All rights reserved. [11], In February 1944, Rosenberg succeeded in recruiting a second source of Manhattan Project information, engineer Russell McNutt, who worked on designs for the plants at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He was U.S. citizen and electrical engineer. Julius Rosenberg was discharged by the army in 1945 for having lied about his membership in the Communist Party. In August of 1950, a grand jury indicted the Rosenbergs for espionage. Kaufman, who also stated his concerns about executing the Rosenbergs on the Sabbath, rescheduled the execution for 8p.m.before sunset and the Sabbaththe regular time for executions at Sing Sing. [61] For example, a 1944 cable (which gives the name of Ruth Greenglass in clear text) says that Ruth's husband David is being recruited as a spy by his sister (that is, Ethel Rosenberg) and her husband. In May 1951, Pablo Picasso wrote for the communist French newspaper L'Humanit, "The hours count. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were American Communists who captured and maintained world attention after being accused and convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.. President Eisenhower, supported by public opinion and the media at home, ignored the overseas demands. 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. Few trials in American history can match that of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg for its sensationalism. Venona Documents from the National Security Archive. The Rosenbergs turned over this information to Harry Gold, a Swiss-born courier for the espionage ring, who then passed it to Anatoly A. Yakovlev, the Soviet Unions vice-consul in New York City. He also worked withKlaus Fuchs, a physicist at Los Alamos and Soviet spy, to pass on atomic research secrets. Her husband, Julius, had been executed a short time before her. The Rosenbergs supported communism Ethel Greenglass was born to a Jewish family in 1915 in New York. Myles Lane, a member of the prosecution team, said that the case against Ethel Rosenberg was "not too strong", but that it was "very important that she be convicted too, and given a stiff sentence. 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. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were the only spies executed during the Cold War and some question whether their sentence was fair. Greenglass passed information to Julius, including information about the high explosive lenses being developed at Los Alamos for the implosion bomb. Rhoda Laks, another attorney on the Rosenbergs' defense team, also made this argument before Judge Kaufman. They were persuaded to change their original stories. Fuchs identified his courier as American Harry Gold, who was arrested on May 23, 1950. In the United States of the late 1940s and 1950s, Fear was the overriding motif of the age, and fear breeds hysteria, Sebba says. His wife, born Ethel Greenglass, also in New York, on September 28, 1915, worked as a secretary. In the following year Julius obtained a job as a civilian engineer with the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and he and Ethel began working together to disclose U.S. military secrets to the Soviet Union. The documents suggest his involvement was with military and industrial espionage, rather than atomic espionage, as previously believed. How. "Great Importance World-Wide: Presidential Decision-Making and the Executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. "Injustice", Sutton Publishing. Three years after the trial, on June 19th, 1953 the Rosenbergs were executed. Browse pg9767.kgb resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, a marketplace trusted by millions of teachers for original educational resources. FBI agents took her into custody as she left the courthouse. The Rosenbergs were the first U.S. citizens to be convicted and executed for espionage during peacetime and their case remains controversial to this day. Ethel's execution did not go smoothly. She was absolutely judged for her appearance, Sebba says. 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. Many hundreds of people filed past the biers. Photograph: Craig F Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty. He admitted that he had given documents to the Soviet contact, but said these had to do with defensive radar and weaponry. John Charles Fremont of California, the famous explorer of the West, was nominated for the presidency, and William Lewis Dayton of New read more, On June 19, 1944, in what would become known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot, U.S. carrier-based fighters decimate the Japanese Fleet with only a minimum of losses in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. By 1944, Julius had recruited him to spy for the Soviets. In the years after the Rosenbergs executions, there was significant debate about their guilt. At age 23, he was a prosecutor on the trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were convicted of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union in 1951 and executed by electric chair two years. On June 19, 1968, a long-term anti-poverty demonstration known as Resurrection City reaches its high-water mark. [66], In 2001, David Greenglass recanted his testimony about his sister having typed the notes. Mr. Bloch [their counsel], who delivered one of the main orations, bitterly exclaimed that America was "living under the heel of a military dictator garbed in civilian attire": the Rosenbergs were "Sweet. In 1951, Julius and his wife Ethel were tried and convicted of espionage for providing the Soviet Union with classified information. 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. Documents cover, among many other topics, US intelligence activities, including FBI-CIA cooperation; USSR intelligence activities; the Rosenberg espionage network's collection against the US atomic energy program; their attempts to protect the network as US . Due to the recent evidence provided by Sobells interview, witness testimonies, and the Venona documents, calls have been made for Ethels exoneration. They hoped merely by arresting her on these trumped-up charges, surely Julius would talk, because thats what everyone else had done.. This connection would be necessary as evidence if there was to be a conviction for espionage of the Rosenbergs. The attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court nine times, but the Court never reviewed the record. During the next two years, the couple became the subject of both national and international debate. The Greenglasses never withdrew their new testimony. The three-year Rosenberg case culminated in their execution on Friday, 19 June, 1953, just minutes before the onset of the Jewish Sabbath. 32), executed by the federal government of the United States, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Deputy Attorney General of the United States, Capital punishment by the United States federal government, List of people executed by the United States federal government, "What the K.G.B. The Venona project documents were still highly classified at the time of the trial and therefore could not be used as evidence. Follow Russia Beyond on Telegram. In the intervening decades, it has since been conclusively proved that David Greenglass committed perjury against his own sister. [13][14], The USSR and the U.S. were allies during World War II, but the Americans did not share information with, or seek assistance from, the Soviet Union regarding the Manhattan Project. An American Tragedy By Anne Sebba. The Rosenbergs vigorously protested their innocence, but after a brief trial that began on March 6, 1951, and attracted much media attention, the couple was convicted. The controversy over their guilt was seemingly resolved in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the release of Soviet intelligence information that confirmed Julius Rosenbergs involvement in espionage. [7], Julius Rosenberg was born on May 12, 1918, in New York City to a family of Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. A country prepared to flout the law, to instil fear, and to also arrest his girlfriend: does that not strike you as terrifying?, She was removed from the electric chair after three charges, only for it to be discovered her heart was still beating. [73][24], After Morton Sobell's 2008 confession, they acknowledged their father had been involved in espionage, but said that whatever atomic bomb information he passed to the Russians was, at best, superfluous, that the case was riddled with prosecutorial and judicial misconduct, that their mother was convicted on flimsy evidence to place leverage on her husband, and that neither deserved the death penalty. Ethel Greenglass worked as a clerk for some years after her graduation from high school in 1931. Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (ne Greenglass; September 28, 1915 June 19, 1953) were an American couple who spied for the Soviet Union. I believe there should be., Ethel Rosenberg: A Cold War Tragedy,by Anne Sebba, is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, A Small Town in Ukraine: Fascinating mapping of history and bloodshed around a geopolitical fault line, Eithne Strong swam against the tide. They were sentenced to death on April 5 under Section 2 of the Espionage Act of 1917,[31] which provides that anyone convicted of transmitting or attempting to transmit to a foreign government "information relating to the national defense" may be imprisoned for life or put to death. (Sobell and Gold received 30-year prison terms, and Greenglass, who was tried separately, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.) His wife, born Ethel Greenglass, also in New York, on September 28, 1915, worked as a. They agreed with President Dwight D. Eisenhower when he issued a statement declining to invoke executive clemency for the pair. During the trial, both Ethel and Julius pleaded the Fifth Amendment when asked repeated questions related to espionage, and when questioned about being members of the Communist Party. Built in an English shipyard and sold to the Confederates in 1861, the Alabama was a state-of-the-art ship220 read more, After 14 Formula One race car drivers withdraw due to safety concerns over the Michelin-made tires on their vehicles, German driver Michael Schumacher wins a less-than-satisfying victory at the United States Grand Prix on June 19, 2005. Members of the communist party, the Rosenbergs were convicted of passing secret information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union in 1945. The Rosenberg children were permitted to visit their parents during their incarceration. There was genuine fear that the Russians and Stalin would launch an atom bomb on America. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, following their arrest by the FBI in New York city for espionage, 1950. He confirmed that Julius Rosenberg was "in a conspiracy that delivered to the Soviets classified military and industrial information [on] the atomic bomb," and "He never told me about anything else that he was engaged in. The case was intensely controversial, touching nerves throughout American society, and debates about the Rosenbergs continue to the present day. Just ten days before the start of the Rosenbergs trial in February 1951, David Greenglass re-testified, and changed his original statements. Or my mother or my father, OK? "Plain, deliberate, contemplated murder is dwarfed in. [49], The funeral services were held in Brooklyn on June 21. Judge Kaufman justified his decisionfor the death penalty by stating: I consider your crimes worse than murder. For all questions, she asserted her right to not answer as provided by the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. They also defendedSobell, who was put on trial with the Rosenbergs. (The former was released as the motion picture Daniel in 1983.) These transcripts revealed the contradictions between the Greenglasses testimony before the grand jury and during the trial. Ethel's brother says he trumped up evidence. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/ AFP via Getty. The son of working-class read more. She had a brother, David Greenglass. It was known that some communists, such as Fuchs, had spied for the Soviets. Others argue that Julius and Ethel were guilty, with Ethel playing a minor role, but that their trial and sentence were unjust due to the lack of evidence. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. He does, however, believe that the prosecutors worked to guarantee a conviction and abused the legal system. "[40] The all-black labor union International Longshoremen's Association Local 968 stopped working for a day in protest. Anne Sebbas biography of Ethel Rosenberg, a book five years in the research and writing, has just been published. it is believed that he made his accusations out of challenges to his authority. David Greenglass received a 15 year prison sentence and was released in 1960. Her mother disowned her. Due to the Greenglass August 1950 testimony, and no tangible evidence, there was a weak case against Ethel for her alleged involvement. He claimed that he was kidnapped by members of the Mexican secret police and driven to the U.S. border, where he was arrested by U.S. A campaign was started to try to prevent the couple's execution. [55], Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, said in his posthumously-published memoir that he "cannot specifically say what kind of help the Rosenbergs provided us" but that he learned from Joseph Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov that they "had provided very significant help in accelerating the production of our atomic bomb. Later, Ethels brother, Sgt. [28][29] The prosecution's primary witness, David Greenglass, said that he turned over to Julius Rosenberg a sketch of the cross-section of an implosion-type atom bomb. [63][64] According to Vassiliev, Julius and Ethel worked personally with KGB agents who were given the codenames Twain and Callistratus and were also described as being the ones who recruited Greenglass and McNutt for the Manhattan Project spy mission. Initiated when the Soviet Union was an ally of the U.S., the program continued during the Cold War when it was considered an enemy. Many Americans who were politically left-wing believed the Rosenbergs were persecuted solely for their past involvement with the Communist Party. That same year, Sobell participated in an interview with theNew York Times. He opened thetrial by stating: The evidence will show that the loyalty and alliance of the Rosenbergs and Sobell were not to our country, but that it was to Communism. On August 17, the grand jury returned an indictment alleging 11 overt acts. In this testimony he named Julius and claimed he was recruited to join the Soviet spy ring by him. He also said that he believed Ethel Rosenberg was aware of her husband's deeds, but took no part in them. She and David met in the YCL, and married in 1942. Ethel then sat down at the typewriter which she placed on a bridge table in the living room and proceeded to type the info which David had given to Julius. After this new testimony, the charges against Ruth were dropped. Ethels execution was botched. In 1861, the liberal Mexican Benito Juarez became president of a country in financial read more, In Music Fund Hall in Philadelphia, the first national convention of the Republican Party, founded two years before, comes to its conclusion. ", Deborah Friedell, "How Utterly Depreaved!" The FBI arrested Greenglass for espionage in June of 1950. Sebba, who lives in Surrey, dug into archives containing Ethels letters written during the three years she spent in prison, and grand jury testimony papers of the trial. To this day, historians and scientists debate how much espionage sped up the progress of the Soviet Unions nuclear weapons program. The execution of New York City couple Ethel and Julius Rosenberg after their conviction for being Soviet spies was a major news event of the early 1950s. Decrypted cables revealed this information through theVenona project. They were accused of sending a rough sketch of the atomic bomb to Russia. Harris, Brian. (. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The debate over her involvement is ongoing. Important research on electronics, communications, radar and guided missile controls was undertaken at Fort Monmouth during World War II. 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. This collection provides interesting Agency insights on this post-WWII spy case. Gold was arrested on May 23, 1950, in connection with the case of the British spy Klaus Fuchs, who had been arrested for giving U.S. and British nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. There were protest marches held around the world at their sentence, including in Ireland. On April 5, 1951, a judge sentenced them to death and the pair was taken to Sing Sing to await execution. I think he believed there was no evidence against him, which was not the case.. By 1945, the Soviets considered Rosenberg and his espionage network to be providing valuable information. But even graver is the thought of the millions of dead whose deaths may be directly attributable to what these spies have done.. 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