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84 / THE ALGER HISS TRIAL
Friday, December 9, 1949
Witness: Hede Massing
Direct Examination by the Prosecution
Massings testimony had been barred from the first trial. The defense objected to her being a witness this time, too, but Judge Goddard overruled the objection.
Massing's first husband was a well-known German Communist, and she was af-
filiated with, though not a member of, the German Communist party from 1919 to 1937. In early 1934 she and her second husband, Paul Massing, began working for the Communist underground in the United States. Her husband recruited a man named Noel Field. Massing was the only witness who confirmed Chambers s claim that Hiss was a Communist and a spy. She described meeting him at a party in 1935.
Q. Did you talk with Hiss at this party?
A. Yes. I said, "I understand you are trying to get
Noel Field"—who then worked in the Western Euro-
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