty prestigious law firm. In nineteen thirty three, his 65 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: started working for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration as an attorney. 66 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: From there, Hiss served in a number of roles. He 67 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: worked on the legal team that defended the New Deal's 68 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: Agricultural Adjustment Administration, which was in charge of distributing subsidies 69 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: to farmers as part of a larger initiative to minimize 70 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: surplus and increase market rates of agricultural products. This was 71 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: to help support the farmers financially. He also served on 72 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: the NI Committee, which investigated war profiteering. In nineteen thirty six, 73 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: Hiss joined the State Department, working in the office of 74 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: Francis B. Sayer, who was the Assistant Secretary of State 75 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:36,840 Speaker 1: briefly before joining the Office of Far Eastern Affairs. Then 76 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty four he moved into the Office of 77 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: Special Political Affairs as its director. Yes, so clearly this 78 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: was a man on a pretty impressive career trajectory. In 79 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,840 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five, having become a trusted member of the 80 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,840 Speaker 1: Roosevelt administration, Hiss went to the Yalta Conference as one 81 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:59,480 Speaker 1: of Roosevelt's advisors. On that trip, he reported to Under 82 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: Secretary of State Edward Stettinius. The Alta Conference was a 83 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: meeting where President Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin met 84 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: to discuss a possible situation where the Soviets would fight 85 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: against Japan in the ongoing war. The Allies were doing 86 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: pretty well in Europe at that point, and they felt 87 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: like they could be victorious, but there were real concerns 88 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: about the possibility of a Pacific theater conflict just dragging 89 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: on forever and depleting everyone's resources. Ultimately, Stalin did agree 90 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: to join forces, but that came with a price. The 91 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: Soviets would gain significant power in Manchuria in exchange for 92 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: their cooperation in fighting the Japanese. This was a very 93 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: significant and high profile event, and Hiss was right in 94 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 1: the middle of it. In nineteen forty six, Hiss left 95 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: his government work and became the president of the Carnegie 96 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: Endowment for International Peace. Sometimes this is characterized as him 97 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: being forced out of the State Department. Regardless of exactly 98 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:06,599 Speaker 1: how this transition played out, there were things happening during 99 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:11,159 Speaker 1: these years that would change Hiss's life forever. So before 100 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 1: we move on, we need to talk about another major 101 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: player in this story, and that is Whittaker Chambers. He 102 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: was born Jay Vivian Chambers on April first, nineteen oh one, 103 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,919 Speaker 1: in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and he grew up on Long Island 104 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:27,920 Speaker 1: and attended Columbia University, where he was the editor of 105 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 1: The Morning Side, which was the school's literary paper. And 106 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 1: it was during this time that he changed his first 107 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: name to Whittaker, which had been his mother's maiden name. 108 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,159 Speaker 1: In the nineteen twenties, Whittaker joined the Communist Party and 109 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: wrote for a number of Communist and Marxist papers. By 110 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: the mid nineteen thirties, he had been recruited by Soviet 111 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: agents to work as part of their network in New York, 112 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: but he became disillusioned with Communism in the late nineteen 113 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: thirties as he saw the Soviet Union prosecuting Bolshevik's and 114 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: sentencing them to prison or to death. He eventually went 115 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: to the Roosevelt administration to warn that communists backed by 116 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: the USSR were secretly working in the US government. Yeah, 117 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: we'll get into more detail on that in just a moment. 118 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: But in nineteen thirty nine, Chambers's journalism career really took 119 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 1: off when he was hired by Time magazine. He initially 120 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 1: worked there as a writer, and then he worked his 121 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: way up to special editor. His most famous piece of 122 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: writing while working there was a political fairy tale titled 123 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: The Ghosts on the Roof, And if you've never read 124 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: that particular piece of writing, it opens to my mind 125 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: rather spectacularly with quote with the softness of bats. Seven 126 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: ghosts settled down on the flat roof of the Levadia 127 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: Palace at Yalta. They found someone else already there, a 128 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: statuesque female figure crouching with her eye glued to one 129 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: of the holes in the roof. It had been through 130 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: the Russian Revolution, three years of Civil War, twenty one 131 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: years of socialist reconstruction, the German invasion, and the Russian reoccupation. 132 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: Madam said the foremost ghost, an imperious woman with a 133 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: bullet hole in her head. What are you doing on 134 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: our roof? The mysterious female figure turns out to be 135 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 1: Cleo the muse of history, and when she sees Nicholas 136 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: the Second, the last Emperor of Russia, she's at first 137 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: happy to see him, but as Nicholas explains the current 138 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: state of global politics to her, she becomes chagrined, telling 139 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 1: him at one point quote, I think I liked you 140 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,720 Speaker 1: better Nicholas, when you were only a weakling Czar. You 141 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:40,959 Speaker 1: are becoming a realist. This entire article is a scathing 142 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: review of the Yalta Conference. That article was of course 143 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: written shortly after the Alta Conference took place, but back 144 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty nine, the same year he started working 145 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: for Time, Chambers had a meeting with the Assistant Secretary 146 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:58,000 Speaker 1: of State atolf A Burrel, and this is where he 147 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: gave his warning to the government about so spies. He 148 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: told Burle that he knew of eighteen people in the 149 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: government who were communists and who were working against US interests, 150 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 1: and one of those people was Alger Hiss. Burle took 151 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: the Chambers list to President Roosevelt, but there was no 152 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: action taken. It seems that the president didn't put a 153 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: lot of stock in Chambers's claim, and moreover, the government's 154 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: focus was on Germany and Hitler at that time, but 155 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: Burle was concerned enough to follow up on the information 156 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:34,559 Speaker 1: the following year, this time taking Chambers's list to the FBI, 157 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: and the FBI did talk to Chambers, but it took 158 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: two years before he did. He met with Bureau officials twice, 159 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,800 Speaker 1: first in nineteen forty two and then again in nineteen 160 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:50,559 Speaker 1: forty five. The House on American Activities Committee, which had 161 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:54,559 Speaker 1: been formed in nineteen thirty eight to investigate possible communist 162 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 1: activities in the US, subpoenaed Chambers in the summer of 163 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: nineteen forty eight to question him about what he knew 164 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: of Communist activity in the States. He told the committee 165 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:07,959 Speaker 1: that he had been part of the Communist Party from 166 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty four until nineteen thirty seven or nineteen thirty eight. 167 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: He stated that he knew seven officials in the US 168 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: government who had been part of a spy ring in 169 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties, and that ring was funneling information to 170 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: the Soviets, and he specifically named Alger Hisss as one 171 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: of these officials. Coming up, we will talk about Hiss's 172 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:33,680 Speaker 1: reaction to those allegations, but first we'll pause for a 173 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: sponsor break. Once that accusation that he was a spy 174 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: for the Soviets was made. Algerhiss vehemently denied it, but 175 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:56,199 Speaker 1: even after his appearance before the committee, Whittaker Chambers continued 176 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: to accuse Hiss of spying for the Soviet Union, and 177 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: he did so publicly. He went on news shows and 178 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: repeated the story over and over, and this led Hiss 179 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 1: to sue Chambers for slander. But Chambers was also adamant 180 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:13,200 Speaker 1: that he was telling the truth and his accusations were accurate. 181 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: At the end of nineteen forty eight, on December sixth, 182 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:21,079 Speaker 1: the sworn testimony of Chambers was released publicly by the 183 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:26,319 Speaker 1: House Committee. At that point, everyone learned that Chambers testified 184 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,520 Speaker 1: that he too had been a member of the espionage ring, 185 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: which was how he knew that Hiss was. Chambers gave 186 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: detailed information about State Department papers being handed off to 187 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,040 Speaker 1: him by Hiss with the intent that they would in 188 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:43,720 Speaker 1: turn be given to the Soviets. To prove that he 189 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: was telling the truth, Chambers produced documents that he said 190 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 1: had been handed over to him by Alger Hiss to 191 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:54,000 Speaker 1: give to the Soviets during their time as spy ring collaborators. 192 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: Those documents included dozens of typed pages which Chambers said 193 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:02,680 Speaker 1: Alger's wife Prisons Scilla, had typed, along with several pages 194 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:06,559 Speaker 1: of handwritten communicates that Chambers said were written by his himself. 195 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,160 Speaker 1: These documents came to be known as the Baltimore Papers, 196 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:13,440 Speaker 1: and Chambers had kept these papers as evidence in case 197 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: he ever faced threats from the Communist Party. Once he left, 198 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 1: those papers were given to Hiss's legal team as evidence 199 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: that Chambers had not committed libel, with the exception of 200 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,439 Speaker 1: one part of the document's package, and that was five 201 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: rolls of thirty five millimeter film. Chambers believed that Hiss's 202 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 1: legal team intended to steal the film, so he hid 203 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: it in a hollowed out pumpkin on his family farm, 204 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:44,560 Speaker 1: and he told the House on American Activities Committee where 205 00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 1: it was. Soon there were agents at the farm with 206 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: a subpoena. They found and confiscated the film. This was 207 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,679 Speaker 1: supposed to be turned over to the FBI, but it 208 00:12:55,760 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 1: was developed by the committee instead. The film showed fo 209 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 1: of government documents that sounds like it could be sort 210 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 1: of thrilling, but the documents in question were actually pretty benign. 211 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: Some of them were Navy documents, which were incredibly boring. 212 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:17,959 Speaker 1: They literally talked about things like paint colors on fire extinguishers. 213 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 1: The other papers were State Department papers that weren't especially 214 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: important in terms of holding secrets, but they still were 215 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: not things that people should have been sharing. His would 216 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: later offer his own commentary on these documents in The 217 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:37,200 Speaker 1: Real World magazine in nineteen seventy six, stating that according 218 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: to Chambers and Richard Nixon, the documents had been quote 219 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: turned over to Chambers in the thirties for the reading 220 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:47,319 Speaker 1: pleasure of the Russians. When Chambers, then an experienced publicist 221 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:51,400 Speaker 1: himself as a time editor, produced these stills shortly after 222 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: Halloween nineteen forty eight from a scooped out pumpkin on 223 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: his farm in Maryland, Nixon, then a freshman congressman from California, 224 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:03,439 Speaker 1: went into action, holding them up for the newsreel cameras. 225 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:05,679 Speaker 1: He said the papers of which they were copies were 226 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: all from the State Department and were proof of quote, 227 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 1: the most serious series of treasonable activities which has been 228 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:16,679 Speaker 1: launched against the government in the history of America. The 229 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 1: message intended and conveyed was that microfilms and spies go together, 230 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: Chambers had come up with five rolls of film, two 231 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: of them already developed, proved to contain fifty five frames 232 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: of dull State Department documents about routine trade negotiations with Germany, 233 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: all of which had nothing to do with my department, 234 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: let alone me, plus three documents, three very ordinary cables 235 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: that had passed over my desk on their way to 236 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: other people's desks or to the incinerator. If you noted 237 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: that mention of Nixon, he was right in the middle 238 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: of the his case. As a member of the House 239 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 1: an American Activities Committee. He had been part of the 240 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: committee since nineteen forty seven. When the Chambers accusations were made. 241 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:06,160 Speaker 1: He had backed Whittaker chambers version of the story. Nixon 242 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:09,200 Speaker 1: also surely saw an opportunity to make a name for 243 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:13,400 Speaker 1: himself as somebody who was tough on communists. He had 244 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: introduced a bill in his short time as Senator to 245 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: make it mandatory for anyone who aligned with the Communist 246 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: Party to register with the US government. That did not 247 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: get past the Senate, but when Chambers offered up the 248 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: names of government officials who he claimed were communists, Nixon 249 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: jumped on it. The alger Hiss scandal and the Pumpkin Papers, 250 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 1: as the films came to be known, catapulted Nixon into 251 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: the public eye, and they paved the way for his 252 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,920 Speaker 1: high profile political career. Yeah, we're not going to rehash 253 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: his whole political career because it's outside the scope of this, 254 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,000 Speaker 1: but this is really where everybody suddenly knew who he was, 255 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 1: and a grand jury investigation began, and both Chambers and 256 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: his testified. His had denied that he had given any 257 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:02,720 Speaker 1: papers to Chambers, and he also stated before the grand 258 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 1: jury that he had not spoken to Chambers since January first, 259 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:10,480 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty seven. Hiss continued to assert his innocence, but 260 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: he was indicted on December fifteenth, nine days after the 261 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 1: Chambers testimony had been released by the House and thirteen 262 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 1: days after the seizure of the Pumpkin Papers. The indictment 263 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 1: was for two charges of perjury, based on the documents 264 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,920 Speaker 1: produced by Chambers that he claimed showed that Hiss had 265 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: absolutely passed him papers. Hiss could not be tried for 266 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 1: espionage because there was a five year statute of limitations 267 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: on espionage charges and all of this had happened in 268 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:42,880 Speaker 1: the thirties, but he could be charged for perjury, to 269 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: which Hiss also pleaded not guilty, and a lot of 270 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 1: people came to alger Hiss's defense, noting that those papers 271 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: that were being waived around were things that a lot 272 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 1: of people had access to. Some of those people weren't 273 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:59,680 Speaker 1: even government employees, so the papers that Chambers produced could 274 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,800 Speaker 1: have come from almost anywhere. Hiss's trial began on May 275 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:08,359 Speaker 1: thirty first, nineteen forty nine, and continued until July eighth. 276 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: The result was a hung jury. A second trial started 277 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:17,720 Speaker 1: on November nineteenth, nineteen forty nine, that concluded in January 278 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 1: of nineteen fifty with a guilty verdict. His was convicted 279 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:25,400 Speaker 1: of perjury and sentenced to five years in prison. One 280 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: of the key pieces of evidence had been expert testimony 281 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: regarding the woodstock typewriter that was used to type up 282 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: the documents Chambers had produced. It was determined that the 283 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 1: typewriter in question was one that belonged to Priscilla Hiss. 284 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:46,480 Speaker 1: This was an issue that Hiss's legal team doggedly pursued 285 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:49,240 Speaker 1: after the trial, trying to get a retrial in the 286 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,439 Speaker 1: case based on evidence they were compiling that there had 287 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:56,399 Speaker 1: been a forgery of the unique characteristics of the Hiss 288 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,919 Speaker 1: family typewriter. A judge denied that most though, and Hiss 289 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: went to prison. Yeah, that whole typewriter story is its 290 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:06,960 Speaker 1: own kind of fun side thing. I'll talk a little 291 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: bit about it in Behind the Scenes on Friday, and 292 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 1: coming up, we're going to talk about the rest of 293 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:16,640 Speaker 1: Algerhiss's life and the life his case continues to have 294 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 1: decades after his death. But first we will hear from 295 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: his sponsors that keep the show going. Algerhiss was released 296 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: from prison in nineteen fifty four after serving forty four 297 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:39,560 Speaker 1: months of his sentence, and he never ever wavered in 298 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: proclaiming his innocence. Over the next several decades after his release, 299 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 1: supporters of Hiss continued to defend him and assert that 300 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 1: he had been wrongly convicted. And this case remained really 301 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:54,359 Speaker 1: important to people because the details of it impact what 302 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:57,880 Speaker 1: we know about the Cold War and global politics, as 303 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,520 Speaker 1: well as the state of US intelligence, both at the 304 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: time that Hiss was accused of spying and in the 305 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: years since, because in some cases, current methods have built 306 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:10,680 Speaker 1: on those that were used then. Plus, if information came 307 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,159 Speaker 1: to light that cleared Hiss, it would be proof that 308 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:16,639 Speaker 1: he had been wrongfully convicted, and that would likely catalyze 309 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 1: a fresh analysis of the handling of his case. In 310 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight, Alan Weinstein published a book about the 311 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: Hiss case called Perjury, in which he builds a pretty 312 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,960 Speaker 1: well supported and logical chain of events and information that 313 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:35,720 Speaker 1: seems pretty conclusively damning of Alge Hiss. It was convincing 314 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: enough that support for Hiss really wanes to a degree 315 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:44,199 Speaker 1: after its publication. In nineteen seventy nine, Hiss tried unsuccessfully 316 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:48,520 Speaker 1: to have his conviction overturned, claiming misconduct of the prosecutors 317 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: in his case. He had been taking advantage of the 318 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,360 Speaker 1: Freedom of Information Act to request any and all documents 319 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: he could get related to his case. All was trying 320 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,200 Speaker 1: to get more information and hoping to find some detail 321 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:05,440 Speaker 1: that remained that would clear his name. In nineteen ninety two, 322 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,640 Speaker 1: after the archives of the former Soviet Union were opened, 323 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,840 Speaker 1: Hiss hoped that new light could be shed on his situation, 324 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: so he asked the Russian government to look into available 325 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,480 Speaker 1: records for any information about him or his alleged involvement 326 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: with Soviet intelligence. That request was honored, and after several months, 327 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,879 Speaker 1: Russian chairman of the Military Intelligence Archives, General Dmitri A. 328 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:32,240 Speaker 1: Vol Kaganov, announced that they found nothing about Hiss in 329 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: the Soviet record. While this seemed to some like a 330 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,200 Speaker 1: step toward exoneration, a lot of people made the point 331 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: that it was unlikely that every facet of a massive 332 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 1: secret spy ring would be mentioned in any kind of record. 333 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: It also appeared that not all intelligence files were actually searched, 334 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,119 Speaker 1: so there was just no real resolution from the effort. 335 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:58,240 Speaker 1: And in what's a little bit of a letdown in 336 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 1: how this story plays out, His died on November fifteenth 337 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:05,000 Speaker 1: of nineteen ninety six. He was ninety two at the time, 338 00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:06,919 Speaker 1: and he had been trying to clear his name for 339 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 1: more than forty years. His wife, Priscilla, had died in 340 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty five, and he remarried in nineteen eighty six 341 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 1: to Isabel Johnson, who survived him. He had been readmitted 342 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: to the Massachusetts bar in the mid nineteen seventies, so 343 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 1: he did leave a legacy of being the first lawyer 344 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:28,360 Speaker 1: to ever do so after disbarment in the state of Massachusetts. 345 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,359 Speaker 1: That same year that his died, new evidence came to 346 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 1: light when missives that US intelligence had intercepted during World 347 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: War II from the Soviets were released. The documents involved 348 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,960 Speaker 1: were part of what was called the Venona Project, which 349 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: began in February of nineteen forty three and was focused 350 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 1: on cracking the encryption of intercepted Soviet messages and using 351 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:57,160 Speaker 1: the information within them to the advantage of the United States. 352 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:02,000 Speaker 1: This program continued until nineteen eighty, and starting in nineteen 353 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:06,120 Speaker 1: ninety five, batches of these top secret documents were declassified 354 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 1: and released to the public once decrypted. One of these documents, 355 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: known as Cable number eighteen twenty two, included mentions of 356 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 1: an agent referred to as Ales Alees, who many have 357 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:23,720 Speaker 1: come to believe is in fact Algerhiss. This was a 358 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:27,720 Speaker 1: communication intercepted as it was sent from Anatoly Gorski, a 359 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,480 Speaker 1: member of the US Soviet State Security Agency home to 360 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: the USSR from Washington, and that pertinent document, dated March thirtieth, 361 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:40,240 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five, includes the following bullet points sent from 362 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:44,679 Speaker 1: Washington to Moscow. One. Ales has been working with the 363 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: neighbors Sosaid or so Seti continuously since nineteen thirty five two. 364 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:52,639 Speaker 1: For some years past, he has been the leader of 365 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,680 Speaker 1: a small group of the neighbour's probationers, for the most 366 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: part consisting of his relations. Three. The group and Ale's 367 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,920 Speaker 1: himself work on obtaining military information. Only materials on the 368 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,280 Speaker 1: bank allegedly interest the neighbors very little, and he does 369 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:12,920 Speaker 1: not produce them regularly. Four. All the last few years, 370 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:17,160 Speaker 1: Ales has been working with Paul pol who also meets 371 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:21,720 Speaker 1: other members of the group occasionally. Five. Recently, Ales and 372 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: his whole group were awarded Soviet decorations. Six after the 373 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,359 Speaker 1: Yalta Conference, when he had gone on to Moscow, a 374 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,639 Speaker 1: Soviet personage in a very responsible position allegedly got in 375 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 1: touch with Ales and at the behest of the military 376 00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: neighbors passed on to him their gratitude and so on. 377 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,959 Speaker 1: You can view this document and the other released Venona 378 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 1: documents online at the nsay's website. There are notes at 379 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,640 Speaker 1: the bottom which explain what the code names are believed 380 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:55,359 Speaker 1: to be. So SETI, the neighbors are quote members of 381 00:23:55,400 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: another Soviet intelligence organization here probably the GRU, the bank 382 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 1: is the State Department, and Ales is listed as probably 383 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: alger Hisss. So how did anyone come to that conclusion? Well, 384 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 1: the key points are those mentions of the Yalta Conference 385 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,560 Speaker 1: and the Soviet decorations. In two thousand and nine, a 386 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:19,919 Speaker 1: historian named Edward Mark published an article in Journal of 387 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:24,159 Speaker 1: Cold War Studies titled in re Algerhiss, a final verdict 388 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: from the Archives of the KGB, and in it he 389 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 1: actually references another article that he wrote six years earlier, 390 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:33,320 Speaker 1: in which he laid out the case that he believed 391 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:38,119 Speaker 1: pointed squarely to Algerhiss being Ales. He wrote, quote, I 392 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 1: matched the clues given in Cable number eighteen twenty two 393 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,639 Speaker 1: against the biographies of all the members of the small 394 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 1: party that Secretary of State Edward R. Statinius led to 395 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 1: Moscow after the Yalta Conference of February nineteen forty five. 396 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:56,160 Speaker 1: As Gorski's message left little room for doubt that Ales 397 00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: had been one of Statinius's party, I concluded that gorsky 398 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,679 Speaker 1: He's profile of Ales closely matched Alger Hisss and that 399 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:07,360 Speaker 1: there was no other plausible candidate in the small universe 400 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: of suspects. Mark was not the only person to come 401 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: to that conclusion, although he does also note that it 402 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 1: is possible that Hiss was a spy and yet not 403 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:21,679 Speaker 1: the Ales mentioned in Cable number eighteen twenty two. The 404 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:26,000 Speaker 1: identity of Ales had been swirling in fresh controversy for 405 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:28,880 Speaker 1: several years by the time Edward Mark wrote his two 406 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:33,040 Speaker 1: thousand and nine article, including several events he alluded to. 407 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: One issue that has often been argued over is just 408 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,520 Speaker 1: how much faith should be put in the Venona document 409 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:44,639 Speaker 1: that mentioned Ales and its footnote that equates Ales with 410 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:49,159 Speaker 1: alger Hiss. For one, there's really no confirmation that the 411 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,400 Speaker 1: Venona decryption was accurate. The work done to tease out 412 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,240 Speaker 1: the messages that were intercepted by the FBI and the 413 00:25:56,359 --> 00:26:00,119 Speaker 1: NSA that was incredibly difficult and arduous. There was a 414 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:03,800 Speaker 1: thing like a Rosetta stone to guide them. That means 415 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:07,119 Speaker 1: that at times decryption experts had to make some leaps 416 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:10,480 Speaker 1: of faith in their work, and that means there could 417 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: be errors. Critics of the Venona documents note that the 418 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:20,360 Speaker 1: translations of them didn't really incorporate cultural context or nuance, 419 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:25,720 Speaker 1: so it's possible that really important information was missed or misconstrued. 420 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: And the other big thing that detractors have focused on 421 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: is that while it's possible to triangulate the likelihood that 422 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:37,880 Speaker 1: Ales was Hiss, the NSA and FBI never showed their 423 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 1: work in terms of how they determined that to be 424 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: the case. It appears in the document eighteen twenty two footnote. 425 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:47,440 Speaker 1: And while a lot of people took that is fact, 426 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,400 Speaker 1: other people questioned it. In two thousand and two, one 427 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 1: of Alger Hisss's lawyers wrote an article that was published 428 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 1: in Intelligence and National Security which called just about everything 429 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 1: about the Venona cable regarding Hiss into question. Yes, cable's plural, 430 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:07,160 Speaker 1: because it turned out there were other mentions of Hiss, 431 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: mentions that the lawyer John Lowenthal thought actually helped the 432 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 1: Hiss case. That document was number fifteen seventy nine of 433 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:19,440 Speaker 1: the Venona files, and it mentioned Algerhiss, not by any 434 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,480 Speaker 1: code but by name. That message was intercepted on September 435 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: twenty eighth, nineteen forty three, and after information about money 436 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,400 Speaker 1: needs the missive reads quote the neighbor so said, has 437 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 1: reported that one group unrecovered from the State Department by 438 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 1: the name of Hiss. So that unrecovered segment of cable 439 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,240 Speaker 1: leaves a lot of context missing. But what we do know, 440 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,120 Speaker 1: and it's noted at the bottom of the decryptied document, 441 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:50,439 Speaker 1: is that Algerhiss was working at the State Department at 442 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: the time as assistant advisor for the Far East. Lowenthal 443 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:57,760 Speaker 1: stated in his article that if Hiss was a spy, 444 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,720 Speaker 1: there's almost no way that he would be mentioned by 445 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:05,119 Speaker 1: his real name in secret communications. He also notes that 446 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,960 Speaker 1: the way this reads, it seems as though he's being 447 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:12,000 Speaker 1: introduced as someone the folks back in Moscow had not 448 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:17,600 Speaker 1: heard of before. Lowenthal argued that Algerhiss didn't actually match 449 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:20,320 Speaker 1: up with the identity of Ales based on the information 450 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,880 Speaker 1: that was relayed about Ales in document in eighteen twenty two. 451 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: One of the things he pointed out was that his 452 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:30,399 Speaker 1: had been accused of sharing State Department documents, but that 453 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:34,160 Speaker 1: document eighteen twenty two specifically says that Ales is concerned 454 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 1: only with military documents. Lowenthal also noted the problems with 455 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: presuming the Venona documents were accurate, and even kind of 456 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: hinted at the idea that the NSA and the FBI 457 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: might have fudged some information to make Hiss look guilty, 458 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,200 Speaker 1: although he really offered no evidence for that. Yeah, he 459 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:58,480 Speaker 1: definitely was like, this was a case where they wanted 460 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: to prosecute someone, and that seemed like a good someone. 461 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:06,000 Speaker 1: But he's really just going on conjecture. The two thousand 462 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: and three article that Edward Mark wrote and referenced in 463 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 1: his two thousand and nine write up was something of 464 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 1: a response to the Lowenthal claims. Mark was very diligent 465 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 1: and careful in his tracking of the movements of the 466 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: State Department members who matched up with all of the 467 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: evidence in document eighteen twenty two, and he also noted 468 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 1: that there was precedent for Soviets using spies, real names 469 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:33,080 Speaker 1: and communications generally by accident, So there was no reason 470 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: to assume that that second document that Lowenthal invoked was 471 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 1: truly disqualifying of Hiss being Ales. Well into the two thousands, 472 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: there were new developments in the story. In two thousand 473 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:50,280 Speaker 1: and five, the original untranslated version of Cable eighteen twenty 474 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 1: two was released. It showed that nothing had been added 475 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:58,240 Speaker 1: or omitted to the information. Moreover, the decryption on which 476 00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 1: the entire Ale's case had been base did appear to 477 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 1: have been correct, per an account written in two thousand 478 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:09,000 Speaker 1: seven by John Erman for Studies in Intelligence. Quote in 479 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:13,200 Speaker 1: April two thousand seven, a prominent American historian Ky Bird 480 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 1: and his Russian collaborator, historians Vetlana Charvanaya, stepped forward at 481 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,320 Speaker 1: a conference to claim that the central piece of evidence 482 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: against Hiss, an intercepted cable in the Venona Series number 483 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:30,040 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty two, naming a Soviet asset. Ayles did not 484 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: refer to Hiss, as the FBI and NSA had judged, 485 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 1: but someone else. If it could be proved, this claim 486 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: would have significant implications for the history of the case 487 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:44,120 Speaker 1: and for historical interpretations of the Cold War era, and 488 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:48,120 Speaker 1: might affect current politics in the field of intelligence. It 489 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: would call into question the credibility of US intelligence efforts 490 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifties and raised new doubts about the 491 00:30:55,080 --> 00:31:00,160 Speaker 1: validity of its current threat assessments under careful examination. However, ever, 492 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: the Bird Chevanyah assertion is built on thin reeds, suppositions, 493 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:10,000 Speaker 1: and unsupportables. Ifs then that's but the stubborn efforts to 494 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:14,880 Speaker 1: exonerate Hiss, even if unsuccessful, will nevertheless have consequences for 495 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: innocent bystanders and the conduct of intelligence today. That other 496 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:24,320 Speaker 1: person that Bird and Shrevenyah named was a man named 497 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:28,479 Speaker 1: Wilder Foot. While he did have some overlap with Hiss 498 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:32,600 Speaker 1: and thus Ales in terms of positions and locations in 499 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:35,920 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties, he'd been living in Vermont, which for some, 500 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 1: including Edward Mark, disqualifies him from being the Soviet operative 501 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 1: in Washington at the time. While a lot of people 502 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:48,240 Speaker 1: are convinced that Algerhiss was a spy for the Soviets, 503 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 1: there are still and probably will always be people who 504 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 1: have doubts about that because his accusation and trial happened 505 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:58,719 Speaker 1: during the start of that Second Red Scare in the US, 506 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:02,760 Speaker 1: when scapegoats being sought to reassure the general public that 507 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 1: the government was seeking out and prosecuting communists, and you 508 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:09,280 Speaker 1: can find books that very thoroughly lay out a case 509 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:12,600 Speaker 1: for almost any possible angle or belief that you can 510 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: think of. For this one, there are books that state 511 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:18,520 Speaker 1: very confidently that Hiss was a spy. There are books 512 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 1: that say very confidently that Hiss was innocent. There are 513 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 1: others that say Hiss may not have been innocent, but 514 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:26,920 Speaker 1: he wasn't ales, or that he was set up. Really, 515 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:31,440 Speaker 1: anything you could think of is available, including Alger Hisss's 516 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 1: own version of the story. Additionally, it's an inherently compelling 517 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:39,400 Speaker 1: story no matter which version you believe. Right, a Communist 518 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 1: spy in the highest levels of government or a wrongfully 519 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:45,600 Speaker 1: convicted man fighting to regain his good name are both 520 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:50,080 Speaker 1: pretty interesting topics, and as Edward Mark put it, quote, 521 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:53,760 Speaker 1: the history of the controversy over his's true allegiance is 522 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:57,280 Speaker 1: so long and involved that years of study might not 523 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:01,640 Speaker 1: guarantee full mastery of it. That is algebras as we 524 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:06,080 Speaker 1: know it, m M, as we know it. I have 525 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 1: listener mail that's sort of related. Okay, this is from 526 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,360 Speaker 1: our listener May, who wrote to us about our Vidcan 527 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 1: Quizzling episode, and May writes, hello, friends, I wanted to 528 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:18,600 Speaker 1: drop a note to say thank you for your episode 529 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,440 Speaker 1: on vidcoan Quizzling. I'm playing catch up, so this is 530 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,200 Speaker 1: a bit late. As a high school history teacher, I 531 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:26,479 Speaker 1: was glad to hear of more World War Two history 532 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,040 Speaker 1: that wasn't the classic items we tend to talk about, 533 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:33,320 Speaker 1: though those are rather important. New information creates not only 534 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 1: deeper knowledge of the history as a whole, but further 535 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:38,400 Speaker 1: interest as well. I wanted to let you know that 536 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:40,680 Speaker 1: I am adding Quizzling to my World War Two unit 537 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:43,160 Speaker 1: as best as I can, because it should be taught. 538 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:45,200 Speaker 1: I fear I won't be able to give as much 539 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:48,440 Speaker 1: detail time is a precious commodity to the classroom teacher. 540 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,840 Speaker 1: I'm excited to bring this story in, especially the coupe 541 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:54,960 Speaker 1: I radio tactic. Side note, I had just taught the 542 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 1: bubonic plague as a cause of the Renaissance when I 543 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,560 Speaker 1: heard the Unearthed episode mentioning new research showing that the 544 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:03,800 Speaker 1: plague spread by body lice. My students were super grossed 545 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 1: out to learn this, which is always fun. On that note, 546 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:09,279 Speaker 1: I just wanted to also let you know how much 547 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:11,839 Speaker 1: it pains myself and my colleagues to leave things out 548 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:15,040 Speaker 1: of the curriculum because we simply don't have time. I 549 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:18,760 Speaker 1: teach Western Civilization Part two to ninth graders, covering about 550 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:22,960 Speaker 1: six hundred years of history in one year. Yikes. History 551 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:25,799 Speaker 1: is unique in its curriculum because it literally grows with 552 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:29,120 Speaker 1: every passing year. We are now expected to make it 553 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:31,279 Speaker 1: through nine to eleven, whereas when I was a kid, 554 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 1: we were lucky if we made it to Watergate, let 555 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 1: alone the end of the Cold War and about ten years. 556 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:39,080 Speaker 1: I expect teaching the pandemic will be the ending point. 557 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:43,520 Speaker 1: I so appreciate your comments specifying that you weren't criticizing teachers, 558 00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:45,680 Speaker 1: but I wanted to bring this problem to your mind. 559 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:48,040 Speaker 1: In case you weren't aware of the teaching history dilemma, 560 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:51,200 Speaker 1: this has always been and will always be a problem. 561 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:53,600 Speaker 1: Thank you for all you both do. Your research and 562 00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 1: delivery is top notch, and I constantly encourage my students 563 00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:59,359 Speaker 1: and colleagues to check out your show. I listen when 564 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:01,920 Speaker 1: doing parking duty, and the students now ask me what 565 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,439 Speaker 1: the particular episode is about while I help them cross 566 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,520 Speaker 1: the parking lot. My pet tax comes from our free 567 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:11,360 Speaker 1: range chickens, Marshmallow the rooster and his girls, Brownie Cocoa 568 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,960 Speaker 1: and John Deere. Can you guess these were named by 569 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,680 Speaker 1: my kids. Marshmallow takes his duty of providing and protecting 570 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:21,319 Speaker 1: his ladies quite seriously and often scratches up bugs for 571 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,080 Speaker 1: them to eat. In case you didn't know, an adolescent 572 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:27,560 Speaker 1: rooster learning to crow sounds like a rubber chicken see 573 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:30,560 Speaker 1: attached video. And we had two roosters. May this is 574 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:34,320 Speaker 1: wonderful one. I'm so incredibly touched that you would include 575 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:36,719 Speaker 1: something because you've heard about it on our show. That's 576 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:41,040 Speaker 1: incredibly kind and lovely of you to tell us two. 577 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:44,560 Speaker 1: I am obsessed with Marshmallow. I grew up we had 578 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:47,400 Speaker 1: a small farm, so I grew up with free ranging 579 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,359 Speaker 1: roosters and chickens that were on our property, and I 580 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,520 Speaker 1: never loved the roosters. They were always very mean to me. 581 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:55,399 Speaker 1: But Marshmallow is very beautiful, and I wish he would 582 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,680 Speaker 1: accept hugs, but I doubt it. And three, I wanted 583 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:02,920 Speaker 1: to say, like I I appreciate also from a teacher's perspective, 584 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 1: how hard it is, especially when you're trying to engage 585 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:08,000 Speaker 1: students to get all of the stuff in. I know 586 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:10,200 Speaker 1: we run into it just doing our show, where it's 587 00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:13,319 Speaker 1: like okay, but I have like a finite amount of 588 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 1: time in an episode to talk about a thing, and 589 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:19,400 Speaker 1: I got to cut stuff, and I know that's painful. 590 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:21,480 Speaker 1: So I can only imagine when you're trying to do 591 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:28,360 Speaker 1: a comprehensive history that's very, very hard. So I appreciate it. 592 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:30,440 Speaker 1: My hat is always off to teachers. Thank you to 593 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:33,319 Speaker 1: all the educators. And I had not thought about the 594 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,440 Speaker 1: way that what you're expected to teach might shift so 595 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:39,640 Speaker 1: so drastically based on big events in history that happen, 596 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:42,439 Speaker 1: but they do shape our world, so I understand why 597 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:45,160 Speaker 1: they would want them to be included. But also that's 598 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:47,560 Speaker 1: a lot more work to add to people's plates. So 599 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:50,120 Speaker 1: thank you again for all the teachers, all the teachers, 600 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:53,960 Speaker 1: and especially history teachers. I super appreciate it. Thank you. 601 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,319 Speaker 1: May I hope this school year is the best one 602 00:36:57,320 --> 00:36:59,839 Speaker 1: ever and that it's only the least of those to come. 603 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:03,360 Speaker 1: It will only get better. If you would like to 604 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:06,520 Speaker 1: write to us and share your chicken pictures or your 605 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:09,080 Speaker 1: thoughts on history or anything else for that matter, you 606 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:12,240 Speaker 1: can do so at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 607 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:15,200 Speaker 1: You can also subscribe on the iHeartRadio app or wherever 608 00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:22,840 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in 609 00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:26,560 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 610 00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:30,760 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 611 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:34,200 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.