Who Was Bill?

Whittaker Chambers and the Ware Group

Whittaker Chambers became a member of the Communist Party underground in New York in 1932. Although there were instances when, as an operative, he was in direct contact with Soviet Military Intelligence (GRU), by the summer of 1934 he was working primarily under the direction of J. Peters, head of the CPUSA’s Secret Apparatus. Earlier in 1934 Peters had begun to exercise control over a homegrown CPUSA unit in Washington DC, the members of which were primarily U.S. Government employees. The leader of this group was Harold Ware.

In June 1934 Peters brought Chambers to Washington, D.C., to introduce him to Ware and several others as his liaison and courier to their cell. One of the persons Chambers met at this initial meeting was Alger Hiss. In furtherance of his plan to develop the Ware group, Peters moved Chambers to Baltimore, MD.  In July 1934 Chambers took a room for one month at the Baltimore YMCA. A month later, he rented an apartment in a brownstone on St Paul Street, and brought his wife and daughter down from New York. Chambers’ new assignment entailed weekly travel to both Washington and New York. [1]  On one such trip to New York in August, Chambers visited dentist Dr. Philip Rosenbliett, a Soviet agent who ran a safe house (“roof”) for the GRU, and to whom Chambers remained under discipline. On this occasion, Rosenbliett had an instruction for Chambers. As recounted in Chambers' book, Witness:

“After Ulrich had gone, I remained in touch with Dr. Rosenbliett, dropping in from time to time to see him at this office. One day The Doctor told me that he must introduce me to “somebody important.” A day or two later, I met in the privacy of the inner dental office, a tall, lank, unsmiling Soviet agent, with a very wrinkled face which should have been imposing, but was chiefly forbidding. The Doctor introduced me to him as Bob and him to me as “Willi.” After the introduction, Willi left The Doctor and me alone. I suggested to him that Willi was scarcely the name for a man six feet tall and that, if its owner wanted to maintain his unbending dignity, he had better change it to “Bill.” Thus Willi became Bill.”  [2] 

Rosenbliett would not on his own initiative spring a meeting or introduce a rank and file Party operative to a Soviet intelligence officer. Thus, “Willi” had requested the meeting with Chambers (“Bob”). Following the meeting with “Willi,” Chambers met privately with Rosenbliett at which time he recommended to “The Doctor” that “Willi” change his field pseudonym to “Bill.” It is noteworthy that “Willi” complied with Whittaker's suggestion, thus making Chambers the originator of the mysterious spy moniker “Bill.”

“Bill” in the Literature

Whittaker Chambers is the primary source on “Bill.” The pseudonym occurs on 19 pages of Witness. In addition to New York and Washington, DC, Chambers’ espionage work on behalf of “Bill” extended to London, Japan and San Francisco. In addition to Hiss and the Ware Group, “Bill” connected Chambers to Felix Inslerman, Hideo Noda, Robert Gordon Switz, Ludwig Lore, John Sherman, William Edward Crane, Arnold (“Richard”) Ikal, et al. The following attributes and identifiers for “Bill” are abstracted from the literature:

Witness, Whittaker Chambers (1952)

· Bill was “somebody important”
· Bill was an Estonian or a Finn
· Bill was a Red Army Officer
· Bill was 6’ tall, lank, with a “very wrinkled face”
· Bill was an authority on India; had written a book about India
· Bill was literally “tight-lipped” or thin lipped
· Bill’s chief project was “to set up an apparatus in England”
· Bill gave Chambers permission to move his family to Baltimore in the summer of 1934
· Bill left New York and returned to Russia in the summer of 1936
· Bill was a victim of the Purges, Chambers believed

Red Conspirator, Thomas Sakmyster (2011). This book is about J. Peters. Apparently Peters had significant contact with "Bill", one example being his personally delivering to “Bill” U.S. State Department documents that had been received from Hiss and photographed by Chambers.

· Bill had no interest in receiving documents obtained through the Peters/Chambers Washington apparatus.
· Bill was temporarily recalled to Moscow in July 1935, and may have remained there until the end of 1935.
· Bill was seen in Moscow in 1935 by Felix Inslerman

Whittaker Chambers, Sam Tanenhaus (1997).

· Bill was tall with a lined, lipless face and a nervous habit of squinting one eye
· Bill was frightened of American “secret police”
· Bill was a rezident intelligence officer
· Bill recruited Felix Inslerman [Estonian-American] into the espionage underground

Perjury, Allen Weinstein (1997).

· Bill introduced Felix Inslerman to Whittaker Chambers (“Bob”)
· Bill was replaced in mid-1936 by Colonel Boris Bykov, a GRU espionage rezident (illegal)

Leonid Mikhailovich Tolokonskii

In the early 1930’s the backdrop to Soviet intelligence operations in the United States was Moscow’s goal of diplomatic recognition by the U.S. Government. The Roosevelt Administration officially recognized the USSR in November 1933. Before and after that action, Soviet intelligence officers in America “had been warned by their superiors in Moscow to avoid ‘mass recruitment’ of new operatives and to avoid risky operations that might be discovered and cause adverse publicity that could endanger diplomatic ties between Moscow and Washington.” [3]  Following recognition, the USSR opened diplomatic missions in Washington, DC, and New York. As reported by the New York Times, the first Soviet Consulate in New York was opened on April 20, 1934: “The new Consulate General of the Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics at 7-9 East Sixty-first Street will open today. Through the Russky Golos, Russian-American paper here, Consul General Leonid M. Tolokonsky repeated yesterday the statement made upon his arrival last month that any person wishing to regain his Soviet citizenship would receive an opportunity to do so.”

During the Russian revolution an intrepid photographer by the name of Margaret Bourke-White traversed that country using her camera to herald the rise of Soviet industry. A month after the New York announcement a number of Bourke-White’s photographs were put on public display at the new Consulate. The event was covered by the New York Times which, on Sunday, June 24, 1934, ran a photograph captioned: “PROLETARIAN DECORATIONS IN A NEW YORK MANSION – MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE. With her Photographic Mural of Magneto-gorsk, One of a Series Which Have Been Hung on the Walls of the New Russian Consulate. With Miss Bourke-White is the Consul of the USSR, Leonid M. Tolokonski."

Leonid Tolokonskii with Margaret Bourke-White at Soviet Consulate
(Click to enlarge; click X to return)

Cropped image of the face of Leonid Tolokonskii

Leonid M. Tolokonskii was not a career diplomat. His real profession/persona was that of a Red Army Intelligence (GRU) officer. His posting immediately prior to New York had been at the Soviet Embassy in London, England, where his cover was Second Secretary, Chief of the Soviet Press Bureau; sub rosa, he had been an agent handler. His transfer to New York entailed two new portfolios: Consul General of the New York Consulate, and in-country station chief, or resident, of GRU operations. In August 1934 GRU officer Mikhail A. Mil'shtein arrived in New York under the cover of Secretary to Consul General Tolokonskii, with additional espionage duties as directed by Tolokonskii.

In 1936 Tolokonskii was ordered back to Moscow. Ten days later, Mil'shtein received orders assigning him as GRU resident (legal), replacing Tolokonskii. Leonid Tolokonskii’s official Soviet biography records that he was, “repressed; rehabilitated posthumously.” [4] 

Was Tolokonskii “Bill”?

• “Bill” was somebody important  <>  As Consul General, Leonid Tolokonskii was the senior Soviet diplomat in New York.


• “Bill” was a Red Army Intelligence officer  <>  Tolokonskii’s secret identity was that of a Red Army Intelligence (GRU) officer.


• “Bill” was rezident for a Soviet intelligence service  <>  Tolokonskii was GRU Rezident in New York from 1934 to 1936.


• “Bill” was tall and lank  <>  The above photograph shows Tolokonskii standing next to Margaret Bourke-White. Miss Bourke-White was 5’5” tall. At the time this picture was taken, Bourke-White was a preeminent freelance photographer whose clients included Fortune Magazine, Eastern Airlines, The New York Times, etc. Bourke-White’s visit to the new Soviet Consulate was a formal occasion, for which she almost certainly wore high heel shoes (as was her practice). Her heels would add at least another inch to her 5’ 5”.  As can be seen, Tolokonskii is visibly taller than Bourke-White, a fair estimate being 6 inches taller. Thus, Tolokonskii appears to be 6’ or more in height. Then and now, 6’ is considered a tall person. Additionally, Tolokonski is not at all heavyset, but trim looking or lanky. [5] 


• “Bill” had a very wrinkled/lined face  <>  The cropped enhancement (above) of Tolokonskii’s face reflects a weathered, coarse complexion that in person may have been viewed as wrinkled or lined.


• “Bill” had a "lipless" face  <>  The cropped enhancement (above) of Tolokonskii’s face shows that his mouth was very compact reflecting thin lips.


• “Bill” assigned Chambers the task of setting-up an apparatus in England  <>  Notwihtstanding that Chambers considered this assignment quite unusual, it is consistent with Tolokonskii’s recent, previous posting in London.


• “Bill” left New York and returned to Russia in the summer of 1936  <>  Tolokonskii was recalled to Moscow in 1936.


• “Bill” was thought by Chambers to have been a victim of Stalin’s purges  <>  Tolokonskii was executed when he returned to Russia.

Conclusion

The literature is reasonably authoritative regarding the identity of Soviet intelligence personnel in the United States in the 1930’s and 40’s. There are few if any other candidates for unidentified “Bill” than Tolokonskii. More probably than not (95%), Whittaker Chambers’ and Alger Hiss’ first Soviet case officer was Leonid M. Tolokonskii. [6] 

Notes, Sources and References

1.    J. Peters’s decision to ‘send’ Chambers to D.C. can probably be attributed to Valentin Markin. Chambers had briefly worked for Markin (“Herman”) in 1933 during Markin’s first posting to America. Chambers wrote that Markin had pressed him to go to Washington: “Herman said that it was to go to Washington and build the apparatus there. In Washington he said, there were ‘colossal opportunities.’” Witness, p.315

2.  Witness, Whittaker Chambers, 1952, page 353.

3.  Red Conspirator, Thomas Sakmyster, 2011, pps 80-1.

4. GRU: dela i li?u?di (The Deeds and the People), V.M. Lur'e, V. Kochik, Moskva: Olma Press, 2002. (Library of Congress)

"Tolokonskii Leonid Mikhailovich Russian. Employee in military intelligence.
Second Secretary, Chief of the Press Bureau of the political representation of the USSR in England,1931 - 1933;
General Consul of the USSR in New York, 1933-1935; Resident
He was repressed; rehabilitated posthumously."

5. "as was her practice": Portrait of Myself, Margaret Bourke-White, 1962, page 34 ("The thing I remember best about those early days in Cleveland is the way my high heels kept wearing down slantwise."); "another inch to her 5'5": ibid, page 183 ("There was nothing superhuman about his size. My own height is five feet five, and Stalin was shorter than I am.")

6.    Author's Comment: Two reported attributes for “Bill” remain problematic with respect to Tolokonskii. The first is that he was thought to be an Estonian or Finn. Russian settlement in what is now Estonia dates back to the 17th Century. It is possible that Tolokonskii’s heritage involves Russians who immigrated to Estonia and that he was fluent in Estonian, which belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family. It would make sense for a Soviet agent to affect a non-Russian identity when dealing with contacts. The second, perhaps more problematic identifier, is that Felix Inslerman met “Bill” on several occasions in Moscow in 1935. This could be explained by Tolokonskii returning home for a couple of months after a long absence from family. Tolokonskii had English fluency as evidenced by his posting to England and then America when the U.S. recognized the USSR in November 1933. In terms of opening a Soviet Consulate in New York, the sense of urgency may have been such that Tolokonskii was sent directly to the U.S. from England, without a visit home. Precedent for a Tolokonskii visit home would be the person of Rudof Abel, illegal rezident in America in the 1950's, who was allowed a return home to see family after 3 years in the U.S.