(Sobell and Gold received 30-year prison terms, and Greenglass, who was tried separately, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.) The case was intensely controversial, touching nerves throughout American society, and debates about the Rosenbergs continue to the present day. Klaus Fuchs, a German scientist working in Los Alamos, was convicted in the United Kingdom. As a result of this new testimony, all charges against Ruth Greenglass were dropped. Julius Rosenberg was an engineer for the U.S. Army Signal Corps who was born in New York on May 12, 1918. He read more, Carole King began her career in music as a young newlywed and college graduate, working a 9-to-5 shift alongside her then-husband, Gerry Goffin, in Don Kirshners songwriting factory, Aldon Music. And, in fact, the Rosenbergs themselves essentially believed that they had done nothing wrong in the grand scheme of things. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg devoted a great deal of time in prison to crafting eloquent protestations of their complete innocence. During the 1940s, the U. S. Army Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) conducted the Venona project. I think he believed there was no evidence against him, which was not the case.. By killing the Rosenbergs, you have quite simply tried to halt the progress of science by human sacrifice. Themajority of newspapersat the time in the U.S. did, however, support the death sentence, arguing that the punishment was fair. Since the Rosenbergs were being charged with conspiracy, no tangible evidence was required. The American Civil Liberties Union refused to acknowledge any violations of civil liberties in the case. He worked for a time at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, where research was going on into radar, missile controls and electronics. The Rosenbergs made a public statement: "By asking us to repudiate the truth of our innocence, the government admits its own doubts concerning our guilt we will not be coerced, even under pain of death, to bear false witness". After learning about the trial and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, read about the Lavender Scare, the U.S. government's anti-gay purge. Distinguished Professor of History, Baylor University. Sebba says the only lesson history offers is that there are no lessons to be learned. Ethels execution was botched. Feklisov learned through Rosenberg that Ethel's brother David Greenglass was working on the top-secret Manhattan Project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory; he directed Julius to recruit Greenglass. [78] In October 2016, both Michael and Robert Meeropol spoke with Anderson Cooper in an interview which aired on 60 Minutes. The Rosenbergs were small fry, but the government or the FBI or both were absolutely determined to make an example of them. Rhoda Laks, another attorney on the Rosenbergs' defense team, also made this argument before Judge Kaufman. At this time, Greenglass worked at Los Alamos. Neither offered any further information. Her children were shunted around and then went into care. Much has been written of Julius Rosenberg, but little about his doomed wife. In this testimony he named Julius and claimed he was recruited to join the Soviet spy ring by him. Julius became a leader in the Young Communist League USA while at City College of New York during the Great Depression. The boys went on to make successful careers in economics and law, and have families of their own. She was impassive in court, and poorly turned out, due to the fact they had very little money: Julius Rosenberg embarked upon espionage for his ideals, not for monetary reward. I ask Sebba how culpable she thinks Julius Rosenberg was in his wifes death sentence. The project aimed to gather and decode messages sent by Soviet military intelligence (KGB and GRU) to the U.S. Venona would also help the government locate spy rings. Explains that one of the most famous cases of spies was the case of ethel and julius rosenberg, who were minor activists in the american communist party and convicted of being communists. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The execution of two human beings is a grave matter. Would they have believed him? When questioned, Greenglass admitted to spying. Follow Russia Beyond on Telegram. Few trials in American history can match that of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg for its sensationalism. But at the trial, she testified that Ethel Rosenberg typed up notes about the atomic bomb. The network included: engineers (Julius Rosenberg, Nathan Sussman, Joel Barr, Alfred Sarant,Morton Sobell), a military aviation scientist (William Perl), a civil design engineer (McNutt), and a machinist (Greenglass), among others. Meeropol, Michael, " 'A Spy Who Turned His Family In': Revisiting David Greenglass and the Rosenberg Case,", This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 07:05. [65], The Rosenbergs' two sons, Michael and Robert, spent years trying to prove the innocence of their parents. In 1990, he founded the Rosenberg Fund for Children, a nonprofit foundation that provides support for children of targeted liberal activists, and youth who are targeted as activists. There are some conflicting assessments among historians regarding the outcome of the Rosenberg trial. They were accused of sending a rough sketch of the atomic bomb to Russia. Corrections? Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were the only spies executed during the Cold War and some question whether their sentence was fair. And the newspapers reported that because she was tougher, she needed more of a jolt. They took assumed names and he tried to figure out a way to reach Europe without a passport. [18][19], On July 17, 1950, Julius Rosenberg was arrested on suspicion of espionage[20] based on David Greenglass's confession. ", In 1953, socialist historian W. E. B. On August 11, 1950, Ethel Rosenberg was arrested after testifying before a grand jury (see section, below). The Rosenbergsaccused of participating in a complex plot to sell American atomic secrets to the Sovietswere arrested in the summer of 1950, Julius on July 17 and Ethel slightly less than one month later. He affirmed: I said before, and say it again, honestly, this is a fact: I never spoke to my sister about this at all.. Robert and Michael Rosenberg, Julius and Ethels six and 10 year old sons, pictured at the home of Bernard and Sonia Bach, friends of the Rosenbergs, New Jersey, before their parents execution. [33], In imposing the death penalty, Kaufman noted that he held the Rosenbergs responsible not only for espionage but also for American deaths in the Korean War:[34]. They were orphaned by the executions and were not adopted by their many aunts or uncles, although they initially spent time under the care of their grandmothers and in a children's home. They agreed with President Dwight D. Eisenhower when he issued a statement declining to invoke executive clemency for the pair. Cohn would go on later to work for Senator Joseph McCarthy, appointed as chief counsel to the investigations subcommittee during McCarthy's tenure as chairman of the Senate Government Operations Committee. [75], Their sons' current position is that Julius was legally guilty of the conspiracy charge, though not of atomic spying, while Ethel was only generally aware of his activities. On June 19, 1968, a long-term anti-poverty demonstration known as Resurrection City reaches its high-water mark. [63][65][64] Though the public release of Vassiliev's notebooks did not occur until 2009, the notebooks had in fact been originally intercepted during the Venona decryptions. Neither President Truman nor President Eisenhower granted requests to remove the death sentence. There was no compassion.. Indeed, by your betrayal you undoubtedly have altered the course of history to the disadvantage of our country. In 1949, the U.S. Army Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) discovered that Fuchs was a Soviet spy. The Rosenbergs are still the only Americans ever put to death in peacetime for espionage, and Ethel is the only American woman killed by the US government for a crime other than murder. For two years the Rosenberg case was appealed through the courts and before world opinion. That same year, Sobell participated in an interview with theNew York Times. Julius Rosenberg was arrested on suspicion of espionage on June 17, 1950, and accused of heading a spy ring that passed top-secret information concerning the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. Many commentators of the time argued that the death penalty was used unjustly in the courts as a way to force the Rosenbergs and others to confess to espionage, or to name others involved. Walter Schneir, inFinal Verdict, argues that evidence against Ethel was fabricated by the Greenglasses. Fuchs identified his courier as American Harry Gold, who was arrested on May 23, 1950. Martin J. Manning and Clarence R. Wyatt, eds. Tender. Decrypted cables revealed this information through theVenona project. I believe your conduct in putting into the hands of the Russians the A-bomb years before our best scientists predicted Russia would perfect the bomb has already caused, in my opinion, the Communist aggression in Korea, with the resultant casualties exceeding 50,000 and who knows but that millions more of innocent people may pay the price of your treason. They were charged with conspiracy and providing atomic secrets to the USSR. 2009 Vassiliev notebooks based on KGB archives. Schneir argues that Ruth worked alone and met with a Soviet agent to deliver a sketch of a bomb, which was placed in a KGB file center on December 27, 1945. [7], Julius Rosenberg was born on May 12, 1918, in New York City to a family of Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. Many individuals still question whether or not there was enough valid evidence used during the trial to convict and execute the Rosenbergs. Highly sympathetic portraits of the Rosenbergs were offered in major novels, including E.L. Doctorows The Book of Daniel (1971) and Robert Coovers The Public Burning (1977). [25], On August 11, Ethel Rosenberg testified before a grand jury. These transcripts revealed the contradictions between the Greenglasses testimony before the grand jury and during the trial. T he case of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, the young Jewish American couple executed in June 1953 at the height of the cold war for allegedly passing atomic secrets to the Russians, has weighed . An exoneration is what the two sons would like, the author says. Anne Sebbas biography of Ethel Rosenberg, a book five years in the research and writing, has just been published. Harvard Law professorAlan Dershowitzstated that the Rosenbergs were guilty and framed, suggesting that they were spies, but that evidence was still fabricated against them, causing them to have an unjust trial and punishment. Their case against Ethel Rosenberg was resolved 10 days before the start of the trial, when David and Ruth Greenglass were interviewed a second time. [62] Ethel did not have a codename,[24] however, KGB messages which were contained in the Venona project's Vassiliev files, and which were not made public until 2009,[63][64] revealed that both Ethel and Julius had regular contact with at least two KGB agents and were active in recruiting not only Ethel's brother David Greenglass, but also another Manhattan Project spy named Russell McNutt. She had the unhappy distinction of being the first woman in the US to be executed for a crime other than murder. In 1940, Julius joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a civilian engineer. Despite massive, worldwide protest, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed on June 19, 1953, at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, NY. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. [80][81] Case Summary. Some atomic scientists have claimed that the information David and Julius passed along would not have been of great importance to the USSR because it was incomplete and not very detailed. At a time when American fears about communism were high, the Rosenbergs did not receive support from mainstream Jewish organizations. Photograph: Craig F Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty. He also named Julius and Ethel Rosenberg as contacts and denied that his wife, Ruth Greenglass, was involved with any espionage activities. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. David originally had said that he had passed the atomic data he had collected to Julius on a New York street corner. [42] Pope Pius XII appealed to President Dwight D. Eisenhower to spare the couple, but Eisenhower refused on February 11, 1953. The Rosenbergs supported communism Ethel Greenglass was born to a Jewish family in 1915 in New York. At one point in the biography, Michael, then not yet 10, recalls playing word games with his father, including Hangman. The documents also suggest the Ethel acted as an accessory to her husbands activity, but that she did not play a principal role. They were both found guilty of the crimes of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union. Nickelodeons (named for a read more, Francesca Rojas two young children are killed in their home in the small town of Necochea, Argentina. After she was given the normal course of three electric shocks, attendants removed the strapping and other equipment only to have doctors determine that Ethel's heart was still beating. This connection would be necessary as evidence if there was to be a conviction for espionage of the Rosenbergs. After being interviewed this second time, he said that he had given this information to Julius in the living room of the Rosenbergs' New York apartment. Historian John Earl Hayness AHF Interview. Her death was so barbaric. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The young couple were arrested in 1950 for . Documents relating to the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Case, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, A statement by the Rosenberg's sons in support of their exoneration, An Interview with Robert Meeropol about the adoption, National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case, Annotated bibliography for Ethel Rosenberg from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues, Annotated bibliography for Julius Rosenberg from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues, The Cold War International History Project (CWIHP), Rosenberg Son: "My Parents Were Executed Under the Unconstitutional Espionage Act", History on Trial: The Rosenberg Case in E.L. Doctorow's, Julius Rosenberg at court sentenced to death, The WSWS speaks to Julius and Ethel Rosenbergs son An interview with Robert Meeropol, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg&oldid=1142051620, American people convicted of spying for the Soviet Union, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2021, Articles with failed verification from November 2022, Articles with French-language sources (fr), Wikipedia external links cleanup from October 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Images of the Rosenbergs are engraved on a memorial in, The execution is explored in great detail and serves as the premise of, Clune, Lori. She thinks Julius Rosenberg, but that she did not receive support from Jewish... Of history to the disadvantage of our country before the grand scheme of.. 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