It also included microfilms of documents, which U.S. Representative Richard M. Nixon and HUAC investigator Robert E. Stripling made widely known and which were dubbed the "Pumpkin Papers".
[8][9][10][11][12] After defecting from the Soviet underground, Whittaker Chambers originally entrusted his "life preserver" to Ludwig Lore.
The "life preserver" was a thick manila envelope, full of papers (typewritten and handwritten) plus microfilm canisters.
On August 27, 1948, Chambers answered questions about those allegations while on NBC Meet the Press radio show.
During pre-trial proceedings, after the Hiss team roughly questioned his wife, Esther Shemitz, Chambers states he recalled his long-forgotten "life preserver.
Chambers describes: I communicated with my wife's nephew, Nathan Levine, merely telling him that I was going to New York and asking him if he would have "my things" ready for me.
At a glance, I saw that, besides those documents, and Hiss's handwritten memos, there were three cylinders of microfilm and a little spool of developed film (actually two strips) ... Levine came back with his broom and dustpan and asked me, as nearly as I remember, if I had found what I was looking for.
He told the Grand Jury he was "pretty put out because the day before they had mentioned about spy papers and I found myself, an innocent pawn, in this thing.
This step was being made as a protective measure, since the House Un-American Activities Committee may subpoena Levine, and if they turned up with some additional documents it would prove embarrassing to the Bureau.
[24] On December 20, 1948, Time magazine reported: One witness who appeared before the House committee was Nathan Levine, a New York attorney and a nephew of Mrs.
Levine testified that Chambers blew the dust off the envelope, opened it, glanced at the contents and exclaimed: "Holy cow!
[25] < (Some Hiss supporters have made careful note that Levine testified that he never know what the contents of the "life preserver" were – implying that Chambers may have "doctored" them in 1948 in a manner never specified.
On January 25, 1972, a client named Walter Stefani walked into the law offices of Levine at 501 Fifth Avenue, where he shot and critically wounded him.
[19][20][27] Levine's interactions with Chambers led to the November 1948 recovery of the "life preserver" and presentation of part of it, the "Baltimore Documents," to Hiss team.