Witness: Cold War Classics

Chambers describes various ranks in the Communist apparatus within the United States. One of the largest categories is the “fellow travelers.” These are Americans sympathetic to the Communist cause, and willing to lend it various kinds of aid, who never formally joined the Party. Chambers says that fellow travelers were in a difficult position: They had a respectable public profile and therefore had the most to lose. Nevertheless, fellow travelers often got more than they bargained for. If they were not providing the Party with enough information, its handlers would demand more under threat of exposure. Chambers tries to use this same threat against a few fellow travelers to coerce them into providing cover for his exit from the Party. Despite their precarious state, though, he finds that they generally refuse to help him on account of their sincere dedication to the Party.

One of the most notorious uses of congressional power in American history, HUAC was formed in 1938 on the brink of the World War II, as both German-affiliated fascists and Soviet-affiliated Communists jockeyed for support in the United States. After the end of the war, HUAC transformed from a special to a permanent committee. It then began to focus almost exclusively on the activities of suspected Communists, and gained prominence in the late 1940s with the case of the Hollywood Ten, writers and directors who refused to testify to HUAC regarding suspected Communists in the entertainment industry. HUAC floundered in the wake of this case and faced calls for its dissolution. It found renewed purpose and public prominence by calling Whittaker Chambers to testify against Alger Hiss. Senator Joseph McCarthy’s later efforts to reveal Communists brought infamy upon HUAC; while McCarthyist efforts were run out of the Senate, and HUAC was a House initiative, they pursued the same ultimate ends. After a gradual decline in prestige, it finally terminated its operations in 1975.

The Daily Worker was a newspaper circulated by the American Communist Party. It originated in 1924 in Chicago, a hotbed of leftist activity, in part due to the city’s large population of Eastern European immigrants and long history of labor activism. The Worker primarily focused on explaining labor disputes, exposing unethical business practices, and reporting on issues related to the class struggle. However, it also wrote on news, entertainment, and sports, often highlighting the political implications of such topics long before it was mainstream to do so. Loyal to Stalin, the paper’s staff fractured following his death in 1953, and its last issue was published in 1958. The online journal People’s World represents itself as the successor to the Daily Worker.