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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
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.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1983.
[Identification of item], Hede Massing papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
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