Inventory of the Hede Massing papers
Finding aid prepared by Sally DeBauche
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2008, 2014
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Hede Massing papers
Date (inclusive): 1918-1980
Collection Number: 83038
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English and German
Physical Description:
2 manuscript boxes
(0.8 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, writings, police reports, clippings, and photographs, relating to Soviet espionage activities in the United
States.
Creator:
Massing, Hede
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1983.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Hede Massing papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical/Historical Note
Massing was born in 1900 in Austria. She joined the Communist Party around 1920 when she met Gerhart Eisler, her first husband,
and prominent member of the German Communist Party.
Between 1933-1937, Massing served as a Soviet espionage agent in the United States. Later she renounced her allegiance to
the Soviet Union, after becoming, as she described it, disenchanted with the direction of the Communist movement under Stalin.
Following this decision, she became an outspoken anti-Communist.
In 1949, Massing testified in the Alger Hiss espionage trial, where she maintained that Hiss had been involved in Soviet espionage
activities.
In 1951, Massing published an account of her work as a Soviet espionage agent in her book, "This Deception." Massing continued
to write and speak publicly about her role in Soviet espionage as well as other subjects for the rest of her life.
Scope and Content of Collection
Correspondence, writings, police reports, clippings, and photographs, relating to Soviet espionage activities in the United
States.
Copies of French and Swiss police reports, detailing the investigation of the Ignace Reiss murder in 1937.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Espionage, Russian -- United States
Photographs
1940-1979, undated
box 1, folder 2
Press photographs, Paul Massing
undated
box 1, folder 10
Hede Massing, Paul Massing, friends
1940-1979
box 1, folder 9
"Christmas in Santa Monica," draft
undated
"Doomsday for Alger Hiss"
"Im Handgepäck um die Welt"
undated
box 1, folder 12
Manuscript, English translation
undated
box 2, folder 2
"This Deception" correspondence
1951-1975
box 1, folder 18
"Why I Don't Ski," draft
1956-1978
box 2, folder 5
Whittaker Chambers
1951-1959
box 1, folder 8, 13, 15, 17
box 2, folder 8
Albert Ponsold
1965-1976, undated
box 2, folder 10
Speaking engagements
1951-1954
box 1, folder 16
General correspondence
1920-1978
box 2, folder 4, 9, 12, 16, 18
General correspondence
1920-1978
box 1, folder 1
Biographical sketch of Hede Massing
undated
box 2, folder 15
Vienna residency certificate
1926
box 1, folder 7
Ignace Reiss death investigation, French and Swiss police reports
1937
box 2, folder 1
Gerhart Eisler obituaries, newspaper clippings
1952-1968
box 2, folder 14
Ericha Glaser Wallach memorandum
1957
