Writings of Whittaker Chambers

From the Chambers Farm in Maryland and from the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, DC, the guests talked about the early period of the Cold War and the attraction Soviet Communism held for Americans, like Whittaker Chambers. On August 3, 1948, Chambers, a senior editor at Time magazine and self-admitted ex-communist, appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) identifying Alger Hiss and several other federal officials as members of a Communist cell whose purpose had been to infiltrate the U.S. government. The accusations shocked a nation already entangled in the politics of the Cold War and set the stage for what was to become one of the most sensational American criminal trials of modern times. They talked about this trial as well as Chambers life, both outlined in his autobiography, Witness. Portions of a longer interview with Alger Hiss' son were also shown. close