[Khornet]

Let's have some fun. Who thinks Hiss was guilty? Who thinks Chambers lied? Explain you answer. Give examples.

[ACP230]

There's no question that Hiss was guilty. The Venona Project (intercepted and decoded Russian communications) removed all doubt.

[Mike Irwin]

Soviet documents, as ACP noted, have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hiss was a communist spy.

Did Chambers lie in claiming Hiss was spy? No.

[Khornet]

is Chambers' book on the case, published in 1950 or 51. I just finished it, and it is a marvellous book. I too believe Hiss was guilty.

However, I have also seen claims that the Venona intercepts do not prove Hiss' guilt; I think on the basis that Hiss isn't identified by name but rather by a code name. And there certainly are many who still believe Chambers lied.

Any takers?

[Hkmp5sd]

However, I have also seen claims that the Venona intercepts do not prove Hiss' guilt

The intercept regarding "Ales" was partially interpreted in 1950 and the FBI believed that this was Hiss. In 1969, the full message was broken and while not mentioning Hiss by name, he is clearly "Ales".

The Verona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors by Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel.

But a great deal of evidence has turned up since the fall of the Soviet Union. Check out The Sword and The Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB by Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin and KGB: The Inside Story by Christopher Andrew and Oleg Gordievsky.

[Khornet]

There are still people who believe Hiss was innocent. Even today you can find internet sites which discount Venona. Hard to figure, but Chambers explains it well in Witness:

There are plenty of peolple who would never be a communist but who subscribe to the materialist/socialist worldview. These folks essentially believe in the perfectability of man, and the possibility of realizing the ideal state if the right people are put in charge. They are often of the intellectual and social elite (as was Hiss). Intellectuals are often fascinated by the man of action--witness the Che Guevara posters on the walls of professors' offices everywhere--and so they are reluctant to recognize a violent revolutionist in their midst. So Hiss was just another enthusiastic young socialist....but he could NEVER be one of those communists.

[telomerase]

My grandfather-in-law helped get Chambers published and believed in him totally. (In spite of that, I still think Hiss was guilty).

[Hkmp5sd]

One interesting point about Hiss is that FDR was informed about Chamber's accusation about Hiss in 1939. So FDR does what any democrat would do, he ignored the information and gave Hiss a promotion as one of his advisors. He even took Hiss to Yalta for the meeting with Stalin in which FDR gave Poland to the soviets.

When Truman became president, he made Hiss director of the Office of Political Affairs at the State Department. In that capacity, Hiss supervised the Dumbarton Oaks Conference where the UN was created. He then became secretary general of the San Francisco Conference which wrote the UN Charter.

When the Venona Project was initiated in 1943, FDR was never told of its existance. When Truman became president, he also was never told about Venona.

Pretty bad when you can't even trust the President of the United States, at least the democratic ones.